The Bike: Obviously lots of you might be acquainted with Black Mountain Cycles and their MCD model. But I had several questions about what my bicycle was in the course of the occasion, so obviously many of us are unaware of Black Mountain Cycles yet.
In my view, this bike is a cross between a Salsa Cycles Fargo and a Vaya. It does some things neither of these two can do and in a method that is all its personal. The segmented fork and cool rear drop outs are something not usually found on frames at this worth and the bike handles and rides really well. I was able to shoe-horn in bottle cages and bottles with sufficient capability that I did not have to worry about operating out of water or have to carry any on my again in a hydration pack.
The gearing I selected was spot-on, for the most part. There were possibly 3 times I hit the precise shift lever hoping for yet another gear and there wasn’t one, so total, pretty good there. I ran my eleven speed SRAM 11-36T cassette. I’ve an 11-40T Shimano cassette I toyed round with placing on, however that might have necessitated some modifications and a brand new chain. Chains are arduous to come by now, so I just dealt with what I had on there. And as I mentioned- it acquired me by. I never had to think about hopping off and walking. Crank gearing was my most well-liked 36/46T CX gearing which has less range, but additionally less of a cadence jump when you change over rings. In case you get right into a groove with 36/forty six gearing it could actually feel exactly like a cassette gearing change while you shift in a sequence. For me? It is the one approach to go along with a double.
I exploit Bike Bag Dude luggage which- for my part – are the hardest, most useful luggage around. They are mild too, which is a giant deal if you end up climbing 10,000+ ft in a day. BBD baggage have by no means let me down and that i have no motive to look elsewhere for primary, “nothing you do not want and the whole lot you do” luggage. I used the Garage Top Tube Bag and a pair of Chaff Bags on both facet of the stem. In the appropriate one I had my water bottle. Easy access and it all the time stayed put. The left one carried food and other nutrition. The top Tube Garage held a Silca mini-pump, a multi-tool, and some supplements together with my cellular phone.
The cock pit was all Redshift Sports. Their Kitchen Sink handle bar, ShockStop Stem, and hand grips all added up to consolation and control all day. Especially on the rutted dirt roads and gravel road washboard sections. Along with the ShockStop seat publish, with the WTB Silverado saddle, I used to be isolated from all that chatter and greater hits were rounded off so I didn’t need to absorb the total impression. I’ll add that the aero bit on the handlebar did not really factor into my trip, so I could have maybe carried out with out that bit however it did make for a handy place to mount my GPS computer, which was a super GPS from Lezyne, by the best way.
My house made cue sheet holder, while not being very fairly, was low cost, straightforward, and really efficient. My packing tape laminated T. If you have any questions concerning where and the best ways to utilize door knob (Ict Edu explains), door lever you could call us at the website. I. type cues were nice. My paying attention? Could use slightly sharpening up there! But yeah….I’d do it this manner again. I do not assume you may give you a lighter, simpler manner to do that than what I had on there.
Lights were the Ravemen 800 Lumen head mild and the Ravemen 50 Lumen tail mild. Both had been nice and did just what I wanted them to do.
As I stated, I used a set of WTB’s latest carbon wheels at Gravel Worlds. The CZR wheels had been tremendous! I’ll save the rest of my ideas on why for the RidingGravel.com overview.
The tires had been WTB Resolute SG2 fashions. The Resolute was designed with heavy enter from Trans Iowa experiences with multiple surfaces in mind. As an all-around tire, it has few peers. Plus with the SG2 puncture protection, these tires are as much as the task of not letting you down in the midst of no the place. These tires have been used with Stan’s, by the way.
The combination of the Resolute’s width and the wheels was a winner. I tracked straight and true and the tires by no means let go once on me, even getting me by the sandiest sections of road with confidence inspiring stability. I had thought of popping on some Riddlers which I probably would have appreciated better had the course not obtained any rain, however because it was, every thing worked out perfect right here.
Apparel:
Insert Side Track Story: Warren Weibe, who- as I mentioned within the GW ’21 race report- was at the start of the Long Voyage. He had a bit of recommendation for me as a bibs wearer. Apparently, when it gets tremendous-silly sizzling in Kansas they name it a “Bibs Day” and they take off their jersey, they usually roll the bib straps down into their waist space, and trip that approach to be cooler. Many bib shorts come up on the torso fairly a ways, so I can see how this would be an efficient measure. Fortunately I didn’t have to make use of this tip, however I assumed I’d move that along….
I’m going to mention my chamois creme here as it’s imperative to make use of a product on the insert to assist reduce down on chafing and the resulting saddle sores which can develop. I used one thing I’m going to review for RidingGravel.com shortly known as “Honeybutt Chamois Creme”. It really works very nicely, by the way in which, and I used to be joyful to have it to make use of.
As for a base layer, I used my new Twin Six base layer and over that went my limited version Bike Rags Merino wool, Summer-weight, full zip jersey. The combination saved me dry, cool, and comfy all day lengthy. The safety zip pocket within the left rear was good for my cash as well, by the way. Unfortunately, you can’t get this jersey anymore, however it is probably the very best wool jersey I’ve ever used in heat weather.
I also used PCL branded Voler Sol Skin Sleeves which I used to be super joyful to have on. I additionally used some Mint socks and that i wore the Shimano MTB shoes from means again which I wrote about final week. On the top I wore a gifted Omaha Jackrabbit cycling cap and my Bontrager WaveCell helmet. Glasses were the transition lens Rudy Project glasses I’ve here. Everything worked great. I additionally wore a Twenty One Pilots branded bandana that my daughter gave to me round my neck and that served as my face mask firstly line. I kept it on all day though because it appeared to maintain my neck cooler.
Note: Loads of what I used at GW ’21 was former or current review stuff and as such, the usual Disclaimer applies here.
Final Verdict: Would I change something about my set-up or my clothing? Hmm…… I cannot actually say that I’d. I don’t recall getting annoyed with something I used with the exception of the dried bananas, which were sticky-gooey and brought on a bit of a mess on the levers after I dealt with the meals and ate it. There I probably would do one thing in another way, but apart from that? No. I used to be about as dialed in as I could possibly be.
That bottle arrange was good! I was so glad I spent the time dialing that in as a result of there have been some Big hits on fast down hills. Especially on the dirt roads where I’d have ejected these two massive bottles in a heartbeat had I not found out a safe strapping system for each of them. As it was, I was amazed one thing did not come loose or fall off the bike, the largest hits being that alarming.
In conjunction with that, the Redshift ShockStop stuff was worth its weight in gold. I simply would by no means consider riding Gravel Worlds with out those gadgets. Maybe the handle bar could possibly be left off, but those accessory grips did help too much. Yeah….it can be onerous for me to not take those issues to a Gravel Worlds again.
My points at Gravel Worlds were self-inflicted. I should have executed something totally different with the pc at first. I most likely wouldn’t have missed the turn later had I been on monitor mileage-clever. The sleepy situation may have been mitigated had I achieved several longer 75-100 mile rides for coaching where – perhaps- I’d have been able to work on that. But all this yr I did not ever as soon as have those points. Anyway, the gear and apparel? Spot on. Best I’ve finished for an occasion for my part.
And that closes out the GW ’21 posts. I’ll return to common posting on Monday!