Manatees Dooo Eeeet!!! (Page 13)

I think I mentioned this before. I had a few criteria,

1. Tire Clearance up to 40 mm (45???) 
2. Disc brakes (preferably hydraulic)
3. 2x up front. 

After that it was all negotiable. Like weight. I find that one funny. I'm not going to quibble over 2 or 3 pounds of extra weight on my bike when I'm 10+ pounds overweight. And mounting points. I wanted as many as possible for bike packing opportunities. But I could let that go if I had to, although it turns out I didn't have to. I guess carbon might have been nicer (and lighter) than the steel frame I wound up with. Quite honestly though, the steel rides nice. That could all be in my head, but I like it. And carbon lost the battle of cost. It is an internal wrestling match when you factor it all together, with cost being a part of that. And another factor that is hitting folks right now is the fact that bikes (and shoes) are so hard to find. We have a bet going that there will be a bunch of bikes available in 12 months or so. So, holding out might not be a bad thing, you could end up with a sweet deal.

Yeah, I need to go to Par Cycles and see the Salsa and 3T and talk to our mechanic and test out the Niner.  I hear you on the sweet deals, it's just skipped buying last year and I don't know that I want to wait until next year.  We'll see.  I've been hemming and hawing long enough!

Ooooo, Salsa and 3T and Niner. You can't go wrong with any of those brands! So, you've narrowed down the brands. Anything in particular that you are leaning towards? I had no access to any of those, so I stopped drooling over some of the models of Salsas.

I've mostly admired them from afar.  There are shops in the area that carry them so they seem like a good place to start. 

I should have you two do all my shopping/ narrowing bikes down for me! I bought my Aspero about this time last year after some minor research but not nearly enough to know all the things I should have taken into consideration. I still don’t know all the things Thankfully, my ignorance did no real harm!

I think that the Aspero was a good choice!  I just know that I can't get one to test ride right now. Plus not all the colors are good and I can't get the same color as you.

What she said  I know of a couple of Asperos that are in use with some folks I know and they all seem happy. 

I failed in my first frame bag purchase. It is too small for my frame and looks bad. I don't want to go the custom bag route, but riding an XL limits my options. I may have a frame bag (actually I think they are called half frame bags) that'll fit you when you're  ready Janyne. I wanted something bigger than the standard under saddle roadie bag, since this bike goes longer and on multi-weather rides. I have had to stash arm warmers and a vest or a hat when the temps go up during the day. It is nice to have a place to put stuff. I may try a handlebar bag/roll next. Who knows.

Thanks, I am happy with the Aspero, but i still am wondering about getting a second set of tires (650 or skinnier 700s) and what about moving to tubeless?! Plus I'm sure I've forgotten what the bike guys told me about taking care of the disc brakes

Yeah, wheels are tricky.  The 650 wheels with 47mm tires have the same circumference as 700s with 28mm tires -- which means that the fit would be the same with two wheel sets.  Not that you'd necessarily go as big as 47mm but you can talk to your fitter to see what might work with your fit and the two wheel sets.  And yes, I am 100% over thinking this!

Mine came with tubes and I blew one out on ride #3. So, yeah, that's next. But I need to get a better way to air up/set the bead on them. I may have the last mtb on the planet that hasn't gone tubeless.  I have heard some stuff on maintenance of tubeless, especially if you don't use it regularly. Something about drying out and such. I'm not sure that matters much, I think that is more a concern for the once a month kind of rider. If you ride it regularly, I believe this would just be part of the pre-ride bike check process. Or post-ride cleanup process. I have to hose mine off after nearly every ride.  

I'm sticking with my one set on wheels for the time being. I may not be the best sample case though, since 90% of my riding is on the same surface. The only stuff that would justify another set of wheels is the stuff I stumble upon when I am getting adventurous off the beaten path. Even the rough stuff up in Georgia last year (old bike) was nothing the wheels couldn't handle. And don't forget, if you are running tubeless, you can run lower pressures. Which gives better traction on loose stuff, yadda, yadda, yadda.

ETA - low pressure

My wheel set use case would be bringing one bike to WNC and doing some paved road riding and some forest road riding. For me, the sweet spot for a one week trip during the summer is weekdays in the woods, weekends on pavement.  This mix gives me the least traffic and let's Kevin go to single track trailheads that do not have nearby forest roads. The trailheads can get quite packed on the weekends! 

I think the bottom line is to talk to a fitter about your wheel options to ensure that you have the same fit for both tire sizes.

re: tubeless. Kevin's new mtb is tubeless. He likes it quite a bit but is still learning about topping off the sealant (getting the stem off to add more, etc.). He's out on that bike at least weekly.  He did end up replacing the DT Swiss wheel set that came with it for Santa Cruz wheels with I9 hubs.  He loves the new wheelset and has had no issues (knock wood) since replacing them. He flatted several times on the other wheel set and dinged up the rims despite the fact that he was checking his tire pressure immediately before the ride. It was always on the same trails too.  I think that bike + those wheels + that rider were just a bad combo. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  Anyway, the new wheels have a super mega warranty and replacing rims on the other wheels was not cheap. 

mine came tubeless ready, so in theory I guess it would be a pretty easy thing to switch. One th8ng that does concern me is the stories I’ve heard of how hard it is to change tires on a tubeless rim set up. i realize tubeless there would be less chance of flatting, but since  got tubes in now I am a little concerned I could end up stranded somewhere! 
Clearly I have a lot more to learn about wheel sets, but since my riding is similar to what Janyne’s plan seems to be I will probably just wait for her to figure it all out and then copy her 

haha

That might not be your *best* plan!

i9 hubs are one of the best out there at this time. Quality stuff!!! Although, DT Swiss is not garbage by a long shot. I like the plan of using one bike and maxing it out with multiple riding options. I will say this, I rode my road bike the past two days and my gravel bike the two prior to that. With a direct asphalt to asphalt comparison, the Gravel bike was not put to shame. Riding position is a bit more upright, but if I get down on it and push, I can turn nearly comparable speeds. Not the same, but close. The fact that I am not in "peak riding condition" may have something to do with that. 

Hands, you need bacon strips. No, not the one's I like to eat, the one's made to plug holes in tubeless tires.  Another part is that the sealant is supposed to file the micro holes. So, pick a sealant with a higher percentage of solids in it. The name escapes me now, but one sealant maker puts ground walnut shells in there. Others use non organic materials. There are multiple options. 

Have you ever changed a tubeless tire? If so, is it as difficult to mount the tire on those tubless tire rims as I've heard? 

Happy Friday and happy JoGo check-in day!  How is everyone doing with their various challenges?

P.S.  Someday, I'm going to mess this up. We have our JoGo Challenges but a co-worker recently got a cat and name it Gojo after an anime character. My brain can barely handle it!

Originally posted by marysia83

Originally posted by jmkizer

Happy Friday and happy JoGo check-in day!  How is everyone doing with their various challenges?

P.S.  Someday, I'm going to mess this up. We have our JoGo Challenges but a co-worker recently got a cat and name it Gojo after an anime character. My brain can barely handle it!

haha that's funny I keep calling it jo-jo, because I keep forgetting the G... and for me, the foreign laguage speaker, the sounds of G and J are almost the same, thus, the jo-jo confusion (even though I know the "Go" of GoJo is pronounce as in "go", and not "George" - brain is weird...) As for my challenge progress - everything goes well, and I admit the challenge helps me stay motivated. Except the runs.... Ugh... the weather sucked in the last few weeks - we had snow, which would not be a problem, but the weather itself was nasty. I did not feel like going for a run. And the trail by my place is an open space = very windy. We had few beautiful sunny days, but I had to stay at work. I really need to start real-deal running training beginning February, and there will be no excuses... if I want to manage my April race. How's everyone else doing? Happy Friday! Happy weekend!

Week 2 completed successfully.

Don't worry about the pronunciation. Please excuse the rant that is coming.

We have a ton of people that have lived in America since birth that still don't understand the difference between they're, their, and there. Or any of the other "confusing" words. And I understand that the Americanized version of English can be tough, but there is no effort on their part. So, they're wrong. 

Thank you for attending my Ted talk.

Rant over.

Week 2 was a bust for me as i nursed a sore knee. Hoping to get back to it next week.

Originally posted by cdban66

Originally posted by marysia83

Originally posted by jmkizer

Happy Friday and happy JoGo check-in day!  How is everyone doing with their various challenges?

P.S.  Someday, I'm going to mess this up. We have our JoGo Challenges but a co-worker recently got a cat and name it Gojo after an anime character. My brain can barely handle it!

haha that's funny I keep calling it jo-jo, because I keep forgetting the G... and for me, the foreign laguage speaker, the sounds of G and J are almost the same, thus, the jo-jo confusion (even though I know the "Go" of GoJo is pronounce as in "go", and not "George" - brain is weird...) As for my challenge progress - everything goes well, and I admit the challenge helps me stay motivated. Except the runs.... Ugh... the weather sucked in the last few weeks - we had snow, which would not be a problem, but the weather itself was nasty. I did not feel like going for a run. And the trail by my place is an open space = very windy. We had few beautiful sunny days, but I had to stay at work. I really need to start real-deal running training beginning February, and there will be no excuses... if I want to manage my April race. How's everyone else doing? Happy Friday! Happy weekend!

Week 2 completed successfully.

Don't worry about the pronunciation. Please excuse the rant that is coming.

We have a ton of people that have lived in America since birth that still don't understand the difference between they're, their, and there. Or any of the other "confusing" words. And I understand that the Americanized version of English can be tough, but there is no effort on their part. So, they're wrong. 

Thank you for attending my Ted talk.

Rant over.

My take is that Marysia speaks English way better than I speak Polish!