Search results

Crossroads and I have gotten a bit of rail trail exercise this week. 22 miles on Tuesday and 30 miles this morning. I'm trying to figure out why I don't want to work on cutting the grass tomorrow.

They are comfortable and let me have more of an upright posture. They are a good fit for my usual casual, non-aggressive approach to riding.

After days of rain, yesterday was perfect weather for a bike ride: mostly sunny, chilly enough for my riding pants and a light jacket all morning, and mildly breezy. I drove down to New River Gorge National Park in southern WV, and rode Southside Trail from the trailhead to the "town" of...

Sweet!

It was way too nice to not be out on a bike this morning. My Trek 1x9 needed some exercise, so I took it out for a few hours along a nearby rail trail.

They do fit, with plenty of room. I was actually riding it for a short while with Bontrager 700x45, and they were a lot closer to the chain stays. The Gravel Kings have more room, and are also a lot lighter. I've read reviews that claim Panaracer has started listing their tire sizes as the...

Update: I changed the gearing to 36:18 so I wouldn't be spinning out as much, and swapped the tires to Panaracer Gravelking SS 700 x 43. Much nicer ride now.

Not really a build thread, but a few progress pics: https://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/1999-specialized-crossroads-sport.113191/#post-1170105

I've been doing a lot of single speed river riding lately, with Big Red and the Crossroads Sport. Latest was 30 miles yesterday on WV's Greenbrier River Trail. Lots of wildflowers in bloom, and the weather was mostly sunny, cool and breezy pretty much all day. Great cycling weather.

A lot of good stuff. CK's book is awesome. I just watched a couple of videos yesterday and today of a 62 year old CK riding his modern MTB down Repack 12 years ago with 2 different people. I'm 62 and I'm not certain I'd ride down Repack now, although in one of the videos CK said "Riding down...

More bicycle tinkering. I swapped rear cogs around to give both SS bikes a 2:1 ratio (34:17 and 36:18). Test rides confirmed my hunch; a bit more effort on climbs and a lot less spinning out on flats. While I was at it, I went ahead and installed a DMR chain tensioner that I had on hand on Big...

Big Red now has 3 speeds: sit down, stand up, and "get off and push!". :D I tried something new this morning, something I'd only read about and wasn't entirely convinced it was a legitimate option. Instead of using a chain tensioner on Big Red, I used a spare 30T chainring as a "ghost ring" to...

I took Big Red out again this weekend for a spin around a local small river town. The county park was a muddy mess from recent flooding, but I rode through it anyway. The orange and white pylons show how high the water was in the floods from last weekend. Good thing the park and surrounding...

I thought I had posted pics of the finished bike, but I guess not. I finished it and set it up SS with a 36:20 ratio. It's a bit too easy on level streets, but just about right when climbing mild hills. By the way, there's not supposed to be water visible in that last image; extensive rain last...

COVID bike #3 is complete. In this photo, the chain was way too slack, even with the chain tensioner, but removing a link made the chain too short. What to do? Wait until the next day and drive to the LBS to pick up some half-links to adjust the chain length, or . . . change the rear cog. I...

How I spent much of my day yesterday. 31.4 miles (50+km). It was a chilly 29F when I started, and 73F when I finished. Kind of hard to dress for that. I was shedding layers and stuffing them in my backpack, which made it bulky and cumbersome. On the way back, my legs turned to noodles at about...

The adapter I needed to mount a bar with a 31.8mm center to a 1 1/8" threaded fork arrived today. With the bars I chose, I think the bike's lines have a 70s sort of vibe. I'm using new-old-stock BMX levers to actuate the brakes. I'm still amazed what great shape the frame and paint are in for a...

I have several happy places. I love being out in the woods on a bike, exploring long stretches of river trails. When I'm at home, I enjoy spending time in my basement workshop. I've always enjoyed building things, and my shop is full of model rockets and model airplanes from previous years spent...

A frame like that with a 20" seat tube and 700x54 tires would be sweet.

I attempted to take my Trek hybrid for a spin at our county park yesterday. The main roads in and around the park were untreated and unscraped, and numerous people driving on them had packed them down, and several days of the freeze/thaw/refreeze cycle had turned long stretches into a sheet of...