The Reptile

Finally had a chance to test out some stuff on my new to me not really used at all demo Jake The Snake cross bike. As I mentioned before, my cross bike needs are that of a road bike to go off road, tackle some gravel, shit roads, and stuff like The Hilly Billy, Southern Cross, or Iron Cross. Not a bike to race Cross with.

So far I dig the bike, but it IS going under some mods. I've started simple. The seat and post that came stock on the Jake suck. So for now have borrowed my Fizik/Thomson set up from my little used Dos Niner.

Next up- the tires. The Continental SpeedKings might be fine for cross in the park or hard pack, but when it comes to crappy gravel roads I was longing for something with a bit more cushion. So I am trying out the Ritchey Speedmax 700 x 40 tires. I've read they MAY not be true 40c tires but they are for sure fatter and cushier than the 35 SpeedKings.

On the loop I did today there is one descent that is all loose gravel, and plates of deteriorating road. I can often get full travel on my Fox suspension on this road. When I attempted this descent with the Contis I thought I was going to be launched right off the road. Today was MUCH better. The Speedmax at 50 psi (75 max) felt great. The rubber on them is pretty soft so I'm not sure how they will wear, or how they will handle punctures, but today was nice. They are also sort of heavy for a cross/road tire, but then again I'm heavy for a cross/road rider.

Next up was some chain rings. The stock 46/36 FSA rings would be fine for racing, but were NOT handling the climbing I want to do. So for now I switched the 36 to a 34. Not too dramatic, but I did notice some improvements today. I would like to get a bit more aggressive on the gearing, but with moving to Michigan, it will be some time before I have to worry about big climbs on this bike. So I am just saving that for another day. IF I were staying here in PA, or had any XXCross races coming up this year, I think I would move to a long cage derailleur and a much larger cassette. Something that will be easier to do with more and more 10 speed components with wide gear ranges coming down the line.

As I type this I can't help but wonder why I didn't A) Just ditch my aging Dos Niner, get a cheap alumn hard tail 29er, put my rigid fork and cross tires on it. Or B) Save up a few pennies and get a Salsa Vaya or a bad ass Rawland Drakkar set up as seen on the Milltown Cycles blog...

Buyers regret on the Jake? No, not really, but I did let my racer boy mind wonder and went for a cross race bike. Not that I can't get the bike to how I want it, but I could have saved myself some hassle. Having said all that the real test will come in about 10 days when I am finally able to get it on the dirt road near my new digz in Mount P.

I leave you with this pic from today's ride...

I'm no fan of the cold, and would rather live someplace that is warm all year 'round, but DAMN, you can't get colors like that from no palm tree!

Later