ojwithbikes

luhussh bike.
Excessive / all / any branding on bicycle rims is to be outlawed...discuss ;-p

I knowwww :( they’re letting the side down a bit. A custom set have been on the want-list for a while, but until these die a death they’ll have to do.

I have tried to get rid of the decals before but quickly gave up; a quick acetone wipe didn’t loosen them up much but I didn’t really try for that long. Maybe I’ll tape up and rattle can the suckers ;)

Maybe try a Posca pen before you resort to rattle canning. An old fixie skidder trick I learned on here to hide brake tracks because they dry matte black. Might work to hide the logos? Might look shit though, who's to say?

Yeah I probably still have one somewhere, worth a try potentially

I'd say give it try, before you cut the bars. And maybe tilt them up a bit to create a little bit of upwards sweep.
I have a set of 850 mm Stridsland bars, and they are so damn comfy, I wouldn't want them any narrower. And I am not excactly built like an orangutang.

I think the added with also helps make up for the reduced reach when going from drops to flats.

850!?!? I guess the rise helps it feel a bit less spread-eagle-y

I did get them down to 720 and it’s a nice width, and they barely fit through the narrow hallway as is haha.

it’s alive!

But here’s a teaser photo as I still have to:

• dial the shifting in. The RD has this weird jerking motion in the smaller cogs that I swear it didn’t have when I was rushing this together at 11pm last night. I also think I cut the chain too short, only adding 2 links not 4.
  
• sort the levers, shifter, bars out. They all need some dialling in position wise.
  
  

Only had two sub 20 minute journeys on it today but it’s mega fun, the big tyres and risers, and I guess the general short and tight-ish geo of the bike make it feel really playful, like you wanna jump off curbs and do other shit i don’t possess the skill set for. I couldn’t resist riding a bit of the perimeter trail path in Dulwich Park, nanny state be damned, it was fun.

Funnily enough, as I was riding home from work today, I rode past the only other flat bar pink Kepler that I’ve ever come across, on the same day as my pink flat bar Kepler’s inaugural journey. The universe works in mysterious ways.

@Maj pls don’t mock my bad stick n poke tattoos
:(

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i would never mock, i support all genders equally, soft boy, post acedemia, jocks are an important part of our societal fabric. for every stick and poked tattoo'd man in topo design climbers, we become closer to conceptualising a healthier masculinity, less they lose access to alt bi girls with very expensive hair dye scheduales.

show us the bike

Fuck, already this has made me want a new bike. Shit damn it

i really need to review what information im sharing on the internet

Mhmmm yummy
Let’s see the bike!
Gravel sooon!?
Just wrapped my bars and cleaned le gravěl
I’m with you btw I don’t go more then 750mm

Matias has definitely worked hard to create a product that works.
I wasn't fully comitted to the hype, when I bought mine, but the amount of stability they bring at that width with a 50mm stem is incredible.

anyway here’s the bike

Took it to Epping today, hilariously saturated, which definitely made for some good laughs as people were taking spills in the bogs left right n centre.

Coincidentally a friend pulled up to the ride meeting point on a freshly flat bar converted Surly Straggler that he’d finished the day before. That’s now three other people I know in London who have flat-bar’ed gravel bikes in the past few weeks all seemingly separate from each other, Maj may be right, there’s something in the water.

@exteroceptive MVP for letting us rinse all the Epping slop off our bikes before heading south again. Best host, best ad-hoc navigator, best at falling into the mud ;P

On the more boring bike side of things, I definitely think some ergon-esque grips and the SQlab inner bar ends are gonna be the move. Which is a shame, I love the pink Oury look, the bar ends and inevitably boring black grips that i’ll get as ergon don’t make a pink grip will make the bike look less silly and bit more turbo than I’d like but I guess comfort is king :/

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bagel

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Approved

thanks man, we’ll sort a ride out soon 🫡

ergon don’t make a pink grip

they do have purple and yellow, might work as well!

I didn't rate the bagel tbh, Big Al's Bagels is the superior offering in Chingford when it's open.

Pretty sure MVP for today's ride was the one of us who did the whole thing on a hybrid with half a functioning V-brake. Sure wasn't me!

Looks great, cool to see it in actual intended use.

Something in the water indeed. I flat barred the Arkose to consolidate bikes and haven't regretted it yet. It's more of a fast hybrid but can tell with some bigger knobblier tyres and a shorter stem it could be a lot more versatile. On the look out for some XT touring pedals so I can enjoy (half of) flat pedal life.

@M2nna yeah good shout, the purple GA2 could be the move, chuck a few more purple splashes on the bike to tie it together, just need to figure the sizing thing out.

@exteroceptive yeah big gravel bike are furious every time we’re reminded that we’re all just riding expensive hybrids

@jono84 yeah get some knobblies on and come for a ride!

on that note, anyone know of a shop in London that sells Ergon grips, specifically the GA3 purple fellas? I’m racking my brain but can’t recall any of the few shops I visit stocking them

Maybe Paradise? I thiiiink I've seen Ergon GA2s in there before.

@ltc Yeah I’ve got a vague memory of them selling ergon grips when i was there not so long ago tbf, maybe worth a look now

after some hi-tech CAAD visualisation I’ve decided to go the SQLab 711 grip and 411 2.0 inner ‘bar end’ combo.

Mostly just because the way the bar ends integrate into the grips as their locking clamps. Plus they’re the same price as ergons are, are meant to be super comfortable with their biggest drawback being not so grippy in the wet. Which is fine because the UK where I do all my riding is very dry.

All a bit spenny really but I reckon if these end up comfy I don’t see me going back to drop bars on this bike for a long time (lol)

Sadly they’re only ‘in warehouse’ stock on the couple UK suppliers of these things, so looks like it’ll be at least a 7-10 days till I can try em out

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I have a set of 711s and I do not get on with them at all. Ergon GA3 all the way.