Samuli's bikes, off-road touring in Lapland and other rides

This isn't a project really, but the bikes are never ready either.

I've had my Steamroller for 10 years. Still love it. The setup has varied from fixie skidder to an ultra racing bike. I bent the original fork while playing polo. It's been a singlespeed roadbike for most of the time though. I started riding brevets/audaxes on it in 2012 I think. I had a couple of roadbikes and mountainbikes too but those are not that relevant. I did PBP in 2015 on this, among other things:

Then I decided to do the Transcontinental Race. I wanted gears but building a new bike as good as this would have been too expensive at the time and I don't like buying new things so I got a derailleur hanger brazed on the Steamroller.

I actually raced the TCR twice on it, got in the top 10 on this. And also did the Ruska across Finland in 2017.

It was great but I wanted to have bike with bigger clearance and disc brakes, better for gravel and snow, and with more gears and modern parts. So I got a Sibbo, and built the Steamroller as a SS again, to use for commuting and short training rides and whatever. That's how it's been since and I use it daily.

I've basically only changed the tyres. GP4000 for the summer, studded for the winter. The bearings on the SP dynamo hub from 2015 have lots of play in them now and I'll build a new wheel soon.

This is what the Sibbo looked like during the first summer and the North Cape - Tarifa race.

The mudguards were great during the constant rain of the first week and a bit in the cold north. The bike was great for the whole 7400km. Though bearings in the rear hub were done after that. Changed the Shimano 105 for DT350.

I like parts that are proven to be reliable and not too expensive to destroy, as the bike is a tool. So for example I like the square taper bottom bracket. UN55 FTW. It's a rather basic bike, not the prettiest or lightest. I like the road-bike-like geometry combined with good tyre clearance. The third bottle mount and rear light mount have been brazed on by friends. Front hub is a SON now and brakes are Hope RX4. Rear light cable goes through the downtube using the DI2 holes.

I've done a few gravel races on this too and all kinds of other rides.

This is how it was when I set a a record on riding across Finland on it:

Transcontinental Race 2019, with a carbon fork:

Paris-Brest-Paris 2019:

Just built a 650b wheelset for it. And changed the fork for one with more clearance.

Here's a blog post about the NCT: https://samulimaekinen.wordpress.com/2019/02/03/north-cape-tarifa/

And this is from that ride from Hanko to Nuorgam. https://samulimaekinen.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/fastest-known-time-across-finland/

That's all for now.

This is a really excellent thread, and read it all the way. Great journeys and I suppose they are current projects as you say, as you bikes are devolving and evolving all the time depending on what you are doing. Thanks for a great share

Good stuff..

”I like parts that are proven to be reliable and not too expensive to destroy, as the bike is a tool”

I really like this..!

I suppose they are current projects as you say, as you bikes are devolving and evolving all the time depending on what you are doing.

Indeed, and I think it's interesting to see how bikes end up/change after they have been used for a while and how they are set up for different situations.

This year I'm racing the Silk road mountain race. On the Sibbo most likely.

Now that's a proper monstecross bike, looks rad!

2.5" tyres? Noice

Nah, 2,2" Ikon at the front, though it could fit bigger there, fork has 80mm of space, but the rear tyre is 51mm and any wider would be too tight. Rides great.

Such a pity Pelago discontinued the Sibbo. Its a great bike you have there. Love your general approach to cycling and bikes.

No SRMR this year, but I've done some short trips around southern Finland and then a longer one, about a couple of weeks in the north, Lapland.

The Pöyrisjärvi wilderness area is really impressive, really enjoyed the few days I spent there.

Then I rode a few hundred kms of gravel and paved roads to the UKK national park.

The wilderness huts are rather luxurious, but most of the nights I slept in a bivy.

Most of them are smaller than this though.

Can't wait to get out again.

Looks absolutely perfect

Thanks, it was.

Also, while I had lots of fun on that bike there, I've liked off road riding so much I bought a Stanton Sherpa after I got home from there. Here's a picture from an overnighter a couple of weeks ago.

I've put a dropper post on it since.

That second hand Sherpa has been pretty great for what I got it for, day rides on local singletrack and bikepacking lightly loaded. Though it could have more mounting points and the old Sid and narrow carbon rims won't fit wider tyres than those 2,4", but that's fine. There's space for a decent framebag and it rides nice on the trails.

I did a four day trip to a hiking trail in eastern Finland that was really fun, such a good trail to ride and there's a couple of huts and lean-tos so I didn't need to bring a tent or even a seatpack.

Then spent a weekend closer to the south, connecting a couple of hiking routes and gravel roads. Did enjoy.

A new light would be nice, a dynamo or something like a Fenix that uses 18560 batteries so I could carry a bunch of them when I need. Less than six hours of daylight right now, damn. But that old cheap thing with two batteries is ok for now.

And this ratty commuter thing I built a while ago has been entertaining, though it is slow and kind of shit but practical.


It's a Bianchi Superlug 470 my dad bought in 96 or something and has seen several weird setups, as ugly as this a few years ago:

Bar end shifter on the aerobar and everything, such class.

stanton is boss.

I'd like to go cycling with you. Looks like we could have fun ☺️

Don't think I've ever experienced ride envy like I have in this thread. Too many beautiful looking rides, thanks for sharing Samuli.

@Hulsroy @Tonts Haha, you're welcome to join some day.

Here's more pics from that recent ride in the east, it was basically singletrack like that for 140 km with a bit of boardwalk here and there plus a few hours of gravel roads on each end to the closest town.

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wow

this.

Amazing! (the bikes are cool too)

Don't think I've ever experienced ride envy like I have in this thread. Too many beautiful looking rides, thanks for sharing Samuli.

+1 That single track through the pines.... swoons

Cheers!

Expecting a wet winter, like last year, I put mudguards on the Sibbo, but from that moment there's mostly only been dry snow. That's nice, less mud, more light, but it does limit the routes. Visited the Evo hiking area, first an all day road ride with friends and then continued there for a night by myself. Had a water bladder inside my jacket to keep it from freezing. The ice on the lake I camped next to was still so thin it was easy to break and get more water when I needed.

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Then later went bivvy in the snow, with the mtb. It was a warmer day, could carry a big bottle of water that didn't turn to ice, which was handy as the ice out there is getting thicker and the night was rather warm too.

I bought a drj0n strap deck and tried it both on the bar and under down tube, it works, though the king cage usb clamps are not the best fit with it.

As the temperature dropped again, the most used trails are incredibly smooth and firm, better than in summer.

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