Your latest bike purchase?

[drevil]

After I got my full suspension bike last year, I didn’t ride my rigid fat bike too much because 1″ of undamped tire deformation is no comparison to 6″ of plush travel. However, I decided to squishify the fat bike by getting it a new 120mm Fox Factory 27.5+ fork – but just as valuable as I first discovered on my full sussy – a dropper post (Fox Transfer 150mm). I just cruised around the neighborhood, but I can’t wait to jump around on the trails ASAP!

Foxy Vertigo Plus by ricky d, on Flickr

Foxy Vertigo Plus by ricky d, on Flickr

[vern]

It’s N+1 day…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15471[/ATTACH]

So, finally,a cyclocross bike. It’s a Trek X02, 2010 variety. It’s in great shape, essentially new components. Shimano 105 drivetrain but for the Elita cranks. It’s a steal for the price I paid.

[hozn]

@drevil 165285 wrote:

After I got my full suspension bike last year, I didn’t ride my rigid fat bike too much because 1″ of undamped tire deforming is no comparison to 5″ of plush travel. However, I decided to squishify the fat bike by getting it a new 120mm Fox Factory 27.5+ fork – but just as valuable as I first discovered on my full sussy – a dropper post (Fox Transfer 150mm). I just cruised around the neighborhood, but I can’t wait to jump around on the trails ASAP!

Foxy Vertigo Plus by ricky d, on Flickr

Beautiful bike. This must be a dumb question, but what’s that protruding round nub mid-way up the seat post?

Are you able to clear 3.0″ rear tires there — is that a yoke chain stay or tubes? Do you know how long the chain stays are? I’m starting to collect ideas for a hard-tail (or maybe rigid) 29/27.5+ titanium MTB frame/build. Maybe a next-winter project.

[hozn]

@vern 165451 wrote:

It’s N+1 day…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15471[/ATTACH]

So, finally,a cyclocross bike.

Look forward to seeing it on the trail! — Looks like you’re already getting it dirty.

Once you get a bit comfortable on it, you should totally ride through CCT + Lake Fairfax on the way to/from work. I could ride out early and meet you, though these days that would probably be too early for daylight (maybe a bit better after time shifts back?). Exploring those trails in the dark probably isn’t the best idea.

[vern]

@hozn 165458 wrote:

Look forward to seeing it on the trail! — Looks like you’re already getting it dirty.

Once you get a bit comfortable on it, you should totally ride through CCT + Lake Fairfax on the way to/from work. I could ride out early and meet you, though these days that would probably be too early for daylight (maybe a bit better after time shifts back?). Exploring those trails in the dark probably isn’t the best idea.

Haha…that’s my yard. My house and backyard abut Lake Fairfax Park…the trails are right behind me. Yes, we should definitely meet up some morning when the light is more forgiving. I’m going to ride this to work on Tuesday.

[drevil]

@hozn 165457 wrote:

Beautiful bike. This must be a dumb question, but what’s that protruding round nub mid-way up the seat post?

Are you able to clear 3.0″ rear tires there — is that a yoke chain stay or tubes? Do you know how long the chain stays are? I’m starting to collect ideas for a hard-tail (or maybe rigid) 29/27.5+ titanium MTB frame/build. Maybe a next-winter project.

hozn, this is a custom titanium fat bike frame from a builder in Portland, Oregon — Vertigo Cycles, aka Sean Chaney. It’s 5 years old now, but when the builder and I were coming up with the design over 6 years ago, I don’t think the 1x drivetrain design was around yet, so that nub is a mounting point for a front derailleur (covered by an Eriksen seatpost cap). This was the first fat bike frame he built, and my requirements were for the frame to fit 4″ tires and have the shortest chainstays possible. The sliders can scoot in as tight as 415mm and still have mud clearance for the fat rubber. There’s no special yoke, he just used tubes and welded the chainstays as far to the outside of the 100mm-wide bottom bracket as possible.

I’ve built it with a Lefty, a ti truss fork, and now the Fox. It’s had 26″ x 4″-4.8″, 29″ x 3″, 29″x2.3″, 27.5″x4″, and 27.5″x3″ tires in it, and the last set has been my favorite. Here’s a thread I started way back when the bike was being made:
http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/vertigo-cycles-fatbike-759458.html

If you want to see the evolution of this bike, the album is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bikecentric/albums/72157629399582166

[hozn]

@drevil 165464 wrote:

hozn, this is a custom titanium fat bike frame from a builder in Portland, Oregon — Vertigo Cycles, aka Sean Chaney. It’s 5 years old now, but when the builder and I were coming up with the design over 6 years ago, I don’t think the 1x drivetrain design was around yet, so that nub is a mounting point for a front derailleur (covered by an Eriksen seatpost cap). This was the first fat bike frame he built, and my requirements were for the frame to fit 4″ tires and have the shortest chainstays possible. The sliders can scoot in as tight as 415mm and still have mud clearance for the fat rubber. There’s no special yoke, he just used tubes and welded the chainstays as far to the outside of the 100mm-wide bottom bracket as possible.

I’ve built it with a Lefty, a ti truss fork, and now the Fox. It’s had 26″ x 4″-4.8″, 29″ x 3″, 29″x2.3″, 27.5″x4″, and 27.5″x3″ tires in it, and the last set has been my favorite. Here’s a thread I started way back when the bike was being made:
http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/vertigo-cycles-fatbike-759458.html

If you want to see the evolution of this bike, the album is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bikecentric/albums/72157629399582166

Wonderful – thanks for sharing the links! I love reading build threads. I feel pretty comfortable now with road/gravel geometries, clearances, etc. but know so little about MTB. Interesting re: 100mm BB. I guess I was thinking I’d do a 73mm BB shell and 148/boost spacing, though I haven’t even begun to seriously research this yet. Of course, it’d be kinda nice to stick with 142×12/100×15 so I didn’t need to build new wheels … (I don’t think I can switch to boost on Hope hubs w/ just endcap swaps.)

I’m unsure on the mid-fat thing. I feel like I should really like it, since I’ve only loved my MTB more, as tire size grew (running 2.3″ Specialized Renegade now) and have enjoyed riding rigid. The one Kona 27.5+ bike I tested out felt like a slog compared to my bike, though. But I’m sure the wheels on that stock bike were really heavy as probably were the tires. So I may only run it as a 29er in the end. It’d be nice to clear 29×2.5 tires, though, so having some chainstay clearance would be nice.

I’ll start a thread to solicit thoughts on this when I start thinking about it more concretely, but in interim have some catching up to do on modern MTB standards.

[drevil]

@hozn 165468 wrote:

Wonderful – thanks for sharing the links! I love reading build threads. I feel pretty comfortable now with road/gravel geometries, clearances, etc. but know so little about MTB. Interesting re: 100mm BB. I guess I was thinking I’d do a 73mm BB shell and 148/boost spacing, though I haven’t even begun to seriously research this yet. Of course, it’d be kinda nice to stick with 142×12/100×15 so I didn’t need to build new wheels … (I don’t think I can switch to boost on Hope hubs w/ just endcap swaps.)

I’m unsure on the mid-fat thing. I feel like I should really like it, since I’ve only loved my MTB more, as tire size grew (running 2.3″ Specialized Renegade now) and have enjoyed riding rigid. The one Kona 27.5+ bike I tested out felt like a slog compared to my bike, though. But I’m sure the wheels on that stock bike were really heavy as probably were the tires. So I may only run it as a 29er in the end. It’d be nice to clear 29×2.5 tires, though, so having some chainstay clearance would be nice.

I’ll start a thread to solicit thoughts on this when I start thinking about it more concretely, but in interim have some catching up to do on modern MTB standards.

I’ll jump on that thread if I have something to contribute, but for now, I’ll say you don’t need a 100mm wide bottom bracket shell if you aren’t going to get a fat bike and have no plans to ever run >4″ tires.

As for boosting your Hope hubs, you might be able to if you have the right version: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/boostinator

[hozn]

@drevil 165481 wrote:

I’ll jump on that thread if I have something to contribute, but for now, I’ll say you don’t need a 100mm wide bottom bracket shell if you aren’t going to get a fat bike and have no plans to ever run >4″ tires.

As for boosting your Hope hubs, you might be able to if you have the right version: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/boostinator

Wow, had no idea that existed. Yeah, I’ve got Hope Pro 2 Evo (40t) hubs, so I assume those are the version I would need! — that’s a nice option to be able to keep using my 29″ wheels, then, until I’m able/can-afford to build some 27.5+ wheels.

[Greenbelt]

New power commuter built up today! Sad to part with the old steel tank, but…
[IMG]https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21764965_1968087223449165_7310562571277736178_n.jpg?oh=bb9d68b6265d5fc69311ac99d2c26678&oe=5A526AE2[/IMG]

[Zack]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15506[/ATTACH]
My old Trek 7500 finally gave out on Tuesday. The frame cracked after about 16,000 miles. Since I replaced the chain and cassette every 4-6 months, I wanted a belt drive bike. The 11 speed ones were too expensive, about $2k, so I bought a Priority Continuum Onyx. It has been interesting so far, very quiet and shifting is silky smooth thanks to the gearless Nuvinci hub. Anyone else ride with a belt instead of a chain?

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Zack 165737 wrote:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15506[/ATTACH]
My old Trek 7500 finally gave out on Tuesday. The frame cracked after about 16,000 miles. Since I replaced the chain and cassette every 4-6 months, I wanted a belt drive bike. The 11 speed ones were too expensive, about $2k, so I bought a Priority Continuum Onyx. It has been interesting so far, very quiet and shifting is silky smooth thanks to the gearless Nuvinci hub. Anyone else ride with a belt instead of a chain?

I’d love to get a belt drive bike for commuting, but I’d want something with drop bars and road-ish geometry since my commute is relative long, with lots of space to ride fast. But such a bike seems difficult to find at the $1000 price point, at least as a complete bike. Building a Soma Wolverine or something would probably be the most realistic option.

[LhasaCM]

@Zack 165737 wrote:

My old Trek 7500 finally gave out on Tuesday. The frame cracked after about 16,000 miles. Since I replaced the chain and cassette every 4-6 months, I wanted a belt drive bike. The 11 speed ones were too expensive, about $2k, so I bought a Priority Continuum Onyx. It has been interesting so far, very quiet and shifting is silky smooth thanks to the gearless Nuvinci hub. Anyone else ride with a belt instead of a chain?

Yes – I’ve been riding belt drive bikes for a couple of years now. I had a Breezer Beltway 8+ that worked nicely (Alfine 8 IGH), but the external bearing eccentric bottom bracket eventually just drove me nuts (I think the combination of my weight and the trailercycle’s loaded weight were just too much for it under sustained load), so I upgraded earlier this month to a bike with a Pinion gearbox.

@TwoWheelsDC 165740 wrote:

I’d love to get a belt drive bike for commuting, but I’d want something with drop bars and road-ish geometry since my commute is relative long, with lots of space to ride fast. But such a bike seems difficult to find at the $1000 price point, at least as a complete bike. Building a Soma Wolverine or something would probably be the most realistic option.

Building a Wolverine would be the most realistic option to get what you want, but you’re still going to end up well past the $1,000 price point You figure you’d need to spend $600-$700 on the frame and fork, $150 for the front and rear sprockets (assuming you have a crankset/rear wheel with an IGH that can accommodate the switch), $75 on the belt at a minimum, plus whatever parts you don’t have lying around (you know – the bottom bracket, headset, etc.). Another route to take at that price point would be to get one of the single speed belt drive bikes (both Raleigh and Spot have drop bar models for around $1k), and convert it to an IGH yourself, which could save you a little bit of money.

If you’re looking for a project – you also could consider getting something like a Raleigh Cadent frame from Joe Bike (http://www.joe-bike.com/product/raleigh-cadent-i8-belt-compatible-frameset-2709.htm). The frame/fork/headset/BB shell are $200, which helps make the $1k price point more achievable.

In all of those cases – unless you’re riding single speed – it’ll take a bit of hunting to find shifters that play nicely with drop bars.

[dkel]

@TwoWheelsDC 165740 wrote:

I’d love to get a belt drive bike for commuting, but I’d want something with drop bars and road-ish geometry since my commute is relative long, with lots of space to ride fast. But such a bike seems difficult to find at the $1000 price point, at least as a complete bike. Building a Soma Wolverine or something would probably be the most realistic option.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15508[/ATTACH]

This overran the $1000 price point by quite a bit. It’s super nice for commuting, because there’s barely anything to do to maintain the bike regardless of the riding conditions. The only thing I do with any frequency is pump up the tires. That said, it’s not as dialed in as a geared bike if you’re looking for a hammerfest on the way to work: you have to be a little more cautious about shifting, at least on the Alfine hub (I think the rider these hubs are marketed to has a slightly less agressive riding style than some on this forum!). I went with 8 speeds, and it’s all I need for the commute, but I imagine many would prefer 11 speeds. Also, shifter options are extremely limited for drop bar bikes in IGH territory: I had to get the aftermarket Jtek bar end shifter, which works great, but may be a bit old school for some riders.

tl:dr Highly recommended for commuting, but not exactly a cheap build.

[Sunyata]

@dkel 165745 wrote:

you have to be a little more cautious about shifting, at least on the Alfine hub (I think the rider these hubs are marketed to has a slightly less agressive riding style than some on this forum!).

I 100% agree with this.

I have a Raleigh Misceo 4 with a belt drive and an Alfine 11 speed. The bike and belt are fantastic, routine maintenance on the bike solely requires putting air in the tires. The IGH is… less than fantastic. Granted, I am probably a more aggressive rider than what Shimano probably had in mind. I have had the bike for three and a half years and have just under 10,000 miles on it. The hub has needed servicing three times (it is currently at Bikenetic getting serviced as we speak, they are great at getting it to run smoothly again). I would love to replace it with something a bit more reliable and smooth. But… $$$

[Author]

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