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Monday, June 12

Think I'm done thinking

I wanted to make a real decision.  Biased, totally, but real.

I basically have three "mountain bikes."

My Vertigo Meatplow V.7.  The go-to.  The "race" bike.  The bike I would last have pried from my cold, dead, arthritic fingers.  My twoo love.

The By:Stickle Meatplow V.6.  My "mountain" bike... mebbe "trail" bike.  The bike I've tried to replace or at least thought too much about way replacing too many times.  It's not perfect (because I couldn't see the future when it was made), but it be like it is because it do.

The Misfit Meatplow V.5.

As it sits currently, 38X18, fixed, brakeless, non-droopered... mebbe gets more saddle time than the rest of them.  The frok is different now thanks to Viscoset thing that saw me owning to ENVE MTN froks, but if you want a deal on a Niner frok... hit me up.  Anyways, great training and a somewhat safer way to go into the evening if I know beers are gonna be involved.  It's the embodiment of the joke about the pig with one leg that the farmer can't eat all at once because he loves it so much.  It's just a great bike that does what it does.

So... when I upgraded the wheels on the Vertigo... "upgraded?"

Heavier.  More spokes.  More weight... but more girth in the front.

Anyways, I ended up with a set of 24 spoke Industry Nine wheels on NOX Farlow rims... the lightest wheels I've had in a long time.  Doing nothing.  My brain wonders if the By:Stickel that has had 27.5 wheels on it for more than a year now, would be better suited with these on it.  Dunno.

All these downhillers.  Swapping to 29" wheels.  Faster.  Going down.  What am I doing wrong?

So, I decided it was time to make a choice one way or the other... with a certain amount of bias.

If I keep the 29" wheels on the By:Stickle, I can sell the 27.5" wheels and still have a backup set of wheels for the Vertigo.  This would be double good.

That bias in mind, and no real desire to collect data to compare and contrast and stare at, I figured I'd just do some riding and make the call... hoping the 29" wheels would win so I could sell off the unwanted things before non-Boost is ded.

A 29" wheel ride in Wilson Creek a week ago.  The very day that Minnaar won the World Cup DH on a bike equipped with big wheels.  The bike climbed pretty well, considering the 300 gram lighter wheelset.  But the descents... I felt like... just okay?

Another 29" wheel ride on Saturday.  Sherman Branch.  Local trail that I was reminded the reason I don't ride there is the return home traffic on Albemarle Road.  Where are those people going on a Saturday?

And Sunday.  27.5" wheels mounted back up.  Poston Park and Rocky Branch after dropping Nia off at summer camp.

The verdict?

There is nothing scientific about this.  Absolute.  The variables are many, and the data?  So subjective.

I had more "fun" on the 27.5 wheels.  Dammit.

It could be because of the super grippy 27.5 X 2.8 mid-plus Rekon ran at 17PSI.  Mebbe the girthy 2.35 Tomahawk on a wide rim... that fits so nicely in the chainstays and the yoke that was designed before 27.5 was a thing.

Perhaps the fact that my chainstay length is as short as possible with a 34 X 20 (16 3/8"), which would be the gear I'd run in the mountains and for super happy play time.  It could be the amount of beer I had the night before and the time that I rode the next day allowing for the processing of more/less toxins.  Dunno.

All I know is that the By:Stickel is staying 27.5 for as long as I can foresee.  It makes the bike different enough from my Vertigo that it feels like something else to do.  Is much bueno.  Not gonna fuck with bueno anymore.

Yeth, that means there is a set of 24 hole Industry Nine NOX wheels that are currently hanging on the wall.  Too good to put on a bike that gets ridden to "establishments."  So mebbe they're my Garvel Grindr™ wheels?  Mebbe what I'd mount up for racing when I use my Fox Stepcast... which is another thorn in my feels side.  It's the best 100mm fjork I've ever ridden, and yet it sits in the corner (upside down to keep the seals moist).  I don't wanna get rid of it because it's so awesome, but I really don't wanna use it, but if I get hurt...

This is what it's like being me.

I'm a bit of a mess.

So glad that Spencer decided to pay for some grips I was selling with beer yesterday, because it really cuts out the middle man and clears the thinky part out.

3 comments:

Rob said...

If you could only have one bike/wheelset? (not counting your work bike)

dicky said...

My Vertigo. Hands down the way it is built right now.

Anonymous said...

until tomorrow.....because......burrito.