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Steel is Real

06.24.2014 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

Occasionally, I’ll see a bike, and just drool over it. Guest poster Don Blount, however, is a man of action. When he wants a new bike, he gets one. And in his case, it’s a custom frame. I’m drooling again.

BlountOnBikingI have been busy with work, family and things that usually take our time and attention. But I still made time to ride my bike. That is, my new bike.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

It is a custom, hand-built, steel frame Tallerico bike designed and built by Jon Tallerico of Lodi, California.

And I love it.

It is a wine color with some pearl. So depending on the lighting it can look burgundy, brown, purple and even black.

Here is what strikes me about the bike:

1) It looks small.

The bike has a sloping top tube that allows me to straddle the bike. The long head tube is sort of a Tallerico signature seen in a number of his bikes. Combined, it makes the bike look small to my eye.

2) The bike is beyond comfortable.

The effective top tube length of the new bike is 54 cm, which is the same as my old bike. But the new bike is built around me with what feels like a shorter cockpit area. So my arms can dangle comfortably without me feeling stretched out. The steel frame is stiff but dampening, providing a firm ride but one that is not too stiff. In short, it is comfortable.

And a comfortable bike makes it easy to spend time on the bike.

I have more than 110 hours on this bike since getting it in mid-February. That adds up to more than 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) and 46,000 feet (14,000 meters) of climbing. That includes a metric century, two centuries and a double metric. I can literally, and I have, sat on the bike all day without issue.

The bike is nimble, meaning it is fast, responsive and climbs well. The more I ride it, the more I understand what it can do and the more I enjoy riding it.

For those who like specs: most of the components were swapped from my previous bike, a Scattante CFR Comp. And most of those had I upgraded over the past few years.

Moved to the new bike were: Ritchey carbon bars, Selle Italia Gel Flow saddle, Shimano Ultegra brakes and compact crankset, Ritchey pedals, Shimano 105 shifters, Forte stem, Williams 30X wheels.

New are an FSA carbon seatpost, Bontrager carbon water bottle cages (impractical but a splurge), slightly used Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 front and rear derailleur (more on this in another post), Shimano Ultegra quick release skewers and of course, cables and wires.

The bike also has a carbon Enve front fork and Chris King headset.

Quite frankly, I had no interest in getting a new bike as it was not in my budget or my wish list at the time. A custom-built bike costs about $2,500-$3,000. But when Jon approached me with the idea of building me a bike, he presented an offer that I heartily accepted.

And I am glad he did.

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Categories // Bikes Tags // custom bikes

Trail Fail

05.18.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

I broke out the mountain bike again the other day. After a morning of yard work, I didn’t have much time left for a ride, and I figured a ride on the trails would fill the bill better than a road ride. But this time, I gave it a twist.

I put the bike in the back of the car and headed out to a metropolitan park about six miles away. I had run across a description of bike trails in the park, which I hadn’t realized were there. It looked to be a park where my almost non-existent abilities on a mountain bike would fit in well. My only concern was a network of trails that didn’t make any sense on paper, and I wondered if I would be able to follow them.

My first clue that I would be in for more than I bargained for came at the parking lot. I couldn’t figure out where the trail head was. I rode the bike around some picnic pavilions, sand volleyball courts, and a disc golf course, but couldn’t figure out where to get on the trails. Finally, I decided to head for the horse corral, which I had seen while driving in. The trail must start near there.

Not exactly, but I did stumble onto the trail start a few hundred yards farther on. The first part of the trail is the remains of a paved road. It’s pretty chopped up now, easy for a mountain bike. But I didn’t come out here to ride a sort of paved road. About a mile down, I saw some singletrack and jumped on.

Not too bad. The underbrush on either side could use some trimming, as branches slashed at my legs. But the track was hard-packed dirt, and — uh, oh. Now it was rocky, and heading up in stair step fashion. This is an area of riding where I need to improve, quickly. The problem I’m having with my shifters hasn’t been dealt with yet — I can’t shift below 4th gear in any chainring. That means I have to stop, dismount, and push the bike up some of the steeper rock shelves.

The trail did have its moments. At the south end of the park, it runs along Slaughter Creek, which really benefitted from some heavy rain we had earlier in the week. Several pullouts are along this stretch, and I took advantage of one to stop for a rest and some water.

A scenic spot for a break. Click to enlarge.
A scenic spot for a break. Click to enlarge.

Then, it was time to move on, and figure out which trails were for bikes, and which were for horses. That’s tough to do when none of the trails are marked. It was almost no time before I found myself back at the same bench overlooking the creek as before. I’d have to pay a little more attention to the trails I took.

After pushing up several more rocky stair steps, I came upon a different network of trails. These ran partly through the woods, and partly in open land. I got to pedal faster, and — all of a sudden, I was in a rock garden again, and this time it was going down instead of up. I hit the brakes, and almost did an endo, until I eased up on the front brake and used the rear to control my descent partway down the rocks. But I had a feeling of uncertainty, and stopped the bike to push it again, this time downhill.

By this time, it was after 4 p.m., and I had to get home. I found my way to the parking lot and loaded up the bike. Once I was home, showered, and in some clean clothes, I looked up the trails online. Whoever did the review of the park classified it as a beginner track. If those trails were for beginners, I must not even be able to call myself a mountain biker yet. I have a lot of work to do.

Well, I expect to keep at it. I’ll get the mountain bike out at least once a week over the summer, if not more often. I’ll replace the shifters, and consider getting clipless pedals. One thing I have learned in my short time on the mountain bike — it’s a great change of pace from the road bike, and changes of pace can keep the interest level up.

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Gone Over to the Dark Side?

03.27.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Last Sunday morning dawned overcast and windy in Austin. It wasn’t the kind of weather to make one enthusiastic about biking.

I stared out the window as I breakfasted on scrambled eggs and coffee, wondering if I would even get up the energy to get out and ride. Heck, it was Sunday morning! If I’m going to ride at all during the week, that is THE day to go out.

I pondered some more.

Then, I got a crazy idea. My mountain bike hangs from the garage ceiling, forlorn and forgotten. What if I took that out, just for the heck of it?

I ride it every once in awhile. Haven’t been on it for months, though. And I was actually a little excited, because I decided I wasn’t going to just ride it on area streets, as I’ve done in the past. No — I was going to hit the trails!

We’ve got a large metropolitan park greenbelt close to my house. It goes on for miles. And criss-crossing that greenbelt is a network of trails. That’s where I was going to go.

DSCN0674

Now, my mountain bike isn’t currently set up as it ought to be for a ride on the trails. Some time ago, I pulled off the knobby tires and replaced them with one-and-a-half inch wide tires with a street-friendly tread. But, what the heck. I made sure they were inflated to about 50 pounds, stuck a water bottle in my jacket pocket (no water bottle cage on the bike), and set out.

The bike rode pretty well, although I hadn’t expected how rocky the trail was, so close to some soccer fields. A couple of times, I stopped and pushed the bike over particularly rough patches. As I got more distance under my wheels, I got more confident about tackling the rougher spots.

I had no idea where the trails led, but since they were in my neighborhood, I was familiar with generally where I was most of the time. It’s interesting how your orientation changes when you can’t see roads any more, and have only a narrow piece of single track going ziggedy-zaggedy through clumps of prickly pear and live oak.

Some crossings at dry creek beds involved a steep descent, then a steep climb on the other side. Sometimes I walked them, others I gritted my teeth and tried to stay in the saddle. At one point, the trail emptied onto a residential street that I din’t recognize. I rode the street for a block until I came to a street sign. Huh! I ride my road bike through here from time to time, but in the opposite direction. No wonder I didn’t recognize it.

Eventually, I doubled back the way I came. The trees kept me sheltered from the brisk north wind that was blowing, and I was quite comfortable. But I was getting tired. I knew I couldn’t have gone all that far, but as I’ve noticed before, riding a mountain bike takes more effort than a road bike.

When I made it home, I found I had been gone about two-and-a-half hours. That’s as far as a typical Sunday ride on my road bike. But since I didn’t have a computer on the mountain bike, I had to draw out my approximate route on Map My Ride. It turns out I rode roughly 13.5 miles. I don’t think I’ve ever been as tired after that same distance or time on my road bike.

So, have I become a convert? Not yet. But I will ride the mountain bike again. Riding single track is fun, and I know there are lots more trails around here to try out. I’ll be digging out the knobby tires and putting them back on, and getting it set up better for more frequent riding. I never thought I’d say this, but — change is good!

 

 

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