Summers are always a bit strange for our family but this year that was even more the case. I didn’t turn wrenches in a shop. BikeMag was a fantastically creative experience.  Cumberlandworx continued to evolve as Claire continued down the trail of older, stronger, faster, and simply being more skilled about mountain bicycles.  Attitude is everything, but a whole lot of reps help too. 

With back-to-school next week, routine rears its head. I am looking for work around Claire’s schedule, which is nothing new since I took on primary parenting duties when she was tiny, but this round is going to significantly shift my schedule. Anyone who has experienced trying to get in the bulk of their riding in the dark – rain, shine, snow, etc. – will know the singular motivation I’m attempting to sell myself into. Charging the lights as we speak.

Anywho, routine is back and so is SBTISAOAF. Hey now, my track record of posting on Friday (or near Friday) was decently okay for a while there. 

1) Gearing Steve’s Talbot

I have not walked Steve’s Talbot up a hill yet. I know that sounds like a weird flex when talking about a road bike that gets ridden exclusively on pavement and hard-pack gravel but I have almost walked it on multiple occasions. The gear (45x18t) is too hard for the hills of North Vancouver. Or, maybe it’s exactly the right amount hard? I have spent more time thinking about this question in the last couple of weeks than anything else bicycle-related. 

I queried Brixton-Jim and Larry Talker, both experienced road-bike-one-speeders what they thought I should do. Give up on my flat pedal fanaticism and clip-in? Install an easier gear? Harden up? They both provided the same response and I am positive you can guess their advice.

{Although to be fully accurate, Jim used the word “acclimatize.”}

What qualifies this for SBTISAOAF?! I just really enjoy nerding out about my bicycles and usually experimenting with different stuff costs money either buying bits or more commonly f*cking up something I already own that is saleable (until I… you know). In this case, playing with gearing on Steve’s Talbot hasn’t cost me a dime beyond the initial NOS Campy 45t ring and 18t White Industries freewheel. It’s all in my head!

I did make one notable change though, I figure I have enough photos in the bag so I am now running the now not as new-new flat pedals that I teased in February. I can’t say any more yet except that they are the best flat pedals* for road biking. How’s that for a niche!

*{I’ll add some caveats that their MTB-strong and so not super light and my knees prefer a wider stance than the average road bike Q-factor delivers.}

2) DVO Onyx D1 Review Feedback (Thank You)

Not that I have great tools for tracking such things but my DVO Onyx D1 38 SL review was the most read thing on MEATengines since I started paying attention to such things once in a while. Thanks for reading! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know where you thought it could be better. Thanks for sharing it. Thanks for buying me a coffee. Really, just thanks. 

I am hoping that piece and some other reviews I have coming up, which were similarly destined for BikeMag, will cement MEATengines as a place that interesting brands making interesting things will want to engage with in terms of future product reviews. 

3) Ground Control 27×3″

It is easy to criticize Specialized, especially as a long-time member of team no-proprietary-bullshit and someone newly unimpressed with the boutique bike brands lining up to make frames without provisions for rear derailleur cable routing. But, sometimes a fist is used for fist-bumping and that’s the case with the Ground Control 27×3″ tire. 

Now, full disclosure, I have not ridden any version of the GC in ages (though I did enjoy the theurgic balance of rolling speed and traction) or put my hands on the T7 3″ unit yet but I am stoked this tire even exists. Even if it is just for a little while longer. 

I mean, it should exist. Plenty of brands sold piles of 27+ bikes, but Specialized is one of the rare few that sold a bunch of bikes and makes tires and I don’t think it’s a bit ask that they keep producing at least one rubber option for existing customers. Yes, some of those bikes can run dual 29″ tires, others have high enough bottom brackets to run 27×2.6″ tires, and many have steep enough seat tube angles (STA) that mulleting is an option. Still, one tire!*

*{They still list the 27×2.8″ Butcher T7 as well, but have been out of stock long enough I imagine it is dead?!}

In preparing to build back up my Waltworks V2, as part of a game of frames I’ve been playing between V2 and Enigma, I have ordered the GC27x3 to run as a rear tire. Previously the V2 has been mulleted with a Laughter and Rock Razor 2.6″ but I’m hoping that the 3″ Ground Control adds comfort and braking traction without sacrificing too much rolling speed. I’ll report back when I’ve actually ridden it. 

4) My Enigma Tensioner

I mentioned this in My Weird One-Speed Ego Check, but I made a new single-speed tensioner for my Banshee Freeride BMX. I am taking risqué liberties with the word ‘made’ in this instance because what I actually did was take a hacksaw and metal file to an ISCG -05 chain guide and bolt on a 9-speed SRAM X0 derailleur pulley wheel (so good). 

This beauty runs so smoothly and it’s quieter than all my past attempts to tension the chain using this method. Ground clearance with my smaller drivetrain setup is so good that I have not tagged it yet so I’ll hold off on talking about durability for now, but I love it. I will continue to pursue solutions like this because there are so many hardtail frames out there that deserve a chance to be single-speeded. 

On that note, a couple of fabricators I know – Peter & Elliot – sent us their ‘homemade’ (pretty much the opposite of my level of homemade guide) solution for folks wanting to single-speed a frame that lacks a built-in solution (sliders, swingers, eccentric bottom bracket) or even ISCG tabs and it is a beautiful example of simplicity-first design. We have not mounted it up yet (that’s a longer story) but I’ll have some pictures in next Friday’s edition. It is rad. 

5) Closing The E-Gate

Closing The E-Gate was published after I was dumped by BikeMag, so it only makes sense that it shattered the readership on anything I had written for them previously. What’s funny is that, at least in my mind, it’s totally uncontroversial, and folks I talked to say the same. E-bikers haters go “Yep!” and e-bike lovers go “Yep.” It just sort of is what it is. 

One bit of feedback I received, and took to heart, is that I really should have talked about trail builders/maintainers and how so many (most?) riders buy a bike (‘me’ or ‘e’) with the thinking that the trails are free and the forest is the land of “do as you please” without a second’s thought to the folks out digging. 

I’m not certain what all I am going to do with that feedback, but for a start I am going to be sure to list trails in photo captions and link to them somewhere in the piece and say thank you. So, the riding shot above is on Pipeline, and thank you, Ken, Chris, David, Chris, & Lindsay for all your hard work. 

Oh, and the photo below is Lower Crippler. Thank you, Andy. 

6) My Mochilero Shants

I don’t quite only own https://nsmb.com/tag/mec-mochilero/for riding, wrenching, and life, but it’s also not that far off. They breathe well, they’re stretchy, they hold up really well, and they dry very quickly. The problem with them, is they’re just a bit too hot in the summer months and that’s why I’ve historically worn knickers for most of my mountain biking. 

It is not accurate to say that the only bottoms I own for riding, wrenching, and life are MEC Mochileros, but it is also not that far off. I’m probably in a pair an average of five days a week year-round. My only beef with them is they are a bit warm in the summer. My ankles need to breathe! This is why for so many years I cycled in knickers. 

Instead of lamenting that no one sells good knickers anymore, I asked a local garment repair place to hack a couple of pairs of well-loved Mochileros off below the knees and they’ve become my go-to choice whether it’s over my Chromag knee pads on the mountain bike or running errands on my commuter. 

I have two different lengths of shants – because I couldn’t decide, so I had one of each prospective length done, and I still can’t decide – but they’re my all-time favourite riding shorts-pants-short-pants which is sort of funny because they are not sold as riding gear at all. 

It’s a double-stoked reminder that it can be a great idea to look outside of “mountain bike” gear if you don’t see the product you need. And also, at least sometimes, if you are looking at ways to min-max your trail experience in terms of cost. Also, wear what works for you, it doesn’t matter what other riders think. Comfort is king. 

I know a growing number of folks who are riding in Mochileros at least some of the time – with very positive feedback – and at least two people thinking of hacking some pants off to their preferred length

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