I am good at making those...
I have decided that I am getting rid of some of my bicycles, namely, my Jake the Snake and my old Specialized S-works.
Turns out that I never ride the mountain bike and rarely if ever ride the cyclocross bike. The mountain bike beats me up too much and my Kona Sutra has effectively replaced the cross bike for what I was actually using it for while being more comfortable in the process. I also don't care anymore about going fast.
Comfort.
Hmmmmm...
I have been making jokes at work and elsewhere about how full suspension enduro / trail bikes are old man bikes. I have also been joking that I am now an old man.
I am ok with that.
I figure that if I am ok with replacing my cross bike - which was used on road and trail - with a slower, heavier, and much more comfortable touring bike, that the same logic should apply to my off road experience.
I miss riding off road. It is fun. There are a lot of people at the shop who love to ride off road. We want to ride together.
So, all I have to do is sell off two bikes and a few bits and pieces for what I can get for them and I will get a slower, heavier, and much more comfortable mountain bike: a 2016 Kona Precept 130 or 150, depending on where the wallet takes me.
With any kind of luck, I will be hitting the trails on my new steed as the leaves are turning and the forest becomes extra gorgeous.
Showing posts with label Kona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kona. Show all posts
Monday, 10 August 2015
Sunday, 3 May 2015
hard bike party
There are days when I feel a need for an old man bike.
The hard bike can cause some hurt...
Some sponge in the ride would be nice sometimes you know...
But.
On the other hand.
There are times when all that is needed is the right hard bike for the occasion.
The hard bike can cause some hurt...
Some sponge in the ride would be nice sometimes you know...
But.
On the other hand.
There are times when all that is needed is the right hard bike for the occasion.
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
having the two wheeled hankering again
I have been a lazy bum for the last few weeks and have hardly biked at all. By hardly, I mean haven't at all.
I don't know what has gotten into me except for being stupid busy and being in a situation where I am working too far from home to realistically cycle to work.
Thing is, I miss it.
It is time to ramp it back up again even as winter rears its ugly head once again.
To that end, New Year's Day will see me biking one city over on my winter bike for some needed repair work. I am not the best at repairing my bicycle. A good friend of mine is. He lives one city over. So...
The winter monster needs a new drive train. Specifically, chainrings, chain, cables, rear derailleur, and cassette all are due for a replacement. I am feeling cheap though, and am planning on digging into my pile of spare parts and will be converting the monster into a single speed.
It should look hilarious. The frame is a too small for me 2011 Kona Lana'i with about what feels like 1m of seat post sticking up. It is almost a step through. However, it is perfect in the snow and handles being loaded down quite well.
So imagine that too small frame with a single speed drive train, studded tires, a rear rack and fender, a front rack and frankenstein fender, and a skid plate like splash guard over the bottom bracket.
It should be fun.
A change is as good as a new bike.
I don't know what has gotten into me except for being stupid busy and being in a situation where I am working too far from home to realistically cycle to work.
Thing is, I miss it.
It is time to ramp it back up again even as winter rears its ugly head once again.
To that end, New Year's Day will see me biking one city over on my winter bike for some needed repair work. I am not the best at repairing my bicycle. A good friend of mine is. He lives one city over. So...
The winter monster needs a new drive train. Specifically, chainrings, chain, cables, rear derailleur, and cassette all are due for a replacement. I am feeling cheap though, and am planning on digging into my pile of spare parts and will be converting the monster into a single speed.
It should look hilarious. The frame is a too small for me 2011 Kona Lana'i with about what feels like 1m of seat post sticking up. It is almost a step through. However, it is perfect in the snow and handles being loaded down quite well.
So imagine that too small frame with a single speed drive train, studded tires, a rear rack and fender, a front rack and frankenstein fender, and a skid plate like splash guard over the bottom bracket.
It should be fun.
A change is as good as a new bike.
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Some thoughts on the 2015 Kona lineup
Obviously, I am basing this off of the information on the Kona website, but with my years of experience with Kona bikes, I am reasonably sure that what I am about to say makes at least some sense.
So here goes!
Prices have all gone up. Boo Hiss. But this is not a big surprise really since there is this thing called inflation and bicycles are not free of that either.
On the mountain bike front, the biggest thing worthy of note is that the 26in wheel seems to have suffered a total death. No more basic bikes with 26in wheels. They have all gone to 27 1/2. This is, I think, a very good thing and increases the value for the money in the basic line up.
Beyond that, I have nothing to say about their mountain bikes since I am not much of a mountain biker any more.
On the road bike front, there are some delicious things happening.
First, my beloved Sutra has been given a bit of an overhaul. First of all, and most significant in my view, the saddle on the bike is now a Brooks B17 saddle. I find this amusing as I did this exact thing to mine. I find it even more amusing that I gave up on the Brooks saddle since I could not get it comfortable no matter what I did. Otherwise, the bicycle is basically the same as last year's model. The front rack is gone though. So is mine...
Second, the endurance line up of bicycles is changed completely. Good. What is there now is more affordable, and better. Scandium frames, better parts, and general all around goodness abound. The top bike is so good and priced so well that I would not consider a new Jake the Snake unless I really needed a cyclocross bike. For how I ride and what I ride on/over, the top bike in this lineup is a better choice.
Third, the top end road race bicycle finally looks to be closer to a top end road race bicycle than was previously offered. The components are better, as is the frame. What took Kona so long?
Fourth, the Minute is back. I thought that ditching that bike was a dumb move. Good to see it back. It is back on my must get list. Mid sized cargo bikes make a lot of sense. The Ute is no more though.
Fifth, the Dew line-up has been revamped. Not sure if this is a good thing, but the basic bikes are still what they were and that is a good thing.
Sixth, the classic road bike line-up has a new king, the Kapu. It is a well specced classic steel framed bicycle.
And Seventh, the free range line-up has been puffed up with some new variations on the Rove including a less expensive aluminum one, and one which looks like a Dew on steroids.
Overall, the line-up looks good. We shall see what they look like when they arrive in the shop.
So here goes!
Prices have all gone up. Boo Hiss. But this is not a big surprise really since there is this thing called inflation and bicycles are not free of that either.
On the mountain bike front, the biggest thing worthy of note is that the 26in wheel seems to have suffered a total death. No more basic bikes with 26in wheels. They have all gone to 27 1/2. This is, I think, a very good thing and increases the value for the money in the basic line up.
Beyond that, I have nothing to say about their mountain bikes since I am not much of a mountain biker any more.
On the road bike front, there are some delicious things happening.
First, my beloved Sutra has been given a bit of an overhaul. First of all, and most significant in my view, the saddle on the bike is now a Brooks B17 saddle. I find this amusing as I did this exact thing to mine. I find it even more amusing that I gave up on the Brooks saddle since I could not get it comfortable no matter what I did. Otherwise, the bicycle is basically the same as last year's model. The front rack is gone though. So is mine...
Second, the endurance line up of bicycles is changed completely. Good. What is there now is more affordable, and better. Scandium frames, better parts, and general all around goodness abound. The top bike is so good and priced so well that I would not consider a new Jake the Snake unless I really needed a cyclocross bike. For how I ride and what I ride on/over, the top bike in this lineup is a better choice.
Third, the top end road race bicycle finally looks to be closer to a top end road race bicycle than was previously offered. The components are better, as is the frame. What took Kona so long?
Fourth, the Minute is back. I thought that ditching that bike was a dumb move. Good to see it back. It is back on my must get list. Mid sized cargo bikes make a lot of sense. The Ute is no more though.
Fifth, the Dew line-up has been revamped. Not sure if this is a good thing, but the basic bikes are still what they were and that is a good thing.
Sixth, the classic road bike line-up has a new king, the Kapu. It is a well specced classic steel framed bicycle.
And Seventh, the free range line-up has been puffed up with some new variations on the Rove including a less expensive aluminum one, and one which looks like a Dew on steroids.
Overall, the line-up looks good. We shall see what they look like when they arrive in the shop.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Review: 2014 Kona Sutra
Again the usual applies with my product reviews. I am not being paid by Kona to write this. I am not a professional reviewer. I am writing my own opinions, the good and the bad, about products that I purchase with my own money. It is worth noting at this point that I have taken a job at a local bike shop which sells Konas. It is also worth noting that I have been a Kona fan for a very long time. The goal here is not to write a piece of "fanfic" designed the sell Konas. Feel free to take it that way if you must, but if you are familiar with my reviews, you know that I mention what I do not like about something even if the something is a thing that I like.
The purpose for me buying a Kona Sutra, a touring bike, was two fold. Firstly, my wife and I are interested in doing some bicycle camping. She already owns an Optima Orca recumbent touring bicycle, and she loves to camp. I love to ride bikes. She does not mind cycling, and I will admit, under duress, that I don't mind camping as long as I get my not ugly sleep. So it only makes sense to put the two things together. Enter the Sutra. Also, we are moving house in about a month, and my ride to the bike shop will increase from five km each way to about 27 km each way. Therefore, a better long distance commuter bike is needed. As a nice bonus, I will be able to ride instead of drive to my other job with ease where we are moving to. Again, enter the Sutra.
Here is what Kona says about the bicycle on their webpage:
"Our classic touring bike receives a facelift for 2014. We’ve taken our massively successful Rove frame and blended it with the styling and class of our Sutra from years past. The bike features solid front and rear Blackburn racks, as well as bar end shifters for simplicity. The oversized 44mm headtube gives a more precise ride while the steel tubing keeps things plush and smooth. Our new drop bar, the Wet Bar, features flared drops and a short reach to keep things comfortable during long descents." Source URL
Looking around the shop, I can definitely say that yes, this is a Rove in touring dress. Basically, if you were to take the current Rove, strip it of all of its parts, and take last year's Sutra, and strip it of all of its parts and then install all of those parts onto the Rove frame, you would have the 2014 Sutra.
This is not a bad thing.
My "road" bicycles for the last decade or so have been Kona cyclocross bikes, and I like the way that they feel on pavement and gravel/sand. The current Sutra has a very planted feel that I have come to associate with Kona cyclocross bicycles. But there are some significant differences in the feel of the machines.
The cyclocross bikes, while they share a geometry similar to the Sutra, are definitely racier. My Jake the Snake is a much faster bike with a more aggressive layout. The Sutra feels very sedate. A tall stack of spacers lift the stem and help keep the riding position relaxed. The Sutra's handling could best be described as lazy in comparison to the Jake the Snake. This is a very good thing for touring where the goal is to ride all day in comfort with a loaded bicycle as opposed to riding for several hours quickly, in a more aggressive stance. Also, darty handling is not a good thing when there is a heavy load on the bicycle.
The Sutra is made of steel. It has been a very long time since I have owned a steel bicycle and after riding the Sutra, I am reminded why steel is a good material for bicycle building. The ride is very supple but the bike does not flex in a noticeable way. Steel advocates will tell you that steel is the only material to make a bicycle out of. Clearly, this is a load of what cows leave behind, but steel is very good when used for certain applications. For a ride it all day bicycle, one intended to be loaded down, steel works very well indeed. The frame is comfortable.
Protecting the steel from corrosion is a matte finish which is semi transparent and tinted a sort of sand brown colour. It is possible to see through it and see different colours on the steel itself. As well, where the welds and brazing was done, the colour of the brazing material shows through. This is an aesthetic affection which fairly screams "look at me, I am steel!", but it is one which I like. It does nothing to help with the bicycle's performance, but does look nice. Not everyone will agree with that, but I like it. Time will tell if the finish is durable or not. It looks nice though.
The frame is festooned with nice touches. Braze on mounts for three waterbottles are included. This is a good feature for a touring bike - two are for water, and the third for a sig bottle filled with fuel for a camp stove. If you use a small camping wood stove and have no need of stove fuel, a tool kit put into a waterbottle would fit quite nicely into the lower bottle cage. Cables are routed on the down tube through brazed on cable guides. The rear brake cable is fully encased in a housing, while the shifter cables are less fully covered - barrel adjusters for the shifters are on the cable guides near the head tube. Rack and fender mounts are part of the frame. Kona made a mistake here in my opinion. The fenders and rack share a mount. I prefer them not to. Fenders and racks are easier to set up and adjust when they have their own dedicated eyelets to bolt to. That said, what is there works, but I wish that Kona had tweaked the Rove frame a little more to add the extra mounting points. Also missing are brazeons for extra spokes (like those found on the Surly Long Haul Trucker). How much this matters is a personal thing since it is possible to affix extra spokes to other spots on the bike. The head tube on this bike is oversized but not tapered. This makes it nice and stiff, and allows for an internal headset. It looks a little odd mind you, but it works. The brakes are disks and the mounts, on both the forks and the rear triangle, were perfectly aligned and did not need to be refaced or shimmed in any way. Nice touch.
The stock components are very good. Here is the list from the Kona website:
Source
Bolded print is added by me.
The bike is well kitted out with good solid reliable gear. That said, I made some changes right off the hop.
The first thing to go was the saddle. Stock is the Kona branded WTB Rocket V Comp saddle which is found on other Kona bikes. It is a very comfortable saddle which I have used before. However, it is not something that I feel like sitting on all day. So, out came my Brooks B17 Narrow saddle. I have the chocolate brown one and it looks absolutely gorgeous when mated to the colour of the Sutra. I find double clamp seatposts to be a bit of a pain to set up as small adjustments made mid ride are kind of annoying to do compared with a single bolt seatpost. That said, once it is dialed in, there is no problem. A future change will see Brooks leather bar tape replace the stock Kona tape the bike comes with. Of course, the Brooks tape will match the saddle. Previously, I have had leather wrapped bars and really like how well they wear and how nice they look.
Seeing as how the racks are Blackburn, I grabbed some Blackburn waterbottle cages and an old Blackburn pump I had and put them on. The tail light I installed is a Blackburn Mars 3.0 unit which comes with a mount designed specifically for a Blackburn rack. One might think this was a plan on their part to sell lights. Well, it worked. This light has five rear facing LEDs and two side facing ones and is pretty bright. It will go nicely with my Fly6 camera/light combination when it shows up in the mail sometime in June.
I have replaced the quick release skewers with ones which use allen keys. In fact, the ones I am using are pinned and need a special allen key to open. While this won't stop a determined thief, it will slow one down or prompt them to move on. I wish that Kona had used a more traditional seat post clamp as my pinned seat clamp bolt will not fit with the QR clamp that comes with the bike. It will need to be swapped out in order to fix this problem.
An oversized bar bell and a Garmin GPS mount complete the initial modifications. At some point I want to source a nice sprung brass gong for the bike. They look cool, and are really loud and are my personal choice for waking up iPod zombies.
Due to it being a bit of a heavy pig, it takes a bit to get going. However, once it is rolling, it moves along quite nicely.
The riding position is very upright. This is due to a combination of frame geometry, a huge stack of spacers under the stem, and an absolutely marvellous handlebar. The bar is very flat across the top, has a shallow drop, and is flared outwards. This makes it very comfortable to use. It reminds me a lot of the Salsa woodchipper handlebar that comes on my friend's old Surly Crosscheck. Those seeking a relaxed fit and ride should be happy about this. If you are seeking a more traditional bar, you may wish to swap this one out. The relative upright riding position mates well with the Brooks saddle I added. The bike is very comfortable to perch upon and ride, even in "street" clothing.
The riding position encourages me to take my time and focus more on what is going on around me. I find on a bike with a more aggressive stance, I tend to push a lot harder than I do when riding this one. While I do focus on my surroundings when pushing hard, a lot of my thought processes go into various mental exercises designed to help me increase my speed or maintain a steady high output. This bike encourages me to amble. Not a bad trait in a touring bike where speed is not of the essence but enjoying the more sedate pace of a wander, vs a race (real or imagined), is the goal. Interestingly, a quick glance at my gps unit indicates that while me speed is lower than it would be on my cyclocross bike, it is not as low as the relaxed feeling the bicycle imbues would suggest.
The geometry and widely spaced gearing make for a different approach to tackling hills. Often, when on a race based bicycle, I spin up the hills at a high cadence out of the saddle. It is a quick and energy intensive way to climb, but one I really enjoy. With the Sutra, I find I drop a few gears as I ride up hills and stay seated. It is a more "dum de dum" approach to climbing vs a "grrrr hill be eaten" approach, if you take my meaning.
Bumps are nicely sorted out by the smooth rolling quick and nimble Continental touring tires. Lately, I have become a big fan of German tire manufacturers. Both Schwalbe and Continental make superior bicycle tires and I have yet to go wrong with any tire I have had over the years from either brand. In my opinion, Kona made a good choice by sourcing these tires for this bike. The steel frame also aids in bump suppression.
The stock drive train is simple and competent. Bar end shifters are a great idea for a touring bicycle. The front derailleur is shifted by friction. This makes it endlessly featherable and there is zero drive train noise coming from the front of the bike. Shimano, be a dear and give us a brifter for front derailleurs which gives this level of flexibility. I miss it and love this hearkening back to the "old days". The rear shifter is indexed, works perfectly, and can be made into a friction shifter should the need arise (like a bent derailleur out in the middle of nowhere on a tour).
There is a learning curve with these shifters if all you have used is brifter style indexed road levers. I grew up using down tube friction shifters from Campagnolo, so it only took me about 30 seconds to get the front derailleur dialed in. What took a bit was reaching to the end of the bar for the shifter. It does not feel natural after using brifters for the last decade or so. Adapt or change them out I suppose. Some people will really dislike the bar end shifters. I have read in other reviews of this bicycle and similar bicycles some complaints about them. However, I would suggest considering the following: brifters can break if the bike falls over, especially if the bike is loaded down and heavy, and cost a lot to repair or replace; and including bar end shifters instead of brifters helps keep the cost of the bicycle.
The brakes work well. I like using disk brakes and have no issues with mechanical ones. The brakes on my truck like commuter bike are cheap Avid BB5 brakes which work very well despite all of the abuse I heap upon them. This bike has Hayes CX Expert brakes which seem to be doing fine so far. While mechanical disk brakes are not as nice to use as hydraulic ones, they do work better than rim brakes, particularly when it is wet outside. They are also easier to maintain in the field. Remember, it is important to run new disk brakes in properly or they will not work well. About ten stops from near 30kmph at the threshold of skidding will seat them. Do the fronts and rears separately. After doing this, you should feel a marked improvement in the brakes ability to haul the bicycle down from speed. During the initial break in period, the brakes kept performing better and better.
The rotors on the bicycle are 160mm ones. The larger 160mm rotors (vs 140mm ones used on some other Kona bicycles) will give more stopping power when the bicycle is loaded for touring. While heavier than cantilever brakes, the more precise and powerful stopping power they offer is worth the minor weight penalty, especially when roads are wet. As an added bonus, if the brakes are dragged a bit on a steep descent when the bike is loaded, heat build up will not cause a tube to potentially fail.
That is it for now.
I have been riding long enough to be certain that my initial impressions about the way the bicycle handles will remain consistent as I use the bicycle more. Should this not be true, I will do an update post and tack it to the bottom of the review.
Cheers and good riding!
The purpose for me buying a Kona Sutra, a touring bike, was two fold. Firstly, my wife and I are interested in doing some bicycle camping. She already owns an Optima Orca recumbent touring bicycle, and she loves to camp. I love to ride bikes. She does not mind cycling, and I will admit, under duress, that I don't mind camping as long as I get my not ugly sleep. So it only makes sense to put the two things together. Enter the Sutra. Also, we are moving house in about a month, and my ride to the bike shop will increase from five km each way to about 27 km each way. Therefore, a better long distance commuter bike is needed. As a nice bonus, I will be able to ride instead of drive to my other job with ease where we are moving to. Again, enter the Sutra.
With all that in mind, let's explore the bike.
Here is what Kona says about the bicycle on their webpage:
"Our classic touring bike receives a facelift for 2014. We’ve taken our massively successful Rove frame and blended it with the styling and class of our Sutra from years past. The bike features solid front and rear Blackburn racks, as well as bar end shifters for simplicity. The oversized 44mm headtube gives a more precise ride while the steel tubing keeps things plush and smooth. Our new drop bar, the Wet Bar, features flared drops and a short reach to keep things comfortable during long descents." Source URL
Looking around the shop, I can definitely say that yes, this is a Rove in touring dress. Basically, if you were to take the current Rove, strip it of all of its parts, and take last year's Sutra, and strip it of all of its parts and then install all of those parts onto the Rove frame, you would have the 2014 Sutra.
This is not a bad thing.
My "road" bicycles for the last decade or so have been Kona cyclocross bikes, and I like the way that they feel on pavement and gravel/sand. The current Sutra has a very planted feel that I have come to associate with Kona cyclocross bicycles. But there are some significant differences in the feel of the machines.
The cyclocross bikes, while they share a geometry similar to the Sutra, are definitely racier. My Jake the Snake is a much faster bike with a more aggressive layout. The Sutra feels very sedate. A tall stack of spacers lift the stem and help keep the riding position relaxed. The Sutra's handling could best be described as lazy in comparison to the Jake the Snake. This is a very good thing for touring where the goal is to ride all day in comfort with a loaded bicycle as opposed to riding for several hours quickly, in a more aggressive stance. Also, darty handling is not a good thing when there is a heavy load on the bicycle.
The Sutra is made of steel. It has been a very long time since I have owned a steel bicycle and after riding the Sutra, I am reminded why steel is a good material for bicycle building. The ride is very supple but the bike does not flex in a noticeable way. Steel advocates will tell you that steel is the only material to make a bicycle out of. Clearly, this is a load of what cows leave behind, but steel is very good when used for certain applications. For a ride it all day bicycle, one intended to be loaded down, steel works very well indeed. The frame is comfortable.
Protecting the steel from corrosion is a matte finish which is semi transparent and tinted a sort of sand brown colour. It is possible to see through it and see different colours on the steel itself. As well, where the welds and brazing was done, the colour of the brazing material shows through. This is an aesthetic affection which fairly screams "look at me, I am steel!", but it is one which I like. It does nothing to help with the bicycle's performance, but does look nice. Not everyone will agree with that, but I like it. Time will tell if the finish is durable or not. It looks nice though.
The frame is festooned with nice touches. Braze on mounts for three waterbottles are included. This is a good feature for a touring bike - two are for water, and the third for a sig bottle filled with fuel for a camp stove. If you use a small camping wood stove and have no need of stove fuel, a tool kit put into a waterbottle would fit quite nicely into the lower bottle cage. Cables are routed on the down tube through brazed on cable guides. The rear brake cable is fully encased in a housing, while the shifter cables are less fully covered - barrel adjusters for the shifters are on the cable guides near the head tube. Rack and fender mounts are part of the frame. Kona made a mistake here in my opinion. The fenders and rack share a mount. I prefer them not to. Fenders and racks are easier to set up and adjust when they have their own dedicated eyelets to bolt to. That said, what is there works, but I wish that Kona had tweaked the Rove frame a little more to add the extra mounting points. Also missing are brazeons for extra spokes (like those found on the Surly Long Haul Trucker). How much this matters is a personal thing since it is possible to affix extra spokes to other spots on the bike. The head tube on this bike is oversized but not tapered. This makes it nice and stiff, and allows for an internal headset. It looks a little odd mind you, but it works. The brakes are disks and the mounts, on both the forks and the rear triangle, were perfectly aligned and did not need to be refaced or shimmed in any way. Nice touch.
The stock components are very good. Here is the list from the Kona website:
| Frame Material | Kona Cromoly |
| Sizes | 47, 49, 53, 56, 59, 61cm (mine is the 56cm one) |
| Rear Shock | n/a |
| Fork | Kona Project Two Touring |
| Crankarms | Shimano Deore |
| Chainrings | 26/36/48t |
| B/B | Shimano BB51 |
| Pedals | n/a (I put some Shimano SPD pedals on mine) |
| Chain | KMC HG53 |
| Freewheel | Shimano Deore 11-32t 9 spd |
| Chainguide | n/a |
| F/D | Shimano Deore |
| R/D | Shimano LX Treking (Shimano SLX in Canada) |
| Shifters | Shimano BarCon |
| Brake Calipers | Hayes CX Expert (mechanical not hydraulic) |
| Front Brake Rotor | Hayes L Series 160mm |
| Rear Brake Rotor | Hayes L Series 160mm |
| Brake Levers | Tektro RL340 |
| Headset | TH 848 |
| Handlebar | Kona Deluxe Road Bar (actually the Kona Wet Bar - a flared thing which is quite nice) |
| Stem | Kona XC/Road |
| Seatpost | Kona Double Clamp w/Offset |
| Seat Clamp | Kona Clamp (wish it was a bolt and not a quick release) |
| Grips | Kona Cork Tape |
| Saddle | WTB Rocket V Comp |
| Front Hub | Shimano Deore (comes with an allen key clamp) |
| Rear Hub | Shimano Deore (comes with a traditional quick release) |
| Spokes | Sandvik Stainless 14g |
| Rims | Freedom Ryder 21 |
| Front Tire | Continental Contact 700x32C |
| Rear Tire | Continental Contact 700x32C |
| Paint Color | Matt Raw Steel w/Sand Tint |
| Extras | Pannier Racks, Fenders (The racks are Blackburn units and the fenders are full coverage units with mudflaps) |
Bolded print is added by me.
The bike is well kitted out with good solid reliable gear. That said, I made some changes right off the hop.
The first thing to go was the saddle. Stock is the Kona branded WTB Rocket V Comp saddle which is found on other Kona bikes. It is a very comfortable saddle which I have used before. However, it is not something that I feel like sitting on all day. So, out came my Brooks B17 Narrow saddle. I have the chocolate brown one and it looks absolutely gorgeous when mated to the colour of the Sutra. I find double clamp seatposts to be a bit of a pain to set up as small adjustments made mid ride are kind of annoying to do compared with a single bolt seatpost. That said, once it is dialed in, there is no problem. A future change will see Brooks leather bar tape replace the stock Kona tape the bike comes with. Of course, the Brooks tape will match the saddle. Previously, I have had leather wrapped bars and really like how well they wear and how nice they look.
Seeing as how the racks are Blackburn, I grabbed some Blackburn waterbottle cages and an old Blackburn pump I had and put them on. The tail light I installed is a Blackburn Mars 3.0 unit which comes with a mount designed specifically for a Blackburn rack. One might think this was a plan on their part to sell lights. Well, it worked. This light has five rear facing LEDs and two side facing ones and is pretty bright. It will go nicely with my Fly6 camera/light combination when it shows up in the mail sometime in June.
I have replaced the quick release skewers with ones which use allen keys. In fact, the ones I am using are pinned and need a special allen key to open. While this won't stop a determined thief, it will slow one down or prompt them to move on. I wish that Kona had used a more traditional seat post clamp as my pinned seat clamp bolt will not fit with the QR clamp that comes with the bike. It will need to be swapped out in order to fix this problem.
An oversized bar bell and a Garmin GPS mount complete the initial modifications. At some point I want to source a nice sprung brass gong for the bike. They look cool, and are really loud and are my personal choice for waking up iPod zombies.
That about covers it for how it is kitted out, so how does it ride?
Due to it being a bit of a heavy pig, it takes a bit to get going. However, once it is rolling, it moves along quite nicely.
The riding position is very upright. This is due to a combination of frame geometry, a huge stack of spacers under the stem, and an absolutely marvellous handlebar. The bar is very flat across the top, has a shallow drop, and is flared outwards. This makes it very comfortable to use. It reminds me a lot of the Salsa woodchipper handlebar that comes on my friend's old Surly Crosscheck. Those seeking a relaxed fit and ride should be happy about this. If you are seeking a more traditional bar, you may wish to swap this one out. The relative upright riding position mates well with the Brooks saddle I added. The bike is very comfortable to perch upon and ride, even in "street" clothing.
The riding position encourages me to take my time and focus more on what is going on around me. I find on a bike with a more aggressive stance, I tend to push a lot harder than I do when riding this one. While I do focus on my surroundings when pushing hard, a lot of my thought processes go into various mental exercises designed to help me increase my speed or maintain a steady high output. This bike encourages me to amble. Not a bad trait in a touring bike where speed is not of the essence but enjoying the more sedate pace of a wander, vs a race (real or imagined), is the goal. Interestingly, a quick glance at my gps unit indicates that while me speed is lower than it would be on my cyclocross bike, it is not as low as the relaxed feeling the bicycle imbues would suggest.
The geometry and widely spaced gearing make for a different approach to tackling hills. Often, when on a race based bicycle, I spin up the hills at a high cadence out of the saddle. It is a quick and energy intensive way to climb, but one I really enjoy. With the Sutra, I find I drop a few gears as I ride up hills and stay seated. It is a more "dum de dum" approach to climbing vs a "grrrr hill be eaten" approach, if you take my meaning.
Bumps are nicely sorted out by the smooth rolling quick and nimble Continental touring tires. Lately, I have become a big fan of German tire manufacturers. Both Schwalbe and Continental make superior bicycle tires and I have yet to go wrong with any tire I have had over the years from either brand. In my opinion, Kona made a good choice by sourcing these tires for this bike. The steel frame also aids in bump suppression.
The stock drive train is simple and competent. Bar end shifters are a great idea for a touring bicycle. The front derailleur is shifted by friction. This makes it endlessly featherable and there is zero drive train noise coming from the front of the bike. Shimano, be a dear and give us a brifter for front derailleurs which gives this level of flexibility. I miss it and love this hearkening back to the "old days". The rear shifter is indexed, works perfectly, and can be made into a friction shifter should the need arise (like a bent derailleur out in the middle of nowhere on a tour).
There is a learning curve with these shifters if all you have used is brifter style indexed road levers. I grew up using down tube friction shifters from Campagnolo, so it only took me about 30 seconds to get the front derailleur dialed in. What took a bit was reaching to the end of the bar for the shifter. It does not feel natural after using brifters for the last decade or so. Adapt or change them out I suppose. Some people will really dislike the bar end shifters. I have read in other reviews of this bicycle and similar bicycles some complaints about them. However, I would suggest considering the following: brifters can break if the bike falls over, especially if the bike is loaded down and heavy, and cost a lot to repair or replace; and including bar end shifters instead of brifters helps keep the cost of the bicycle.
The brakes work well. I like using disk brakes and have no issues with mechanical ones. The brakes on my truck like commuter bike are cheap Avid BB5 brakes which work very well despite all of the abuse I heap upon them. This bike has Hayes CX Expert brakes which seem to be doing fine so far. While mechanical disk brakes are not as nice to use as hydraulic ones, they do work better than rim brakes, particularly when it is wet outside. They are also easier to maintain in the field. Remember, it is important to run new disk brakes in properly or they will not work well. About ten stops from near 30kmph at the threshold of skidding will seat them. Do the fronts and rears separately. After doing this, you should feel a marked improvement in the brakes ability to haul the bicycle down from speed. During the initial break in period, the brakes kept performing better and better.
The rotors on the bicycle are 160mm ones. The larger 160mm rotors (vs 140mm ones used on some other Kona bicycles) will give more stopping power when the bicycle is loaded for touring. While heavier than cantilever brakes, the more precise and powerful stopping power they offer is worth the minor weight penalty, especially when roads are wet. As an added bonus, if the brakes are dragged a bit on a steep descent when the bike is loaded, heat build up will not cause a tube to potentially fail.
Some pictures and a few things worthy of note follow.
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| Detail of the front brake rotor, calliper, and rack mount. With a little bending, the included fenders fit fine. One of my gripes about the frame is clearly shown here - the rack and fenders share a mount. I would prefer them not to. Looking at how crowded things are here, it is easy to see why Kona chose to use an allen key bolt for a quick release instead of a typical qr skewer. Look carefully at the one I changed the bike over to - this one is pinned making a conventional allen key useless for wheel removal. One of the things I like about the brakes is how solid the callipers are compared to others I have used. |
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| Detail of the rear brake and rack mount. Again with the shared mounts. Kudos though to Kona for putting the calliper on the inside of the rear triangle vs the outside. This increases the options for racks and reduces cost for fenders. Look through to the seat stay in the background. Kona included a pin for hanging the chain on when the rear wheel is removed - a nice touch which will help keep the drivetrain clean should the need arise to perform maintenance road side. |
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| Being a steel bicycle, the bottom bracket is not massive and oversized. The encased cable is for the rear brake, while the other two are for the derailleurs. I added some spacers on the underside water bottle bolts so a bottle cage installed there in the future will clear the cables. They are on the bicycle now so I don't lose them :) The dirt splash gives a good idea how much the fenders cover. Your feet might get a little damp, but not too likely. Top of the line SKS fenders with mudflaps will drop significantly lower and help prevent dirt from hitting you or the drive train. |
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| Of note here is the space around the fender mount. There is a lot of clearance for the 700x32c tires, and a gap still remains between the fender and the underside of the fork. Much larger tires will fit should the need arise with fenders, and even larger without. The headset is internal. Note the brass from the brazeons showing through the tinted finish which is, I think, a lovely lovely colour. I put some tire patches between the cable housing and the head tube to prevent wear to the frame's finish. |
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| Shimano SLX derailleur. The cassette has a wide range of gears which should make climbing steep hills under load fairly easy. There is a fairly long 10% grade on my new commuter route I will be travelling with the bicycle loaded down once we move in May which I will report back on after I ride it a bit. |
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| This year's Shimano Deore crank is a pretty thing. Very beefy and strong. |
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| Shimano Deore hubs - 36 hole - are at the core of the heavily built wheels. My friend at work is a terrific wheel builder and he tensioned it up for me nicely. I suggest having new wheels be looked at before the bicycle is ridden by someone who knows what they are doing to ensure they are true and tensioned correctly. |
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| The rear. Nice and compact. The rack has multiple mounting points for various things. I am not 100% sure what the slotted mount is sticking out the back of the rack, but I think it is for running a strap through to further secure panniers or perhaps something stacked on top of the rack and panniers. |
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| Nice and simple. This is the rear shifter. It can be switched from indexed to friction shift by twisting the switch on the inside of the shifter. |
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| How the cockpit is laid out at this time. GPS on the stem, and bell on the bar. Future updates will include hardware to mount a handlebar bag and a light (removable). Note the huge stack of spacers underneath the stem. My Jake the Snake stem pretty much sits on the top of the headset. |
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| The brake levers. These Tektro levers are quite comfortable actually. I was pleased to see that they bulked them up a bit compared to the way that they used to be. It is possible to see the flare of the handlebar I was talking about above in this picture. I would like you to use your imagination and pretend that the tape is a rich chocolate brown leather. That is what will be swapped in sometime this summer. |
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| This is how I prefer to carry my pump. At some point, I would like to replace this one with a slick brass plated one and redo the bottle cages in a brass colour. It would look great on the bike with it the colour it is. |
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| The Blackburn Mars 3.0 tail light. It is a seriously bright unit which fits perfectly on the rack. |
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| My Chocolate Brown Brooks B17 Narrow saddle. I love this one on this bicycle. It is a perfect match. |
I have been riding long enough to be certain that my initial impressions about the way the bicycle handles will remain consistent as I use the bicycle more. Should this not be true, I will do an update post and tack it to the bottom of the review.
Cheers and good riding!
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
it's coming...
Soon, another Kona will be added to the fleet...
Once the salt clears off, and I get some riding in on it, a review will happen.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
prepping a four season commuter
My current commuter bike, like all of my actively ridden bikes, is a Kona. Repeatedly, over the years, I have found Kona bicycles to be a delight to ride and very reliable. They also offer a significant bang for your buck and quite frankly punch above their weight. The daily grinder is a cheap as dirt Kona Lana'i. It is not that exciting a bicycle, but it is very serviceable and does the job quite well.
One big advantage that this bicycle has as a commuter is that it is not that expensive. This reduces the chances of it being stolen by a fair bit since it is not as desirable as some. Another bonus is that if it does get stolen, I will likely just sigh, and go get another one after reporting it to the authorities and all that. Since it is a bicycle for transport, it comes out of my transport budget and not my entertainment budget. It can also be loaded down significantly. Being a mountain bike, it is over built for what I am doing with it.
Circumstances being what they were when I bought it - low on cash at the time and desiring disk brakes - I ended up with a extra stock blow out bike that Kona had hanging around. Mine is a 2011 model that I bought in 2012 and paid very little for.
As I have a good relationship with my LBS, I was able to negotiate a couple of significant changes into the cost of the bicycle. One of these was a rigid fork. I do not recommend a suspension fork for a commuter. They rob too much power since they tend to bob a bit, and the fork that most bicycle manufacturers fit to low end bicycles tends to be fairly cheap. I was able to swap out the suspension fork for a quite nice steel rigid for with a gentle curve forward which flexes a bit and helps to smooth out the ride.
The bicycle is a bit too small for me actually. This worked out to being a good thing though. Part of the swap of parts I arranged was for a longer stem which stretched out the riding position somewhat. The bike came stock with a very short stubby stem. Thankfully, the stock seat post is ridiculously long, and I am able to raise it high enough to ride comfortably without risking damage to either the post or the frame. Why then is the small bike good? Well, because Kona builds their frames with a fairly dramatically sloping top tube, and because the bike is one size too small, I can use it as a step through frame if I hike my foot up high enough. This is a bonus if I have a big load on the back like a basket of groceries or something like that.
Some futzing around with parts has brought the bike to where it is now.
Currently, it has a nice heavy duty rack on the back. I use an Axiom Journey Unifit Mk3 rack. I chose it, after having used a few other ones I had kicking around, because it will enable me to mount the panniers low and far back reducing heal strike on the pannier - the bane of a too small bike with bags - and keeping the center of gravity low, while maintaining a broad deck up top for my trunk bag or lock or basket. The rack allows for the mounting of a tail light on the rack in a position which is easy to see, and easy to kick right clean off the bike if you are not careful when climbing on the bicycle.
The stock pedals were not good. They were cheap metal ones, which I replaced with cheap plastic ones. The advantage is that they won't slip when wet which the metal ones were really bad for. I average about a year or so per set of pedals. The bearings simply cannot hold up to the abuse of riding in all weather.
I added some fenders, a lighting system, changed out the tires, and a few other odd things.
I will present a series of pictures of the bicycle and in the caption underneath explain the significance of what I am showing.
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| My replacement pedals. These cost under $10, but should last over 4000km before they start to fall apart. My feet won't slip off of them in my big clunky boots that I ride in all winter long. Note the "slime" all over the axle. I make liberal use of a can of rust proofing stuff for automobiles on key parts of the bicycle so that they won't corrode, and so that I can remove them after. Because of the boots I use, I never get anything on my clothing. I ride in Bogs during the winter, and clean this stuff off come spring. Other footwear does not slip on them either. Toe capped sandals and regular shoes do fine with pedals like this. |
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| A bit of a close up of the axle. Note the rust proofing. This bike has almost 4500km on it, and the crank has gotten scuffed up a fair bit. One of the "costs of doing business" as a work bike - for me, aesthetics take a back seat. The bike will not get abused, but it will get banged up. |
It is worth pointing out that the bike as seen some use. I bought it in the fall of 2012 and have almost 4500 km on it. Since then, I have worn out a cheap pair of plastic pedals, one chain, one cassette, a set of cables, a set of brake shoes, the saddle - I tend to kill saddles for some reason - and a rear rim. The original rear rim was defective and the side wall of it blew out. Warranty saw me outfitted with a replacement wheel. I also replaced the brake calipers (more on that later).
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| The bike comes with mounts for racks and fenders. However, the rounded off bolts for the rack mounts are weak. They hold things on the bike just fine, and won't snap I would think, but the bolt heads strip out easily. I replaced them with these better quality ones. Tip - grease the daylights out of this kind of thing when you put them into the frame so that you can remove them later if you need to. Do this even if you do not intend to winter ride the bicycle. |
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| I did a bit of doinking around with the placement of my bell and managed to squeeze it into a tight gap between the bar and the rapid fire shifter. Yay. Improved ergonomics. Tip - get a brass bell or gong (this is actually a gong). They are much louder and can be heard by iPod zombies. |
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| The front derailleur is nothing special, but it works. I rust proof the crap out of it and it will shift even when packed with snow and ice. Note the tight gap between it and the fender. I would be hard pressed to squash a piece of paper between the fender and the derailleur. This is a weakness in the design IF the bike is going to have full coverage fenders - a must for a commuter if you ask me. I would think that this derailleur looks fine for one which has been subjected to as much winter and grime as this one has. |
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| The stock brakes were not so hot. I had a caliper cease up mid winter the first year I had the bike. Both the front (shown here) and rear calipers were replaced with some inexpensive Avid ones. They work significantly better, and have shown no sign of sticking. You can see the kind of shenanigans I had to do to get the fenders to clear the brake caliper. Looks weird, but it works. Also, I ditched the quick release skewers in favour of some bolt on ones. Tip - to seat the brakes properly and prevent glazed pads, perform several very hard stops on fresh pads from about 30kmph. The brakes will last longer and work better if you do. The front brake in particular howls like crazy when it is damp. This is something that happens with disk brakes and is not a problem even if it is loud. A few firm applications of the brake dry them off and they get quiet again. Remember that they can ice up and should be used in the winter time periodically even if you are not planning a stop. The disks are no where near as susceptible to this as wheel rims are though so brake failure in the snow is not as likely with brakes like this compared to rim brakes. |
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| Fenders matter. This picture illustrates the clearance I have with my front fender and my non-studded snow tire. This kind of clearance keeps crap from building up and creating drag, and the low slightly flared mudflap keeps my feet dry. I got these at MEC - they are from planetbike and are worth it. |
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| The back end of the bike - note the liberal use of reflective tape. I like being seen. I had to weave the fender stays through the rack to get it all to work. It looks bizarre, but it works. The rear fender has similar clearance to the front and I have never once had any spray fly up and hit me. Friends report that little flies out back as well which is nice. |
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| Nothing special here. I was very surprised that the rear derailleur has lasted as long as it has. It is original to the bike and is a very basic and cheap unit. However, it is going strong still which is good. Spring will likely see an upgrade here. I tend to wear out the stock parts and then swap to better ones as I go along. |
Speaking of better parts, it is also worth noting that the original bottom bracket and headset are still on the bike. They have never been serviced or adjusted. They don't crunch or grind or anything either. Impressive for such basic stuff. I suspect that the bottom bracket may give out this winter - I have heard some mild crunching in that department (although that may be coming from the front chain ring which is also stock). I have also been lazy and not overhauled the hubs yet (I should though...). I highly recommend that a crank with removable chainrings be bought with the bike. I have had bicycles where the crank and chainrings were one unit. Not only are the chainrings on such a set up substandard, they cannot be replaced without replacing the crank. I burned out such a set up in about four months of heavy duty winter riding. Even a cheap replaceable chainring set up like the current bicycle will last a fair bit. The one on this bike is original to the bike and has over 4500km on it. Spring will see a new middle chainring on the front - a better quality one I am guessing at this point.
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| This winter's tires. Go read my review of them if you want. I quite like them. Deeper snow and ice see the studded ones come out though. |
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| This shows the difference between my studded and non-studded winter tires. The studded ones are much better on ice than the others, but do drag a bunch. This is why they are not currently mounted to the bicycle. Should funds allow, a second set of wheels will appear so I can swap them back and forth as conditions merit. |
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| Cheap and nasty but very effective. That is a planet bike superflash. I want to replace it with a Knog Blinder Road R tail light instead though as I am a big fan of being seen. The Knog is crazy bright. |
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| And the headlamp. This head lamp works very well. I am a big fan of it. |
I have several options for carrying things on the bicycle. Some prefer to carry what they bring with them on a commute on their body - using knapsacks or messenger bags and what have you - and some prefer to carry their stuff on the bicycle itself. I fall into the carry the stuff on the bicycle camp. This is why I chose such a heavy duty rack for the bicycle.
For me, the advantage of carrying the gear I bring on a commute on the bike instead of my person is simple. I tend towards wearing layers and a knapsack (the worst) or a messenger bag (better) compress the layers and squeeze out the air space between my clothing and I overheat and get very sweaty. This is true even at -10 or -20. It is far worse in the summer months. So, gear goes on the bike. I would change my mind if my daily commute saw me in and out of several places in rapid succession. Then, removing the bags at each stop (to prevent theft) would rapidly become tedious. In such circumstances, a messenger bag makes more sense than panniers etc.
Fully loaded down, the bike becomes a serious pig. It is good to know though that should I need to haul some stuff, it can be done. One big advantage of a bike like this is that if hauling is needed, the bike has the gearing to keep you moving. The only thing I have not added to the kit is a trailer (I am thinking of it...)
So there you have it. One commuter bike. The only difference between the winter set up shown here and the summer one is that I swap out the tires and clean it. There is no salt all over it in the summer. I reasonably expect to get at least 40 000km out of it assuming I maintain the drive train. For about $500 in, plus racks and fenders, and about $100 a year in maintenance, this is an inexpensive way to transport oneself around the city. $1500 for a decade of transportation. Not bad.
Update: I got rid of the seat it came with a long time ago. It did not fit me well. I had been using a WTB saddle off of my 2013 JTS cyclocross bike, but found that the design of the seat in conjuction with the seatpost wore out too many pants. This is not an issue with bike gear which does not rub there, but is an issue with street clothes. So, enter the Brooks B-17 Narrow saddle. Review and thoughts are here: Brooks B-17 Narrow: let's give them something to smug about.
For me, the advantage of carrying the gear I bring on a commute on the bike instead of my person is simple. I tend towards wearing layers and a knapsack (the worst) or a messenger bag (better) compress the layers and squeeze out the air space between my clothing and I overheat and get very sweaty. This is true even at -10 or -20. It is far worse in the summer months. So, gear goes on the bike. I would change my mind if my daily commute saw me in and out of several places in rapid succession. Then, removing the bags at each stop (to prevent theft) would rapidly become tedious. In such circumstances, a messenger bag makes more sense than panniers etc.
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| This is the unadorned back end of the bicycle. The rack design is such that carrying a cable lock is easy. I use Kryptonite cables and padlocks. I also have a U-Lock which gets attached to the top of the rack by a stretch cord. Pannier bags can be attached to this rack either using the top or the lower side rails. I prefer the lower ones as it drops the center of gravity of the bicycle a bit. The small inverted tool bag - attached to the struts of the rack by the same mechanism that would normally hold it to the underside of the seat - contains a multi-tool, inner tube, patch kit, and tire levers (2). It is always on the bike but is quick to remove via its quick release. It twists off. One nice thing about this rack is that it presents a fairly low profile for wind for a rack that is designed to hold so much weight. |
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| Not all is perfect with this rack though. The spot for hooking the panniers to (the rectangular hole in the tab in the middle of the picture here) does not bend out like most other racks which use a tab like this do. This is stupid. Pure and simple. Stupid. It makes it very hard to hold the pannier by its top handle and snag the bag's hook on the rack's tab and attach it in one smooth motion. Putting the panniers on is a pain in the rear end. It is not a deal breaker for me with this rack, but it is very annoying. Someday, when I am feeling brave, I will very carefully bend the aluminium tab out with a pair of vice grips and make life easier for myself. Or rather, easier for myself if I don't break it... |
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| These are the bags I use. I cannot say enough good things about them. They are dry bags with a roll to close internal closure and a big flap which goes over the top. The only design flaw is that the flap can be a bit of a sail at times and the excess strap can flap about. Newer versions of this bag have addressed this concern. That said, they are very very tough and are genuinely waterproof. I have ridden through hour long thunder storms with a bag full of paper and not one sheet got wet. They never leak in the winter. Salt washes off. The mounting hardware is replaceable. They hold a lot of stuff, and can take a bit of weight. This particular pair is about 10 years old and is going strong. I suspect I will get ten more years out of them. Even the mounting hardware is original. Good quality bags like this are a must for commuting. If what you need to take with you needs to be dry, these are a good bet and cost a lot less than some other bags (like Ortlieb ones - although the Ortliebs are easier to mount to the rack due to a different mounting mechanism). For shopping - groceries and the like - they are ok but do not carry enough. Shopping panniers would be better. I use a basket which attaches to the top of the rack for that mostly. |
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| Note the reflective patches on the panniers (and my attractive cardboard to park the bike on in the winter...) |
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| My other piece of luggage is a Arkel trunk bag. This is not a dry bag and has a hidden pull out rain cover which works fine. It is big enough for a M4/3 camera kit if you don't have too many lenses - pad the bag a bit!! - and has a divider in it. The zippers are water resistant. Velcro holds it to the top of the rack. Your rack needs to be fairly wide to avoid wobble with this bag. What I like about this combination is that it is easy to remove one or all of the bags individually and there is no interference between the mounting points of any of the bags. This is a major reason I bought this rack. |
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| Back view of the set up. |
So there you have it. One commuter bike. The only difference between the winter set up shown here and the summer one is that I swap out the tires and clean it. There is no salt all over it in the summer. I reasonably expect to get at least 40 000km out of it assuming I maintain the drive train. For about $500 in, plus racks and fenders, and about $100 a year in maintenance, this is an inexpensive way to transport oneself around the city. $1500 for a decade of transportation. Not bad.
Update: I got rid of the seat it came with a long time ago. It did not fit me well. I had been using a WTB saddle off of my 2013 JTS cyclocross bike, but found that the design of the seat in conjuction with the seatpost wore out too many pants. This is not an issue with bike gear which does not rub there, but is an issue with street clothes. So, enter the Brooks B-17 Narrow saddle. Review and thoughts are here: Brooks B-17 Narrow: let's give them something to smug about.
Friday, 20 December 2013
there are times...
There are times when being a cyclist with a budget can be tiring.
It starts with me looking at VeloNews to see what is up in the world of bike racing (something that I am still interested in despite all of the scandal to rock the sport of late). From there, I see adverts for nice bikes, read a review on the site about some pro's this or that, look at a pile of very well taken pictures of the top pros (men and women) doing their thing on their nice machines, and then, I end up in a vortex of online window shopping and wishful thinking.
I end up at the online stores of some of the high end Canadian bicycle retailers like La Bicicletta to drool over some bicycle componentry. I want a new seat post. The "Kona" brand one on my cross bike needs to go. Don't ask why. Just assume it needs to go. I want to lower the center of gravity on the bike and that is the best way to do it based on how the bike is now. I already have a hollow ti railed Specialized saddle on it, so that is already done. It is light and fits me like it was made for me. Cool beans. Carbon would be good for the seat post, but Zipp makes a nice aluminum one that is not too heavy. Looks cool too. Is more adjustable than what is on the bike right now. A lower center of gravity makes the bicycle more lively and handle better.
I also want a new wheel set. The Shimano RS10s on the bike now are ok. I get a nifty wiggle (I can see it flex side to side) when I fly over bumps mid turn. They don't come out of true. But that is disconcerting. They are also heavy. And rumour has it prone to spoke breaking not that I have had an issue with that yet. Knock mass out of the wheels, and the bike goes faster. It also climbs better. It is a very good place to reduce mass. Less rotation mass is a good thing.
And that leads to looking at different wheel sets. I would like to get a good set but don't want to go crazy on it because that gets kind of spendy. It would be easy to blow over $4000 on a set of wheels. Very easy.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
However, getting a nice but not crazy nice new wheel set in the next year actually makes sense. In about five years, I want to get a Cervelo R3 or the equivalent. Supposing Cervelo does then what they do now, the frame will be top notch, the components good, and the wheels kind of blah. So having good wheels already (something Cervelo supposes that people buying the R3 actually already have) makes sense. To me. Kind of. So Reynolds, Ambrosio, Mavic etc all get a visit from me. So does Zipp, but that is mostly so I can laugh. Spendy. Ouch.
Besides, nicer wheels will make the next few years both more fun and therefore more better... or something. And they would put off the urge to replace the bike further into the future since the bike would feel better to ride which is good to. Right? Guess not if you are Cervelo, but guess so if you are me and actually having to pay for it. I do like my Kona Jake the Snake 'cross bike, but it does lack in a few things (how they keep the cost down dontcha know).
Looking at this stuff leads me to look at stems, bars, and other Kona brand things on the bike which leads to more day dreaming and more mouse clicking and then a serious problem: Good bike stores stock good bicycles. And I like good bicycles. A lot. Italian stuff is what I really want. Names like Pinarello, Campagnolo, Gipiemme, Modolo and the like give me goosebumps. For real. In my heart of hearts, I want a Pinarello with Campagnolo record components. I really do.
Oop.
Remember that budget?
Le Sigh.
Thankfully, if I spin my desk chair in the living room around and away from my computer, there behind me is my bicycle. Stuck on a trainer. Sitting there looking at me.
And I like it. And it likes me.
And that is a good thing. It provides a nice reality cheque...
It starts with me looking at VeloNews to see what is up in the world of bike racing (something that I am still interested in despite all of the scandal to rock the sport of late). From there, I see adverts for nice bikes, read a review on the site about some pro's this or that, look at a pile of very well taken pictures of the top pros (men and women) doing their thing on their nice machines, and then, I end up in a vortex of online window shopping and wishful thinking.
I end up at the online stores of some of the high end Canadian bicycle retailers like La Bicicletta to drool over some bicycle componentry. I want a new seat post. The "Kona" brand one on my cross bike needs to go. Don't ask why. Just assume it needs to go. I want to lower the center of gravity on the bike and that is the best way to do it based on how the bike is now. I already have a hollow ti railed Specialized saddle on it, so that is already done. It is light and fits me like it was made for me. Cool beans. Carbon would be good for the seat post, but Zipp makes a nice aluminum one that is not too heavy. Looks cool too. Is more adjustable than what is on the bike right now. A lower center of gravity makes the bicycle more lively and handle better.
I also want a new wheel set. The Shimano RS10s on the bike now are ok. I get a nifty wiggle (I can see it flex side to side) when I fly over bumps mid turn. They don't come out of true. But that is disconcerting. They are also heavy. And rumour has it prone to spoke breaking not that I have had an issue with that yet. Knock mass out of the wheels, and the bike goes faster. It also climbs better. It is a very good place to reduce mass. Less rotation mass is a good thing.
And that leads to looking at different wheel sets. I would like to get a good set but don't want to go crazy on it because that gets kind of spendy. It would be easy to blow over $4000 on a set of wheels. Very easy.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
However, getting a nice but not crazy nice new wheel set in the next year actually makes sense. In about five years, I want to get a Cervelo R3 or the equivalent. Supposing Cervelo does then what they do now, the frame will be top notch, the components good, and the wheels kind of blah. So having good wheels already (something Cervelo supposes that people buying the R3 actually already have) makes sense. To me. Kind of. So Reynolds, Ambrosio, Mavic etc all get a visit from me. So does Zipp, but that is mostly so I can laugh. Spendy. Ouch.
Besides, nicer wheels will make the next few years both more fun and therefore more better... or something. And they would put off the urge to replace the bike further into the future since the bike would feel better to ride which is good to. Right? Guess not if you are Cervelo, but guess so if you are me and actually having to pay for it. I do like my Kona Jake the Snake 'cross bike, but it does lack in a few things (how they keep the cost down dontcha know).
Looking at this stuff leads me to look at stems, bars, and other Kona brand things on the bike which leads to more day dreaming and more mouse clicking and then a serious problem: Good bike stores stock good bicycles. And I like good bicycles. A lot. Italian stuff is what I really want. Names like Pinarello, Campagnolo, Gipiemme, Modolo and the like give me goosebumps. For real. In my heart of hearts, I want a Pinarello with Campagnolo record components. I really do.
Oop.
Remember that budget?
Le Sigh.
Thankfully, if I spin my desk chair in the living room around and away from my computer, there behind me is my bicycle. Stuck on a trainer. Sitting there looking at me.
And I like it. And it likes me.
And that is a good thing. It provides a nice reality cheque...
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Saturday, 30 March 2013
rolling hills
Thankfully, the weather is at last cooperating around here.
With temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, a ride was in order.
I did not go too far - 58.99km - but really enjoyed the outing. My route took me over a series of rolling hills which I have not seen for the bicycle since sometime last October. In total, I managed 219m of elevation gain, not bad for this part of Ontario. We lack real hills around here.
I was reminded that commuting on a heavily overloaded bike is not a replacement for road riding. Yes, I have been very active this year so far - evidenced by the 1653km I have logged on the bikes after today's efforts. But that riding has been overwhelmingly slow and choppy, and has done nothing to build endurance. Today's ride, on the other hand, was a spin fest, with lots of climbing - km 5 to km 19 was mostly uphill with some minor descending - over mixed surfaces which included glass smooth pavement, broken up potholed roads, and gravel.
It was a great way to break in the new cyclocross bike - my bright orange 2013 Kona Jake the Snake.
So far, I am absolutely loving that bike. It is lighter than the old one, and much faster. The cockpit of the bike is very strange to me compared to what I am used to. The stem is shorter - all of my bikes have longer stems which were popular about a decade ago - giving me a seemingly cramped riding position. In actual fact, the slightly more compact riding position, matched to shallower road bars compared to the old bike, makes it significantly easier for me to get into the drops and produces much more assured steering than the old bike had. In part, this has to do with the very stiff (yet comfortable) carbon fiber fork vs the old bike's steel mountain bike based fork, and the tapered head tube. I point the bike where I want it to go, and it goes there with no drama, no matter how smashed up the road surface is.
The tires that come on the bike are not that great for asphalt, but are marvelous on gravel, and will be a hoot later on when things dry down a bit after the spring run off. For low pressure cyclocross knobbies, they roll along quite nicely and contribute to a fairly cushy ride on broken up surfaces. Speed is sacrificed though. I still managed a reasonable average speed for me in March. If I could afford a second wheel set, I would get one with slicks mounted for road use, and save these for trails and gravel road riding. The tires are Maxxis Mud Wrestlers.
Back to the riding though.
My legs and lungs need to be reforged as a cyclist's legs and lungs. I found myself gasping a few times when I shouldn't have, and honestly considered one hill on gravel - an elevation jump of 33m over 310m - to have been a mistake being as it was near to the end of the ride.
And yet, I felt refreshed. It was wonderful.
I estimate that in another four or five rides, things should be back to normal and start to look up for the rest of the season.
Where is that pesky hammer and anvil...
With temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, a ride was in order.
I did not go too far - 58.99km - but really enjoyed the outing. My route took me over a series of rolling hills which I have not seen for the bicycle since sometime last October. In total, I managed 219m of elevation gain, not bad for this part of Ontario. We lack real hills around here.
I was reminded that commuting on a heavily overloaded bike is not a replacement for road riding. Yes, I have been very active this year so far - evidenced by the 1653km I have logged on the bikes after today's efforts. But that riding has been overwhelmingly slow and choppy, and has done nothing to build endurance. Today's ride, on the other hand, was a spin fest, with lots of climbing - km 5 to km 19 was mostly uphill with some minor descending - over mixed surfaces which included glass smooth pavement, broken up potholed roads, and gravel.
It was a great way to break in the new cyclocross bike - my bright orange 2013 Kona Jake the Snake.
So far, I am absolutely loving that bike. It is lighter than the old one, and much faster. The cockpit of the bike is very strange to me compared to what I am used to. The stem is shorter - all of my bikes have longer stems which were popular about a decade ago - giving me a seemingly cramped riding position. In actual fact, the slightly more compact riding position, matched to shallower road bars compared to the old bike, makes it significantly easier for me to get into the drops and produces much more assured steering than the old bike had. In part, this has to do with the very stiff (yet comfortable) carbon fiber fork vs the old bike's steel mountain bike based fork, and the tapered head tube. I point the bike where I want it to go, and it goes there with no drama, no matter how smashed up the road surface is.
The tires that come on the bike are not that great for asphalt, but are marvelous on gravel, and will be a hoot later on when things dry down a bit after the spring run off. For low pressure cyclocross knobbies, they roll along quite nicely and contribute to a fairly cushy ride on broken up surfaces. Speed is sacrificed though. I still managed a reasonable average speed for me in March. If I could afford a second wheel set, I would get one with slicks mounted for road use, and save these for trails and gravel road riding. The tires are Maxxis Mud Wrestlers.
Back to the riding though.
My legs and lungs need to be reforged as a cyclist's legs and lungs. I found myself gasping a few times when I shouldn't have, and honestly considered one hill on gravel - an elevation jump of 33m over 310m - to have been a mistake being as it was near to the end of the ride.
And yet, I felt refreshed. It was wonderful.
I estimate that in another four or five rides, things should be back to normal and start to look up for the rest of the season.
Where is that pesky hammer and anvil...
Sunday, 24 March 2013
a busy few days
It has been a busy few days.
On the surface, not much has been going on. I have gotten up, gone to work, returned home, worked some more, and slept. Rinse, lather, repeat all week long.
But a few things came to an end this week, ushering in as they did some new beginnings. Firstly, the Friday I have been waiting for finally arrived.
I was finally able, after long last and much saving, to pick up my 2013 Kona Jake the Snake cyclocross bike. This thing looks to be a beauty, and I am really very much looking forward to riding it. Lots of pictures of it and a mini review will come later when I can get to it. It is still very salty outside - left overs from winter - and I refuse to ride it outdoors until the salt is washed away.
The pick up of the new wheels happened on Friday.
Saturday, I had a pile of errands to run, a birthday party for my nephew to go to, a birthday party to drop my daughter off at for her friend, and a visit with a friend of mine. We went out walking for a bit around Uptown Waterloo and I shot a couple of pictures.
Besides a very good coffee and some light refreshment, one of the things that was accomplished was that my friend picked up his new bike.
There is a lot of that going around it would seem.
He needed a new commuter, and settled on a pretty sweet basic Brodie to help him cart his carcass around the city. Nice bike. Good colour. And a very happy friend. I don't have a picture of it yet, but that is, I assure you, coming. You see, this friend of mine wants to do more biking, and wants to use the new wheels as a car and we can both foresee our collective families getting together for many rail trail rides this spring and summer. Should be good fun.
Today? Busy as well. More work, a bit of play, and some furniture moving.
I almost look forward to getting back to work tomorrow so things can settle down a bit.
On the surface, not much has been going on. I have gotten up, gone to work, returned home, worked some more, and slept. Rinse, lather, repeat all week long.
But a few things came to an end this week, ushering in as they did some new beginnings. Firstly, the Friday I have been waiting for finally arrived.
 |
| the new bike leaning against one of my daughter's many book cases |
The pick up of the new wheels happened on Friday.
Saturday, I had a pile of errands to run, a birthday party for my nephew to go to, a birthday party to drop my daughter off at for her friend, and a visit with a friend of mine. We went out walking for a bit around Uptown Waterloo and I shot a couple of pictures.
 |
| sign outside a local restaurant |
 |
| inside a local bike shop |
There is a lot of that going around it would seem.
He needed a new commuter, and settled on a pretty sweet basic Brodie to help him cart his carcass around the city. Nice bike. Good colour. And a very happy friend. I don't have a picture of it yet, but that is, I assure you, coming. You see, this friend of mine wants to do more biking, and wants to use the new wheels as a car and we can both foresee our collective families getting together for many rail trail rides this spring and summer. Should be good fun.
Today? Busy as well. More work, a bit of play, and some furniture moving.
I almost look forward to getting back to work tomorrow so things can settle down a bit.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
2013 Kona Jake the Snake
 |
| Photo Credit: konaworld.com |
Thankfully, my LBS likes me and is willing to hold it for me.
The bike is lighter, stiffer, and on the surface at least much nicer than my current Jake the Snake (a 2005) model which is wearing out and getting tired.
I am looking forward to spring now more than I was before if that is at all possible.
After I ride it a bit, I will indicate what I really like about it, and what I think might need work.
In the mean time, it is ORANGE!!! *big grin*
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
adobe lightroom 4.3
I have been a fan of Lightroom for a number of years now and consider it to be if not the best then certainly one of the best programs for sorting and editing photographs.
Lightroom 4 is something special. I has breathed new life into my old camera by giving me almost a stop more in both the lights and darks. The difference in processing is quite something. I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about this here - much has been written elsewhere and all I would be doing at this point is repeating what should be obvious to anyone who is following the subject even remotely.
However, LR4.3 is pretty nifty, and that is worth mentioning. I am not 100% sure what fixes they did with the software, but I have noticed a big improvement in the tones I am seeing from my pictures.
Here is a shot from the Fuji X10 (processed from a DNG made from the Fuji Raw Format.)
Here are a couple of shots from my Olympus E-3 and 50-200mm swd lens (processed from DNG files made from Olympus Raw Format.)
Time for a direct comparison I think.
Here is an older photograph, processed with an older version of Lightroom. I believe it was Lighroom 2 seeing as it was taken in the fall of 2009 and I did not ever have Lightroom 1. Both pictures were denoised slightly using Nik Define 2.0
Here is a more challenging example of the differences between the older versions of Lightroom and LR4.3.
So, is the jump to LR4 worth it if you are sitting on the fence?
In a word, yes.
Lightroom 4 is something special. I has breathed new life into my old camera by giving me almost a stop more in both the lights and darks. The difference in processing is quite something. I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about this here - much has been written elsewhere and all I would be doing at this point is repeating what should be obvious to anyone who is following the subject even remotely.
However, LR4.3 is pretty nifty, and that is worth mentioning. I am not 100% sure what fixes they did with the software, but I have noticed a big improvement in the tones I am seeing from my pictures.
Here is a shot from the Fuji X10 (processed from a DNG made from the Fuji Raw Format.)
 | |
| This picture is nothing special really as a picture. I used the onboard flash as a fill flash and just took it. There was no "purpose" to the photograph beyond seeing how fast the new memory card zipped along. What I noticed is that after minimal processing, none of the blacks are blocked up, and none of the highlights are blown. The colour and tone look better than what I was getting before, even with earlier versions of LR4 (never mind 3 or 2). |
Here are a couple of shots from my Olympus E-3 and 50-200mm swd lens (processed from DNG files made from Olympus Raw Format.)
 |
| Just a shot because I was bored while waiting for a friend to finish his photograph. This is my Golf. What is worthy of note is that the in camera jpeg preview showed the sky blown out totally since the camera metered off of the shadowed side of my black car. Once in LR4.3, the sky appeared with no processing. After minimal processing, detail came out in the sky and in the shadows under the car. The only blocked blacks are a little bit in the holes in the rims near the brakes and a tiny bit in the rear wheel well. None of the highlights were blown. Again, the tones are very progressive to my way of looking at it. |
 |
| To me, this one is just delicious. Yes, I got the exposure right, but the tones LR4.3 were able to bring out strike me as better than what I was getting before. |
Time for a direct comparison I think.
Here is an older photograph, processed with an older version of Lightroom. I believe it was Lighroom 2 seeing as it was taken in the fall of 2009 and I did not ever have Lightroom 1. Both pictures were denoised slightly using Nik Define 2.0
 |
| Processed in LR2 - note, the lights picture right are totally blown out. The shadows are also a bit too deep. |
 |
| Processed in LR4.3 - note, nothing is clipped or blocked up and the shadows could withstand more lightening without degrading the picture, particularly around the wing. Look at the picture large (click on it) to see what I mean. As an aside, this picture is noisier than the above one, but I did nothing to reduce it except for a slight bump in LR4 unlike with the original where I used Nik Define 2 since it holds up well when viewed at a normal distance. |
Here is a more challenging example of the differences between the older versions of Lightroom and LR4.3.
 |
| Processed in LR3. The blacks in the original Raw were completely blocked up on the island, stump, and lower right hand corner. Processing to the point seen here largely fixed that up. |
 |
| This is the exact same file processed in LR4.3. The blocking is gone, and so much more appeared - both detail and colour - than could be attained with LR3. |
In a word, yes.
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