Bikes of BAFS 2017

[drevil]

What’s the whip you’re logging in the most miles for this year’s Freezing Saddles? Show it off and tell us some of the details of your bike.

This is the bike I like to ride most around town. It’s a Matt Chester Mutinyman ti frame and Black Sheep ti fork. When I first got it in ’08 (as a replacement for an ’05 I cracked), it was my main mountain bike. I loved how light, flexy, and fast it felt, but over the years it started to feel undergunned against my newer bikes on the trails I rode, so I started to use it more for road and less for trail.

It’s gone through several iterations of parts setup, most notably the cockpit. On the first version of my Mutinyman (back in ’05), I used a 120mm stem with Jones bars. A few years later, I swapped to 100mm stem, then 80mm, and the latest version I have a 65mm stem and the relatively more upright On-One Mary bars. I (and my back) cannot believe that I used to use a stem that was almost double the length that I use now. My hands also started to hurt with most grips, so I put on Ergons and am really digging them.

Until last night, I was using balloon-y Schwalbe Big Apple 29×2.35″ slicks which made the bike ultra-cush, but slow feeling. I switched them to Specialized Nimbus 700×35 and I picked up a few mph’s

Matt Chester Townie by ricky d, on Flickr

Matt Chester Townie by ricky d, on Flickr

Matt Chester Townie by ricky d, on Flickr

It has had short stints as a gearie with a bolt-on derailleur hanger, but I’ve reverted it back to its natural state as a singlespeed with 32×13 gearing. Most of the time I have flat pedals so I don’t have to click-clack on the floor of coffee shops and grocery stores, but if it’ll be a longer ride (>15 miles), I’ll throw on the clipless pedals.

I work from home so I don’t have to worry about locking it up all day outside, but I have taken preventative measures to minimize theft of parts.

So, what’re you riding?

Topic

[dkel]

@dkel 153675 wrote:

Permanent fenders are an aesthetic! Aww, now I’m gonna have to post up in this biz!…

Bike 1

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13445[/ATTACH]

VO Zeppelin fenders with VO mud flaps = very full coverage. Those things will take my studs, which are knobby 40s.

I’ll try to post bike 2 tonight.

[hozn]

@TwoWheelsDC 153753 wrote:

I use the stays in the front (you can just barely make them out in the photo), but not in the back. No problems with the back unless I’m going over some crazy bumps, and then I just hear a little rattle. NBD.

Oh, I do see that; I was confused by your statement since it never occurred to me to leave that part on the bike. Is it easier to replace the fenders with leaving that part of the stay attached to fork eyelets? (I just detach from eyelets, though if the eyelet threads are carbon, I could see that being another reason to not be constantly detaching there.)

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 153773 wrote:

Oh, I do see that; I was confused by your statement since it never occurred to me to leave that part on the bike. Is it easier to replace the fenders with leaving that part of the stay attached to fork eyelets? (I just detach from eyelets, though if the eyelet threads are carbon, I could see that being another reason to not be constantly detaching there.)

It’s pretty easy. Mounting takes me maybe 2 minutes total, front and back. Unmounting takes about 30 seconds. I usually mount them the night before I think I’ll need them, but it’s definitely easy enough to make a game day decision.

[dkel]

Bike 2

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13448[/ATTACH]

Very similar configuration to Bike 1, down to racks and fenders (in “noir”). This is belt drive and 8-speed IGH (and can be converted to FG with a little work). Bike 2 will be knobs or slicks depending on the conditions, and will do all the rain or slop rides because of the belt; bike 1 will probably wear the studs for the winter (if I ever need to put them on at all) since it has brifters, and I’d rather not have to take my hands off the bars to shift if I’m on ice.

I should probably say: bike 1 is a Surly Straggler, and bike 2 is a Soma Wolverine. Sweet ChroMo goodness!

[FFX_Hinterlands]

I discovered that my SKS P45 Longboard fenders are slightly too small for my schwalbe marathon 38s. I think my Handsome Devil is very similar to a Surly Crosscheck. Wondering if you can squeeze the 52mm fenders on there….

[Mtansill]

My bikes. I’m relatively new (2014) to any serious bicycling and can’t spout off a lot of stats about my bikes, but I do like to take a lot of pictures of them. I mean – a lot.

Meet Nona. She’s the workhorse of the season, and this is her third Freezing Saddles. These are the only tires she has, but she has cunning and determination and has been up to the challenge of taking me at least somewhere on the very worst weather days. (I have ridden every day during the competitions so far). Last year she got her fenders and this year she got her rack and some panniers. So convenient for doughneuring! Nona’s a bounder despite weighing in at about 40 pounds.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13451[/ATTACH]

Now meet Blanche. As you can tell, Blanche is more like a fair-weather kinda gal. Still, I’ve had to tip her upside down after riding through torrential rain before, so she’s not afraid of a little dirt or gravel once in a while – despite her pedigree.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13452[/ATTACH]

[consularrider]

One of the two bikes I’ve been riding for BAFS 2017, my Kona Rove.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13483[/ATTACH]

[consularrider]

A week later and here is the other bike I’ve been riding for BAFS 2017, my Surly Pugsly OPS. I have 45 Nrth 26 x 4 studded Dillinger tires on it that I expect won’t get switched for non-studs until spring.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13574[/ATTACH]

[SolarBikeCar]

The bicycle that got me banned from participating in FS (not just banned from using it to log FS miles). This vehicle is great on wind chill days–no face mask needed. Very stable in cross winds but the power requirements go up a lot unless I slow down. I don’t like temps below 20 because of my discomfort with freezing fingers. I haven’t had a chance to try pushing through accumulated snow. This winter i’ve been keeping up with my 100 mi/week commuting schedule. I even got in one 70 mile weekend ride pulling a trailer with a protest sign.

[KLizotte]

Out of curiosity how do you park it in the city? It’s too big for a bike rack and the sidewalk so do you park and pay for an ordinary parking spot?

[SolarBikeCar]

I don’t come into DC. I park in the garage in Tyson’s. The building engineers have been especially kind. For a long time I parked in the car recharging area because it was unused. Eventually a Tesla started using the charger and the owner complained that I made it harder to park. The engineers took it upon themselves to make me a special spot. They told me I deserved an electrical outlet as much as the Tesla and that’s why they didn’t tell me to park elsewhere until they had fixed a new outlet for me to use. Anyway, the garage doesn’t change for parking so what rate to charge never became an issue.

The one time I came into DC there was a protest going on and the streets were closed to motor vehicle traffic but not to bicycles. I had no problem crossing the police lines and there were plenty of parking spots on the empty streets. At home I park it between the two vehicles in my 2 car garage.

[KWL]

@consularrider 154334 wrote:

A week later and here is the other bike I’ve been riding for BAFS 2017, my Surly Pugsly OPS. I have 45 Nrth 26 x 4 studded Dillinger tires on it that I expect won’t get switched for non-studs until spring.

Envy. I’m sure you are aware of just how much my Dillingers have been needed around here.

[KWL]

With no snow to speak of, my well worn 1992 Bridgestone XO-1 appears to be my FS bike this year.

[Vicegrip]

@SolarBikeCar 154829 wrote:

The bicycle that got me banned from participating in FS not just banned from using it to log FS miles). This vehicle is great on wind chill days–no face mask needed. Very stable in cross winds but the power requirements go up a lot unless I slow down. I don’t like temps below 20 because of my discomfort with freezing fingers. I haven’t had a chance to try pushing through accumulated snow. This winter i’ve been keeping up with my 100 mi/week commuting schedule. I even got in one 70 mile weekend ride pulling a trailer with a protest sign.

Shadow griping about not being able play the happy people silly reindeer games in the “Bikes of FS” thread while posting pix of an enclosed electric vehicle that you get in and drive/pedal assist a motor and noting that you don’t like to use it below 20 deg?

[chuxtr]

@KWL 154875 wrote:

With no snow to speak of, my well worn 1992 Bridgestone XO-1 appears to be my FS bike this year.

Love the mustache handlebars! I’m doing my “short” rides in the ‘hood on my Bridgestone MB-2 (same color as your XO-1) but w/Rock Shox and slicks. I took my clip-in pedals off and put platform pedals on so I can just hop on and ride whenever it’s convenient. Regular road rides on my Felt FC.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13721[/ATTACH]

[Author]

Replies