Search results for:

Bearclaw just introduced a new bike apparently

Unlike other drop bar fat bikes you can find online, the TŌWMAK
features true gravel bike geometry

https://bikepacking.com/news/bearclaw-towmak-hardtail-mountain-bike/

I've been using Rex Domestique. Disappears pretty quickly in rain but the chain stays pretty clean and some lab tests say it's fast. Conveniently small bottle, that costs the same as other bigger bottles. For example last year I did TCR and then cleaned the chain with just a rag, lubed the chain and it stayed quiet and shifting was good for the whole PBP without lubing it again, as there was no rain. So basically, I like it because it's easy to keep the drivetrain clean.

Indeed, who knows what the world will look like by then and while what they're saying in the race manual update in December can be a back up plan at best as everything keeps changing, it's great that they're communicating well in advance.

Well that'll be a challenge, to design a robust route. By the numbers, the start could be a bigger problem than the east.

Again interesting to see how Lachlan's speed compares to someone like Kurt.

Congrats Kurt.

There's a small race going on on the Kokopelli trail now, Kurt Refsnider is chasing Lachlan Morton's record, which he took from Kurt a while ago, and Lael Wilcox and Kait Boyle are racing too.

http://trackleaders.com/kokopelli20f
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHO3FMDFw2L/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHO2cMiggWN/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHPEYWQl9El/

This has been discussed before here, probably in this topic.

For me my first TCR took more time to recover than other races since.
Last year it took only a few days to feel pretty normal after a hard two and half day race, but then still a month and a half later at TCR I still felt kind of weak, which might or might not be related to that. I also a had a bit of a food poisoning before the latter. And then a week after TCR my whole body still felt kind of confused, until I got on my bike for the PBP and while I was missing some watts, riding with a fast pace felt great. That's how it's been before too, continuous somewhat fast riding is fine for whatever distance, but max power is missing for a month or even two.

My fingers got numb after PBP for a week or two in 2015, and I had slight similar symptoms after TCR the next year, but after that I've done even longer rides without problems. The fit is pretty much the same still. I do change the hand positions more often now and generally having my hands and core more used to the long rides must have made a difference, even though I had been riding a few hour rides for years before any of this. Just trying to harden the fuck up is probably not the right answer but anyway.

are these the ec70 ax?

Yes, thought they had the same shape.

This is easton ax, plenty of space at the back of the drops I'd say.

There's a newsletter you can sign up to here: https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-ride-across-finland-2020/

This is what's been said so far:

Ruska 2021 will be ridden 10.-18.9.2021. Theme of the 2021 route is geology.
Start: Olkiluoto
CP1: Björköby CP2: Rokua CP3: Ревда Finish: Saariselkä Map and
preliminary parkours can be found at
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1dXlS3YUTMY9ylojxETHBDgcam4djyyf_&usp=sharing

It is quite an experience for sure, the north is really special and the event is great for trying out what you're capable of.

I loved how modest modest the finish was for the first year when I rode this. It was at a medieval chapel in northern Norway, right next to the Russian border and the sea. There was no one and it was 60 km from the closest town. Got there at night and slept there in my bivy, at the gate of the old cemetery. Quite a party for being the first finisher. Kind of like the Tour Divide finish. This year the finish was in a town, but the vibe of it being about the ride and about your own experience is the same. And after that the finishers will gather somewhere close by.

Here are daily overviews of last years event, in english, if you want to see read more:

https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-one/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-two/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-three/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-four/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-five/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-six/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-seven/
https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-eight/

Yeah it did with a similar amount of participants as before. I wrote dailyish dotwatcher writeups again, though in Finnish. The situation with covid was pretty calm for the summer and through september, though crossing the border to Norway, where the finish was, in Vardø, could have been a problem but wasn't.
There's already some info on the checkpoints for next year too.

Also, while I had lots of fun on that bike there, I've liked off road riding so much I bought a Stanton Sherpa after I got home from there. Here's a picture from an overnighter a couple of weeks ago.

I've put a dropper post on it since.

Thanks, it was.

No SRMR this year, but I've done some short trips around southern Finland and then a longer one, about a couple of weeks in the north, Lapland.

The Pöyrisjärvi wilderness area is really impressive, really enjoyed the few days I spent there.

Then I rode a few hundred kms of gravel and paved roads to the UKK national park.

The wilderness huts are rather luxurious, but most of the nights I slept in a bivy.

Most of them are smaller than this though.

Can't wait to get out again.

This looks fun in this setup too

https://theradavist.com/2020/10/condensare-packlist-baileys-mone-hardtail-29er-packed-for-touring-the-northern-new-mexico-cdt/

Though why would you have an adjustable chainstay without any pivot on the seatstay.

@hippy there's some chat about the tubolitos in the TCR FB group, some have had success, others have had lots of flats and leaking valves. I've used one and had a flat quickly, but that was probably because the tyre was so worn out you could see the casing. Kim was using those too for a winter a year or two ago, didn't have problems as far as I know.

Just paint a mouth on the headtube like one of those planes that have a shark face.

Also gebla rohbox
https://www.cyclingabout.com/gebla-rohbox-road-mountain-shifters-with-rohloff-hubs/

Haven't used though.

Hippy has got a 2000m climb of steep chunky gravel ahead. Might not see the spectacular views if he rides through the night but would be rather epic anyway I guess, maybe the most challenging part of the route.

Sofiane won the French divide and set a new course record too. Chapeau.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD_pLVyoe_u/?igshid=a9vpp23j42g1

I have no positive comments about the slack head tubes on the Crux and Super X, I mean it must work for some people but I find the handling weird when you get to 71 degrees like the Super X.

It seems like "gravel" bikes are getting further and further away from road bikes

Yeah, I like a bit steeper angle for road riding too. So those two cross bikes wouldn't be my choice, though for actual cx races sure. Neither would one of the high stack drop bar mtbs. And cx race bikes might miss bottle and guard mounts.

Then again cross bikes like Super X and Crux have slacker headtube angles than that Grail. And gravel bikes like the Condor Bivio are rather close to road bikes, with the stack too, 593 mm on a 58. Specialized Roubaix is a few cm taller. These have about 70 mm of bb drop too. Diverge also looks a bit like a road bike, though not quite. A confusing time to be alive.

Exped says you shouldn't use breath to inflate the pad but the pumpbag instead, so the fill won't get wet. Thermarest also makes pumps and pumpbags, but says it's perfectly safe to use your breath. The xlite doesn't have fill in it but a reflective coating and layered baffles instead.