This week’s SBTISAOAF is gear-heavy. That’s what you get sometimes when everything is mapped out stream-of-consciousness style on the fly. It’s that time of year when the seasons have fully changed and I start wondering why I own so many pairs of super lightweight gloves I never use, and the mix of sweat and muck and layering has me somehow tripling my laundry output.
But, it’s also about neat projects coming to fruition, and whether that’s gear or culture-related, actually-new bicycle stuff is always exciting (almost as exciting as when it becomes actually-old bicycle stuff that’s still awesome).
[Mini Aside]
On that note, a mini aside, I’ve decided not to do a typical ‘gift guide’ this year. I know, I know, when do I ever say “NO” to the lowest of low-hanging bicycle media fruits? Sorry, I’m just not there for the ‘tour de buy this widget’ this year. But I do have a two-part series-review-thingy coming on the best bicycle gift I ever received (as a teenager). And I thought I’d mention it as December is fast approaching. And yes, you can learn a lot for free on YouTube, and take a maintenance course, but Zinn & The Art Of Mountain Bike Maintenance is something different.
I won’t get ahead of myself. But there’s a good chance it’s in stock at your local book store and it’s worth every penny.
[/Mini Aside]
About The Ride Preorder!
Yeah, yeah, Cy just graced the illustrious corridors of SBTISAOAF last week with his ogling deer doodle. But here’s something I had a very, very small hand in that I’m very, very excited about. How very, very excited? Somuch so that I’ve exhausted my quota of the word ‘very’ for the rest of 2024. Expect an extraordinary effort at substituting in extremely, exceptionally, exceedingly, excessively, and other winning words.
Anywho, About The Ride Zine, issue number 1, is headed to print. It features work from an exceptional variety of talented individuals, and me. I’m told my contribution is a serious outlier (in that it’s ver… exceedingly serious) but in my defense, I didn’t know the theme was ‘Summer Escapism’ until recently. You can always just check out a couple nice photos by my friends and co-conspirators* at Hardtail.Life and then flip to the next page!
*{Drewitors note: I mean colluders, no, wait, collaborators? Umm, confederates? No that doesn’t sound right either.}
Cy wrote a bunch of words about the first of, hopefully, many editions. “It’s like a website, but printed on dead trees.” Check that out on About The Ride.
If you would like to pre-order, advanced orders are discounted. And, for shops that are interested in being stockists, there are bulk order discounts. Oh, right, here’s that preorder link.
I’m so ver… extremely excited to get mine in the mail*!
*{Drewitors note: Small businesses, especially those operating outside our concentrated urban centers, need Canada Post. The same goes for everyday Canadians, again, especially those in our more rural areas and northern reaches. Let’s please get back to the bargaining table and sort out a deal that everyone dislikes and can live with.}
Wolf Tooth Axle Handle Tool
I used my Wolf Tooth Axle Handle Multi-Tool thrice this past week. Once was even on my own bike. And yes, I’m carrying a full complement of tools. So no, this doesn’t replace the 8-Bit Pack Pliers and all the other fixings in my backpack. But, it sure is the right combination of nice to use and always on hand. Oh, and totally tough. Now that my mountain bike situation has settled into the Truculent V2 and my Will’s Arcturian I’ve been thinking about adding a second AHMT (and axle) so both bikes can have one.
This week I used the 5mm, 6mm, and 4mm hex keys and the T-25 Torx. The combination of bits I run also gives me a 2mm hex for brake lever reach adjustment and a T-10 that I’ll hopefully never need in the forest. I do wish that Wolf Tooth made some combination of two bits where I could have a 4mm, T-25, 3mm, and 2.5mm on hand.
Anyway, it’s been a while since I wrote about this handy handle and my friend Hardtail Steve had never noticed it before (he’s certainly seen it through the lens of a camera enough times) and was stoked. I mean, Steve’s always stoked, but he was extra stoked so I figured that was enough to quality it for SBTISAOAF.
Chromag Rift Knees
I always have two pairs of knee pads in rotation. I rinse them regularly, just soaking and squeezing them in the tub to get out as much salty, sweaty, build-up as possible. They don’t take long to dry but just given hot spots and rub points it’s nice to have pads that fit differently. Or, at least, that’s the story I’ve been hawking for years.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been complaining about how much our little gear, storage, laundry hanging, and bike shop space has been smelling like Claire’s hockey gear. I mean, fair enough, that’s where I air out her stuff and she’s been on the ice a lot. But then I happened to walk past my Chromag Rift Knee Pads the other day and realized, to quote one of Claire’s teammates, what I was actually smelling was “EWWWW GROSS BOY SWEAT.”
What happened? I’ve defacto retired my other knee pads and the Rifts are all I’ve been wearing so I clearly fell out of my washing routine. Anyway, these just work for me, so I ordered a second pair so I can get back into a proper washing rotation. Decluttering is the game right now, so I plan to donate any other armour I have kicking around to my friends’ ever-growing groms.
Mons Royale Redwood
This is a weird one for a pile of reasons. First of all, I have a very good track record of reviewing products – good, bad, indifferent – that I agree to test write about. In a timely manner, I might add. Secondly, from my Mochilero pants to my hand-knit socks (thank you, Mom) I own almost zero riding-specific kit. Other than gloves and knee pads, of course.
But here we are, and, while a proper review is coming*, I thought I’d say a few things about the Mons Royale Redwood ‘wind jersey’ while it’s front of mind. I wear it all the time but have basically no photos to speak of because it’s my go-to piece for commuting, groad, and gravelly rides that are usually solo. I also wear it occasionally while mountain biking, solo, or riding with someone fitter and faster than me.
*{Drewitors note: The Clairebarian is going to take some photos for me and then I’ll write a proper review. But first, we have to finish putting fenders on her ’92 Equipe. Busy, busy.}
The thin Merino wool and wind-stop front panel make it an excellent cool-weather & high output piece. Unzip it to hammer up hills and plug it back up for extended downhills. The quality and longevity of the Mons’ Merino stuff is superb. I also have a shore sleeve ‘T’ with their 83% Merino blend (83% Merino Wool 13% Nylon 4% Elastane) and it’s holding up bizarrely well compared to similar weight, similar content, Merino stuff I own (I have a decent amount of ver… exceptionally holey Marino kit). I wear it twice as often as the Redwood.
The Redwood has that same 83% Merino blend, a high enough content that it really feels 100% Merino, and then the front face fabric is 100% recycled Pertex ripstop material.
Two confessions. While the Icon T is right up my trail in terms of a long-lasting short-sleeved Merino piece, my initial impressions were that this Redwood is not something I would have bought for myself. Now that I wear it every non-summer-warm-time I ride Steve’s Talbot (that I ruined), 70% of the time I’m on my commuter rig in the same conditions, and semi-occasionally on the trails when I’m on my single-speed it would be hard not to replace it if it wore out or went missing. Jokes about groadie kit aside, I don’t have another piece of gear that does the same thing.
Also, as durable as it has proven to be, so far, I will readily admit I’m much gentler with the wash cycle compared to my bombproof MEC Merino-blend ‘base’ layers. Yes, they are a 46% Merino blend but they work really well and scream “Abuse me!” quite a bit louder than the more fragile feeling Redwood. So the MEC T2 remains my off-road go-to if there’s a medium-strong possibility that a meeting with the ground or some heavy post-ride laundering will occur.
Esker Insoles
Speaking of wool, I use Esker’s Canadian-wool Approach insoles all year round. I appreciate the support wrenching and hiking and the same goes for the sweat management and odour control. It’s remarkable that the well-worn insoles in my shop shoes still don’t stink and the same goes for my mountain bike footwear.
I appreciate them year-round, as do my friends who use them, but this is the time of year that I find myself talking about them the most. Extra-especially with riders that I know who refuse to give up the clip-in pedals during the cold months. And I know I said no Christmas-list stuff aside from Zinn, but I can’t help myself because my feet are on these things every day, and I’m stoked on them, and I know a certain number of readers have folks in their life whom they really want to get a gift but they’re a pain in the ass to buy for, and even if they already own a pair of Esker insoles they don’t last forever-ever.
Sweaty cold feet, sweaty hot feet, sweaty wet feet, and sweaty-sweaty feet, these things are awesome twelve months of the year.
Fresh Pedal Guts
A few rides ago I swapped out the standard Enduro 6902 bearings in my pedals for these oil-filled units and, yes, yes, I’m a total nerd, but the fact I could feel the difference on the bench, in the stand, and on the trail is stoke-worthy. I would have told you the Enduro bearings were fresh enough – no creaking, no play, no obvious indexing, smooth-as-new really – but the difference is night-and-day noticeable.
It has prompted me to remind you that whether it’s a set of sweet pedals, a ripping full suspension rig, or some high-end hubs, your stuff might still feel great compared to how it was yesterday but it’s always worthwhile to do some comparative testing with your good friends’ bikes. Spin the wheels, spin the pedals, and cycle the rear suspension. If it’s not smooth you are likely only a few bearings (and probably a shock service) away from a restored ride.
Alright, and that’s a wrap of this week’s SBTISAOAF other than Terry’s homework (The Clairebarian would like to point out that Terry didn’t complete last week’s homework yet. Model-T, I did mention that you asked for an extension).
If you have a chance to drop by MEATengines on Sunday morning after 7am, I’m rarely covering any sort of product embargo these days but I’m so beyond excited to share something that QPC (Quinn, Peter, and Cameron – not the giant distributor that owns ProblemSolvers, Surly, etc.) have been working on seriously since 2020 and I’ve been quietly Easter egging, I mean, riding since February of this year.
Bonus Feature: Larry Talker’s Tunes For The Week
Alright, so last week in SBTISAOAF we launched this new bonus feature where Terry Walker gets assigned some musical homework by us – Claire, me, you – as part of our efforts to convince him that good music has been produced since Boston was pumping out his favourite tunes in the ’70s and ’80s. There’s only one rule, and that’s that the album recommended has to have been released in the last decade. Feel encouraged to e-mail me with a recommendation.
Anywho, my co-wrench Brixton-Jim was so, so in to contribute that he’s our DJ for week two. The only rule (the only rule, Jim) is the album recommended has to have been released in the last decade. Well if that bearded beauty of a Mitchamite didn’t look me straight in the eye with all the innocence of a cat who had just (purposely) spilled an entire bottle of red wine onto fresh white sheets and say, “Well, it was re-released in 2022, surely that counts.” (re-re-re-released, maybe).
I swear we’ll be proper sticklers for the rules next week (or will we?). Without further ado (and with an adieu), here’s Chrissy Zebby Tempo & Ngozi Family. If you’re going to hit one song, Mr. Brixton recommends #4 – Coffin Maker.
Cheerios,
Welcome to MEATengines, I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you did, please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments – or to order a MEATengines water bottle – feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.