Even when it's cold out, I feel sorry for those stuck in cars

I'm sure they're taking pity on me too, out there, in the cold, riding a bike. If they only knew how great it is.

I do still need to work on my winter gear though. Nasty cold fingers again. It was -9C (15F) and -14C (7F) with the windchill, and my skiing gloves just don't do the trick. This surprises me as they are good gloves, and while on the ski hills, they're always great. Must be the wind. I'm gonna look into a set of poggies, or some snowmobile mitts. Flirting with frostbite isn't much fun, and limits time outside. Today after about 15 minutes I was in pain. Shut the ride down at an hour, and again, pain when I came inside.

Still beats being stuck in a car!

Ride yer bike!

What a Mutt

I present to you my winter beater. This is the ugliest bike I've ever owned. I king of like it though. If it were stolen, I wouldn't be upset, and the parts are all those of which I am willing to sacrifice to the act of winter commuting in snow, slush, slop and salt. Single speed is a huge bonus for the nasties. Winter here is brutal on a bicycle. We winter cyclist must give up the desire to ride on fine bicycles, enjoy the use of high quality components, and simply come to terms with riding bikes that look like they've been cobbled from the scrap heap. At least that's my take on it. And I mean really, it take 10 minutes maximum for me to get to work. Do I want to destroy my nice bikes, or am I will to have ride junk. I'll ride junk, and leave the nice bikes for nice(r) bike rides.

Schwalbe Snow Studs back in action. Going on their 4th winter. I think this will be the last season for them, if they last all the way through. The studs are seemingly recessed, and they are not as effective as they were when they were new.

Cockpit is pure function. Some old bar/stem combo that's been in my parts bin for a year or so. Why I don't know, I guess I was saving it for this winter.

Selle An-atomica Saddle was a gift from good man Vik. I need to talk to Vik about this. I'm finding that the sides of the leather are pressing into my legs, and it is very uncomfortable after about 5 minutes. Might be a slightly different setup required for the SA, and it might be the fact that this saddle has reached the end of it's usable life, and the tensioner bold only has about 1/4" left until it's maxed.

Also from Vik, and idea. Pop-bottle mud flap. Adds to the ghetto-bike look, and as tested this morning, it's highly effective. Slush and slop everywhere, feet dry and clean. Sweet.

Checking out the trails

I figured I was due to see what the trail out to Eagle Lake was looking like. I also checked out the local recycling yard, but not a single bike to be found. For some reason, all photos in this post are Sepia. The trail has a center hard packed section from foot traffic. It's nice that it's hard packed as the rest of the snow is very deep, but, it's also ridiculously rough. I mean sitting while riding is painful. Standing up absorbs more bumps, but even that gets fatiguing very quickly.

The beginning of the trail to Eagle lake

Obligatory bike in the trees shot
The trail back to work

Trail behind me, this afternoons tasks ahead

Quite a casual, but relaxing ride. Bikes are fun.

Weekend Projects

This past long weekend, I figured I should try and make something of some of the parts I have kicking around. I've thought about an ice bike for a while. I had an old wheel set with some gnarly screw-studded tires on them. I matched up a frame that I thought would work, and single speeded the cassette with a cheapo spacer kit from Bow Cycle. I've had all of these parts kicking around for several months, some of them a year or two, so it was nice to finally built them up into something.

I did some testing on the shear ice roads in town, and it's incredible. I had a hard time standing on the roads and walking, but these screws bit into the ice very well. Not once did I loose traction. Even while hard braking and trying wheelies. These will make for some fun lunch time rides at a lake near where I work. The town plows pathways on the ice for ice skaters, and now it's for cyclists.

This is the front wheel.

This is the rear wheel.

S/S Chainring up front (I've had this kicking around for about 3 years.) It's 38 tooth. Cassette spacer kit with 16 tooth cog.

Second project was just an old steel MTB. I got it from my friend Cory, and I always like to have bikes that I can ride, and not worry too much about. Mostly just for little jaunts to the grocery store or Lions Meeting. A bike that I will never lock up, and won't feel like I've lost a fortune if it is stolen. What's more is that I'll probably never ride this bike any distance that would be a big deal if I had to walk if it was stolen. Just a good old steel bike, tuned up and running nicely.

I'll be installing my Swalbe Snow Studs and some fenders on this bike to make it a little bit more practical for all seasons. It is actually a very comfortable bike with a very classic, upright feel to it.

Lost Coast Trailer

Totally sweet.


Lost Coast Trailer from Eric Parsons on Vimeo.

Snow bike?

I'm quite certain this would trump this in the snow.

I went for a little lunch time snow ride today. I met up with the trial head 1/2 mile from my office and started to boogey. Pedaling as fast as I possibly could. Just to keep moving. Didn't always work though. In fact I was defeated more than I succeeded.



Kind of makes me wish I still had my snow bike shod with them Endomorphs. Oh well. I sold it to buy my LHT, which I certainly do not regret. I'm coming to accept I will not get every bike I want, or at least not all at the same time.



The Schwable Snow Studs are too skinny (1.9") for any amount of snow. When there is just a little skiff and mostly ice, they excel. But with the several inches we had overnight, and the gusty winds, the drifts were just too much. I was also cold. -31C with windchill. Should have covered my face.

I decided to turn back to the office and heat up some lunch. I guess it'll have to be ping pong today.....

Cheers

Snow Bike for Sale

UPDATE: The Bike was sold to a great local bike guy, Mike!


Yes, it’s true, I’m going to sell my newly acquired snow beast. Why? Read below.

When I bought this bike, I had visions of crisp winter afternoons, bright sun, exploring irrigation canals while the sweet sound of fresh snow mumbles beneath my wheels. I even had the odd thought of a few day trips sprinkled throughout the cold season. Just get on the bike, with a little stove, some water and time. Ride the gravel or canals or even an old abandoned railroad track to somewhere. No place in particular. Just go for the sake of being somewhere and seeing something that I’ve never see experienced before. Sometimes seeing something 10 miles from your house that you’ve never seen before can be refreshing. It is.

Now, I am a realist and a dreamer. The dreamer in me has been oogling this large tired contraptions for several years. Asking questions to those who have them, reading their posts, and searching out all I could on these bikes. It was during one of those dreamy eyed-searches that I came across my bike. It was for sale, and I bought it. I’ve ridden it a bit, mostly on camping trips, the odd beer run and while towing my boys in the trailer. They do like the bike. In fact it’s their favorite bike. It’s one of mine.

But….

Oh, I hate that part. I started running the numbers and got back in touch with the realist side of me. Truth be told, I don’t have too many Sunday afternoons in the winter that I have nothing going on. Those that do come up, or taken right now with my Marathon training. In reality, I might get out once this winter for a ride longer than ½ hour on my snow bike. In the summer, I’m outside more, but it’s either doing house work, or walking or hiking with my family. I’d love the idea of doing an epic trip like the lost coast boys did, and their bikes are similar to mine. Single speed, large tire, go anywhere machines.

Since a trip like that isn’t on my radar screen, and winter cycling will be second to winter running and playing hockey, I figured that I might get 10 hours on this bike in the next year. Is it worth keeping a bike that you really like, and is one of your favorites for 10 hours of riding a year? I don’t think so.

If it doesn’t sell, that’ll be my answer. I’m not pricing it like I don’t want it to sell, but if there is someone out there who has been looking to build up a snow bike, this is a cheap way to get there. That’s why I bought it in the first place.

I’m selling the bike for $600
Phil hubs front and rear (rear is a double fixed, but I’m running a freewheel on it)
Large Marge Rims of course
Pugsley front fork
Kona modified frame
Everything else standard decent bike stuff

More pictures can be found here.

If you are interested, leave a comment or email me.

Cheers.

Bout time I got around to it

Finally got porter up on FGG. Check it.

Like Father, Like Son

My boy is getting into bikes and loves riding as much as I do it seems. He recently discovered the front rack on my snow bike, and I was blown away by how many times he kept wanting to go on the triails. I wondered if he would even be able to hold on, let alone want to stay on for periods upward of 45 minutes! We found a little loop by our camp ground, and I think we did it about 15 times, each time ending with him saying, "Can we go again Daddy?" What a great time, for him and for me.

Boys night out

My good wife has book club on Wednesday nights, go it becomes a great night every week just me and my two sons. We wrestle, build stuff in the garage, go to the park or play board games. Board games are the hardest as my youngest (20 months) insists on eating the pieces and running over whatever game we are playing. After all the rain we've had lately, I figured the boys and I should go out to the park while we had our short reprieve from the wet.

After pizza dinner, we all went to the garage and added a spare chariot carrier mount to the monster bike and off we went. To my surprise, the boys asked if we could ride for a while first. I never have issues riding bikes longer. So we toured town, chatted and toured town some more. After 1/2 hour we hit the park. 1/2 later back on the bike and they asked again if we could just ride around. Maybe they were trying to avoid bed time, but I was willing. So we rode for another 1/2 hour. Great night out with my two favorite boys, and with all that fresh air, they were right out when I tucked them into bed.

Life's simple pleasures are sometimes the greatest. I soaked last night up.

Freewheeling

Riding a bicycle with abnormally large tires, is much different than riding a bicycle with "normal" sized tires. Especially when riding it fixed. Right off the bat, the most noticeable thing is effort required to make them move. Second and probably the oddest, is the inertia they carry once they are moving. My road fixie sports nice little 700 X 23s. Very easy to slow down using only yee legs. Skids, no problem. On an overweight snow bike it's a much different story.

I've made a huge improvement to this bike, simply by adding an 18 tooth BMX freewheel. 21 on the chain ring gives copious amounts of climbing ability and the down low to grunt through mud and snow (the whole reason I bought this bike) and now being a free wheel, you can actually use gravity in your favor every now and then. Rather than having to resist the affects of gravity on a 35lb bike, you can enjoy it as the big fat fatties roll over anything and everything in their way. This bike is a really hoot at speed. Yes, I said hoot.

new freewheel installed

RH side clearance

LH side clearance

Chain to tire clearance

This frame was definitely not designed around the Endomorph tire, but I think it will do the job and just sneak by.

Cheers.

Tanker

Fixen to mow the lawn.

Porter

My new (to me) snow bike arrived from Dave yesterday. Thanks a lot Dave! It's sweet.

A nice large Kona frame (actually I think I'd be on the small side for this thing, and I never feel that way) built up with some decent components. Phil hubs front and rear, rear being fixed/fixed - 18/16 - with a 21 chain ring for now. The frame has custom chain stays via the good guys at generic cycles. Large Marge rims of course shod with Endomorphs. Race face stem with a no-name alloy bar and Ergon grips. Avid disc brake lever controlling a cheep tektro front caliper. No rear brake, it's a fixie! None of the components are drool worth, some of them roughed up, but the price was right and I won't cry the first time I go for a real ride.

Sounds very low, but somehow it seems to work quite well for the bike. This obviously is a bike about speed, more about going anywhere and running over anything that might be in your way. I actually assembled the bike at work yesterday, but didn't have a pump to handle presta valves so I had to wait until I got home to take it for a ride. This thing feels really sweet when you're riding around. Very high too. I think that there's 14 inches of clearance under the bottom bracket!
The Ergon handles are great too. I've never tried a pair before, and right off the bat they feel nice.
I can't wait to get this beast out for a ride. Right outside my front door is an irrigation canal that connects with a whole network for irrigation canals and natural creeks. I know of 3 creeks within 1/2 mile of my house. These are generally in ravines and well treed. I think they will be great exploring, and this bike, Porter as I've named it, will be a great bike for doing it on. Then, when winter comes, I'll be ready also. She's a little dirty right now, but with some soap and love, she'll soon shine!