Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Been a while, lots going on. Went to Fruita, didn't take any pics though so you'll have to peruse Thorny's blog to get your fix. He took lots.

Been trying to play catch up in the shop lately. I've got a couple in paint right now and I'm about halfway through this 953 frame:


Mini six lugs, really light tubes. This is defintely the lightest one I've built to date. Reynolds is realy hitting the mark on the tubing now days. I suspect this one will be right around 3lbs complete.

Speaking of 953, I took my stainless road bike out for the first time this year yesterday. It was my first ride of the year on a geared bike, so it felt a little odd. It felt amazingly fast, especially after riding in Fruita on a big fat-tired mtb. That thing is so light and quick compared to my fully fendered fixie, made me feel like I was TSP.

Out in Fruita I decided to rock some fat tires, fatter than I've ever used on a 29'er. Got a set of Panaracer Rampage tires on my stans rims. They barely fit in the frame at 2.35" wide. They were a touch lighter than advertised, which was refreshing (about 680g). Still not light tires, but man did they feel good out there on the rocks. I felt so much more sure-footed on that jagged terrain that they were more than worth the extra weight on the climbs. In fact I felt like I could climb better since I wasn't trying to keep all my weight back on the rear tire for traction. THey just plain hook up. If you're somewhere a bit more rugged than Minneapolis I highly recommend them. Probably overkill for cranking out laps at buck hill or Wirth though.

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3 comments:

Tarik Saleh said...

I love so much that you are a weight weenie. You barely attempt to disguise it.

Frederick Ingram said...

Three pounds? My kickstand alone weighs three pounds. Heh. BTW I was in Charleston today, saw a lot of tourist bikers and a few locals.

Bob said...

Well, I'm on a weight weenie on some things. I think everything should be an appropriate weight, and for some people a 3 lb frame is appropriate, for others a 6 lb frame is right.