Just Riding Along... Return of the night ride.

Got out on the Little Miami path last night with friends. Spring is here in full effect here in Southwestern Ohio, with comfortable temperatures in the 50s last night. Lights were installed, supplies were loaded, and off on the path for a nice 18 mile jaunt in the darkness.

Just for this trip, I decided to switch out my tires from the huge Ardent 2.6s to a smaller more road worthy Maxxis Crossmark 26x2.1. Thees tires roll surprisingly well for a dirt tire, and very quiet. After the tire swap, I added some racks to the Troll:

I pulled the old Blackburn rear rack off of my T500, and then installed my new Salsa Down Under front racks. This was my first trip with the Troll loaded up, and it rolled very smoothly, which was expected. I am only using the Blackburn rack until the Salsa Minimalist rack comes back into stock, then that will be my weapon of choice.

View of the Salsa front rack from above.

After the ride, beers came out in the variety of a stout, a Belgian style ale, and a smooth golden ale in a can. Reviews on those to come soon. Get out and enjoy this weather!

Just keep spinning...

Just Riding Along... Surly Troll part 2 cont.

A couple teaser shots from today, just mocking up some things before other work is done...

Maxxis Ardent 26x2.6 fit, just barely, with the axle pushed all the way forward.

Mocked up, no headset installed as of yet. Checking the fit of the Salsa Down Under rack.

I am beyond excited about this build, slowly but surely coming together.

Just keep spinning...

Just Riding Along... Brooks and Maxxis.

So the new parts are starting to come in for the upcoming build. Every time that I order something online it is like Christmas morning when it arrives. Such a good feeling, thanks postman!

The past couple days have brought in a couple important pieces. First up was my Chris King headset from eBay. Apart from the faded finish, and some unexpected "hidden" shipping costs from the seller, it was still a great deal. eBay is a gamble sometimes, for example, when an item is listed as "Like new, excellent condition!" you would not expect fading right? Neither did I. Like I said though, it is in great shape still, and was a great deal, just a tiny hassle. Buyer beware I suppose.

Next up came two different packages. One carried my new Brooks B17 Narrow saddle. After lathering it up with some Brooks Proofhide last night, I took a 10 mile or so spin on it today with the T500. Right out of the box, I was quite surprised at how nice the Brooks fit me. Maybe it is due to me riding a little stiffer of a saddle as of late, but the Brooks was not at all terrible. If I am liking it now, I cannot imagine how comfy it will be once broken in.

The last package was one of the most important for a bicycle, tires. Those came in the form of two Maxxis Ardent 26x2.6" beasts. After installing them on my Sun Ringle Singletrack rims, I would guess that they do not measure out to 2.6" wide, but they are big nonetheless. Not a bad tread pattern as well:

I am planning on running these front and rear for MTB duties, but I do have the thoughts of putting a Maxxis Minion DHF 26x2.7" tire on the front. The Troll has big tire clearance, why not use it all up? I think with either of those setups it will make a nice "fatbike lite." This is probably a bad road to start down though, because it only ends at this:

Photo from Surly's site.

New bike thoughts...

So on my last post, I talked a bit about dissembling my HaroX cargo bike, and moving the parts to a new frame. What frame you might ask? This guy:

Surly Troll

That's right, a Surly Troll. If you have read this blog before, you know that I am a big fan of Surly's products. As for the Troll, this is no exception. I was contemplating the Troll when it came out over a year ago, check here and here. It is an amazing frame with lots of options, and most of all, versatility. I will still be able to haul my daughter around, using the free trailer that I picked up this summer. So here is the plan:

Once the new frame is in I plan on taking it over to my father's motorcycle shop to make some changes. First, the rim brake bosses are going to be cut off. I never plan on using them, it will make the bike look cleaner, and it will slightly increase my tire clearance. After that is done, it will be powdercoated. Not going to reveal the color choice just yet, I will keep that a surprise. Once I get the frame back, it will be parts swap time, and time to add some recently acquired purchases. Parts will look something like this:

-Sun Singletrack wheelset
-SRAM X7 shifters
-SRAM X9 rear derailleur
-Shimano LX front
-Avid BB5 disc brakes
-Avid FR5 levers
-On One Mary handlebars
-Salsa stem
-Truvativ FireX crankset and BB
-Shimano XTR pedals

And the new purchases:

Chris King headset

Brooks B17 narrow

Maxxis Ardent 26x2.6 x2

That should round it out. I am really pumped to be building this up. But the question now is: Should I order the frame now, or wait til March when the newer frame starts hitting the shops, with an extra bottle mount on the downtube and the extra mounts on the fork legs? What's a couple more months?

Coming soon...

Troll picture from Surly's site
Other three pics from Google Images