Dirty Thursday

Did 2 hours off-road tonight in the dark. Man, I love this weather. I was 55F when I left the house to ride tonight at 5:45 PM! Crazy...

Anyway, I get to the trail head and unpack my bike. My main bike had a flat tire, and I didn't have time to mess with it, so I took the backup bike. The backup has a Rollenlager singlespeed conversion device. I was running an old 17t rear cog that I tore off a used road cassette. Can you see where this is going?

The chain would not stay on! Of course I forgot the wrench that would have allowed me to make a tension adjustment. As it turns out, my riding partner Dan Jansen had brought two bike to the trailhead! I got to ride the 26er surly 1x1. He used the Karate Monkey and enjoyed the 29er experience.

I have to say that the surly performed like a champ! It was heavy, and had superlight wheels with super-heavy tires. 180mm cranks were also an interesting change from my normal ride. All things considered, it's performance exceeded my expectations. Specifically, it was stiff but not harsh. It had very neutral handling; I was able to get it sideways in a two-wheel drift without any problems. The downside? All those extra pounds in the frame and tires made climbing torture! The long cranks helped, but it was still a struggle.

I was a surly doubter. Not anymore. I don't know that the 1x1 would make the best race bike, but for tooling around in the winter, it more that fits the bill.

I plan a quick spin on the trainer tomorrow for active recovery, and they riding like crazy on Saturday (Snowcross) and Sunday (Singlespeed Nation). Should be a fun time!