Golem Minor part IV

"Rub-a dub-dub" solved
Sometimes the simplest solution is not to even think about doing anything complicated. I simply swap the front and rear tire. Bingo.. All well and good. Rode to Wheel Guru and let him have a look. He concurred with my thoughts about frame misalignment and better to leave things as is.  Still close but alright so far on the short ride tonight.

 
Checks @ full compression
Forgot to empty out all the air from fork and shock to see if those big rubbers will be touching the fork crown and or rear of seat tube....

Hmmm.....

What looks like a fully compressed rear was actually mediated by Yours Truly's Level 8 Sage-Yoga pose.
Lotus stance atop saddle  balancing, to avoid being selfied @ the limbs while outstretch arm reverse flanked this shot.
Channeling and dripping lots of positive chakra .. Oh wait that's perspiration. N'vrmind.

Due to the camera angle it looks like the rear is touching but there is a couple mm of space the bike rolled along with no rub/ resistance. Yes there is a bit of the damper left but hard as it was bounced down. it seems to have hit a bump stop inside at this point. Feels the same as my other XF shock, the Vector HLR.

Kinda explains why I never seem to be able to bottom out the shock (o-ring never fell off) in both. Overall the damper is a little longer so there really isn't any short change in the actual travel. This can be correlated to how close the rear wheel has moved towards the seat tube btw.

Fully compressed.... sans problème up front.. No more words needed.


The Ride
12 Oct 2014
Back to my favorite trail for testing setup on full runs. Short enuf to loop but sufficiently long to to go through and remember how each section feels on different settings.

Took a while to rub off the remaining wax on the new tires over somewhat slick roots today.  Was gonna stay with a 16.5/17.5 psi F/R combo while the shock was upped by another 5 psi to give a tad more firmness. Middle into the first lap and trail condition dictates that pressure be dunked to 14.5/15.5 psi for better grip.

Twas trying to "feel" everything with the combo and absentmindedly cranking along only to realize back  at the trail head that I was "singlespeeding" on 30/19 all the way. Yes including the few rooty "hands" ascents.. Not steep but graded more on being techie features.

Well I have to discount the "resistance" felt now after realizing this.

After all the wax on side knobs was rubbed off... things settled in nicely by lap 2 but....

Played around with shock compression setting and still it was back to the fully open position as being the most comfortable and efficient. Up and down.


As much as all the number crunching and mental extrapolation goes...honestly I can't say that the change from 2.4" - 2.75" made that much of a difference.... at least in the first 2 laps. Both are 120 tpi tires but the Onza Ibex has a stiffer sidewall and rails nicer (ie I lean in low and it holds and holds and holds). Then again what little riding so far on those 2.4 then had been in dry weather. Just my luck that first proper ride on the Wizards today happen to be different. Need another ride in the dry (hopefully next weekend) and bring along the 2.4 for a mid ride swap to the rear and compare the difference.

Knobs, knobs and knobs...

Still even with the greater width, I do have to say the side knobs felt lacking in comparison to the 2.4 Ibex. Re-reading what I have written in the past on tires and taking a close look now at these 2 rubber kinda confirms all the things about tires and knob patterns to my liking. Looks like things haven't changed much for me. Preference is for a straight solid line of outer knobs (at least in the rear).

Reckon this is pretty subjective as it depends on what kind of a rider one is. Me? I'm generally a  40/60, ie 40% weighted front and 60 on the rear in general riding position. Solid row of outers suit my "Grip 'n' Bank but many friends who are of the Slide 'n' Ride school seems to like tires with a grip/break/grip pattern better. They also tend to go on and on about transition knobs.. Me? tranny knobs have never been a big part for me.. In certain tires due to the design of the outers I do ask for proper transition knobs but by and large its not a life and death issue to my riding.

Even with the relatively low pressure in these big vol tires supposedly making them "grippier", characteristics of the knobs imparted as they are leaned over is quite significant. Albeit not as horrible as the first generation Rubber Queen I once briefly owned and gladly got rid off after 2 rides. Still where credits are due... must say until today-- the volume in those are impressive though.

Not all the tires I have owned have outer knobs that are ram rod straight and packed like the Ibex. In fact one of my other favorite rubber the Ardent 2.4 has a staggered formation. Its a little easier to turn than most and while not the beefiest knobbies or looks to be.. I can't recall ever been let down by it. The outers are staggered but they all point in the same forward direction. This maximizes all surace contact when banking into corners although not as much as the Ibex and some other full packed rows of straight rectangular outer knobs tires. No sudden cut-in to half act like some transition knobs.. or transiting inwards into actual transition knobs as both are aligned in the same direction.

Left: 2.4 Ardent - Staggered and not beefy but all forward pointing outer knobs.
Right: 2.4 Rubber Queen (1st gen).. series of break/grip/break outers weaving all over the eff shop.

From all of these it can be surmised.. (well, at least for myself), "Buy tires from now on with outer knobs all pointing forward". To reinforce that, I have a pair of Hans Dampf sitting around not because they are bad but quite the opposite.. something I really like and hoping to save them for a worthwhile build. And Yeshhhh! they run an arrow straight line of big beautiful outer knobs as well.

One of the best 2.35" tires I have had.. Oh Schwalbe please please please
make a 2.5" true to size or maybe even a little bigger next year. Pwetty preazzzee

18 Oct
Lay a little more rubber in what's left of TT on the outside and followed by the quarry trail... Pleasant surprise as things were "extended". Things felt normal by now but still trying to get used to the break/slide/ break effect the tire has when cornering hard. I just don't lean as hard now compared to when the Ibex were on there...

19 Oct..
More rides and just for the heck of it.. I raise the pressure up instead of fudging with sweet spot in the low tens..  It was a pump it up -- 20/23 for the front/ rear today at KR... Still the tightest trail and of a more technical nature around here compared to the rest.. but surprisingly the higher pressure seems to hold up better than last week's 17.5 psi run at BF. The last time I hit this techie xc trail, reliance on the granny was still high.. on current 1x 1 have to rely a lot on momentum in those roller coaster sections.. Must say that part of the fast run possible was because of the volume and how things held up well at those pressure in the dry like today.

Must have been having more tire roll than I accounted for riding up until today when the Wizards were largely tested on 15-17 psi.

Higher pressure was ok with the totally dry trail today and more suitable due to all the sudden trough-outs where a softer pressure might not work as well to recover and move on.


 26th Oct...
Back to BT after a long break away from here... F/R still on 20/23 psi but dropped the rear shock back another 5 psi to my more usual 85psi on the XF Stage. Everything was rideable and I was going crazy fast today even by my own standard. Again it was those last minute twitch and turn that I feel the grabbiness on the side knobs a little less than desirable. So dropping it down to a more "gooey-grabby"  16/17.5 psi and continue pounding... the gnarliest part of the trail where  the rocky drops section are was when I got another rear double snakebite...



After all the massaging and riding on different pressure -- it got me thinking even with bigger volume and my relatively light weight there is a limit to how low a pressure things can go.

Rolling along 14-17.6 psi is fine or even as low as 11-12psi but once the trail is hit with a certain amount of gusto... nope, 19-20 is probably the lowest it can go for welterweight me to be safely out of most "flat" zones...



Summarily...
The 2.75" Wizard has a visible increase of actual volume over full size 2.4" tires
However the riding does not equate to being any better and in some cases the 2.4" with more beefy side knobs and lesser resistance from the width actually rides more efficiently while still providing the slice of desired pneumatic cush.

Have a gut feeling I will concur with some feedback that the heavier wire bead version of the Wizard is probably a better option. 200gm penalty but most likely worth each gram...


Another thing about gut feeling is, especially if you are not a sponsored rider like me... listen to your rational mind.. Yes it was telling me while the size of the Wizard crammed into a 26 FS bike will look impressive.. it's really superfluous as the Ibex 2.4 was the best medium for his build without needing to flay the wallet.   Listen to your inner self next time.


Project Golem Minor pt III

Project Golem Minor pt II

Project Golem Minor pt I

Golem Minor part III

Back and forth for 2 months the mental gymnastic of weighing the exorbitant price of a pair of tires against the merits of increase in volume they will bring has finally come down to .... Volume WINS (and my frivolous nature when it comes to all things bike related).

Once again the stars started aligning... first  a formula to calculate how much gain there actually would be. Ok still ball park but at least there is some formula to work on instead of eyeball-o-meter and a butt-bounce-calibration to satisfy my pedantic nature.

And.. and  and the most important thing for any proud El Cheapo is of course... CHEAP.. relative to the loss of a kidney to buy from online + shipping, the almost forgotten arrangement with the LBS finally pop up in my messages " The wizards have arrive..."

Measurement
Going by the rule of thumb that vol. increase in tire is proportional to the cross sectional area of the tire (while assuming a roundish) profile...
What is the vol. increase going from a true 2.4 (actual widest width @ 62mm) to a 2.75" (measured width @ 70mm) on a wide 48mm rim base?

Ans: [((70.0/2)^2 x 3.142)-((62/2)^2 x 3.142))]/((62/2)^2 x 3.142))% = 27.5%

Of course this is open to all kinds of errors in measurement and after physically measuring last night-- carcass wise it was not as wide. ~70mm was only at the knobs but for now let's put it as +/-10% on that 27.5%/

A second opinion with eyeball-o-meter says the Anvil-RubberWidth-Range is right on the dot. The Missus chimed in with her growing expertise on things-biking and concur with her highly accurate Finger-O-Meter too, "Yes it's bigger" she said.

So here it is - a 2.75" that measures up to the definition of a 27.5 diameter after having gain a 27.5% increase in volume...  Hmmm what numbers should I be betting for this week's lottery?

Left: Wizard knob to knob on the 48mm Try-All Nowar K2 rim followed by previously measured, mounted up with 2.4 Onza Ibex. Right pics are measured smooth wall to wall.. 28mm Halo Freedom Disc with 2.4 Ardents measured wall to wall. Same Halo with Ardent measured lug to lug at widest point.

Wall to wall on the wizard was a little too wide for the caliper to find a good point but estimated ~2mm lesser @ 67mm. (update.. indeed as re-measured this morning its ~67mm)

Height wise (without knob) is 2.5mm more than the Onza Ibex 2.4- Hence the overall diameter is up by 5mm

Wizard on the right couple of mm taller than the Ibex

Clearance
Very tight. With a bit of tire wobble? there's light rub (very slight) at a couple of spots on the side. Gonna massage a little more this evening to balance things up. In any case, the pressure has ben pumped up to 30 psi to let sit overnight. Since my usual riding pressure would be 15-17 and sometimes as low as 12-14psi, the sides would probably bulge out a little less. Funny thing was my initial concern after crunching all the collected data then was the fear of the diameter being overly large. No issue of that sort here.  Guess it came up short on Surly's own number on this one @ 697mm..  Me estimating what I have here is ~694mm or thereabout.
(update: dropped the pressure from the initial 30 closer to my riding at 18-19 psi. Very slight rub at 1 point. Gotta check whether its due tire wobble or a slight truing is needed. In any case would likely re-dish 1mm or so nearer to drive side at a later time).

Clearance on the tighter NDS side of CS @ 30 and 19 psi

Clearance on the seat stays


An Apple to Apple and Apple to Orange comparison

Left: Same 48mm rim Wizard 2.75" vs Ibis 2.4"
Right: Ibex 2.4" vs Ardents 2.4" on 28mm Halo rim.

Back and ready for some tuning after a test ride...  Just a quick one- It didn't ride like how I have mentally extrapolated it would from the Ibex 2.4
Will leave the verdict for a final installment till more rubber has been laid on the trails


If bikes are named according to tire size.....

Oh wait, let's dust off the...

Snug but yea it fits


Hmmm -  a 26+ SS hardtail next?









Golem part IV... final installment. Akan datang

Golem Minor part II: The Ride

The last post rambled on how things got to where they are. Reckon it's better to cut up the pieces and focus on the actual ride here...

Day 1:
The "26+" didn't really look that big from a casual glance. Then again,  3.0" on 50mm Rabbit holes looked kinda normal from far as well.

Busted pressure gauge meant relying on  fingers-0-meter and the dodgy gauge on the air pump...  Started out at an estimated ~10-12 psi on the trail.

Not wanting to to risk a flat, had them raised to ~15-16ish psi (I think). Moreover at the earlier  pressure there were a number of tire roll and rim strikes on short test runs and popping around.

Eyeballed a 15-20% deflection over the rear rubber, that would give close to a 3.0" contact footprint with the ground.


Moment of truth.. Stud or a dud after a fortnight of cobbling?





Gunning what's left of "gnarly" and flow impeding sections that  local "flowsters" have not managed to hack/chop/mutilate or move around in their rock chess sessions, it was point and shoot time at speed over oblique finger roots spaced just sufficiently apart by Ma Nature to endo the unwary.

The biggest difference for me between regular mtb and fatties is the slow speed balance/stability. The slo-mo-lean-that-turns-into-a-foot-down moment on a regular bike that can be easily saved on a wider patch of rubber with low pressure. Of course those crucial  half second track-stands clawing over a techie rock/ square edge filled slope is a lot easier on a fatter tire.


The last few years of riding true to size 2.35" - 2.5" rubbers was a boatload of improvement over days of 2.1" but 4-5" of obese rubber simply blows all that away.Yet vision blotting 5" rubbers aren't without their cons...


On the subject of air volume, width is the first thing that comes to mind, but that's rather incomplete. A significant volume is increased with every millimeter that can be tucked between rim and tire. Going for that extra pneumatic cushioning? I'll wager all my spare change into the height factor. It's not just the 4.8" rubbers on a 100mm rim that makes things awesome but how those rubbers blow a 26" rim into a 29ish profile is where fat-natics derive their pleasures of regressing into that Zensation of Being One floating amniotic mass...

Looking down, I kept wondering if cramming in a 2.75" Wizard is possible. Things would be perfect with an additional ~15-20% increase in volume. Based on the rule of thumb that vol. increase is proportional to the cross sectional area of tires, the 2.75" would  actually give ~27.5% increase! and in fact, quite likely a little more vol. since the "base" is a 48mm rm and not exactly rounded.

As measured.. right now with the Ibex 2.4" which is ~62mm at the widest and the Wizards should come in at about 70. Assuming cross section is roughly round

The percentage is calculated as:  [((70.0/2)^2 x 3.142)-((62/2)^2 x 3.142))]/((62/2)^2 x 3.142))

Given the description that it is a tire that would give a 26" the size of a 27.5"-- that would mean much of it comes from an increased buffering of air between the rubber to the rim itself. 

The mods were never about going faster but was I ever wrong as the rig start tearing the trail new ones at different turns... took a lot of slightly different alternative lines in the usual tight twisty trail.  Hard to describe but in my vocabulary challenged typing state now.. let's just say this chimera feels snappy and "sticky" , achieving that desired ease flying over chatters in full control  without feeling much of the terrain beneath at the same time

It translated into more than just extra comfort over rough. Behaving like a lusty banshee scrambling down in heat at the waft of some young innocent male.... And victims it did find, in the form of unsuspecting hikers that managed to jump out of harm's way in the nick of time. Sadly, like most of the riding locally, there's never enough descent to fully unleash a caged beast that's waiting , waiti... ....


Big tires and suspension takes away all the fun of what a hard tail or rigid will dish out? I beg to differ. Different bikes ride differently and in this case it allows riding faster and pushing harder, taking lines that would not normally be considered on a hardtail or short travel rig. Or at least by half baked riders like myself save for those accidental miscues..

Certainly even if intentionally riding over the same lines... those bikes would hardly ever be able to perform on the same scale as I did today, thus minus that thrill factor. Yes there are days I relish the sensation of a hardtail soaking up each bump in the terrain, forcing me to remember "how to ride" and uncap handling skills that may be long forgotten otherwise....   Very much opposed to having that fast nippy arcade sensation that is really more about an adrenaline rush on bigger bikes...

Initially suspected the burgeoning girth might put a wedge to the speed, instead, by taking out most of the trail chatters in combination with the suspensions, it allows for more non stop pedaling over sections where I usually coast. The prototype Xfusion STAGE shock has totally broken in by now. Works in perfect sync. with the rest of the bike and the wheel set. Pedal strike was not much concern even when cranking over most of the roots and rocks. 3 clicks to slow down the rebound was all that's needed to dial the front end. 

Increased momentum from the additional rotational weight  was a boon rather than curse. Since I've been on a Moonlander and gotten so used to it, the start up now feels natural (for someone coming from normal lighter bikes, that might be a point to really bitch about). In any case the old setup was a little too light to my liking. Total weight ranged between 12.2 to 12.9kg depending on parts put on.  Now its about 300gm of additional rotational weight on each wheel.


For whatever extra effort it takes to crank across rolling sections, it compensates by rolling a lot easier with less resistance and more momentum, just like my fatbikes but with the additional comfort of the suspensions. While having no way of quantifying  I attribute the reduced fatigue experienced on fatter wheels boils down very much to having expend a lot less energy balancing a bike as compared to normal or thinner wheels. Again just like on fat bikes. Its things we do so naturally on a bike that we do not even realize but the accumulated effort shows itself over an extended period as the muscles get tired eventually.

Pump the bike with the correct timing and it's faster than actually pedaling at times. Anyway this is another biking skill I am  still working on to improve.

Overall , it reminded me very much of the Moonlander.. Once spinned up, just keep gunning. Don't Stop. Let Rip ROll and MOW!

Suits the characteristic of this frame too.. The EG begs to be ridden fast, it just gets better if you aren't the slow chugging spinner. However our narrow winding local trails are really difficult to maintain speed for long with all those natural "speed limiters" of fallen trees, sudden abrupt turns and all thrown in. While it still won't translate to those gonzo warp speed DH sessions but with these "float over whatever may come" wheels .. I can see how some things will change in my rides from now on.

The suspensions soaked up more than what 5" of blubbery but undamped tires can dish out. Without  the spiking trail chatter sending neurons pinging down the lumbar vertebraes... it was just pure buttterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Loose gravel was a no brainer.. Just go ahead stave off the beckoning  of the brake lever and whip the body and let the friction from the widened traction control the speed

Overall it increases the liveliness and fun factor on the bike.


Rolling resistance--- Maybe its the tire but again things ran sort of counter to what I thought. Despite the increased contact patch-- things were definitely easier or rather it just feels a lot less tiring at the end of the day.


It doesn't accelerate as fast as a lighter wheelset but whatever power put in lurch the bike forward with more momentum. I was a lot less beat up even after 7 laps when my usual ride around here is about 3-4.  Is that because of the change in  the roll-in angle now??  Not too familiar on this point, gotta read up a bit more to find out later. These Onza Ibex 2.4 are nice too in that they don't start to push dirt in softer ground.

Synapses are firing overtime wondering about all the new found speed with factors that "logically" says it shouldn't be there. Whatever the reasons and physics behind... obviously I'm not complaining though ;)

Well, being alone today and speedometer-less as usual, there could be some bias on my part. Let's wait to hit the trails again with the guys and see if there really is a difference to all that speed sensation.

Over the course of 7 laps, two different bar setups were used..  wasn't till back at home that a final change seemed to be "the destined one"on this build. Much as the 710mm Fun Fat Boy mid riser gave some good control but really 710 these days is just a tad short. With the change in riding and lots more off the saddle powering down on pedals.. the 720mm  15 deg backsweep flat SOMA Odin didn't cut it either... and moreover  twas a little too low. So it was back to a bar that hasn't been dusted in a while, the 760mm Reverse XXL with a little lesser rise. Well I'm seldom wrong when simply sitting down and a setup already gets me into that in-the-bike sensation ... but let's see.

Day 2: Front tire pressure was off, probably some slow leak over the week  but it held about~ 8-10 psi. Anyway the last ride seems alright so I thought to just give it a go and see where the limits are.

Gunned everything, trashed every inch as fast as I can ride the bike.. AND right on the last descend ... Pssst.

Putting the bike through a stress test the whole time and that last rocky section that did the front in was considerably faster and harder. Came down with a flat and my 0.1 ton friend broke his chain trying to chase me thru that corner....

Thinking back, I was hitting a fair bit harder than the week before even though today's ride was short. Based on all that had transpired on the trail, safe pressure for my riding weight @ 72kg.. the previous week's range of 14-16 psi seems right on the mark with the kind of plush floating comfort factor. Any lesser would have increased the comfy factor without sacrificing much speed but given that there's gonna be a lot of small drops and "unnecessary" bunny hops whenever I can find space to pop... too low a pressure didn't sound like a good idea.


Day 3: By now I have no reasons to doubt how the bike will perform rounding down the packed winding berms scattered all over BT.  But will see how well it goes with the whole roller coaster terrain including more ups now. Couple of sections in the past has proven to be a bit of a challenge on my antiquated 1x9 on this bike. I'm still on 30 x 11-34. No granny to bail.

It was easier than the previous wheelset running Halo Freedom with 2.4 Ardents @ 21/25 psi.. as every inch gained full traction now @ ~17psi. Only tweak after today was to move the saddle up half an inch... I really wish the EG has a couple more degrees to its STA which is about  the only "outdated" geo no. that matters on this frame.

Up till this point, like my fatbikes, there is a tendency to "understeer" or self-steer, attributed to wider footprints but not as noticeable. Its one of those things I do not like on fat bikes but guess its hard to avoid everything negative and only want to pile on the good ones.

Ok time to employ some good riding techniques.. another skill yet to be enforced till it becomes second nature. Kneeing in to the frame at speed turns.. Once I got mentally adjusted, that really change the nimbleness and responsiveness. Ok more practice and practice till it becomes ingrained as my next level of riding habits... No, not trying to follow all those videos out there, it's just something that really works. But today I really felt One-With-The-Bike.

All in, I'm trying to do a lot of things in these last few sessions and ride a little differently than usual. When the pressure is right, it behaves a lot like a fat bike on the trail. Leveraging on the additional traction now to rail while easier to stay off the brakes due to the extra stability. Its feels odd but it works and that is all I can say.

This pic kinda sums up what I feel so far... ;)

A second pair of semi wide rims, maybe this time the Velocity Dually might be next on the other bike. ... but let's see if the novelty wears off or is this 26+ really an improvement. All I know now is that for now  it's just too much fun to go back to regular hoops on the usual weekend rides.


Now that everything is more or less in place.. I'll let the fat cat out as to the real reasons with all these changes. Obviously to stand out and ride something a little different from everyone else cannot be denied. After all fatbikes is so mainstream these days eh...need a little diversion to distract myself and stay on the Path-of-All-Things-Cycling :)

I love the fat rubber sensation but not some of its steering characteristics that arise from being that big at the same time. Namely the understeer and how they always want to shoot off a berm instead of railing it at speed.

Looking for agility with additional comfort factor was certainly an important part of the equation. My regular beefy AM/ Enduro or whatever oxymoronic terms a bike is given these days is still the usual go-to choice many a time, so it makes sense to franken up these rigs rather than the other bikes.

That led me to think "Can I whip up something that contains the best of both worlds?"

The simple answer now of course is yes. Can and done.


Next... While all the gravity oriented vacations has been fun so far ter it's been really tempting looking through the more epic sight-seeing type of cycling holidays some of my friends have been doing. Those that require more pedaling but are also rewarded with breath taking views during descents. While most of the downs are generous swathes of singletracks, I'm pretty sure there are can also be places where one can ride up but go back down in gnarlier stuff that is more to my liking.

The problem with trying to ride all of these in one go is having to compromise on the bike to bring. For the pedaling, my usual setups are no fun over 4-5K ft of climbs. But noodly xc and puny stanchion builds for the sake of pedaling and climbs would likewise not cut it in the adrenaline rush descents I'm seeking. Something else is needed...

While I have not been convinced by all the goo goo ga ga marketing of 650B/ 27.5 but given the frivolous nature of how people change out bikes.. if some 27.5 frame should come my way cheap enough... it would be interesting to jam these 26+ on. Im still hedging a bet it will go faster and nicer than actual 27.5 hoops given that they will reach the actual diameter of those touted 'tweeners with the right tires but cush along on a bigger air padding.


Last but not least-- the Salsa Bucksaw has really gotten my attention. Just not sure how much I'll be suckered into ordering one of those expensive balloon boinks... so all the experimenting here hopefully can serve to extrapolate and let me mull on whether that or better yet, an even beefier version of a fat-sus will be my next DO-It-All... I'll let it simmer till things in this genre has matured a little more.

Right now there are a few points that's nagging in my bike filled skull that doesn't feel right but reckon I'll keep it to myself for now and not dampen the mood. I know a lot of people out there are really excited with these new soon to be delivered Buckies.

Ok the real test is gonna come in the form of the 8hr race on 17th Aug.

Proj. Golem Minor.

It might not have been apparent but each time when something of interest is going to turn into another endless wall of text article... I begin to think to myself if it's really worth the effort or if anyone would even be interested. Then again many things are really meant as a depository of sorts for myself on things biking and tinkering. At the same time there's much influence by people who choose to espouse long pieces like one of my favorite site, http://lovelybike.blogspot.sg/ .

Of course my scribbling is obviously lacking by a million miles both in terms of writing skills and depth of each topic (ok, on the latter I choose to be lazy sometimes in not putting  up all the relevant links and being more in-depth with history of things)....


3rd Jul 2014..... Time for another itchy mind itchy finger conversion on a bike that has been working well for its intended build.

Golem? Maybe its the whole sandy rootbeer-camo theme coupled with the change to a bigger footprint. and all the mecha-animes I've been watching recently like Broken Blade. Really, one of the better from the mecha genre out there in the last few seasons... Ok I digresss again...


Yea, back to a "not fat, not thin but a squishy perfection in-between". Once done, that would  allow singing the merits of how wider rims of a faux fat sussie is the best of both world between my regular 28-30mm mtb hoops and the Moonlander's  100mm steamrollers? Throw in a whole crock load of biking jargon from compression, rebound to float and confuse the hell out of all my riding but non bike-savvy friends.

All to make them drop a ton of money faster than their pants to convert theirs ;)

Oh..what are friends for huh!

Nope..I'm leaving my evil alter ego aside... truth is...

... this is a culmination of various other bike ideas over the years too.. a military theme bike that took roots long ago but never materialized...

So what happens to the usual  Zenvilogy of "FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION"? .. All that to blend in with some colored duct tape on the bike now ??? ...  frenzied screaming voices of  imaginary fans is reaching a crescendo within my grey matters as I type now.....
.

Actually,  it's been loads of "researching" before arriving at this decision.. Aesthetics is a bonus after all other things fall into place nicely.. Certainly not one being averse to larger tire volumes whenever possible on my bikes.

More importantly at this stage in life, I'm not after speed or podium finishes but fun, comfort plus lots and lots of bike related tinkering projects :) .... speaking of which, let's see how much bigger things get...

Left to right: 48mm Try-All Nowar K2 mounted up with 2.4 Onza Ibex. Measured smooth wall to wall
28mm Halo Freedom Disc with 2.4 Ardents measured wall to wall.
Same Halo with Ardent measured lug to lug at widest point.
6.5mm wider wall to wall.. but measured across the entire donut-- its probably a 6-9% increase in vol..
Definitely. gonna be a diff in the ride feel. and hopefully that should let me start running pressure in the lo 10s psi.
ALL mounted to smallish mtb tube-- if using those large DH ones-I reckon things will widen another couple mm.

Side to side comparison showing a visual difference on the wider setup. Plonk into the  rear to check for clearance.
Enough on the sides not to touch and might just fit a Surly Wizard 2.75.. so long as that tre isn't too tall.

Nothing new really. Folks have been experimenting with wide trials rims on normal mtb circa 2005-07. But it never really caught on somehow... that is until the Fatsunami came crashing in these 2 years... with it came the not-so-fat, mostly instigated by Surly like their Instigator and Krampus models.. Suddenly there is a revived interest in niche circles with ~50mm rims.. Then of course there are brands like Sandman banking on going big but not float-in-the-dead-of-winter-snowing-BIG type of builds and geometry.

Having climbed on the fat train since 09 with a Pugs and "upgraded" to a Moonlander last year, in between these and the EGs... I am beginning to toy with the idea of a "tweener medium" at a time when the world was lolli-sucking into the 27.5 wave.

Why? Well there are things that are just more fun with a full suspension bike. Then there are properties of fatties that cannot be understood if you have never rode them. Then there is always the idea of zipping all genres to come up with that ONE PERFECT BIKE.... it will probably never happen but it has never stopped people from wasting money trying to achieve it.

These demi fatness revolves around an obsession with the Surly Wizard  2.75" rubbers... well, there just aren't all that many tires that will fit the bill out there. First to fit this chimera and still be left with usable clearance is determining what's the biggest possible. Older 2.6-.27 DH tires have pretty much gone the way of the dodos in the DH circuit. Besides those are a little too heavy even for non weight weenie me.

From the info by Surly on the dimensions on Wizards-- taking the 50mm readings which is close enough to my recent rim purchase. But as luck would have it, the most important piece of info needed is missing... the tire height from top of rim to the outermost of the tire-- determines whether it will clear the yoke of the main pivot on the rear tri is not available ;(
update: Dumb ass me.. .just realize the measurements are all there after all..

Ok time to trawl the usual forums and see if anyone has some info to offer..
In the worse case, just stick with the Onza Ibex 2.4-- which by far seems to be the biggest 2.4" currently in my possession...

To be continued...


...
17 Jul 2014...
Couple of real world measurements of Velocity's 26" Dually rims @ 45mm wide mounted with Dirt Wizard puts the overall diameter @ 700mm. My 48mm is not gonna make too much difference to the tire height...

Looks like center of axle to yoke on the EG is gonna come up maybe 1/2 a centi short  DAMN! But let's leave this to mull for later...

Anyway wheels are back tonight.. Looks good despite a lot of earlier worries.. Haven't talked about it earlier but when the rims arrived - there's considerable gaps in each of them. That is why I always bring my hula hoops to trusted builders.. if they dare lace it up and hand it back-- they are good to go. Otherwise they won't even touch it.

Moreover this time, with these kind of rim-- the knowledge of how to build them up is a little beyond me to attempt a home build.

It's weird how the pinning is right across the hole and not even centered. Had to take a chance. Finding and ordering trials stuff was a totally different ball game from regular mtb/roadie bits. Was reluctant to send back if it can be used... I know most of these trial rims are just a clone of one another and each factory will just try to push it a little more.. still this whole pinning is not really my cuppa for how a rim should be made in all honesty.

Then again this wouldn't be something I'm gonna take for those head on bashing 10' drop-in FR rides from the start go...so will let it pass for now.

The rims seem a little too light for my taste at this width... My gravity oriented bombproof still-be-rolling-when-I'm-long-gone-and-dead CK/Hope + 30mm Spank Subrosa are heavier! Overall the build now is not too much different from when the same Hope EVOs were laced to those WTB 480gm i23 (incl. rim tapes) @ 1,92kg.

Since these weigh ~570gm a piece and was necessary to use those big ass 16mm nipples...they took a 230gm hit and end up with at a grand total of  2.154kg now.

Getting those camo duct tapes nice and smooth isn't a straight forward process. Gotta stretch the Surly rim strips underneath just enough. Too little and parts of of the rim strip will be exposed as there isn't sufficient tape on the outside. Too much and there is going be all kind of crease and folds.
Trial-and-error and half a wasted roll later... DONE.

Here... all pumped up hard to let the bead sit in tight overnight...

These 'bloons here were blown up with big 280-300gm tubbies The extra 230gm of the build  and another ~260 due to the tubbies  (over my usual 160gm ones) + those Surly rim tapes-

DAMN its a WHOOPING 1/2 Kg of rotating mass. OK got to ponder whether to go back with lighter weight tubes eventually. Ggrrrhhhhhhh.....


Why not tubeless....
For one-- I have never gone tubeless, UST or ghetto.
With proper UST tires, sealants and all-- doubt there is much saving if not increase the weight further.
Ghetto with these softer 120 TPI sidewall tires and a split tube--I feel a little uneasy and not sure if these trials rim can be properly converted. The rim design is just not meant for tubeless.

Anyway I'm just not a tubeless person... Been on tubes with 19-23 psi over the last 5-6 yrs with nary an issue.. we got rocks but hardly thorns so I don't really get the kind of pinch flat woes like my heavier friends....

19 Jul 2014
Ok all done up and even gave it a spit shine tire polish my former regimental sergeant major would approve..

Ride around a bit and I would say it has characteristics that falls in between my regular suspension setup and a fat bike. Maybe leaning a little towards a regular mtb and that is why I'm still adamant to stick some 2.75" rubbers on it. Exhibiting the magic carpet float over finger roots on my short test ride this morning with  12-14 psi but certainly can use whatever extra volume that can be squeezed into it.


Tomorrow is the trail test-- so will come up with all the techie "review" bits like how the wheels roll or push and how's the float over an extended run in relation to the suspension settings..

Update: 30 Jul
>>>>>> Enough of the boring stuff..here's how it rides<<<<<<