[ctankcycles]

@mstone 211432 wrote:

Did the visitor center close?

The Internet tells me it is open so that could be an option, although I’ve always arrived after it closes at 5pm and it’s a bit of an uphill ride to get there from the trail to the campground.

[ctankcycles]

Another multi-modal option is to take the Silver Line to Wiehle-Reston and ride to Sky Meadows State Park near Paris, VA. Compared to the ride down to Pohick, the roads along this route will be much quieter.

From the end of the Silver Line ride the W&OD for about 18 miles to Leesburg and then take a mix of paved and gravel roads southwest to Sky Meadows. The camping is primitive with very nice sites, pit toilets and firewood available. The parking lot is about a mile away and the only way to access the sites is a trail that can be ridden on the right bike. Since it’s a hike in there are no loud car campers to contend with. There is no potable water, but the Upperville Country Store is a handy resupply about 10 miles before camp.

Here’s a route to camp: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18645720.

And a return: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26734445

[ctankcycles]

@CBGanimal 156525 wrote:

OMG I have that exact problem! Thanks for the tip!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I too wear a hole in the same spot before the rest of the shoe wears out. Who’d you have do this work?

[ctankcycles]

STA is 73°. HTA is 71.5°. The plan is for a Force 1 group. I’m sort of torn between 1x and double. I’m sold on 1x for cx racing and trail riding but I’m worried that the gaps in gearing and limited range could make it less ideal for long, mixed surface rides where other riders have road doubles. Sometimes I think about running 1x for three months of the year during cx season and swapping to a double for the other 9 months but I’m going to give the 1x a chance and see how it goes. I don’t mind the extra cable stop that won’t be used when it’s set up as a 1x. Will look like this…

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Re tire clearance, I’m planning on a 700c wheelset that I’ll run for cx and gravel rides and a 650b so I have the option to run tires like the WTB Horizon or a 2.2 knobby. Chainring max will likely be 42t. This Crema provided some inspiration… http://theradavist.com/2016/08/my-agave-marginata-crema-duo-cross-bike/#1

[ctankcycles]

I’ve had a Soma Double cross (canti brakes) since 2012 and think it’s a great bike for commuting and a good bike for gravel, light trail riding, and ‘cross racing. When I first built it up it had the original steel fork and fenders with a 9 speed mix of Dura Ace, Ultegra, and 105. Sort of a parts bin special but there were some new parts as well. Over time I started riding more gravel and eventually got into ‘cross so I upgraded the fork to a Ritchey WCS and the drivetrain to a mix of Ultegra and 105 10 speed (but kept the tried and true XTR M952 rear derailleur) with ‘cross chainrings (46/36). Here she is in action at Rockburn CX this past fall:

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It’s been a fine bike but it’s time to upgrade to something with custom geometry, thru axles, 44mm head tube, and hydro discs. I was happy with the process and product that came out of my dealings with Marty Walsh of Geekhouse Bikes in Boston for my latest road bike so I turned to him for this build as well. This isn’t the final geometry but it’s pretty close. Also, the paint scheme isn’t exact but close as well. I’ll update once I receive the frame and start building her up.

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[ctankcycles]

@Steve O 156456 wrote:

Maybe this is a naive question, but why wouldn’t a water bottle cage (unless it’s plastic) last forever? It’s not like it’s a moving part.

Arundel Dave-O cages are carbon and sometimes carbon, like most materials, fails. I’ve seen plastic cages crack in extreme cold, steel and ti cages crack at a weld, and carbon cages crack because carbon.

[ctankcycles]

I’ll play…

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More to come…

[ctankcycles]

@hozn 156412 wrote:

Ha, yes I do. though I bought my Spurcycle back on Kickstarter when it was a more “reasonable” $45 for the black one.

I would probably buy one of the Crane if faced with that choice today, but the Spurcycle is a great bell, though.

And to be fair, I have had some really bad wheel experiences. Especially factory wheels or cheap eBay “hand-built” (domestic) options. Broken spokes, detensioning during rides, etc. So I definitely think going cheap is not wise. But then there is Honda vs Porsche and so far I am happy with Honda wheels.

I’m not a fan of factory wheelsets but for a budget wheelset I wouldn’t consider Velomine a cheap eBay “hand-built.” They’re a real shop in IL with an online store and a solid reputation (lots of positive reviews online). I have four wheelsets from them and they’ve all been solid. One with Formula hubs to Archetypes (singlespeed commuter), another with 105 to H Plus Son TB14 (88 Paramount), another with XT 6-bolts to 650b Velocity Blunts (AWOL), and a set on my wife’s Soma Buena Vista with 105 to A23s. All of these were somewhere between $199 and $229 which has proven to be a great value given the quality of the parts and build.

While these wheelsets have been great and I think are appropriate for the bikes they’re attached to, I can also appreciate the CK R45s to Belgiums on my Geekhouse road bike, the set of T-11s to Archetypes on another road bike, and the old set of King Classics that are on their fourth set of rims and currently on my cx/gravel bike. And with a Geekhouse cx/gravel on the way I had Matt Moore at District Cycle Works build up a set of Industry 9 to Belgium +. I also highly recommend Bill Mound at Spokes in Alexandria and the good folks at Bikenetic. I’ve had wheels build buy all those mentioned and they’ve all been great.

[ctankcycles]

Ha well you’re talking to a guy who has an appreciation for expensive hubs and bottle cages so…

I actually bought a couple Arundel Dave-O cages when they first came out around 2000 and they’re still going strong. Quality product made in the USA that lasts. Which I think the same can be said for many of the hub manufacturers I mentioned. I completely agree that King or something comparable makes little sense on a Wolverine build. But if I’m dropping a large sum on a high end bike then I don’t think hubs in this range are an unreasonable expenditure. I’ve had a set of King Classics since 1998 with many 10s of thousands of miles on the original bearings and still roll smooth with yearly rebuilds.

The question is do you have a $60 bell to go with your $60 cages?

[ctankcycles]

@hozn 156284 wrote:

No, no, no. $850 is cray cray unless you are doing carbon.

Is it though? A wheelset with a hub from Chris King, White Industries, Hope, Paul, Phil Wood, Tune, etc. built up with a popular high quality, lightweight aluminum rim like the HED Belgium and Sapim or DT Swiss spokes is going to be in the $800-$1000 range.

[ctankcycles]

Velomine is another good place to look for value-minded wheelets. They sell expensive stuff too but if I’m having a wheelset built with something like King hubs or Enve rims I’d have a wheelbuilder I know and trust do the job. These aren’t on the Velomine website right now but they’re available through eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Velocity-Aileron-Black-Shimano-RS505-Road-CX-Disc-Brake-Hubs-9-10-11s-/272011460556.

The RS505 is a solid workhorse, Velocity is MUSA and tubeless compatible, and DT Swiss spokes are DT Swiss spokes. A friend (who is on here and would probably be happy to show you) just built up a Wolverine with this wheelset and is happy with them. They look even better blacked out with logos removed.

[ctankcycles]

I’m pretty sure Mary uses Falls Creek Outfitters (don’t quote me on that tho) which I’ve used myself and have been happy with. Bicycling Magazine had a cover story last year featuring a cover photo of a bunch of his patches on a rando bag: http://www.bicycling.com/culture/art/cycling-patches-are-back-and-more-badass-than-ever

I think you’re on the right track with a patch that’s not year specific.

[ctankcycles]

L!G!A! (Lights! Gravel! Action!) is a reoccurring towpath ride departing from District Cycle Works at 26th and P NW at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays from late September until around the end of March. It’s an out and back to the bridge just past mile 11. The pace tends to vary anywhere between 16-17 avg mph to 20-21 avg mph. Heading out of the city is pretty social with as many as 25-30 riders on a warm night like we had yesterday. The group tends to split up a bit once out of the city with the fast group working a rotating paceline and those looking to take it easy keeping it social off the back. The fast group can be pretty fast. Last night one guy picked up a KOM by averaging 21.9 mph on the 10.5 mile segment between Carderock and Whitehurst. Afterwards a bunch us roll through Glen’s Garden Market (Dupont) for $4 drafts and nosh. If this sounds like something you’d be into you can sign up for the weekly email here: https://goo.gl/forms/7NBX9y4fyzvSzICI2

[ctankcycles]

Rescuing this thread from falling to page 3… 50 degrees with a good chance of rain tonight but I was due for a few miles so a trip down the WOD to Caboose was the move…

Indeed it was spitting most of the way so ndubs and I were pretty saturated by the time we arrived. All that meant was we had to drink til we were mostly dry and the storm passed. No problem…

Caboose Brewing Co. – Vanilla Bean Hobo Stout > Golden Coast Golden Coffee Ale > Casey Jones Rye > Boxcar Brown Ale E: Loving Cup

I like Caboose. The stout was smooth, the coffee ale was okay – just a slight coffee note, always been a fan of the Casey Jones rye, and the Boxcar Brown was a great way to finish things off.

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[ctankcycles]

Hey guys, sorry I wasn’t able to make it to HH last night. Thanks to Dane for getting the ball rolling and taking care of team captain stuff. Dane, if you’re looking to pass the baton, I’m cool with taking it. So there ya go, I hereby nominate myself. Besides herding cats I’m willing to organize some team group rides and most importantly, happy hours. But for real tho, we won’t have much of a team without everyone getting into it. So what say you Team 9, are we ready to do this?

First off, it would be helpful if everyone introduces themselves a bit and includes where they live so we can figure out how best to coordinate for happy hours and possible rides. Me, I live in Fairlington, just up the hill from Shirlington, and try to commute downtown to work as much as possible. Longer rides on the weekends, I like gravel in Loudoun County, the Wednesday night L!G!A! ride on the towpath, and whatever looks like fun and fits my schedule.

Now your turn…

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