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This is what all gravel feels like when you're a roadie at heart. |
Curtis Corlew in Bicycle Land
Curtis Corlew blogs on bike commuting, buying a new bike, maintaining his bicycle and all other bike and bicycle related stuff
Monday, April 12, 2021
Bike Dog gravel route West Sacramento with Kellie
Thursday, April 08, 2021
Friday, April 02, 2021
Gravel Specific bandages
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Continental Grand Prix 5000 and latex tubes
The weather has become nice enough now that I don't need old tires, suitable for the trainer, on my bike any more this year (Yea California!) I am ready for the outside world.
To that end I mounted a set of Continental Grand Prix 5000 tires with Victoria latex tubes on my Williams wheels.
Rumor has it that these are nice rolling tires. I have also read that latex tubes are more supple as well as lightweight. Much to my surprise, the rumors seem to be true. Whether it's the Grand Prix's or the latex tubes I don't know, and I'm not about to take it all apart to test it.But the ride seems much smoother and more free of vibration.
Sure, it could easily be the placebo effect. After all, who wants to spend money only to discover that it doesn't made a darn better difference. So I could just be convincing myself that the ride is smoother. But I don't think so. Then again, that's how these mind games work, right?
So, whether it's me faking myself out, or the tube/tire combination actually smoothing the road vibration, I'm feeling it. I could really tell on a recent downhill stretch of not-great roadway that my bike was rolling a lot more smoothly. Priceless.
Monday, March 29, 2021
Pardee and Comanche loop
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Sunday, March 14, 2021
Finished gravel bike with super low gears
I have plans to do a week-long ride on forest service roads along the Continental Divide. But I'm a roadie with a road bike, and also a bike commuter with a gravel-ish bike I turned into a commuter bike. Though my commuter bike was sold as a gravel bike, it was more marketing than function. But it did make a great commuter bike with a rack and panniers and lots of lights.
But COVID-19 put an end to commuting. It's all work from home now. So I converted my “commuter bike-gravel bike” to a useable gravel bike.
The first thing to go on my bike with the nice Ultra compact (50-32) crankset, replaced by an FSA 46-30 that’s a lot more realistic for me. Why this ratio isn't standard, or at least an option on all gravel bikes is a mystery. Maybe the rest of the world is just stronger than me, but I don't think that's it.
Russ is a fan of larger tires, and also 650 B wheels, particularly for shorter riders like myself. To that end I purchased a set of FSA 650 B wheels and a Soma Cazadaro 42mm tire for the rear with a Specialized Pathfinder 48mm for the front. (I’d actually purchased a set of Pathfinders only to discover that it I couldn’t fit a 48 on the back with reasonable clearance.)
I followed that up with a Red Shift suspension stem, again recommended by You-Know-Who. It works, and I don't notice it's there. It doesn't bob at all, but seems to be helpful on big wacking bumps.
The gearing was still a bit tall for me. Unfortunately the bike industry doesn't seem to want to make derailers that will handle large cassettes and work with road-style brake shifters.
Again, it's Russ to the rescue. His Path Less Pedaled Cave of Bad Ideas YouTube channel reviewed a new derailer by a company named S Ride that magically works with Shimano Ultegra 11-speed brake-shifters and will handle huge cassettes.
I ordered one, along with a Shimano 11-40 11-speed cassette and miraculously it actually works. And I like the shifting. It's a bit more effort to push the lever when the gears get really low, but the shifting is very crisp.
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Round Valley gravel-ish ride
Friday, January 01, 2021
Year end wrap-up: 2020 pandemic edition
Friday, December 25, 2020
Zwift vs Me
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Sunday, November 08, 2020
Patterson Pass with the OldStrongs
When Dan (Lanceoldstrong) suggested an easy 25 mile ride with his wife Julie I had no idea he was talking about climbing Patterson Pass. I've ridden it before, but holy smokes is it ever steep. And I wish I'd been smart enough to take more clothes so that when the sun went behind the clouds I wouldn't have been quite so cold.
But that's just whining. It was wonderful to be out on the bike again. Plus, hey, we found out today that the Bidens will be moving into the White House.
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Sing me the Delta, gravel and rivers
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Whoops.
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Not much riding lately
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Smoke smoke smoke
Riding in California is a bit tougher these days. It's been so smokey I skipped a couple of days, but there are limits. Riding in a mask like this isn't great, but it's better than not riding at all.And today was actually better than the last few. I'm thankful this is my biggest problem right now, and that unlike so many my home and family are safe.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Bonus photos from Colorado
View this post on InstagramCoal Creek trail. Should have brought wider tires or a different bike. Still, it was beautiful.
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