Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I never saw a Cannondale Beast of the East “in the wild” but someone explained to me that it had a crazy 13 inch high bottom bracket and a bottom bracket mounted U-brake. A very radical bike with that high BB.
Would not surprise me if Scot Nicol copied or cloned ideas from Olsen. My Mountain Trials is suppose to be a great bike for Moab and for the slick rock there. Also built for the Pacific Northwest which Scot Nicol calls “Log hop central.” For me, my Mountain Trials was a great bike for the UBER narrow deer trails in the pine barrens.
My steel IBIS came with a Shimano U-brake on the seat stays.
My slow gearing is a 30T chainring along with a 11-42T 11-speed XT cassette with otherwise XTR shifters and rear derailleur. 17.86 low gear I figure with an Arrow Racing rear 24 inch tire that barely clears the chain stays. Know that this rear tire actually has a 25 inch diameter, and it is paired with a 2.35 wide front tire that has a 27 inch diameter.
On this “slow-bike” you sit kinda tall and upright somewhat, but the BB height is only 12 1/2 inches. Normally this would be just 12 inches but I gain a half inch due to larger tire diameters.
I run 21 PSI rear and 20 PSI on the front, but I only weigh slightly more than 150 pounds. The first generation Rock Shox Judy SL has original green Speed Springs meant for light riders around 135 pounds, but this suits this bike fine because the riding position has almost all the weight over the rear wheel.
On steep climbs the front wheel is so unweighted that part of the power stroke kinda makes the bike somewhat wheelie on a climb as the front end gets so light. A bit tricky…
On such a short wheelbase bike pulling on the bars kinda boosts traction because you can use upper body strength to lever the bike for additional traction. These bikes climb like no other.
Just a word of warning about the paint strippers of today: they hardly work because they no longer use toxic and dangerous chemicals. Perhaps install an old bottom bracket as a throw away just to protect the threads and pay for the frame to get sand blasted.
If I still worked at Grumman I would take it to work and get it done for free. With painting its all about the prep work. Just giving you the heads up that today’s paint strippers are mucho lame.
I think your advice is worth a shot. The Avion 17” that is my bike just needs some maintenance and will be great for some time. The extra wheels and XTR 9-speed are a kit on a shelf, and of course I have mucho extra parts. I would need the rear cable hanger and a front cable hanger if I want to go retro and use canti-brakes. Lots of spare parts could build out a nice small Avion for “Maggie.”
I had mentioned Terry to Maggie, and she learned that they are still around but they no longer make bikes. It seems that in the realm of small woman’s bikes a company called Liv is doing what Terry did for small women. I think she has GAS fort a Liv mountain bike or a Trek because she loves her gravel bike.
Tomorrow is expected the beginning of a high heat index. Maggie wants to bike from Yorktown or Granite Springs very early tomorrow. Our idea is to pump blood and become strong over time. This plan has legs rather than going gonzo. I’m glad though that I got almost all the gravel moved. About a half a cubic yard remains, and my entire body got an intense strength workout today. I was a sweaty mess. Had to slow down after lunch and pace myself.
It seems I have a new neighbor, a very old rabbit. He is kinda beautiful and the size of a frozen turkey and a bit of a monster because of his size. Seems he loves our garden and lawn. It also seems he trusts me and now is less skittish. Today he stayed about 10 feet away from me, and it seemed he was waiting for me to leave so he could freely move around the garden again. I saw him kinda stalking me as I worked.
This is an old man rabbit with oversized long ears. He is not a cute bunny, he is fat like a turkey and his coat is mottled. He resemble a Jack Rabbit like in New Mexico. Anyways he is the biggest, fattest rabbit I have ever seen in the northeast. Not like the small bunnies I have seen in my yard.
Seems like he is understanding I am his friend, and I pose no danger to him. All we do is look at each other. He is kinda magnificent looking, and you can tell he is an elder. It is moments like these that indicate how much respect I have for nature and the environment. Our restoration of our yard is partly native plants, as well as formal gardens. No fertilizers, no weed killers, and pretty much just mulch.
Also PM me your snail-mail address again.
Cal
I never saw a Cannondale Beast of the East “in the wild” but someone explained to me that it had a crazy 13 inch high bottom bracket and a bottom bracket mounted U-brake. A very radical bike with that high BB.
Would not surprise me if Scot Nicol copied or cloned ideas from Olsen. My Mountain Trials is suppose to be a great bike for Moab and for the slick rock there. Also built for the Pacific Northwest which Scot Nicol calls “Log hop central.” For me, my Mountain Trials was a great bike for the UBER narrow deer trails in the pine barrens.
My steel IBIS came with a Shimano U-brake on the seat stays.
My slow gearing is a 30T chainring along with a 11-42T 11-speed XT cassette with otherwise XTR shifters and rear derailleur. 17.86 low gear I figure with an Arrow Racing rear 24 inch tire that barely clears the chain stays. Know that this rear tire actually has a 25 inch diameter, and it is paired with a 2.35 wide front tire that has a 27 inch diameter.
On this “slow-bike” you sit kinda tall and upright somewhat, but the BB height is only 12 1/2 inches. Normally this would be just 12 inches but I gain a half inch due to larger tire diameters.
I run 21 PSI rear and 20 PSI on the front, but I only weigh slightly more than 150 pounds. The first generation Rock Shox Judy SL has original green Speed Springs meant for light riders around 135 pounds, but this suits this bike fine because the riding position has almost all the weight over the rear wheel.
On steep climbs the front wheel is so unweighted that part of the power stroke kinda makes the bike somewhat wheelie on a climb as the front end gets so light. A bit tricky…
On such a short wheelbase bike pulling on the bars kinda boosts traction because you can use upper body strength to lever the bike for additional traction. These bikes climb like no other.
Just a word of warning about the paint strippers of today: they hardly work because they no longer use toxic and dangerous chemicals. Perhaps install an old bottom bracket as a throw away just to protect the threads and pay for the frame to get sand blasted.
If I still worked at Grumman I would take it to work and get it done for free. With painting its all about the prep work. Just giving you the heads up that today’s paint strippers are mucho lame.
I think your advice is worth a shot. The Avion 17” that is my bike just needs some maintenance and will be great for some time. The extra wheels and XTR 9-speed are a kit on a shelf, and of course I have mucho extra parts. I would need the rear cable hanger and a front cable hanger if I want to go retro and use canti-brakes. Lots of spare parts could build out a nice small Avion for “Maggie.”
I had mentioned Terry to Maggie, and she learned that they are still around but they no longer make bikes. It seems that in the realm of small woman’s bikes a company called Liv is doing what Terry did for small women. I think she has GAS fort a Liv mountain bike or a Trek because she loves her gravel bike.
Tomorrow is expected the beginning of a high heat index. Maggie wants to bike from Yorktown or Granite Springs very early tomorrow. Our idea is to pump blood and become strong over time. This plan has legs rather than going gonzo. I’m glad though that I got almost all the gravel moved. About a half a cubic yard remains, and my entire body got an intense strength workout today. I was a sweaty mess. Had to slow down after lunch and pace myself.
It seems I have a new neighbor, a very old rabbit. He is kinda beautiful and the size of a frozen turkey and a bit of a monster because of his size. Seems he loves our garden and lawn. It also seems he trusts me and now is less skittish. Today he stayed about 10 feet away from me, and it seemed he was waiting for me to leave so he could freely move around the garden again. I saw him kinda stalking me as I worked.
This is an old man rabbit with oversized long ears. He is not a cute bunny, he is fat like a turkey and his coat is mottled. He resemble a Jack Rabbit like in New Mexico. Anyways he is the biggest, fattest rabbit I have ever seen in the northeast. Not like the small bunnies I have seen in my yard.
Seems like he is understanding I am his friend, and I pose no danger to him. All we do is look at each other. He is kinda magnificent looking, and you can tell he is an elder. It is moments like these that indicate how much respect I have for nature and the environment. Our restoration of our yard is partly native plants, as well as formal gardens. No fertilizers, no weed killers, and pretty much just mulch.
Also PM me your snail-mail address again.
Cal
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