The San José del Pacífico tour is not exactly single speed friendly, which I knew in advance, but I kinda cornered myself into it. Which was glorious and great but also colossally stupid because I’m old. Obviously, it was the perfect bike for the job and I enjoyed the challenge.
I don’t care about the equipment, I just want it to be perfect.
Last week in Minnesota for Bunyan Velo’s Evening of Adventure, event partner Surly loaned me an ECR for getting around town and for some bikepacking.
In Greece I toured on my Bike Friday Pocket Rocket Pro.
Old—classic? Well, someday—2007 Felt F1x reconfigured for all weather all road jaunts: 38mm Compass Barlow Pass Extralites (supple, fast, brilliant), SKS P45 fenders, Banjo Bros. small handlebar bag, Ultegra. Not least of all I like […]
Brooks England Ltd recently hosted a photo contest for “you and your dashing bike.” MC’s photograph of me with the Pugsley was selected as one of the winners! Many thanks to Brooks for putting on their North American Dashing Bicycle Show, hosted in New York City by Bicycle Habitat.
Early in the Spring I asked my friend and cycling co-conspirator Nicholas Carman to build a set of 2-9 wheels for my Pugsley. We debated and joked our way between conceiving of the bike as […]
My Pugsley had been in pieces since I returned from touring South America over a year ago. I left most of the drivetrain, the threadbare tires, and anything else that had reached its end behind […]
Rob English Custom folding 2-9. Alfine 8 (32 ring, 19 cog) with JTek shifter. Revelate bags, custom long narrow cuben fiber stuff sack from Zpack. Two bottles and bladder in frame bag, no backpack.
“I mean, she’s ridden plenty of gravel and dirt on her road race bike with Specialized Pro III 23’s on it, I’ve kinda tried to trick her into thinking that that’s totally normal, and she […]
Surely but surely the bicycle and setup one rides are not in the least way an existential metaphysical portal that transcends the mundane weft of the universe through which one can peer into the psychology […]
(All photos courtesy of Rob English from his news blog.)
The Surly Pugsley proved to be an exemplary expedition bike in South America. Though I remain tempted by Moonlanders*, I expect the Pugs to be the go-to machine for anything properly silly. There were a few things, however, that I wanted done for future missions to make it more suitable for carrying water and gear (cf., Cass’s Troll), and I finally got around to sending it to English cycles. These mods were surely embarrassingly brainless for Rob, who builds exceedingly clever and innovative machines, including my folding 2-9 and my road race bike.
The setup continues to get more and more baroque. Skeptics indicate that I might like to have a bit more agua for some stretches south. Obvious solution: more bottle cages! I guess I have to […]
(A Tom Walwyn photo, above)
When I got home last year from touring on the Pugsley in Alaska I ventured some thoughts, all enthusiastic, about the bike choice. After all, it’s a bike, it goes when you pedal it, in fact it goes just about anywhere a bike can go, and if you’re not racing or trying to keep pace on asphalt with your skinny tire friends, what’s not to like? And in AK, why are you not riding a fat bike? Still, I envisioned myself going back to the Long Haul Trucker with 26″ x 2.0’s for overseas rough stuff touring, the ‘cross bike for smooth roads, and a two nine — the folding Rob English with an IGH, one of the best bikes I’ve had the pleasure of riding — for domestic expedition use.
Then my imagination was hijacked by all those days, not necessarily winter days, hooting and having a ball on the Fat Bike, pointing it into the woods and going, just going. Sure, the tires, rims and bottom bracket on the thing are a decent argument against taking it too far for too long away from North America. If those go FUBAR one would have to get creative. It’s a pig, an automatic minimum 10 lbs. penalty over your next heaviest bike. But I’ve spent most of my time over the last eight or nine years on a rigid singlespeed, so I’m no stranger to poor judgment in bicycle selection.
Here’s what I think after two months riding the Pugsley in South America.
From the start of this tour I have been wearing the Osprey Talon backpack that I usually use for bikepacking. Since shifting things around and moving the water bladder to the main compartment of the […]
Joe Cruz 