Marin Nicasio + (Part 2)

 

 

Must have been an abomination to the well heeled folks at Shenton Way as I stopped on the return leg home. Dripping with sweat in my ragged and tattered "iconic" red drifit, some Bianchi guy zooming past kept looking back as I was squatting to take this pic. Oh wait it was the same dude I sling shot past when he got stuck behind some bus and truck as I hopped onto the pavement  a couple of lights back. :-)

Last post on the Marin ended up with my thoughts after a few weeks of riding. There were a few niggles and one of them were the stock hoops.. Always felt something a little amiss...

Finally took the hubs apart and --HOLY MUDDER OF CRAP... utterly cheap wheels indeed. Wasn't expecting a CK/ DT hub experience or the buttery smoothness of  my White Industries given the price point of the whole stock bike.

But the tolerance of these hubs in Morse Code speak is just absolute.. 3 dit 4 dit and a 2 dit-dah   ... .... .. _

TOLERANCE. What f@#k!^g tolerance! The amazing thing was how the hell did I tolerated these POS for 2+ months  & clocked over 1400km with it! 

Pitted balls, roughed out race, almost non existent wimpy weak rubber seals that doesn't do squat if the bike ever goes axle deep into mud and water....

Did the best to service up the generic 8 ball bearing cone hub. Reckon the grease used probably cost more than the hubs itself..  Errm, technically speaking, friend came over and did most of the work  servicing up the wheels while i doodled on other stuff on the bike :)

 

While getting all gooey fingers fixing it up, a thought came to mind.. Recalled  stacking my 26" wheel with 2.4 and 2.8" tires against someone else's 27.5 wheels running 2.25" rubbers-- My smaller wheel actually had the larger diameter.

Dusted out my forlorn old DH front wheel that's been left there since the last overseas trip......

Yup.. its about 6-7mm bigger in diameter than the stock 27.5" with those cartoon looking 1.75" Gravel King. But the 2.4 Onza Ibex" was just a slight tad too wide for the fork.. 

 

Long story short... swap a rotor, swap the 20MM TA back to QR and found a brand new 2.25" Maxxis Advantage amongst my hoard.  HOOYA! I remember an article mentioned that for 26x2.25"-- the Maxxis Advantage then was one of the biggest volume and tallest tires... Perfect! Just exactly what's needed here. This cleared the fork nicely with ~3mm to spare at the narrowest point while retaining the same height above the rim as the bigger 2.4" Ibex.

Certainly not adding any "Advantage" (pun intended) when riding on the road with this gross mismatched pair of hoops as I tried out later that evening.

 

Journey to the Dark Side...

Many many moons ago, as a young mtb Padawan , some Trail Jedi once told me --"It's all about the front, my young fren. Speed is your friend". 

Quarter of a century later, while still not anywhere close to being a Jedi Riding Master, I have taken these advice to heart and somewhat able to practice them over the years. Indeed the worst of all injuries/ damages that can occur when wheels are planted is a front washout. The rear can slip and slide all it wants but any fall from that is always much more manageable.

Last couple months of offroad with the Gravel King, I was fighting the front all the time. Naturally the rear couldn't follow through consistently and so the whole damn time it was like wrestling with the bike while its pointed down and forever wary of that front "washout" moment. 

The only recourse was to go slow like some wussy newbie picking lines on high klaxon alert. Imagine a MMA duel but rolling up and down the hills. As the front lose traction over loose or wet, the rear is all too happy waiting to add to the party trying its darn best to f#%k me over... Yes the slower you go the easier it trips you sometimes. So speed really is your friend. 

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"Do I really want to do this and sacrifice the speed on the roads? Most rides during weekdays are road based. Trails are mostly just once on the weekend affair. A front like this is gonna feel like hauling a bloody tractor...." the thought lingers  as my inner Jedi debated some mental Sith Lord within the realms of my neurons.  

Ok I'm getting schizophrenic again.  Anyway...

...only thing left to do was to test it out. Taking the benchmark of my daily cardio training of 20-25 laps comprising of 1.3km/lap--   it averages out to be about 2km slower but definitely more tiring at the same time. 

Reckon swapping the front wheels depending on ride of the day is probably the solution...

But first it's time to get rid of the shitty stock wheels and replace it with something decent...

 

  New Wheels.. 

As I'm still having fun just mucking around on the cheap- -I decided to continue and push in the same direction for a while. 

The whole idea of this was a "test" bike -- spend as minimally possible and simply ride the crap out of it until knowing exactly what is needed before going to a full custom build (which could be this year, next...  Who knows, really!)

 

Width: Old rims 30/26. New, 25/21

For $320-- I must say its good value for money. Sun Ringle TR25 rims laced to hubs I have never heard before.. Koozer XM490. Spokes are some no name thingie but weight wise its probably similar to DT Champions 2.0 - - heavy non butted.

Spoke tension right out of the box looks and sounded right when plucked (it's all I can do since I do not have a tension-meter at my disposal). 

32 holes laced up strong and stiff. Only thing was to unplug the adapters and have a quick look at the innards.

...72 engagement points with thick good size  pawls, not the thin wimpy leaf-spring kind.

 

Tolerance of the axle shaft with the bearings -- nice and tight. Standard industrial 2RS sealed bearings.. Shouldn't have anything to worry there and easily replaceable.

Only thing was the thinner width (25mm vs 30 on the stock). But after porting the tires over, there wasn't much visible difference looking at the overall width and height of the rubbers. 

I got it with the QR adapter for this bike but these wheels can easily Plug n Play with standard TA adapters if need to.  12x142 rear and 15x100 front.. Only doesnt seem to have 12x100 front adapter which some gravel forks are still using.

On the road the smoothness of the hubs and the relatively stiffer lacing was definitely a boost to riding speed with easier spinning and spin-up from stationary. Took about 20 laps at my daily rabbit loops to break in the bearings... Speed wise I thought it was a bit faster but it will take a few more evenings to gauge a proper average.

On the trail is where a positive difference was felt yesterday. Albeit only using the rear of the wheel    set only... 

Having to ride to the trails.. I kept the pressure high @ ~53psi in the rear with the anorexic GravelKing SS and switched back to my chimera front with the 2.25 Advantage at 30psi.

Left 'em untouched when I hit the trails... 

Even at these high pressure (usually I run 16-18 psi front for full knobbies with mtb) I launched into an all out assault from the start. Front gobbled up everything. Not being a stranger to rigid even before riding gravel bike, handling the front now is a little reminiscent of my old fat bike. 

Of course it doesn't have quite the same amount of flotation and "tire-supension"... but close enough that I am able to pedal "balls to the walls" at every possible turn.  The rear tracking was good even with such high pressure... only a couple of slip ups when I went over some loose rocks and couple of roots.

Because the front was gripping relatively well.. the effort was less pronounced  and I was able to ride most of the way with the last 2 biggest cogs still in reserve.. Trail range usage yesterday was basically 42 front with 11-30 rear..  Only using the 37 and 46 on 3-4 occasions mostly inside BT. 

Almost made it up Stairway To Heaven too.. Front still clawed right at the last bit of the climb but the rear slipped.. Wouldnt have matter if the biggest cog is the same size as the wheel.. its the frigging lack of grip on the tire... yes I think we all know how that goes.. suddenly its as if you are riding a stationary bike. Crank a full revolution but it moves no where...

Overall, I don't know if its because of the confidence and grip from the front but the rear compared to the old wheel was a lot quicker to respond overall when turning and doesn't have that dead "thud" feel as it humps over stuffs be it root or rock. Still of course, there is some jarring but not followed by an immediate slowdown which happened with the wider stock wheel... and bearing in mind it's s till +50 psi which really is stupidly hard for trail riding. 

Is it because the thinner width actually work better in this combo now?  Hmmm??  Too many parameters and I can't quite figure it out for the moment. But rear wise, I definitely prefer whatever is on the bike now..

Total offroad in yesterday's 144km ride was  

1x T15, 

2x "Unmentionable Trail" and 

1.5x laps at BT ......    for an approx 15-16 km

Hitting this distance in the trails after about 85km on the roads felt more like a straight up 25-30km trails only ride towards the end. Burning quads and smoking lungs not withstanding... Absolutely winded in the last 3km of BT before hitting the roads again. Had to stop for a couple minutes to drop my HR back before the journey home.

...Someone asked why didn't I do the same for the rear and jimmy a big ass tire in there. 

Clearance! Or rather the lack of at the chain stays was the limiting factor. That's the next part of the bike to work on. Looking at all the wimpy 1.8-2.0" knobbed tires in the market, I'm mulling how to hack a 2.1" at the back...   Smaller than 2.0"-- usually tires will spot those tiny  pimple sized knobs.. Hardly functional in my opinion for more technical off roads.  . 

Ok some may disagree with me.. but in my context of off road riding, its always about trying to ride up and down anything without getting off to push. The hell with pushing bikes. No shame but still, I rather be riding.

Before getting into more for the rear-- I'll just drop the tire pressure on the next ride in the trails to see how much further can be edged out of the current setup while trying to reduce some weight in the meantime as well.

As is now, 2x full bottles, framebag and contents, toolbag and meters/lights makes this an obese 15kg chunky bastard .

 

Things in the pipeline...

 

Still not too convinced whether a properly functional bike in my case should be a 1x or 2x front

Swapping out to outboard BB cranks like my spares which are all 2x cranks would  be much easier when it comes servicing time. 

One can't really service the bearings like outboards on a square taper unless its one of those kidney-priced PhilWoods BB or similar that are totally separate pieces. Most square taper BB are cartridged type these days. The issue of square taper is cleaning out the grit that is collected in the nooks but overall those suckers do have long life span before their bearings crap out for good though.

In any case I've been having a "bail-out" manual shift on all my 1x MTB setup for many years. Yes, it simply means having a granny with no front dee and manually shift with fingers if the occasion calls for it... which is rare around SG. 

With the array of spare cranks in the arsenal now with 104/64 BCD.. all it needs for the Nicasio+ is to find the right combo of chain rings.

Satisfied with the current configuration of 42T front, 11-46 behind as a 9s drivetrain for offroad riding on the Nicasio+, hence for the main ring after a crank swap it will remain a 42. But the "bailout" in this case.. I'm mulling over a 24t, 26t or 28t 

A 24t based on an even gradual step down rate of the GI numbers would provide the best range in the low gears but when back on the flats, apart from the smallest 11 and 13-- its basically useless.

 

Alternatively once at the trail--simply switch to a 28t and leave it on? But it would still be rather lacking on the range for higher gears... will have to come down to the 4 smallest cogs and that's a lot of cross chaining. Wear out rates will be high.

Let's see...

Since back to my favorite subject of Gear Inch Ratio, I have further refined from the last 2 write ups on the topic on this bike and plan for a potential 700c wheelset using a 1/2 corncob cassette of 12-25 mainly for the road rides...

The "magical cog" -- a 14t

Thinking ahead on the consumables and compatability...

The best part of the whole stock bike is really the drive train in my opinion. Still pretty flawless shifting despite everything I had dished out these 3 months or so. But the gear ratio combo on the cassette is not something that can be easily found. While there are other 9s, 11-46 cassettes out there but the tooth jumps are quite different. I would definitely miss having the versatility at times switching between the 18 and 21 of this stock Microshift CS-H093 cassette because most 9s with 11-46 usually replace these 2 middle-ish cogs with a single 20t. 

The other things are the shifter and deraileur combo

The Advent mid cage rear dee, RD-M6195M, is stated to be compatible only with their own shifters only... Really? Not that I'm in a hurry to change this out as I really like the dropbar shifter (saved for the oddity of the shift cable sticking out from the side, making it impossible to do a concealed cabling along the bar). But it would be good to know if some compatibility or hacks is possible to mate it with other 9s dropbar shifter with cable actuate brakes.  All these in a market which already isn't very 9 speed friendly these days with the rise of all the gazillion-speed cassettes + hydoo brakes combo.

Marin Nicasio +

 

Marin Nicasio +   Size 52cm..
and my first dinner-plate sized cassette, 46-37-30-24-21-18-15-13-11

Fast forward from previous article where my SOMA Stanyan was being tweaked to death in anticipation of the next ??  --- a gravel bike which really isn't so much for the sake of riding gravels. 

Huh? 

Ok, that must have elicited some head scratching but of course I'm not ruling out riding on gravel of course.. In fact would soon be doing full offroad mtb trails with the above... The whole idea of a gravel bike was because after my 10+ years hiatus of not riding on the roads, I'm still queasy these few months when piling on the torque when on tarmac. 

Hence I wanted a rig capable of meandering pavement/pcn/road.. esp those interrupted pavements with lots of ups and down or kerbs.. My mtb is pushed up as a 26er+ with only a 30t front ring so long distance riding is a draggy slower affair. The SOMA as a single speed, while very capable and relatively agile but humping down kerbs or side-winding onto grass and then back onto pavement just isn't what it is cut out to do when countering pavement traffic.

The choice could have been a HT 29er on semi slicks but then I discovered what else people are going goo goo and ga ga these days--  Gravel Bikes! 

Yet as I read more.. it seems what I want would fit more into another of these new marketing terms. An ALL-ROAD...  much like the early days when AM (ALL MOUNTAIN) was "all" the rage then before it evolved to "Enduro" these days.

From 11 down to 2 and now back to 3 sets of wheels in the house...

Anyway...

Well, looking at the entire range, from custom frames costing 2 eyeballs all the way down to sub $1K complete rigs, the filtering started with stats/ numbers on the various bikes and frames early this year...   Next was pondering whether to build another state of the art , money guzzling bike or something that is just smooth and practical that will work for the kind of intended riding. 

...Followed by more mental weaving in between choosing 650B vs 700c wheels and 1x or 2x?.

Alluded in earlier post-- the spectrum is simply too wide for Gravel Bikes (or these All Road). Just got to make a decisive cut at some point.

Back to the drawing board and calculator...

 

... The  48/18 on the Stanyan gives me a Gear Inch (GI) ratio of ~71-72 -- this translates to about ~32-34km/h (neutral wind condition) on the flats at my optimal cadence without spinning out.

A GI ratio in the high 70s or low 80s would be perfect... Something I would get if I swap the front back to my 53t and achieve a GI of 78.48... but let's leave that for later. 

Numbers wise-- that GI would roughly translate to about 35-38km/h on the road at a smooth cadence for a reasonable distance.

Ok-- so if a 1 ring setup on a gravel bike can hit that or more-- than 1x it is.. As for the rear, will just have to see which drivetrain and cassette combo it comes with...

Still not 100% convinced as it is hard sometimes to extrapolate everything in the head. My last geared road bike was more than 10 years ago and certain things can only rely on memories of how "it feels" and those were based on full roadie setup with 23c rubbers... quite diff from things talked about here with grav. bikes today...

While still mulling.. a notification came up on Carousell for a Marin Nicasio Plus, a budget bike but which I have shortlisted from looking at its geom and reviews. 

Size is right --- CHECKED
Price looks right --- CHECKED

Made an appointment with seller and took a short ride-- confirms what I thought all along.  Smiling to myself , I was thinking it' really reinventing a non suspension 80s mountain bike and slapping it on with a drop bar.  Albeit modernize a little in terms of geom angles and a dinner plate sized cog on the cassette... Honestly it really reminded me of some of my old hardtails with 1.8-1.9" tires back in the good old days on canti/ vee brakes.

Heavy, no doubt but I've never been a weight weenie, however that feel good factor of being "one" with this bike is unmistakable.. so it followed me home after a quick transaction.

 

The Nicasio+ came with 11,13,15 for the 3 smallest cogs-- and I find myself mostly on the 15 after a week of getting it. Numbers wise on the GI its no surprise. The 13t is ok but felt it would be great to have something in between 13 and 15. Again numbers don't lie -- the 79.48 GI if there is a 14t cog at the back would be right where I wanted!

Geometry

It just happen that most of the geo numbers on the Nicasio is almost similar to the Stanyan and where they differ-- it is also where I hoped they would be.. ie slacker HA and a tad longer on the center-to front on the Nicasio that happily resolves the slight toe overlap issue present on the Stanyan.

One other bonus is the sloping top tube (and one feature this bike took priority over many others on my list). The size "52cm" is actually a 49cm seat tube.. This extra 3 cm allowing me to plonk one of my old dropper seatpost with max insertion and still not be too tall. 

The other thing is the ETT (effective top tube). Yes I know these days everyone talks about Stack and Reach more than TT lengths but for me calculation revolving around ETT has been ingrained for 20+ years and its hard to change..  525mm ETT has always been my magic number on a road bike-- this one is perfect, but is is the same for gravel geom vs a RB geom? 

Drivetrain : No idea of what the Microshift Advent drivetrain is like and looking at the price point online-- I have an initial bias. But to my surprise, by now I'm actually liking it a lot..

Did some tuning up as usual with any bikes I first get my hands on... only had to give the H-screw a couple of 1/4 turns to solve a jumpy niggle on the smallest cog.. I must say it has been flawless so far (and Im quite demanding in the aspect of drivetrain --coming from mostly XT, Ultegra and XTR, in the past).

Brakes : Mech disc brakes have come a long way too. I think my last mech disc brake was back in early 2000s Even these budget Mira now gives quite a good bit of stopping power. Most importantly-- rotors on this used bike ain't warped. Again all it took were minor adjustments to perfect things up.

Tires : It didn't come with the stock WTB as advertised on Marin website but instead with a pair of 1.75" Panaracer Gravel Kings. I consider these closer to road tires due to the smoothness of the thread and lack of grippy sideknobs than a true gravel/ off road rubber.. But GKs are known for holding decent speed on the roads.. Let's see....

By the way this is also my first 650B/ 27/5" bike. Having resisted when the entire world went 27.5" with MTB and stayed faithful to my 26ers.

Diameter wise, the 650B with 1.75 is similar to 700c on 28-35c but should give much better float and comfort.. But the question is how much will that have to be compensated for when trying to maintain speed on the tarmac? Surely it will feel "slower" than the Stanyan now?

There are still many questions and naggy thoughts on my mind at the beginning.. 

 "Zhng" Time

The bar I talked much about on the Stanyan-- has made it here too. The stock Marin 12 degree flare was ok but somehow I didn't like the bending at the hooks. While waiting for the new Controltech gravel riser... managed to find some matching SOMA bar tape right around the neighborhood when the whole world seems to be out of stock :).  I thought putting on the dropper would be easy enough.. Sure.. plonking a tube into another tube is not hard.. its the frigging tweaking with the lever which is simply not meant for drop bars.. .

Yes yes... 22.2mm , 24mm, 31.8mm.. all the diff diameters and diff clamp sizes. Something will always not fit and need some DIY. and for something that will fit nicely, I wasn't about to shell a 100 bucks USD.

 

To hack it all up... an after market lever with a clamp from a phone holder and a bit of Dremeling to fit a different sized screw later...

... with a little help from a wooden aromatherapy ball to improve the lever pressing ergonomics later... after an all out off road session as seen in pics below.

 TADA..........

Matching things to the hilt, I've even pulled out those super nice Berthoud Cycles bar end plugs gifted to me years ago. 

Everything just happen to go together color wise on this one...

Ok-- I'm trying to be "different" as usual... but as  always, form follows function and  it's all for practical purposes. A bell these days is indispensable especially since I'm zipping in and out on pavements and PCN on this bike. This is temporary until I can get my hands on the Knog Oi deluxe small later on.

 

 

 

And here is how it all fits nicely on the cockpit without excessive hand movements when hands are on the reach of the bar..

Ok time to ride...

 ... on a sidenote, was still contemplating on a mod that would involve panniers and racks that can be a  quick on/ quick off the bike depending on the mood of the day and a few other small blings.  

Ride Feel and summarizing...

Ok its not final-- latest change not shown here is going back to SPDs -these are simply more efficient pedaling over flats. Ironically I swapped out my spd to flats for riding mtb 12 years ago and thought I would never live to use SPD ever again! Yet in the world of gravel bikes where most are actually using flats-- I'm back on clipless.

Been a month and have put about 400km on it by now. including using it on my regular rabbit loops cardio training previously pulled by my Stanyan in the daily 1.33km x 20 laps. So it gives me a good idea how the 2 compares now. While I prefer the relatively stiffer feel of 700c wheels on the SOMA for a quicker spin up (and of course its also on 28c tires), the 1.75 Gravel King here isn't too shabby. But on long weekend rides up and down pavements and alternating with grass and road-- as it was intended of this bike, obviously that is where it shines over my singlespeed. 

Gravel? No problem of course-- pics above of ride at Chestnut and later in BT in full muddy splendour pretty much says its all doable though I did have to revert to my old XC ways of riding as opposed to my usual mtb bomb-away mode...

Niggles:  I don't like the front feel. The fork somehow translates some pretty harsh sensation. If there is one big dislike on this bike-- this is it. Maybe its just the combo with this tire or something. I can't really figure out. 

and the few "old" standards.. again the fork-- which runs on straight 1 1/8" steerer while most forks these days are tapered. This would make trying to swap to an after market fork even harder as most do not produce straight steerers these days ( I think...)

The other is QR-- While it works well enough but again it would have been great if Marin has put on through axle (TA) front and rear. Not many people go for QR now and if building a set of wheels, it would mean getting hubs that can have adapters that will take both QR and TA for future proofing and easy swap with other frames.

Having said-- even with these niggles, the Nicasio+ at its listed price point is still pretty attractive and yes it has been holding up to the rigors Im still putting it through.

State of things as itis now.. 17 May...   and putting back the rear rack it came with or maybe my Surly rack and add on 2 khaki colored canvas panniers?   Hmmm...

For now -- will just be riding the hell out of it. If I can be 90% happy with a cheap bike-- then transposing all the same numbers onto a dream custom build with a good builder would be the next probable course of action ;)

 

 

 

SOMA Stanyan: Road-Commuter-"Gravel" transition..

Different Angle But Same Same (all reach measurements when seated to various positions on the bar). well almost.. maybe ~0.5cm +/-

 

SOMA Hi-Riser Stem, it's a misnomer if you ask me. More of a hi-stack @ the steerer in the rear to compensate as the rise is actually a -ve 15 deg. And the reason for the change?-- Purely aesthetic after some final tweaks to settings and finding the "perfect" fit on this bike.

 

Well, this is where it all ended up by now.... Took out the old trusty SOMA Stanyan and dusted if off a few months back... when I had to change up my training routine to reduce running mileage but need to keep up the cardio workout. 

At the same time I was contemplating the idea of a new bike. Totally lost!. Never mind the new stuff/ technology which is mind boggling-- but whole frigging categories of biking which I have never heard of. (these aren't exactly new but been around for a while). It just shows how frigging long I've really been out of touch with all things related to biking.

 

Stumbled upon this Gravel bike thingie... Shimano even has a dedicated gruppo-- the GRX for it now!  My knowledge of things, Shimano stopped at Durace and XTR-- and my workhorse in the past (and still in use) are mostly XT on my existing mountain bike. The only other complete bike around the house apart from the Stanyan here... 

Anyone that Googled "gravel bike" will be blasted with a wide array of description these days.. Took me a while to figure that its really about building a 1/2 Fcuk "do-it-all"  Bike-- you can be closer to a traditional cyclocross or more of a "mountain-bike with drop bars. Really, the spectrum is so broad-- its pointless to try and pigeon hole it.

By 1/2 Fcuk-- of course I don't mean its crappy-- some gravel bikes will cost both my kidneys and probably installments of body parts that my grandkids would still be paying for after my demise.

Just that if you are going purely for speed on the road-- you will never be able to beat a tricked out road bike, while it travels well on hard pack and light gravel which as the name suggest. Due most time to the wider tires that can be accommodated and wider gear range and all these new fangle-dangle components like flared riser drop bars made for such riding... yet it will be outclassed by mountain bikes in  full mtb territory.There is nothing like some good ol' 2.4-2.6" rubbers running sub 20 psi to pillage and plunder our meek local offroad Teletubby trails.

Let's face it-- try riding one down a rock garden at full speed with 2 foot rocks and you'll probably be shitting your pants before the front wheel even rolled off the rocky descent.

So ... what exactly is it good for.  in our local context, riding fast enough on the road, for an all day long ride, and then scoot off into some unpaved tracks or light trails which would stump skinny tire road bikes.. Pop a little on and off if you are riding a lot on the pavements as many of us are kind of wary about riding fully on the roads these days.. yes, it would be an awesome do it all rig. Just don't expect yourself to be the next Brumotti in terms of tricking out on what can be done on a bike with drop bars for us mere mortals.

 

Anyway enough of gravel bike description for now..above should  give an idea of what is a gravel bike if that is what you started looking for for when reading my excessive bitching here.

Next was to compare the Stanyan geometry with some of these gravel bikes and whaddaya know! The Stanyan was designed as a light touring/ commuter capable machine 10+ years ago (its already discontinued for 10 years by the way)-- and the geometry!  ALMOST the same as many of the gravel oriented rigs of today! 

If I was willing to lose my fenders, tire clearance would go up to 35 (so says the SOMA website but Im sure it can accomodate 37 or even maybe.... just maybe 40c on my 700c wheels..

 Anyway, with the new revelation-- it means I can set it up to mimic some of the things on a gravel bike and see if I really want a new bike

Ok maybe the fork rake would be a tad lesser than modern gravel bikes. And the 73 deg HA is definitely considered as steep. Still, it should work in general. As said, I'm not taking some kicker for a 6ft air time send off  when riding a bike like this. Flat gravelling about-- 69 or 73 HA shouldn't feel much different.

 

Thus the experimenting started -- bigger 28c tires were next... Hitting out the "gravel" hard and fast at Coney and then. yes, doing the unthinkable/ stupidity of checking out BT trail (actually it was ok- only hindrance is the 48/18 singlespeed ratio which obviously wouldn't make it on the steeps without thunder thighs-- something I definitely lack in the first place). Coming down is definitely sketchy but all those XC riding skills from decades ago kick in and it was pretty much about careful line choosing (but of course speed wise I was riding like some pussy that day). 

In fact on BT's hard-pack, rolling was much easier than the  loose rocky sections of T15.

Over the next few month, its just one long ride after another, mostly on roads during the weekend and exploring wherever I go.. Shall not go into details of the places here but from unpaved to old paved but broken roads.. this good old singlepeed took everything in its stride. I stayed off long full off road ride after the last BT romp while still mulling whether to get a new dedicated gravel bike.

Before I go on.. let's state for the record that the last drop bar road bike I rode was 11 years ago.. In between then to now I've only been on mtbs.  A long hiatus from the roads and so for every ride since the start of this year, it had been a re-discovery of everything related to drop bar and 700c wheels. 

Yes-- it also meant breaking out my old funky smelling padded shorts only this year and having to buy new ones after these old ones simply disintegrated after a couple of use.

The real work done when back home stemming from my pedantic self was getting all the numbers down.. Getting ready for the next bike.

 Why Why Why?--- Because numbers don't lie 

"Go for a professional bike fit..." I hear someone shouting in the background.. 

Some might spot and say -- "that is too much steerer, you need a bigger frame..."

Been riding long enough to know what works and what not for me. Short arse inseam and forever caught in between sizes-- its the Curse of the Bicycle-god that I have been living with for over 40 years of riding.

Decided no "slam the stem" on an all rounder setup-- pedaling hard on unpaved paths and hitting some step downs at speed  with a low front end is a really stupid idea. The hell with looking cool.

Somehow things work out to a old skool-ish ratio with the handlebar ~1" lower than the seat.. The real hard part here after trying out with umpteenth stems later is to find one that is still high enough but doesn't impart that dorky aesthetic of a upward rising angle to reach that optimal bar height.

Biggest positive change? The bar. The old Nitto Randonneur while perfect on the drops was simply too scrunched on top.. 

Started looking at these newer flared bars... then saw these even newer ones with riser. 

Riser-drop Bar-- "What and OXYMORONIC name!"..  I was just thinking but then hmmm it might just work to push the bar height up since my steerer is limited.

Tried a few at bike shops like the SOMA Condor I and II,  , Surly Truck Stop Bar etc... somehow either the length, rise, reach or angles stop me from buying.. till I stumble upon the Controltech CLS FL16 GRAVEL Riser. Put a 40cm on the SOMA... (40 here is hood to hood.. C-C is 49cm)

Pros and Cons.. It has a funny rise that starts right around the center after the stem is mounted, leaving little space for extension mounting. At its highest point of the rise (where my bar tapes started).. its a very gradual taper all the way to the start of the bend where the reach starts. 

This part is where it felt different from all the other riser drop bars I have tried and gives me the most ergonomic wrist to palm transition when holding behind the hood.  I was paranoid at first how the increase in the C-C (49cm) compared to my previous C-C of 42 on the Nitto would affect. It was all a worry over nothing as the only difference was a significantly positive feel in leveraging the bar when holding the ends.

Cranking out 48/18 from a dead stop - -any singlespeeder will appreciate that your top end doesn't feel retardedly slow or squeezed for space while your legs are putting torque on the cranks simultaneously... something that my old Nitto Rando bar was doing to me.

Most time while back on the hook, the width is actually between 42-44cm which is just perfect.

From here I can sense that this bar will also work well on unpaved/ off road conditions- -but maybe the slightly wider 42 cm (C-C @ 51cm) might even be better...

armed with all the numbers.. now I have a good feel of exactly what I want in my next bike...

The search continues--  The Gravel Bike Hunt!

and just a recap of how the Stanyan has served me thru the years

(1) First built after patiently waiting for various parts over 9 months that seen this setup hit the many nite rides at TMCR. (2) Then the ridiculous but head turning "monster ratio" craze of a 62/16 before (3) transformation into a grocery/ commuter bike for the next 7-8 years. (4) Recently defaulted back into my regular cardio training rig once again. Fenders and racks stays.. its a signature by now.