Bikes of BAFS 2017

[ian74]

drevil, vvill,

Both of you have great bikes, love the Ti, love the belt drive (could leave the ss though).

I can attest, Tania's Kona Rove is a fun bike. She let me take if for a spin last year. It's super comfy.

I'm always looking for an excuse to post a picture of my bike. Mine is a 2016 Salsa Marrakesh, PERMANENT FENDERS are Handsome Mud Butlers, plush Panaracer Paselas 38's. Went with touring since my commute is long and I have lots of time in the saddle. I was looking for a comfy ride, and this thing is like a Lincoln Towncar. I bought it in June and have about 6500 miles on it so far. The only thing's I've needed replaced are the tires and a chain. It's a workhorse. A heavy, slow, plodding workhorse. I love the aesthetics too. After seeing all these belt drive and internally geared hubs I'm thinking I want to make some upgrades. Too bad those Rohloff hubs cost more than the bike did.

[hozn]

drevil, vvill,

Both of you have great bikes, love the Ti, love the belt drive (could leave the ss though).

I can attest, Tania's Kona Rove is a fun bike. She let me take if for a spin last year. It's super comfy.

I'm always looking for an excuse to post a picture of my bike. Mine is a 2016 Salsa Marrakesh, PERMANENT FENDERS are Handsome Mud Butlers, plush Panaracer Paselas 38's. Went with touring since my commute is long and I have lots of time in the saddle. I was looking for a comfy ride, and this thing is like a Lincoln Towncar. I bought it in June and have about 6500 miles on it so far. The only thing's I've needed replaced are the tires and a chain. It's a workhorse. A heavy, slow, plodding workhorse. I love the aesthetics too. After seeing all these belt drive and internally geared hubs I'm thinking I want to make some upgrades. Too bad those Rohloff hubs cost more than the bike did.

Another great-looking bike.

I'll admit that I am appreciating the permanent/full fenders this season.



To be fair, I'm not actually playing Freezing Saddles, but for the sake of documenting the bike with the rare full fenders. :-) I agree that they look great. But I'll remove them (and downsize the tires) when I want the bike to feel "sporty" again.

[vvill]

FWIW I think those fenders on hozn's bike look great. I'm pretty sure I noticed and commented on them the first time I saw them. And I've talked about the Marrakesh before in person as well.


The difficulty of riding one gear is less than many imagine. Before I tried one I obsessed over gear inches and making sure I had 35-100+ on my geared bikes, but unless you are carrying a load and/or going up extended climbs you can make one gear do a lot more than you might think, although admittedly I doubt I'd use one for a commute as long as ian's! Like drevil, I work from home now so I can pick and choose what/where/when to ride.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

This is my 2009 Torker Cargo T. It's all about maximizing the ride days. It's built around the idea that I don't want to oil the chain and wipe down the wheels every time it gets wet. It has generator lights via a bottle dynamo, 8 speed internal hub, enclosed chain, Bar Mitts, basket, low step. Yes, those are 26-inch wheels and yes you can still get tires for them. Loving the Schwalbe Big Bens! And no, I can't figure out how to rotate images after upload...

[TwoWheelsDC]

Man these bikes are great. That Fuji Tread still looks fantastic, glad the fenders work out well for you (and don't flap around too much without the stays?).

I use the stays in the front (you can just barely make them out in the photo), but not in the back. No problems with the back unless I'm going over some crazy bumps, and then I just hear a little rattle. NBD.

[EasyRider]

Great bike! I have the same basket and tires on my commuter.

[dkel]

Permanent fenders are an aesthetic! Aww, now I'm gonna have to post up in this biz!...

Bike 1



VO Zeppelin fenders with VO mud flaps = very full coverage. Those things will take my studs, which are knobby 40s.

I'll try to post bike 2 tonight.

[hozn]

I use the stays in the front (you can just barely make them out in the photo), but not in the back. No problems with the back unless I'm going over some crazy bumps, and then I just hear a little rattle. NBD.

Oh, I do see that; I was confused by your statement since it never occurred to me to leave that part on the bike. Is it easier to replace the fenders with leaving that part of the stay attached to fork eyelets? (I just detach from eyelets, though if the eyelet threads are carbon, I could see that being another reason to not be constantly detaching there.)

[TwoWheelsDC]

Oh, I do see that; I was confused by your statement since it never occurred to me to leave that part on the bike. Is it easier to replace the fenders with leaving that part of the stay attached to fork eyelets? (I just detach from eyelets, though if the eyelet threads are carbon, I could see that being another reason to not be constantly detaching there.)

It's pretty easy. Mounting takes me maybe 2 minutes total, front and back. Unmounting takes about 30 seconds. I usually mount them the night before I think I'll need them, but it's definitely easy enough to make a game day decision.

[dkel]

Bike 2



Very similar configuration to Bike 1, down to racks and fenders (in "noir"). This is belt drive and 8-speed IGH (and can be converted to FG with a little work). Bike 2 will be knobs or slicks depending on the conditions, and will do all the rain or slop rides because of the belt; bike 1 will probably wear the studs for the winter (if I ever need to put them on at all) since it has brifters, and I'd rather not have to take my hands off the bars to shift if I'm on ice.

I should probably say: bike 1 is a Surly Straggler, and bike 2 is a Soma Wolverine. Sweet ChroMo goodness!