Goodbye gravel bike, hello recumbent

😂

It wasn’t. I was livid.

I bought a new seatpost for the Kestrel. Wasn't really happy with the one that came with the frame and it was too short anyway.

Need to cut it down to fit the frame, so need to make sure this is really what I need.

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I just placed a bid on a bike that makes no sense at all. Hopefully someone will outbid me. Will let you know in 2 days ;)

This Kestrel is mental, can't get enough of it!

+1 it’s amaze.

If you're still looking for some, Bike24 has 25 mm Paselas for really cheap.

I never quite sure what to think of those. They look nice. But what kind of quality should I expect? Conti GP4000s style of more like Vittoria Zafiro?

thanks!

I have ordered a pair, and also bought a Tiagra chainset I've been hunting for, with a BB, cheaper than the chainset on its own. Funny old world....

I'll have another 650c bike on the road soon. Should there be a thread dedicated to readers' 650c bieks?

Should there be a thread dedicated to readers' 650c bieks?

Yup.

I used them for years. Really puncture proof and grippy but not too fast in my experience

I have a set in 700C that I've never used, so I can't tell you. They look... okay, definitely more Zaffiro than GP 4000. They certainly don't feel as nice in hand as a tire I would normally use, but they were intended for a budget fixed build that I never ended up doing.

I did buy some in 28 mm 650C with black sidewalls for my Softride though, so whenever that's finished I'll be able to give you some feedback.

Finally got round to finishing my 616 fabrication Muenzi. Just in time for the start of the competition season.

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I’m curious, what kind of competition is a bike like that intended for? XC, beach racing?

bog snorkelling cycling

was gonna ask the same question myself

I hadn’t really clocked that this was also one of your bikes. You have a rad/mad collection.

Xc / cx courses. Mostly flat en grass with lots of mud when the rain sets in. Normally I ride knobbies, but the first ride of the season is a time trial on grass with and tarmac, so I thought I would give these a try.

Thanks for the enlightenment. Sounds fun! I’m not familiar with cx racing rules but all the cx race bikes I ever saw had drop bars. Could you enter a cx competition on an xc mtb for instance?

The level I race in (lowest of the low) you can compete on whatever you want. I think at higher levels they do race on CX bikes. Not sure if that is mandatory though. I started off with a CX'ish bike a couple of years back, but because most tracks are short and have tons of turns, you really have an advantage on an mountainbike.

This should give you an idea of the kind a track I race.

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That mskes sense. It’s not hard to see why a fat-bike would come in handy in those conditions :)

There are some excellent facial expressions in that first photo.

and there are a lot of people walking in that 2nd, ive seen worse mud in epping forest on a summer badgers ride

I think the difference is that we ride a lot on clay surfaces (the second picture). When those get wet, you get al sorts of 'unique' problems. For starters it is almost impossible for tires to get any grip on it. As such running or walking is often much faster compared to staying on the bike. Another issue is that it clogs your drivetrain unlike anything else, resulting on tons of dropped chains (reminds me I need to get a chain guide before the rains set in).

Oh epping has clay and bogs and stench swamps, if you want mud in all its foul variations, epping has it.