Salsa Fargo - Gravel Trip Report

I'm super excited about this new bike. I went on my first gravel ride yesterday and had a blast. The Fargo was very comfortable and handled rough roads very well. The bike felt light and responsive. I climbed hills with ease and hit 30mph on a flat spot at the end of the ride. I felt like I could have riden all day. I definitely have a new addiction to gravel riding. I've already got some new routes mapped out. All the good things I read about the Salsa Fargo are true. I love this bike and can't wait to ride it again.

Salsa Fargo added to the stable!

As if adding a complete singlespeed to my collection of bikes wasn't enough, I decided to add another new bike. A 2011 Salsa Fargo. This bike is a real jem. A steel frame/fork, with SRAM components. The Fargo is loaded with mounts for fenders, racks, bottle cages, and their proprietary "Anything Cages". The Salsa Woodchipper handlebars are a treat. My bigger frame loves the width these bars. The geometry provides a comfortable upright ride for the long haul. As this bike is brand new I haven't put it to the test yet, but plan to in the next couple days. I'll be back with a ride report.

The Stable is Growing!

I recently completed my singlespeed/fixed gear conversion. I think it turned out pretty nice. It took me alomost 2 years to complete, but the total time spent on it was about a weekend. I just really dragged my feet about the paint color scheme. I finally got motivated again about the project and decided to get it powder coated instead of trying to paint it myself. I found a local company that did it for $60 and had it done in a week. I had bought an Origin8 crankset for it that was annodized green and I had wrapped the bars green also. The wheels I laced up were all black. I wanted the frame to complement the green and black but not take away from it. I decided to go with a white frame and black fork.

The only original part left on the bike is the saddle. It says Panasonic across the back paying homage to what it used to be. I added a front brake based on my lack of ever riding a fixed gear bike and not knowing how to brake by skidding the rear tire. I intend to learn and maybe someday take the brake off, but for now it's like my training wheels. It's there for my safety. I had read on Sheldon Brown's site that if you are using a flip flop hub to start with the fixed gear side and get used to that. I really have to disagree with that. I am going to flip it over to the freewheel side of the hub and get used to that first.

Our midwest weather has not allowed me to get it out and ride it yet so still waiting to take it out for a good test ride.

A Big Welcome

Last night I picked up my Surly Big Dummy. I brought it home and had some parts waiting for me on my front porch that I ordered last week. Perfect timing!

I started opening my boxes, first was Hardcore Fenders from Planet Bike. Next was my Nashbar order, bar wrap, 2 sided Shimano pedals, Cateye Computer, and...wait a minute I'm missing something. What did I order? Looking at the invoice I saw that my handlebars and Brooks Saddle were missing. They are on backorder. Great! The seat that comes with the SBD is not comfortable (as with most bikes) and the handlebars are boring with one hand position available.

First thing I did was put the fenders on.

There were a few issues getting the fenders on. I'll detail that in a later post since I still have a couple things left to do on them.

After that I put on the pedals and computer and got the racks and bags put back on. I am really bummed that the handlebars were backordered. The Brooks was not that big of a deal since I can use the one off my other bike that is already broke in.

I did get an unexpected upgrade. The back deck was not the standard wood deck. Instead it came with the Flightdeck, which is made from recycled plastic. It has a ton of holes drilled in it for mounting various DIY things. I'm excited about this. I will have fun thinking up things to attach to this.

I'm a Big Dummy

My weight loss has subsided for now so my clydesdale status is no longer in jeopardy. I have also not been riding as much as I like. My running has been hit and miss but has been picking up lately. I'm still struggling to work out consistently. The one thing I have started doing consistently is going on the Thursday taco ride or doing a Friday night ride with some friends. I'll load up my bike with beers, moscow mules, hot dogs, charcoal and ride 6 miles to Margaritaville to grill out and drink all night. Now I love my Jamis touring bike but I'd prefer to have a bike dedicated to doing these trail rides on the Wabash. I want to keep the grime off my touring bike for actual road touring.

So I'm still wanting to get a new road bike but I'm going to hold off on that until next year. I now have a desire to get a "trail bike". I told my wife if I could just get 2 more bikes I'd be set for any type of ride I'd ever want to do. So the search began for a trail bike that was durable (steel preferably), comfortable, and could haul a lot of gear (cooler, camping gear, stereo, food, ect.). I started looking at cargo bikes. The Surly Big Dummy and Trek Transport were the two I'd heard of. I found more, a lot more, but ultimately I kept coming back to the Surly. The Trek was aluminium, the Kona was aluminium, the Yuba Mundo was it's closest competition but although it was steel it had lesser components, v brakes, one size "fits all" frame, and reportedly weighs considerably more.

All things considered the Surly is the best cargo bike on the market. The thing that really gravitated me to the Surly BD was the compatibility of xtracycle accessories. I knew with these cargo bikes being new to the market finding accessories would be an issue. Xtracycle already has a solid line of accessories that I get for this bike. Surly outfitted the bike nicely. It has disc brakes, a necessity for heavily loaded bikes. It has the new Shimano index shifters, which are really nice.

I checked around with a few LBS's and found one that had a demo bike. I went and gave it a test ride and really liked the solid feel of it. It did feel weird at first but after a few blocks of riding I quickly adjusted to its ride. The long wheel base minimizes bumps in the road, it shifted smoother than any bike I've ever had, and it's gearing allows you ride it anywhere.

So the next step was to see when he could get me one. He said Surly was out of stock and would have to call his rep the next day to check on availability. The next day he called and said they had just come in and his rep grabbed him one (the last one left in my size frame) and was going to ship it out. Tuesday it should be in and I hope to bring it home Wednesday or Thursday.

I can't get two

I have narrowed my choices down to two bikes, the Raleigh Record Ace and the Jamis Eclipse.

For my benefit I am going to list some pros and cons that got me to this decision.

Jamis Eclipse
Pros - weight, Reynolds 853, looks fast, Ultegra components
Cons - carbon fiber?, white seat/stem/rims

Raleigh Record Ace
Pros - all steel, Reynolds 520, looks elegant/classic, Ultegra components, Brooks saddle
Cons - lower grade steel, weight, Weinmann rims, geared higher

The next step is to test ride them both and pick one.

On A Steel Horse I Ride

I recently decided that since I lost a ton of weight I should reward myself with a new bike. I want a new road bike, something fast, something light. I really like my steel touring bike and want that ride comfort. I started looking to see if there were any steel road bikes out there that met my criteria. I already had one in mind, but wanted to be a good consumer and see what else is out there. My search started with the one I had in mind. I needed a starting point to base everything else off of. The first is a Jamis Eclipse. This is what Jamis calls a steel performance bike. I'd say, it weighs 17 lbs and has Shimano Ultegra components. The frame is a mix of Reynolds 853 steel and carbon fiber. This would truly meet all my needs and then some. For me this is a bike I would grow in to. I'm not used to having a fast bike and would have to train myself accordingly. It's a sweet looking bike and retails for around $3200.


Next on my wish list is a Raleigh International. This is a new bike in 2011 for Raleigh, but has a great heritage. The International was produced back in the 70's and was phased out in the 80's. Don't quote me on that but you get the idea, old bike making a return. This bike has a great classic look. It comes loaded with Shimano Dura Ace everything, and a Reynolds 853 steel frame. It is new enough that there is no MSRP listed on it yet, but I checked with my LBS and they told me $5995 will be the list price. No way I'm thinking about dropping 6 large on a bike. There is also no weight listed.

The next one is another Raleigh. This time is is the Raleigh Record Ace. It comes with Reynolds 520, and mostly Shimano Ultegra components. I never thought I'd like a white bike, but this one has a classic elegance about it I like. MSRP is $1949, no weight listed.
That is as far as I have gotten. There are a ton of steel bikes out there, but they don't all fit what I'm looking for. I like what Raleigh and Jamis are doing with their steel bikes. I hope to see more manufacturers following suit.


The Dude

If you can loose the weight, you must motivate.

As I described in my last post I have lost a ton of weight (45 lbs as of today). Most of it came off with out having to workout. Some might think that is awesome. I do. However the end result is a near skinny guy with no habit of working out. In other words I'm a previously fat and lazy guy, that is now almost skinny and just as lazy as the day I started. Some might be OK with that, I'm not. I want to keep this weight off the rest of my life. Over the last 8 years I went from 215 to 270+. I don't want to get over 215 ever again. I need to work out regularly in order to make that happen.

I have a free gym membership through work that I have yet to use. I have a bike set up on a trainer in my basement that I have ridden. I have free weights, a sandbag, and kettlebells in my basement that I have not used. I'm really hoping February will be the start of a new habit for me. I keep telling myself that literally overnight I went from eating what I want to eating a very strict diet. I need to find the motivation to do something active every day. I have numerous tools I just listed to get me active, I just need the motivation to use them.

I'm usually not big on resolutions, but i just decided my resolution this year is to workout consistently. I want to be healthy, not just skinny. I want to ride my bike a ton this year. I want to run a half marathon this year. I want to have a nice physique as a result of lifting weights. I believe this is possible, but only if I consistently work out.

Clydesdale Status in Jeopardy?

So after an 8 year battle with my weight I decided to really commit myself to a weight loss plan. I had heard through work that a lot of people were loosing weight on one specific program. The weight these people were loosing was significant, like upwards of 90lbs. These were people that were married to their jobs, had no athletic background and seemed to be the last people you'd expect to loose a significant amount of weight. I had to find out more, if these people could make this diet work, I sure could.

The program is run by Metabolic Research Center (MRC). It is like Weight Watchers, but more effective. You go in talk to a counsellor and weigh in 1-2 times a week. They track your progress and give you advice. They have supplements that you have to buy and take along with your food. They have different plans depending on how much you weigh and how much you want to loose. The plan itself is pretty simple and you get to eat real food. The best way to describe it is it's like The Atkin's Diet but with some carbs. It is high in protein and veggies, but allows yo to eat some carbs throughout the day. The Atkin's diet causes you to go into ketosis, which is the process where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs. The problem with Atkins is it puts you into a deep state of ketosis, which is bad for you kidneys. The MRC plan gets you in ketosis, but at a safe level with no harm to your kidneys.

I started MRC on 10/27/10 and I weighed 272lbs. As of today I have lost 41lbs. I'm averaging just under 3.5 lbs loss per week. The diet alone works. I have not had to work out, though I have been working out. I'm doing low intensity things like walking, and weight lifting. I'm going to start cycling on the trainer soon as well. I now have a map, a key, to loose weight and keep it off in the future. My goal weight is 200lbs. Although I have been thinking about taking it below that. For now the plan is to get to 200, enjoy it this summer, and then reassess if I want to take off another 10-20lbs in the winter.

It goes without saying that I'm really excited about this. The weight I'm at now is so much more comfortable than where I was a couple months ago. My clothes are falling off me and I'm in the process of buying new intermediary clothes. Once I get to 200lbs I'll need to buy new clothes yet again. That is a good problem to have. Being able to finally wear cycling jerseys, and look good in them, is something I've been wanting for years. Hitting my goal weight is like waiting for Xmas. This summer will be one of the best I've ever had.

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny" Kate Moss

The Dude

The Year In Pictures

The year that was

Since I'm hit and miss with my blogging I figured I had better do a year in review before 2011 rolls around. All in all it was a pretty good year. I bought my Jamis, rode BRAN, built a new house, lost a ton of weight. Lets talk gear though. With a new bike comes new gear, I love gear. My wife might say I like the hunt for gear better than the gear itself. I disagree, although the hunt is fun.

New gear:
Ortlieb Front and Rear Panniers - love them, best money can buy
Surly Front Nice Rack - built like a brick shithouse, adds weight, but worth it
Arkel Handlebar Bag - Huge almost too big, I'm contemplating buying the smaller version. The only con is it makes your bike top heavy and prone to tipping over.
Park Tool Frame Pump - not great, nothing to compare it to though. Only had to use it once on someone elses tire. Ended up using CO2.
Planet Bike Fenders - good so far no problems, love them in the rain
Planet Bike 2w Headlight - very bright, no issues
Giro Sarros Helmet - great design to match my bike, lighter than my old helmet
Pearl Izumi Elite Bib Shorts - I only wear bibs and these new ones are amazing. The elite chamois is incredible.
Keen Commuter Cycling Sandle - I was hesitant to buy these, but have to say they are comfy and great in the heat of summer. Good for casual flater rides.
Brooks B-17 Saddle - take care of it and it will take care of you. Use leather conditioner and adjust the stiffness as it loosens, tighten it slightly, keep doing this until you don't even know it's there.

I just completed the Bike Ride Across Nebraska last week on my Jamis Aurora Elite. I'm not sure what other conditions I can put this bike through to test it. It is the best bike I have ever owned. I did not have any problems with it the whole week except for a minor rear deraileur adjustment. I swapped out the 700x32 Vittoria Randonneur tires for a 700x28 Vitoria Pro Comp. These have a lower rolling resitance, higher tpi, and higher air pressure. They worked really well and I had no flats. My Brooks B-17 saddle is really getting broken in now that I have over 1000 miles on it. The road is wide open and I'm ready to ride off in the sunset with my Jamis.

2010 Jamis Aurora Elite (Partial Review)

Why a partial review? Well I've ridden it in various conditions flat, hilly, bike path, road, residential, long, and short rides. I have not however toured with it yet. So my partial review is for the non touring aspect of this bike. I'll have a touring review in January after completing a couple loaded tours with it.

The Bike:
The Jamis Aurora Elite has a great balance to it. The Reynolds 631 flexes beautifully offering a comfortable ride. If you do not own a steel frame bike, everything you have heard about the comfort of steel is true. I myself was not sure if the stories were fact or fiction. I am a true believer now. The other key feature is the stability of the bike. With steel not being as rigid as carbon fiber and aluminium the bike does not feel bouncy and jittery on rough roads. It simply eats them up and absorbs them. In another post I compared the feeling of this bike to a motorcycle. I stand by that statement, and love it for it.

The Components:
I specifically chose this bike over the more popular Surly LHT for several reasons related to components. First the Reynolds 631 is a better steel that 4030 cromoly. Second the bar end shifters on the LTH are junk, STI shifters are the way to go. You can dial in your gears better and I don't have to move my hands out of my normal riding position to shift. Third the disc brakes are far superior to cantilever brakes. When you are loaded down with 40 or more pounds of gear and going down a long steep hill, in the rain, you want disc breaks. Granted that is a worst case scenario but if you don't plan for the worst that is when something will go wrong. I like to ride in the rain so stopping power to me is important. Plus I am a bigger guy and canti brakes have never felt reliable and they sound horrible. Forth the Shimano XT rear deraileur.

Modifications:
The 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite comes with a rear rack rated at 40lbs and aluminium flat fenders. Not a bad start if you are on a budget. Fenders and a rack (or racks) are something that most touring bikes end up with. Since I knew I was in the market for a touring bike this year I had put the cart before the horse and got a bunch of touring gear for xmas. So I already had Planet Bike fenders, Surly front Nice Rack, Tubus Logo rear rack, Brooks B17 saddle, Park Tool frame pump, and several other small accessories. The first thing I did was removed the stock seat and seat post. I used the Brooks B17 and Bontrager seat post off my Trek. I can just swap seat/seat post between bikes now. I was also trying to remove as much of the chrome piece as I could. The seat and post are black. Next I removed the rear rack and fenders, both painted silver. I added the Planet Bike fenders next although I had some issues which I'll address in the next section. The Tubus Logo rack would not go on the bike around the disc brakes, same with the Surly Nice Rack. The Surly rack came with a boat load of hardware for various applications. The bracket and shims included for disc brake applications worked, but not to my liking. So I put the stock rack back on and ran with it until I could fabricate a couple brackets for the racks. After fabricating a couple L brackets for the rear rack I was able to get it on. It worked well, but the Tubus rack is real narrow at the top and does not accommodate a trunk bag at all. Since I always use a trunk bag, the Tubus was not going to work for me. I ended up painting the stock rack flat black and it looks just as good as my Surly Nice Rack. All of the times I took the rear rack on and off ended up stripping out one of the rear braze ons. The screw was cross threaded by my LBS when they put the bike together and kept getting worse each time I took the rack off. I had a different LBS retap the threads but ultimately it needs a helicoil thread repair kit to fix it. The bracket I needed for the Surly rack was a little more difficult to fabricate. I took a piece of galvanized plate steel and fabricated a bracket similar to the one that came with the rack. I had to add more of an angle to it in order for it to fit around the brake caliper. It's on and very stable.

The Cons:
You've heard the Pros, now the Cons. The only problem I've had has been adding fenders and racks. The disc breaks are just in the way and no one makes an off the shelf rack or fender that accommodates them without some tinkering. I am very handy, so it was not so much a problem for me as it was a fun challenge. However if you don't have the tools and are not handy it would be a little more difficult for you. Your best bet wold be to shop around to find a competent mechanic capable of dong what I did. The last thing I want to do is sway someone away from buying an Aurora Elite. Like I said in another post, disc brakes aren't a new thing but they are not mainstream on touring bikes. As more and more manufacturers follow Jamis's lead, more rack manufacturers will start making disc compatible racks. There are a few out there, but again they will require some tinkering to get them to work.

In Summation:
The 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite is a great bike with great components. The stock fenders and rear rack are more than adequate for touring. If you need to add a front rack definitely go with the Surly Nice Rack. Their brackets will work with the disc breaks I just chose to fabricate my own to make it work better. The tires are a great puncture proof, high tpi, rain tire. The Mavic rims are a reliable, sturdy rim for touring. The Shimano groupo set up is one of the best touring set ups out there. And the I can't say enough about the Shimano STI shifters. The ride quality is awesome and will take you on the long haul with out being surly at the end.

Metal Fabrication

Last night I fabricated some metal brackets to allow me to attach my front Surly Nice Rack and rear Tubus Logo rack.

A Tourist is Born

Take a look at my 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite page for more pics and build info.

I had a great weekend riding and building my new bike. First the ride. It is amazing how much different a steel frame rides. First thing is first, a steel touring bike weighs a lot more than an aluminium/carbon fiber road bike. My days of averaging 16-17mph on a training ride are not realistic on this bike. Saturday's 44 mile ride averaged just under 14mph with a headwind the whole ride. My legs were hurting when I got done. I'll have to acclimate my legs to addtional weight of the bike and the lack aerodynamics. The nice thing is I'll get into better shape riding this heavier bike. With that said the combination of weight and flex of the steel gives it a ride like no other bike I've ever ridden. The bike just felt solid on the road. It kind of reminded me of a motorcycle. Just a solid ride, no feeling of insecurity.

The extra weight was nice on the downhills and it climbed very well also. The wind was my worst enemy, but the ride was nice. I felt fresh up until the end of the ride. My body didn't hurt as bad as normal. I could definitely tell that this bike was made for long haul touring. The only problem I had was with my hands. I'm used to riding with aero bars on my road bike. Getting down on my forearms would allow me to rest my hands. I'm also used to having a beefier handlebar wrap on my bars.

I still have some tweaking to do on the fit of the bike, but it was pretty close to perfect right out of the store. The new handlebar wrap will help my hands, and moving the seat around will dial in the fit.

Now the build. Most of this is detailed on my Jamis Aurora Elite page so I'll just highlight a few things. First, disc brakes on a touring bike is not a new thing, but it's not mainstream. Racks and fenders are not made to compensate for a brake caliper being in the way. I have a Tubus Logo rack that I can not put on mmy bike because the caliper is in the way. Tubus does make a conversion kit for disc brakes, but I'm not sold yet that it will work on my bike. So for now I'm keeping the stock Jamis rack. The front Surly Nice Rack is compatable with my front fork/disc caliper. Well almost, I had to mess with it for a few hours trying to get it just right. I did have to deviate from their instructions though. I may end up making my own custom bracket to get around the caliper. I generally won't have a lot of weight on the front rack anyway, so no worries. My Planet Bike fenders were a little easier, although again not made for disc brakes. Everything else went on pretty easy. It's starting to look like a touring machine.

Awesome!

Steel

Today is the day! Last weekend I ordered a 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite and it will be in today. I'm hoping to pick it up tonight or tomorrow.

I am really excited to get this bike out and test it on some rough spots I normally ride. I really want to see how it compares to my aluminium road bike. There are times when my bike just feels like it is going to fall apart underneath me. The test ride was great but just doesn't tell tell the story. I'm really hoping all the talk about steel being more forgiving is true. I'm also excited about the disc brakes. I have never liked cantilever brakes. I feel like I'm going to wear the pads out going down a big hill.

This bike will do everything. I'll take it on the city trails, roads, & rail trails. I'll be able to hook all 4 of my Ortlieb panniers on and do a multi day self supported tour. I'm really excited to use it in all sorts of rides this year to see how it performs.

fork fork fork

last night I started working on painting the fork on my Project SS bike. There were a couple scratches in the paint so instead of trying to sand and feather the paint back I decided to to apply stipper and take all the paint off. It worked out quite well. I got all the paint/primer off with ease and a lot less dust and mess had i tried to sand it off. I was able to get 2 coats of primer on it as well.

My frame is at the blaster and should be done next week sometime. He is actually using walnut chips instead of sand. Sand will eat away at the metal so walnut chips is the way to go I guess.

Paint will be mostly black with the lugs painted green. There are a few finishing touches I may put on it but I need to wait to see the bike before I decide to do more.

The Latest Advancements

Last night I started tinkering with truing my front wheel. The plan all along has been to build em, and take em to the LBS to get trued. However I figured what do I have to loose, if I mess it up the LBS will fix it. So after about 40 minutes or so I had the thing as true as any bike shop could get it. It took a while to get the hang of how to do it but over all it went well. I can't get the rear wheel on my front fork (makeshift sturing stand) so I'll have to wait to do it when I get the frame back from the blaster. I'm hoping to have it back by the end of the week.

New Pics

I finally got the last of my parts in last night. I sent my frame off to get blasted. I wrapped my handlebars and got some pics of my wheels. Once I get my frame back (hopefully this week) I'll start painting.

Rear wheel laced up.


Side shot of wheel showing flip/flop hub with both fixed sprocket and freewheel.



Bullhorn handlebars with green bar wrap.