A bunch of things are in the process of coming together this week. I’ve committed to a couple of fresh product reviews, Thomas started in on the weird task of fitting sliders to my relatively short-stayed 29×3″-clearing ArctuHawk. Nina’s WZRD-renewed Sakura is in transit. And, by far most excitingly, The Clairebarian should be back on a bike next week. YES! This is amazing because the grom has WAY TOO MUCH ENERGY. Oh, my. But also, I miss mountain biking with her.
Oh, I also signed up for some wrenching work with a great group of folks. So that I can remember which one of my multiple characters {read: ‘personalities’} I play there, I’ve decided to go by Drew again. But Andrew, Drew, Mandrew, Drew-Bob, just for the record, it’s all good.
But that’s then, the future, and this is now, so here are some things I’m stoked about today.
Sateen Alterations
Sherry @ Sateen Alterations – vester of rain jackets, knickerer of pants, repairer of clothy crash damage – is back up and running again, by appointment only, in her tiny retail space in North Vancouver. It’s been a journey, and it was lovely to catch up as I dropped off some future short-pants (shants) and we caught up on Claire’s escapades.
There’s a lot of history. The very first time I took tiny Claire with me to drop off something with Sateen, she was riding up on my shoulders, as she loved to do. Then, just as we made it almost to the front of the line, Claire puked up strawberries all over me. So. Much. Strawberry. There was nothing to be done in the moment, so I high-tailed it back to our place to clean up. As I jogged home, some of it migrated from my head down into my sandals so that it squished with each step.
Anyway, my point was that it’s a privilege to still have services like Sherry’s that I can walk to in our ever-gentrifying neighbourhood. Not only does she do great work and deliver solid value, but she’s so kind and friendly at the same time. Support your local alterator, or, you know, if you’re North Van adjacent, you can support mine.
Dance Banshee, Dance
Prance, prime, pivot, pirouette, just keep poised in front of that pendulum as it swings powerfully, back, towards your position. The Titan has been living rent-free in my brain since I reviewed one, over four years ago. What a great longer-travel sag wagon.
It’s been more front of mind this week as BEE brought it up in a conversation about bike geometry. One of an increasing number of folks, myself included, who are convinced we’re on the cusp of bikes receiving shorter Reach numbers, taller Stack heights, {slightly} steeper head tube angles, {somewhat} slacker seat tube angles, and notably longer rear-centres.
Essentially, take a Banshee Titan V3. Shorten the seat tube and enhance the insertion depth to accommodate ever-lengthening dropper post expectations. Re-jig the shock mounting for universal fitment*. And boom, V4, mountain bicycle of tomorrow. Keep the swap-out-drop-outs for mullet-friendliness and wheelbase adjustment, if folks really want to run a roboderailleur, Shimano now has a full Di2 lineup that works with a traditional hanger.
*{As shock reservoir sizes, shapes, and orientations have evolved wildly, the list of shocks incompatible with Banshee’s centre-of-gravity lowering shock basket has grown.}
{Above photo: JacAttack}
Set up as a mullet with the long-wheelbase option (462mm rear-centre) the Titan climbed and cornered fantastically but also had an uncanny amount of stability. I ran it both coil (Cane Creek CCDB) and air (Fox Float X2 & SR Suntour TriAir1) and could make an argument for either setup, as long as the shock in question was livelier than the X2.
Anywho, with the changes noted above, and no other ones {Ha}, I expect that when the Titan V4 is released, the geometry will look conservative, other than the long rear-centre and longer rear-centre option, but within its long lifecycle, many other rigs will sit similarly. Relatively long wheelbases with a more balanced weight distribution between the wheels.
I’m stoked to see the next generation rigs when they start shipping.
{Above photo: Mr. Lungtastic}
Abus YouDrop FF Notes
I have… opinions… on helmet lifecycles. Specifically, when it comes to helmets that haven’t been crashed or smashed. And they come up occasionally when I do things like replace the padding in my Kali Invader lids rather than buying new.
I ride a lot and own a couple of Kali lids. I’m all in on the privilege, luxury, life choice to not have to pull on a sweaty lid for ride two on a two-ride day. I also can’t stand the burn of my own concentrated sweat being pulled out of my helmet padding – ick, yuck, tears, my eyes, ahhhahahaha. I rinse my helmet occasionally, but there’s nothing like a new pad set.
I’m bringing it up because I ordered a fresh Abus YouDrop FF helmet for The Clairebarian, in the same size she already wears, even though hers is in perfect shape, and newer than my Invader 2.0. We’ve pitched the Abus as the best grom choice to a lot of friends, so I realized that I should probably explain, since Claire’s current lid is in good shape. So what gives?
We’ve retired Claire’s commuter helmet, which doesn’t fit her anymore, as well as her old Super 3R, which was our backup in case life happened to her main lid. Since the Abus fits so well with or without the chin bar, and the price is reasonable {for what it is}, I decided to make a calculated investment in a second YouDrop instead of a much less expensive, fresh open-lid.
Claire’s planning to use her current grey lid for urban miles and her new ‘sage’ one off-road. But either way, it’s nice to have the flexibility and a backup. The YouDrop FF was sold out for quite a while this year.
More About 5-Speeds
I had multiple organic conversations this week with folks about straighter chain lines, what gears they actually use on their mountain bikes, and, well, a different way bicycles could be evolving than 13-speeds and 500%+ gear ranges.
I’ve done a lot of experimenting and written quite a bit about my progress retort. A future with fewer gears. Mainly using hardtail platforms, but also the Banshee Titan, which, at least for this rider, was chainring size agnostic. Plus the HP+I Devinci Chainsaw, which works great with a smaller ring, thanks to the idler in the drive line. By smaller ring, I’ve played with 24t, 26t, and 28t setups.
I’ve generally used Shimano Zee derailleurs for my 5,6,7 speed experimenting, for the shorter cage options, but my Chainsaw experimenting led me to believe that the path of a SRAM derailleur may work better for the huge jumps. Anyway, that’s what I have to say at the moment, but using my 11-speed SRAM XX1 setup, I do plan to do some more experimenting with the fewest gears feasible.
Schwalbe Marathon Mondials
“So wait, you want a tire that does everything badly?”
I messaged a few of my trusted commutrades for some tire opinions, and the above quote was the least helpful and least hopeful response. But, also, I respect that rubber-related revelations are rather scarce in the church of rotating mass.
Nina’s commute for next year is changing to add a short section of steepish uphill and downhill gravel, which necessitates a move away from a slick-slick for when she’s barreling down with two over-packed panniers. How those Ortlieb bags hold that much stuff and haven’t burst a seam after all these years is beyond me and my expectations.
The criteria are straightforward. The tires need to have a perfect zero-flat record through year-round commuting conditions. They need to roll fast and quietish on pavement. Dig in on gravel up & down. And not ride like complete bricks. I already mentioned the zero-flats, ever.
Oh, you have a few suggestions? I almost forgot to note that they have to be 26″. Preferably something in the 1.9-to-2.1″ range.
If it were my bike, 26″, I’d be running a pair of Schwalbe Billy Bonkers or Maxxis DTH tires. I mean, dirt jump tires sit like they were poured at the intersection of XC-mountain, gravel, ATB, etc., rubber. But the lack of any flat protection pushes back with an inevitable vision of Nina with a full-on flat on the darkest, coldest, wettest January morning imaginable.
Enter Alvin, of the Schwalbe Amazing Alvin tires fame, with the Mondial suggestion. This is the replacement, update, progeny of the Marathon XR, a tire that I put a lot of hours on in a past life. My experience with the XR was zero flats, a surprisingly wide range of usability, and a ride that’s not as supple as I’d prefer.
This “ultimate touring tire” folding-bead version cuts substantial grams compared to the wired weight, and promises a better ride and excellent puncture protection with Schwalbe’s V-Guard casing technology. I last rode XR’s a long time ago and rubber tech has come a ways – road, gravel, ATB, MTB, all rubber – so my hope is that the latest Addix option is going to rip.
Yeah, so. I’m pre-stoked, stoked in advance, for a flat-free fall, winter, and spring of big miles on Nina’s WZRD-renewed Chromag Sakura ATB rig.
Guiding Tours
Yeah, I know, it’s Saturday. Late as usual. But wait, I have a good reason. I was falling asleep in my chair after spending hours pedaling my mountain bicycle.
I occasionally sub in for JacAttack to lead a tour for Essential Cycles, and this resulted in my longest day on a bike since breaking my foot. I pedaled from home to the Fromme parking lot. Took a nice fellow from the centre of the universe {Ontario} for his first ever North Shore ride.
We pedaled up Fromme, cruised down Fromme, and then rode a series of mostly gravel trails back to the shop. Then I pedaled home. Oof! It was the best, most beautiful, feeling of exhaustion I’ve had in ages.
This was also the best test of my foot to date. I’m tired today, my foot is tired today. My brain is tired today, which is making stringing words together a bit… words are hard today. But nothing is sore in an overdone way, which is awesome. I’m going to cut it off there. A relatively short SBTISAOAF for this week as I’m expecting next week’s effort and stoke to be enormous.
Larry Talker Tunes
It’s July 4th, an important anniversary. The beautiful town of Trois-Rivières was founded on this day in 1634. The second settlement in New France, now the province of Quebec, the font of our official bilingualism, and celebrated multilingualism, in Canada.
It also marks, as Model-T notes, the official launching point of the First American Civil War, aka Rebellion, aka Revolution, depending on one’s perspective. The unilateral signing of the Declaration of Independence, born out of the idea that government should work for the people rather than as a machine of wealth accumulation & privilege protection for a rarefied royal class disconnected from society.
Yeah, so. LTT. Monument is an all-timely track that goes. Worth looking up the lyrics – “Here spoke the great self-rhapsodist / (Monument) / The man is a monument to himself.” With a bit of a Hawksley Workman vibe, I’ve listened to it a dozen times. Thanks Model-T!
Terry Walker Says:
Happy Independence Day!
This week, the desk job found me sitting through a variety of Folk, Rock, and Ballading. Mostly from the U.K.
Somehow, I landed on this gem of an album from The Waterboys – Out of All This Blue, from 2017.
The “groove” is evident right from track one, all the way through the next 96 minutes.
While not every track is a win, this is one long collection from a longtime talent.
Welcome to MEATengines, I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you did, please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments; feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.