in·CH+

Riding big wheels in Switzerland Frankly, because bigger is better

My May Massive Mudbath 20 days into the month of May to do my first mountain bike ride of the month. I don’t recall a May where the bike had to wait that long to hit the trails. I’ve been in the saddle, lots in fact, but up to yesterday it’s all been on the road. I spent every ride in my local mountains, constantly waiting for the snow to melt and the trails to dry up a bit. I would have actually done a road bike ride yesterday, but a stiff wind had me seek cover in the forest. While the Jura limestone mountains drain fairly rapidly, much of the trail system at the moment is mud galore. Hikers better wear rubber boots. And just as I reported back on April 29th, a lot of singletrack is currently still completely impassable. Much of the shrubs along the trails are broken. It’s going to take some time for things to dry up once we get a sunny period and I wonder when - and if - the forest is going to be cleaned up. Mountain biking is and will be a challenge around here. As much fun as I have on the 29er, I’ll most likely end the month doing the majority of the rides back on the road. P.S. Yahoo bought “this” blog for $1.1 billion just to be cool - and I won’t see a dime of it. Distance:66.0 km (41.0 miles)Elevation:2’087 m (6’847 feet)Time:05:25:50Speed (avg/max):12.2/50.8 kph (7.6/31.6 mph) Zoom

My May Massive Mudbath

20 days into the month of May to do my first mountain bike ride of the month. I don’t recall a May where the bike had to wait that long to hit the trails. I’ve been in the saddle, lots in fact, but up to yesterday it’s all been on the road. I spent every ride in my local mountains, constantly waiting for the snow to melt and the trails to dry up a bit. I would have actually done a road bike ride yesterday, but a stiff wind had me seek cover in the forest.

While the Jura limestone mountains drain fairly rapidly, much of the trail system at the moment is mud galore. Hikers better wear rubber boots. And just as I reported back on April 29th, a lot of singletrack is currently still completely impassable. Much of the shrubs along the trails are broken. It’s going to take some time for things to dry up once we get a sunny period and I wonder when - and if - the forest is going to be cleaned up. Mountain biking is and will be a challenge around here. As much fun as I have on the 29er, I’ll most likely end the month doing the majority of the rides back on the road.

P.S. Yahoo bought “this” blog for $1.1 billion just to be cool - and I won’t see a dime of it.

Distance:66.0 km (41.0 miles)
Elevation:2’087 m (6’847 feet)
Time:05:25:50
Speed (avg/max):12.2/50.8 kph (7.6/31.6 mph)
★

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After a rare sunny Thursday road ride, the weekend presented itself back in its now all too common grayness. Saturday’s bike ride was squeezed in between a run to the grocery store and and out-of-town dinner with friends. Sunday permitted a first visit to a popular single-track, which was in miserable condition. Gusty winds wreaked havoc and downed several huge fir trees, one of which was literally uprooted. The trail was littered with heaps of fallen branches. As if that wasn’t enough, most of the shrubs through which the trail meanders, were bent, twisted and broken. Without a machete in my jersey pocket, I was ducking under, climbing over or circling around stuff. But riding I was not. In fact, at the moment this is how biking very often looks like. If it isn’t a natural disaster, it’s humans that are currently busy cutting trees and leaving trails in a sorry state. As much as I’m hoping for better weather, I’m looking forward to lumberjacks be done with their work and trails revert to the greatness they’re known for.

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First Snow-Free Ride Of The Year A warm friendly evening called for a short bike ride after a day at the office. Should I hit the road or toss the 29er across some fine springtime singletrack? When I left the office I tilted towards road. When I got home I grabbed my baggies and rolled out the door on the 29er. It was a good choice. Trails were mostly dry and it was a darn good feeling to be back on Kid Dangerous to start getting to know the bike on trails that weren’t covered in snow. 2 hours of trail time showed that the bike is above and beyond any 29er I’ve ridden up to now. It excels in every situation. It’s one heck of a climber and a steep drop through a tight turn was the real eye-opener. On my previous rigid Niners, I always opted to walk it. When I steered the Forty-Four into this key section, not the slightest bit of hesitation developed. It’s not always just the rider. Sometimes it’s the bike - and what a bike it is. Distance:30.2 km (18.8 miles)Elevation:1’039 m (3’409 feet)Time:02:01:56Speed (avg/max):14.8/39.7 kph (9.2/24.7 mph) Zoom

First Snow-Free Ride Of The Year

A warm friendly evening called for a short bike ride after a day at the office. Should I hit the road or toss the 29er across some fine springtime singletrack? When I left the office I tilted towards road. When I got home I grabbed my baggies and rolled out the door on the 29er. It was a good choice. Trails were mostly dry and it was a darn good feeling to be back on Kid Dangerous to start getting to know the bike on trails that weren’t covered in snow. 2 hours of trail time showed that the bike is above and beyond any 29er I’ve ridden up to now. It excels in every situation. It’s one heck of a climber and a steep drop through a tight turn was the real eye-opener. On my previous rigid Niners, I always opted to walk it. When I steered the Forty-Four into this key section, not the slightest bit of hesitation developed. It’s not always just the rider. Sometimes it’s the bike - and what a bike it is.

Distance:30.2 km (18.8 miles)
Elevation:1’039 m (3’409 feet)
Time:02:01:56
Speed (avg/max):14.8/39.7 kph (9.2/24.7 mph)
★

The Gloomy Month Of April

This year it seems winter didn’t want to end and sunny spring days didn’t want to show up in force. Has it been a particularly long winter? Looking back at the last few years - no, based on my Flickr photo archive 2012 look just as dull. Not one bike ride on a sunny day. 2011 however was warm and each time I hopped on the bike, the sun was smiling. Temperatures called for shorts and a short sleeve jersey. After a trip to Japan that cut two weekends out of my riding days, I hope that what’s left over of the month, will have at least one or two more pleasant days.

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imageWhen I got in touch with Kris at 44 Bikes about a fat-bike, I knew that XX1 was only a couple of months away of hitting the market. Being a long time singlespeeder who has not used a geared mountain bike in over fourteen years, I also knew that my future fat-bike was not going to be equipped with a front derailleur. First, I wanted to keep the bike as simple as possible. Second, a front derailleur that sits smack-dab in the trajectory of mud and snow coming off the rear wheel, is the first thing to fail once said mud and snow meet freezing temperatures.

imageWhen several hubs were announced with XD1 driver bodies for XX1, I decided to equip Big Boy with SRAM’s new 1x11 drivetrain knowing full well that first hand experience was nonexistent and we’d be some of the first to do it. Kris ordered a custom anodized set of Paul hubs and an Industry 9 XD1 freewheel body, got all the XX1 components together as soon as they were available and built the bike as I’ve been riding it since February.

imageSo, how’s XX1 been working out on a fat-bike? Exceptionally well but with a few caveats. From a gear ratio point of view, I have the gear range I need to ride in the snow and climb my local mountains. It’s rare that I’d like to push a harder gear and I never feel the need for a smaller gear. Shifting up and down works flawlessly and quickly. Not being used to a trigger shifter, I had to relearn using one and at first, I occasionally I shifted down when I really wanted to shift up. It’s been more than a decade since I last used such a thing, so no huge surprise there.

imageAnd those caveats? There are two and both are due to a fair amount of cross chaining when the chain sits on the biggest cog. Pedalling in the biggest cog works well, but rotate your cranks backwards and the chain will quickly fall off the biggest cog. Next, I’ve been seeing a lot of wear on the outer surfaces of the teeth on the chainring. The cross chaining pushes the chain links against the chainring and grinds the teeth away. With a clean chain in the snow this doesn’t happen all that quickly, but come spring and mud, you can almost watch the teeth disappear from one ride to the next.

imageWith a symmetric setup with 170mm rear end such as my Big Boy, one has to live with that and replace the chainring every winter. A titanium or steel chainring would last longer, but may also shift wear to the chain. If one were to built a custom fat-bike for a 1x11 drivetrain, the solution would be a hub wider than 170mm, which are just now starting to appear on the market, or an offset rear triangle designed for a 150 or 170mm hub. Such an offset would allow to place the cassette in a more favorable position relative to the single chainring and reduce the cross chain effect in the biggest cog.

So, if you’re planning to run an XX1 drivetrain on a fat-bike, consider the rather skewed chainline and the increased drivetrain wear it’ll create. If you’re beginning a fat-bike project with a blank sheet of paper, consider all options to minimize the issue. It may very well be the Achilles’ heel of SRAM’s 1x11 drivetrain, as I’ve seen photos of original SRAM XX1 chainrings that display the same kind of chainring wear being used on a regular mountain bike. As soon as long term reviews start popping up on the web, we’ll know more about XX1’s drivetrain longevity.

★

With a trip scheduled next week that will have me miss the next two weekends, yesterday was most likely my last fat bike ride into the snow. Yesterday, one had to climb above 3600 feet to find some anyway, so I doubt that there will be much of anything left when I get to venture up that way again in three weeks. Below the snow line, riding was fantastic. I rode my second best time up the Rocky Hôle. Quite psyched about that actually. Firstly, because I did it on 28 lbs Big Boy and secondly because it got done so early in the year. The downhills were a blast too and I kept looking for more. With a lot of lumbering currently going on, a small technical downhill treasure of mine was inaccessible. I was hoping to ride it one more time on my fatty, but until all the wood has been removed this trail will have to wait. Well, hopefully it’ll still be there, as it’s really not much more than a barely visible, 5 inch wide footpath.

With my fat-biking season now reaching its end, it’ll be time for a small summery of my first fat-bike experiences and the 44 Bikes Big Boy. Look for that some time after my trip. Towards the end of the month I’ll be back on the other big wheels, my Kid Dangerous. After running 2.4 Continental Mountain King tires on it during the winter months, these soft-rubber tires needed to be replaced with something more summer-worthy. I ordered a 2.5 WTB Weirwolf TCS and a 2.2 Wolverine Race. While the Wolverine will serve as rear tire, the Weirwolf will have to pull drawer duty. The new tire thread looks pretty good, but the volume is a huge letdown. Apparently, the tire is supposed to soon be relabeled to 2.3, but in my humble opinion it doesn’t even meet the 2.3 tire category. In comparison to the Wolverine and other tires, the new Weirwolf is more of a 2.0/2.1 sort of tire. Anyone who loved the old Weirwolf for its balloony girth will be hugely disappointed with the new one. My front wheel will now carry a Maxxis Ardent in 2.4.

Distance:33.2 km (20.6 miles)
Elevation:1’309 m (4’295 feet)
Time:02:45:02
Speed (avg/max):12.1/47.3 kph (7.5/29.4 mph)
★

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Just saw the headline in Reeder that a compatriot of mine won the Tour of Flanders. Must have been a great race, but I’m not enough of a passive cyclist to stay home on the couch and watch a race when I could be out riding myself. I went up to the Chasseral once more to find the mountain back in the deepest of winter. There was no visibility to speak of, yet I fought my way to the antenna just for the sake of snapping a “been there” photo. With the addition of a couple of inches of new snow and a thick fog that made everything appear the same, conditions were not ideal to stay at that elevation for too long. So I turned around to jump onto the ski slope to dive to Nods. The upper section was tough and I often found myself sliding down the mountain with the left foot clipped out and on the snow. This technique worked rather well and allowed for a much faster speed than if I kept both feet on the pedals. As soon as I reached the tree-line, the ski run got hard and let me bomb down with ease. Packed, grippy snow and a fat-bike - holy cow! Farther down, the snow turned slushy. I did my best to keep the bottom of the skilift in my crosshairs while the bike constantly slid off to the right and to the left whenever I oversteered.

P.S. Hey Winter, thanks for sticking around for so long and let me enjoy my awesome Big Boy. It’s been great fun and I love every minute of it.

Distance:56.9 km (35.4 miles)
Elevation:1’859 m (6’099 feet)
Time:05:35:52
Speed (avg/max):10.2/52.0 kph (6.3/32.3 mph)
★

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The weather forecast for this Easter weekend really isn’t all that promising. It snowed today and it’s supposed to rain for the next two days. Monday should be nicer as well as colder, so maybe another great fat-biking day. This morning was dry and cool, so good conditions to hop on Big Boy for a climb into the Jura. I decided to try climbing the La Hôle Trail, a great workout any time of the year and a trail that throws me off my singlespeed almost every time I give it a go. People rarely lose their way up there and I can count the times I’ve seen someone on one hand. I had no idea if and how far I could ride up the trail. Despite several inches of new snow, I actually managed to stay on the bike for quite a long time. When I had to get off and walk, I followed the tracks a chamois had left in the snow. I reached the Chemin Morlet and stayed in hiking mode to cut straight across to the Waldberg trail. This trail is often maintained as a cross-country ski run in the winter. Sure enough, it was marked but had not been groomed for a few days. I headed west following the sign posts and a pair of traces a lonely cross-country skier had carved into the snow a little earlier. Two to three inches of fresh snow added a good amount of resistance and I spent many of the flat miles in the lowest gear. From the Place Centrale I added a few more miles by continuing westwards. When I turned around, a narrow snowshoe trail smiled at me going off to the right and up. I couldn’t pass up the invitation and jumped right on it. What a treat! It tossed me back onto the road right before the Métairie de Prêles. By that time, the snow fall had changed to an ice-rain. I stayed on the paved road for a few miles, turned off to the right for the Spaghetti Trail to reach home via Jorat and Evilard.

Distance:40.6 km (25.2 miles)
Elevation:1’315 m (4’314 feet)
Time:04:16:39
Speed (avg/max):9.5/37.8 kph (5.9/23.5 mph)
★

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My former boss used to invent holidays that we’d celebrate at the office with a BBQ outside or else. It was with this tradition in mind, that I declared Friday, March 22nd “Fat Friday”. Now that’s not the kind of “Fat Friday” I spend indulging in eating loads of fatty foods without remorse. No, my “Fat Friday” is the day you go out to burn fat leaving fat traces in the snow while riding a fat-bike all day long. Because the weather forecast called for Friday to be the sunniest day of the week, with clouds and rain returning on the weekend, this March 22nd happend to become the first “Fat Friday” in my calendar. This holiday might shift around and might even repeat itself a few times in the year. Above are a few impressions from the day. It was duly celebrated.

We ended the fativities with dinner at Way to India, a night at the museum listening to Dow Jones and the Nikkeis and visiting the exhibition Cosmos of Color, an artistic confrontation between Johannes Itten and Paul Klee on the subject of color. No dinosaurs came to life but we weren’t exactly in the right museum for that kind of experience.

Distance:60.4 km (37.5 miles)
Elevation:1’942 m (6’371 feet)
Time:06:37:17
Speed (avg/max):9.1/60.4 kph (5.7/37.5 mph)
★
Rotors In Hydro-Culture Three weeks ago, I asked for recommendations on disc brake rotors and got a bunch of comments, some in the Disqus comment section and some more directly through Tumblr. Thanks! DJ pointed out the new carbon SiCCC rotors by Kettle Cycles, which I had seen when the first prototypes went around the usual cycling news sites, but had not seen later in their production look. Gotta say the two-piece standard SiCCC rotors which are available in a variety of colors look really sharp. Ultimately, I settled for the following spare rotors to have on hand once the current ones need to be replaced: Alligator Starlite: Have been using them in the past and currently have a set on Kid Dangerous. Light and work well. Alligator Crown: Another inexpensive rotor. Due to the larger cutouts pads will probably wear faster. We’ll see. Purchased from China-based Ebay stores. No duties, no VAT. Zoom

Rotors In Hydro-Culture

Three weeks ago, I asked for recommendations on disc brake rotors and got a bunch of comments, some in the Disqus comment section and some more directly through Tumblr. Thanks! DJ pointed out the new carbon SiCCC rotors by Kettle Cycles, which I had seen when the first prototypes went around the usual cycling news sites, but had not seen later in their production look. Gotta say the two-piece standard SiCCC rotors which are available in a variety of colors look really sharp. Ultimately, I settled for the following spare rotors to have on hand once the current ones need to be replaced:

  • Alligator Starlite: Have been using them in the past and currently have a set on Kid Dangerous. Light and work well.
  • Alligator Crown: Another inexpensive rotor. Due to the larger cutouts pads will probably wear faster. We’ll see.

Purchased from China-based Ebay stores. No duties, no VAT.

★