Two Wheel Blogs

This is not about me being sick...although it could be. I have felt like a cave man lately (living in my cave-like dark bedroom while being sick). This is more about a state of mind.
Since I have been sick lately, and off the bike, I have engaged in oral bicycling a lot lately....that is talking to others about cycling in attempt to supplant my lust to ride for real. Unfortunately, many online discussions so rapidly downward spiral into animosity, or name-calling.

This time was not too different....I am a caveman! Clearly, I should come out of the stone ages, and install oil damped springs, hydraulic actuated brakes, and a range of gears so that my cadence never has to stray beyond the range of 85 to 90 RPM!

Over the years I have had changing arguments for why I ride what I ride. I will spare you the details, but basically I was able to hold pace with my friends who also rode WTF they wanted (be they cavemen, or geared, sprung, hydraulic types)...and that was good enough for me.

Having a few friends has afforded me some very nice privileges over the years. I have been able to test ride about every form of front suspension available, and many rear suspension types. I have experienced every type of shifting, and nearly every hydraulic brake on the market. It is really cool to be able to play with other people's toys.

So, why am I a caveman? Why do I ride rigid, single speed, and mechanical brakes?

I could just say, "because that is what I like", but that is a boring answer. I guess I will address each one separately:

Rigid...no need to say "fully" rigid, you are either rigid, or you are not. I like rigid for a few reasons.

First, rigid is what I rode when I started 30 years ago, and I never once thought suspension was needed for the jumps I was doing back then (BTW the jumps I was pulling were pretty big).

Second, I have never ridden suspension and thought, "this is GREAT". To-the-contrary, I always felt like I was going slower due to the lack of feedback I got from the terrain. Suspension may be faster, but it FEELS slower and I like to ride for the feeling (lower lap times are cool, but that is one small dimension of my riding experience).

Finally, I really dislike the behavior of a suspension fork in very technical situations, and jumping. Riding through rock gardens is like like a surgical procedure for me and you will not see too many doctors reaching for scalpels with springs on them...(that analogy makes sense to me). Suspension is troubling for me when it loads and rebounds slowly as I launch (either off the lip of a jump, or when trying to hop up a technical section). Rigid allows me to load the bike with no energy loss, and launch cleanly with no funny fork thud (as it tops out to full extension) mid flight.

Single speed allows me to ride a lighter bike that has a drivetrain that runs clean (in spite of haphazard maintenance) and smooth (due to a perfectly aligned chain/cog interface). I have no chain slapping the chainstay over bumps and jumps. I never get suffer from lazy shifting (you know, whey you coast down a hill for a while and enjoy the surroundings, then decide to start pedaling again and realize you are in the wrong gear?) With single speed, I am always in the wrong gear....and it is great because every time I put my foot down, I know exactly what to expect...it is hard to verbalize...those that have ridden SS for a few rides probably know what I am getting at.

Mechanical brakes just plain work for me. There is a lot of press regarding the latest hydraulic brakes which are clearly lighter than my mechanical brakes. My most basic reason for sticking with my mechanical brakes is simply, "I have never tried anything that works better".

I have tried some "nice" brakes on other people's bikes, and they work really well....but not better. I have learned how to do the maintenance on my brakes, and I find it to be simple. I have also learned to "tune" my brakes to make them work really well. There is something really satisfying about making something work far better than many people expect that it could...it is sort of like this movie, if you have not seen it, you should!

The final reason I like my mechanical brakes deals with modulation, contact, and reach. Many hydraulic supporters brag on the modulation of their brakes, while many hydraulic brake systems do have nice modulation, few have much range for adjustment of modulation....this is where my brakes win. I can ride trails for an hour or so, then decide I want to stop at a rock face and do some trials riding. At this point, I make a few quick adjustments and voila, modulation is gone, reach is still perfect and contact point is where I want it (these things are good for trials riding where you want your brakes to predictably LOCK or NOT with nothing in between).

Thanks for reading my litany on WTF I choose to ride. Being sick sucks, get out and ride and keep your immune system in shape!