29in·CH+

After two visits to the Chasseral I was looking for something a little different today. So I followed the Dinosaur Traces from last year, but then continued straight to Sonceboz where I started the climb of the Pierre Pertuis pass. The wide trail up to the top of the pass was easy, all on hardpack and not very steep. But things changed from there. The marked mountain bike route #44 follows a steep forest trail. On a geared bike you would drop into a small gear and start patiently spinning until the trail spits you out onto a small paved road 200 meters higher. On my singlespeed it was an exercise in turning the cranks in slow motion trying the best not to stall. Back on the road the legs went back to pushing the cranks faster. I was worried about the next section of trail, though. A rough uphill trail with loose gravel waited around the next turn. Well, it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Soon I reached the Métairie de Werdt from where the trail stayed pretty much at the same elevation for the journey across the Montoz. It’s quite nice up there; awesome views in every direction and lots of mountain restaurants if one feels a little hungry. As far as mountain biking it’s a rather boring adventure. It’s all gravel. No singletrack far and wide. The Montoz’s really a better destination for a cyclocross bike. I continued eastwards until I got to the Obere Bürenberg, where I started looking for the entrance to the so-called “Schmugglerwägli” - the Smuggler’s Trail. I had no trouble finding it and dropped into this narrow, technical trail. It’s nice, has a bunch of steep, rooty and rocky sections and a few places where you’re better off walking. Is it worth heading out there? For a “seen it - done it” sort of trip - yes. To do on a regular basis - not really. Next I climbed from the Wäsmeli along the Stützliweg to the Montagne de Romont. This trail’s fun. It climbs on forest ground spiked with lots of the typical Jura limestone. On a singlespeed there are two sections you need to power through if you don’t want to get tossed off the bike. A grassy trail brought me to the Montagne de Romont where I had to look hard for the trail down to Vauffelin. No trail in sight, I rode through tall grass until I spotted a yellow trail marker. The trail to Vauffelin is steep, narrow and too darn straight. Leaves cover loose rocks and broken branches, so forget about going fast. In short: a trail that kills elevation fast without being overly exciting. I crossed the small village of Vauffelin to climb the north side of the Bözingenberg. The first half of the climb is a typical forest service road. But it leads to a fun uphill singletrack that’s always a joy to take. Once at the top, I headed to the so-so downhill that ends just above the Tierpark. I walked through this one, then crossed the bridge across the Taubenlochschlucht to head back home. A fun day out on the bike, but not a loop I need to repeat on my Niner. The Montoz is cyclocross material.

Distance:	49.7 km (30.9 miles)
Elevation:	2’122 m (6’962 feet)
Time:	03:49:39
Speed (avg/max):	13.0/55.0 kph (8.0/34.2 mph)

★ collideous

Looking for a longer loop to the Chasseral with a nice amount of climbing? Look no further! Today’s loop across the Twannberg adds a couple more miles to yesterday’s loop while requiring about the same 6600 feet of climbing. I left a little late this morning because the Biocentic BB needed attention. On yesterday’s loop in creaked badly. No surprise there. The Niner BB’s famous for that. I took it apart, cleaned it and then reassembled it before heading out. It creaked at the beginning, then went silent for the first climb only to start creaking again for the remainder of the ride. I think if you own a Niner with an EBB you just have to try to live with it. It’s not great, but there’s no proven fix. I tuned it out and had a good ride. On my way back, I passed two groups of bikers. When I passed the second, someone greeted me saying: “The TwentyNiner forum is out on the trails”. Nice that folks know the forum and recognize you out on the trail. I need to apologize though, I didn’t stay with the group for long as I was on a mission to get home.

Distance:	65.6 km (40.8 miles)
Elevation:	2’017 m (6’617 feet)
Time:	04:57:37
Speed (avg/max):	13.2/53.2 kph (8.2/33.0 mph)

★ collideous

After yesterday’s cycling break on Fivefingers, it was time to roll out the bike again and hit a loop in the local hills. I followed the same trails as on Wednesday only this time under a sunny sky. The Bise was blowing and kept temperatures in check; perfect riding conditions that a lot of other two-wheeled folks enjoyed as well. Three days ago I missed a really great spot - an overlook at 1352 meters with a fantastic view of the Combe Grède. With the dense fog that day I wouldn’t have seen anything. Today on the other hand was spectacular. The vista point makes an ideal place for a short break before hitting the last climbs to reach the Chasseral and that’s just what I did. Once at the antenna, I followed the crest and took the mandatory Spaghetti Trail to head home. Interesting observation: On my way up to the Chasseral, I did neither pass nor cross a single cyclist. On the way from the antenna eastwards along the crest I passed more than thirty bikers. Where did they come from and how did they get there?

Distance:	58.4 km (36.3 miles)
Elevation:	2’036 m (6’680 feet)
Time:	04:38:13
Speed (avg/max):	12.6/54.3 kph (7.8/33.7 mph)
GPS Track:	GPSies.com

★ collideous

My last mountain bike ride dates back to April 9th. I haven’t been lazy, though. I’ve logged a lots of miles since then, but exclusively on the road bike and the cyclocrosser. Today I had something different in mind. I wanted to head out and enjoy the warm yet cloudy spring day, have fun on big wheels and doing so also collect a good amount of climbing meters. The day started with the fun part. First I popped onto a narrow trail following the Suze river thinking I’d be able to cross the river farther up. Well, that trail, as much fun as it was, dead-ended soon after. I turned around and went back onto the official hiking trail. To find some fun I got off the gravel trail and rode a cement wall that separates the trail from the Suze river ten feet below. Funny how a decently wide wall only has one single difficulty - knowing that falling off wouldn’t be pleasant experience. The experiment didn’t end with a bath in the river and shortly after, the trail started to point upwards. After some climbing and a good amount of singletrack my next destination was the Creux de Glace. Unfortunately, it was closed off due the a high risk of rockslides. I continued to the Combe Grède in heavy fog and occasional rain, then climbed to the Chasseral. It wasn’t pretty today, but that extra loop is totally worth the effort on a dry, sunny day. I stopped at the Chasseral antenna for a few pictures, then followed the crest eastwards to get back home. The past couple of rains have turned this trail segment into a mudfest. The bike and I soon carried a couple of pounds of mud, which I hosed off in the backyard as soon as I got home.

Distance:	58.7 km (36.5 miles)
Elevation:	1’993 m (6’539 feet)
Time:	04:53:32
Speed (avg/max):	12.0/49.4 kph (7.5/30.7 mph)

★ collideous

On Wednesday I did a quick cyclocross ride to the Montage de Romont, which offers a fantastic, paved climb with a stunning view. I’ll be adding this destination to my out and back training rides on the road bike. Should make a perfect ride when time is tight on a weekday after work. I crossed over to the Stierenberg then went for another climb to reach the Montoz. I was wearing bib shorts, an undershirt and arm warmers. Up to that point of the ride those few clothes were sufficient. Little did I know that it got a whole lot colder on the Montoz and suddenly even started to snow. My initial idea was to reach the Col de Pierre Pertuis, but the sudden snowfall quickly made me abandon that idea. I dropped to the Pré la Patte, where things got a muddy mess. I managed to make it through there and froze on the way to Péry. I took the shortcut through the cement factory in Rondchâtel to quickly head back home. On those 50k both the bike and I suffered hell. I got a hot shower, the bike did not. It was too late and I was too cold to give the Mares its much needed shower with the garden hose.

Distance:	49.6 km (30.8 miles)
Elevation:	1’642 m (5’387 feet)
Time:	02:43:06
Speed (avg/max):	18.3/74.9 kph (11.4/46.5 mph)

★ collideous

I love mountain biking, but when I’m out on the cyclocross bike and pass a group of mountain bikers, sitting on fullies and spinning a granny gear to slowly gain elevation, it feels like a brief encounter between a lizard and a group of slugs. Mountain bikes make it up everything, but they certainly aren’t the fastest doing it. The last couple of weeks, I haven’t ridden my big-wheeled slug. Instead, I prefered the lightness and speed of my road bike and more recently, the agility of my cyclocrosser. Thurday night, after a long day attending a trade show, an old friend - the Mont Sujet - got a visit from me.

Distance:	47.0 km (29.2 miles)
Elevation:	1’449 m (4’754 feet)
Time:	02:20:48
Speed (avg/max):	20.0/72.4 kph (12.4/45.0 mph)

★ collideous

Sometimes you work on your bike, get it clean and shiny and get the whole drivetrain perfectly dialed, then you’re out on the trail with mis-shifts and chain-skips. It all shifted smoothly in the work-stand and shifted smoothly the first couple of miles. As soon as the trail steepened, cog number nine on the already used 10-speed Shimano cassette didn’t want to be friends with the new SRAM chain. I tried a few trail-side derailleur adjustments to no avail. 15 kilometers into the ride, I turned around to head back home. I swapped the Dura-Ace cassette with another lightly used Ultegra cassette and then hammered back and forth on my street to check the transmission. Cassette and chain worked together. There was a hole in the sky that let the sun through, so I decided to head back out for a second ride. This time, I rode to the Twannberg where I would decide the next leg of the route based on the weather conditions. When I got up there, a pretty heavy downpour was quickly approaching from the Chasseral. I turned right to ride away from it, but about 15 minutes later it caught up to me. First it drizzled, and soon enough it was just pouring. The cool thing about those moments is that you just don’t care about getting soaked. The water runs down your face and has that deliciously salted taste. Arms and legs get coated with a liquid glaze and look even more pronounced than they already are. You look at your legs spinning the pedals and you push even harder. The heavy downpour was over almost as soon as it started. I shot back into town, rode into the backyard and hosed down the bike. After only 32 kilometers it had collected a good amount of dirt that is more easily removed as long as it’s still moist.

★ collideous

Introducing A New Headset Standard

Years ago, when I had access to machine tools, I used to design components and machine them myself on a CNC lathe or mill. One such project was a mountain bike hub set with radial straight-pull spokes; another was a set of direct-pull brakes years before V-brakes were born. As my professional path got me farther away from machine shops, many great ideas remained just that - great ideas. While it would have always been fun to make new components, it made no sense to pay machine-shop hours when there were plenty of after-market components readily available at a fraction of the cost. Occasionally still, an idea pops into my mind. Sometimes I take the time to sketch it out on paper, but more often than not it remains an imagination swirling through my neural pathways. Lately, I’ve been looking at fat-bikes and thought they’d be great candidates for a dual-crown rigid fork. Here’s how I’d build it.

Your typical bicycle fork consists of two fork legs, a fork crown and a steerer tube running through the larger head tube of the frame. At the top and bottom of the frame’s head tube bearings, known as headset, provide a rotatable interface between the fork and the frame. For a long time headset cups were pressed into the head tube. In the old days the top of the fork was threaded. The upper headset had a threaded adjustable race to remove any play and a locknut right above it to make sure it all stayed that way. In the early 90ies threadless headsets, a design by Dia Compe (now Cane Creek) got rid of the threaded steerer tube and the threaded top headset race. Instead the steerer tube extends from the fork all the way through the head tube and above the headset, and is held in place by the stem clamped on top. A top cap with a preload bolt and a star nut driven into the steerer tube are used to press the stem down on a compression ring of the upper headset bearing cup. Headset adjustment is done with the preload (or cap) bolt. More recently, integrated or internal headsets have moved the bearings inside the head tube, while keeping the threadless compression principle. Take a look at Wikipedia for a more detailed explanation of the different headset designs.

Threadless, integrated or internal headsets offer a solid and light-weight interface between fork and frame for most bikes. On downhill bikes with dual fork crowns and direct mount stems that no longer attach to the steerer tube but to the upper fork crown however, the current headset design seems a bit antiquated. At least to me. Why bother with headset races, compression rings, star nut and top cap on a burly downhill fork?

My solution: get rid of all those components, toss the steerer tube away at the same time and put the bearings into the upper and lower fork crown. Now machine the frame’s head tube so that the bearings can ride on the outside of the headtube. Play adjustment can be achieved through various methods, for example with a threaded adjustment ring in the top fork crown that pushes down the upper bearing.

The above described idea is copyleft © 29in.ch. Permission is hereby granted to use the work. The inventor is looking for new challenges and can be hired.

★ collideous

This year, my wife wanted to make the jump to big wheels, so we spent time online browsing a large number of bike manufacturer’s website to find out what they had to offer for 2012. She wanted a good mountain bike that was specifically designed for women without looking too feminine. Colors like pink were an absolute no-no. In addition, she wanted a bike with a low standover. She quickly found everything she wanted in Specialized’s Jett Expert 29.

So, one rainy Saturday we made a visit to the Bicycle Gallery in nearby Ipsach. The shop is the largest Specialized dealer in the area and has quite a large selection of 29ers in the showroom. The shop had two Jett Comp 29 in 17 and 19 inches but no Expert. A quick look at the computer showed that Experts were already sold out. Three were at the central warehouse but were already reserved. Knowing that people often put a reservation on something but then decide not to get it, we told the shop that we would take one of these Jett Expert 29, should one become available. The following week we got a call and my wife had her Expert.

We bought it with its original 3x10 mix of Deore and Deore XT transmission, which I immediately removed. My wife doesn’t want to deal with derailleur shifting. Instead, the new bike was equipped with a black Alfine hub laced into the original, white Alex rim. Black spokes and red nipples were used to match the front wheel. The crankset lost its three chainrings and got a sweet Rotor Q-Ring with 34 teeth from Bikespeed.ch, which got us the ring in no time.

The Jett Expert 29 runs all the brake and shifting cables along the bottom of the top tube. The rear shifting cable the continues below the right seat stay to meet the XT shadow derailleur in the back. An Alfine hub is designed for a shifting cable at the chain stay. A bit of research before we purchased the bike showed that using an Alfine hub with the cable at the seat stay was no problem. One just has to use the green and blue spacers for vertical dropouts and swap left and right to have the hub cassette joint unit point upwards in the direction of the seat stay.

After a first ride this weekend, there’s one more thing on the wishlist - a Cane Creek Thudbuster suspension seatpost. A red K-Edge ring guard will soon cover the front chainring. Not so much for chain retention, but more as a barrier between leg and chainring. Other than that, the Specialized Jett Expert 29 is now perfectly set up and ready for regular rides through our local forests and along our nearby rivers and lakes.

★ collideous

Today I got off a late start and the afternoon looked very much the same as the past couple of days. I wanted to reach the Colisses-du-Haut and then head eastwards. When I approached the Twannberg, it started to drizzle and the Chasseral was wrapped in clouds. I continued on and decided that the ride would only be cut short if conditions got worse. Well, it didn’t take too long and the rain ceased. Just above Nods, my rear tire picked up a nail and I had to stop to replace the tube. A while later, I turned into the long, steady climb to the Colisses-du-Haut at 1’325 meters above sea. The gravel-road was wet and extremely soft. Not much later, much of the forest floor was white, covered with a thin layer of fresh snow. From the Colisses-du-Haut, I turned eastwards with the idea of hitting the famous Geissrücken trail. The entire way there was super muddy and wet. The Geissrücken (goatback) wet - no, that wouldn’t be a very good nor smart idea. I checked it out anyway and found a totally dry descent. I rode as much as I could on my rigid Niner, without ever risking too much being alone up there. I wondered if I’d do any better on a bike like the Quarterhorse. Well, in a few months I should know.

Distance:	44.3 km (27.5 mi)
Elevation:	1’512 m (4’961 ft)
Time:	03:44:33
Speed (avg/max):	11.8/52.8 kph (7.3/32.8 mph)

★ collideous