Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Snow and gear

Currently there is too much fresh snow to ride in the forest, but in a few days the trails should be hardened enough to give it a try. The XC skiing is currently great, though.

The parts for the Fargo (which has not yet arrived) are now mostly ordered. Below is the plan as well as some random thoughts.
  • Mavic A719/XT 36-spoke XT wheels, which should be bombproof. I do have three other 29er wheel sets as well. During the winter a Mavic A119 dynamo disc hub front wheel.
  • Avid BB5 road disc brakes with 185/160 mm rotors. New.
  • Tiagra 3x9 STI brake levers/shifters. New.
  • Deore front derailleur (needs to be slightly modified to work with the STI shifters).
  • Deore rear derailleur.
  • Thudbuster LT seat post (from the Inbred, which gets an ordinary seat post).
  • On-One Midge drop bar. New.
  • On-One 100 mm stem. New.
  • Probably a Cane Creek S3 headset or something else from Foxcomp.
  • Shimano M540 crank set with 22/32/44 chain rings.
  • An ordinary 11-32 cassette.
  • I also have a Fizik Rondine saddle, which should be quite comfortable.
  • Planet Bike Cascadia 29 fenders at some point.
  • Shimano M540 SPD pedals.
  • A rear rack is also needed at some point.
  • The Epic Designs frame bags are really cool, but probably overkill for me. Ordinary panniers, which I already have, should do.
Most of the parts I already have, but some must be bought.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Go far pt. 1

A Salsa Fargo frame is on its way from the US. I ordered it through Foxcomp Turku and it should be here in sometimes in the beginning of January. My Nishiki Bigfoot will be retired, at least temporarily, and donate the wheels and drive train to the Fargo. An On-One Midge offroad drop bar is already ordered, but I still don't know which shifters to get. The most likely alternative is the Tiagra 9-speed STI shifters, since I'm not convinced that barend shifters would be good enough. The Fargo should serve me well as a general purpose bike for commuting, cyclocross rides as well as some forest road and terrain touring.

For more info about what the Salsa Fargo is used for, see this video and the Go Fargo and Gnat likes blogs. My ambition level is somewhat lower, though.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Finally winter

The winter is finally here after a wet and dark fall. During the weekend the temperature fell to well below freezing and we even got a few centimeters of snow. The morning commute was extended and performed through the forest.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Vajosuo beer ride

The first annual late fall beer ride took us to the Vajosuo lean-to for the night. The idea was to ride for a few hours in the darkness to the lean-to, drink beer and barbecue some sausage and then sleep for a few hours. The plan was then to get up early and ride for a few hours back to the cars, using another route.

Test packing


Matti H tests riding with the backpack




MTB 50+


It is dark on the bog


Greenman


MTB 50+


Matti H


JJ, the fire master




Kukko, the most popular beverage of the night


JJ


Pave and Ulla came by foot for a surprise visit


Geeks in the woods


Sausage


Good night!


The next morning


MTB 50+




Pack it in, pack it out




Vajosuo in November










Gear notes:
  • A winter sleeping bag does not fit into the backpack. However, putting it onto a rear rack would be a working solution. I used an ultra-light summer sleeping bag, the North Face Beeline 600 in a bivy bag (Alpkit Hunka XL) and a down jacket for extra warmth but this was too much. It was probably about 4°C in the lean-to, meaning that the summer bag, bivy bag and down jacket combination should be ok down to about -5°C on a good ground pad.

The full set of pictures are found here.

JJ also made a short video from this trip.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Fall rain

The first half of the fall this year was quite nice with fairly dry weather and much sun. It did not last. Rain is not that nice, but by choosing the correct trails it is still possible to ride.



Littoistenjärvi


The aspen leafs are already on the ground








The bike wasn't even that dirty afterwards

Friday, September 18, 2009

Vaskijärvi in September

Another morning ride in Vaskijärve nature reserve.

A light was necessary in the beginning of the ride


Iso-Valanen


Kajavajärvi

Sunday, September 13, 2009

IV Paimio's Revenge

Toni Lund arranged the fourth traditional early fall ride on the trails of Paimio.

Right after the start


Toni Lund






















I had some time constraints, so I was forced to turn back a little earlier.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Kangasala 24h

Most of the MTB-Turku morning section participated in the Kangasala 24h event, in the solo series. This was a very nice event and the route was good, with real technical Mtb trails for the most part. I stopped riding when I still had almost 5 hours time left, since my butt got too sore. Time in the saddle was 15 hours. I will certainly be back next year.

My Gary Fisher Hifi 29 bike, did unfortunately not like it, though the problem probably started earlier. The right chainstay developed a rather ugly crack.


The warranty does cover this, but it will take a while to get a new frame.