Post up what you pedal (5 Viewers)

[RiverCityDave]

Do I get an award for the most boring bike in this thread? Kona Dr. Dew, chromoly steel frame and fork, hydraulic disks, GRX 170mm crankset with 40t Wolftooth ring, 10-51t rear cassette w/ Deore 12-spd derailleur. Came with WTB i23 wheels and I went tubeless, running a Specialized Pathfinder Pro up front and WTB Venture in the rear, both 650bx47mm.

I also went with a Whisky carbon seatpost and some Ergon saddle, added the rear Axiom rack (and removed the rear fender), RaceFace Chester pedals. Getting a Redshift Shockstop stem next week, 110mm +/- 6* (love this, used my old 80mm Redshift stem but it's too short).

Like Cruisers, this thing's a pig at 29lb, but it rides beautifully and handles pavement, dirt, gravel, mild singletrack, shopping trips quite well. After rides of 20-25miles, I have zero discomfort - which makes me want to ride more!
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Man, I love Konas.

For many years, my main gravel (and singletrack, for that matter) rides have been various iterations of Jakes.

Right now, I'm finishing a 2018 Super Jake build to replace my previous 2015 Major Jake.

I reset the Major Jake as a knock-around and errand bike with flat pedals and bars. I know that sounds silly, but I do silly things.

 

[coleAK]

Well after 11 years on my Kona process: 3 drivetrains, 2 sets of wheels, 3 forks, 2 shocks, 3 sets of pivot bearings, 8-9sets of tires, and 8-10 chains I got a new daily driver MTB. Specialized stumpy EVO expert, half off this weekend at my LBS. I put flat pedals on the Kona and will still use it as a camping bike and dirt jumper, possibly lift served park as well. Rode the EVO the last 2 days and man it fast (on the flat and up that is) compared to the Kona.

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So I’m 3 months in with AXS and sort of hate it. I don’t see the point of E-shifting on a 1x mtb, it has no “feel” I don’t want my shifter to feel like a CPU mouse, shifts slower than a good mechanical, is unnecessarily complex (as in batteries).

I road my Kona yesterday that has X01 cable, rode my daughters Salsa rustler ~0.5 miles that has Srawomano (X01cassette+ Chain+ wolf tooth chain ring with XT shift leaver+derailleur) both are way better then the AXS. I have 3 friends that are pro riders that have gone from transmission back to mechanical.

The only points I see in e-shifting are: higher price (for the manufacturer), easy adjustment (but let’s be honest cable shifting once you know what you are doing requires little to no time and effort), and I see an advantage on a 2x road bike for synchronization of the F/r derailleurs or on a TT/tri bike for multiple shifter locations.

Anyone who let going back to cables from e?

 

[RiverCityDave]

So I’m 3 months in with AXS and sort of hate it. I don’t see the point of E-shifting on a 1x mtb, it has no “feel” I don’t want my shifter to feel like a CPU mouse, shifts slower than a good mechanical, is unnecessarily complex (as in batteries).

I road my Kona yesterday that has X01 cable, rode my daughters Salsa rustler ~0.5 miles that has Srawomano (X01cassette+ Chain+ wolf tooth chain ring with XT shift leaver+derailleur) both are way better then the AXS. I have 3 friends that are pro riders that have gone from transmission back to mechanical.

The only points I see in e-shifting are: higher price (for the manufacturer), easy adjustment (but let’s be honest cable shifting once you know what you are doing requires little to no time and effort), and I see an advantage on a 2x road bike for synchronization of the F/r derailleurs or on a TT/tri bike for multiple shifter locations.

Anyone who let going back to cables from e?

I built that exact Kona above with FORCE AXS XPLOR first, and I hated it. Some of it has to do with the fact that I've ridden Campy for so long that I can't mentally make the shifting switch in my head under duress, but it just felt dead. Push buttons. I wanted to like it really badly. I love the idea. But in the end, I put it on my son's bike, and I ordered an Ekar GT group for mine, which so far is exactly what I wanted.

Chain's getting waxed and some new bar tape, so she's kind of naked here. Also, my levers aren't generally that wonky—that's just because the tape is off.

 

[Moparsncruisers]

So I’m 3 months in with AXS and sort of hate it. I don’t see the point of E-shifting on a 1x mtb, it has no “feel” I don’t want my shifter to feel like a CPU mouse, shifts slower than a good mechanical, is unnecessarily complex (as in batteries).

I road my Kona yesterday that has X01 cable, rode my daughters Salsa rustler ~0.5 miles that has Srawomano (X01cassette+ Chain+ wolf tooth chain ring with XT shift leaver+derailleur) both are way better then the AXS. I have 3 friends that are pro riders that have gone from transmission back to mechanical.

The only points I see in e-shifting are: higher price (for the manufacturer), easy adjustment (but let’s be honest cable shifting once you know what you are doing requires little to no time and effort), and I see an advantage on a 2x road bike for synchronization of the F/r derailleurs or on a TT/tri bike for multiple shifter locations.

Anyone who let going back to cables from e?

I never left mechanical! And I have no intention to at all....5 MTB's in my house, all hydraulic disc brakes and 1x mechanical drivetrains...all is good!

 

[coleAK]

I never left mechanical! And I have no intention to at all....5 MTB's in my house, all hydraulic disc brakes and 1x mechanical drivetrains...all is good!

The EVO came with AXS, otherwise I would have never switched. Many new bikes (including the new stumpy) are coming without rear derailleur routing holes…

 

[Moparsncruisers]

The EVO came with AXS, otherwise I would have never switched. Many new bikes (including the new stumpy) are coming without rear derailleur routing holes…

Yeah it's nuts, I'm perfectly fine with external cable routing!

 

[coleAK]

Yeah it's nuts, I'm perfectly fine with external cable routing!

I hate internal cable routing. I did a brake swap from my gen 1 Kona process to my daughter’s Salsa rustler. It took <10min to uninstall the brakes from the Kona and ~2 hours to remove the brakes and reinstall on the salsa. New dropper on the process, 15 min. New dropper on my sons trance X, >2 hrs.

 

[Moparsncruisers]

I hate internal cable routing. I did a brake swap from my gen 1 Kona process to my daughter’s Salsa rustler. It took <10min to uninstall the brakes from the Kona and ~2 hours to remove the brakes and reinstall on the salsa. New dropper on the process, 15 min. New dropper on my sons trance X, >2 hrs.

Yeah, exactly! Bike looks clean but it can be a giant pain in the ass!

 

[jembourbe]

So I’m 3 months in with AXS and sort of hate it. I don’t see the point of E-shifting on a 1x mtb, it has no “feel” I don’t want my shifter to feel like a CPU mouse, shifts slower than a good mechanical, is unnecessarily complex (as in batteries).

I road my Kona yesterday that has X01 cable, rode my daughters Salsa rustler ~0.5 miles that has Srawomano (X01cassette+ Chain+ wolf tooth chain ring with XT shift leaver+derailleur) both are way better then the AXS. I have 3 friends that are pro riders that have gone from transmission back to mechanical.

The only points I see in e-shifting are: higher price (for the manufacturer), easy adjustment (but let’s be honest cable shifting once you know what you are doing requires little to no time and effort), and I see an advantage on a 2x road bike for synchronization of the F/r derailleurs or on a TT/tri bike for multiple shifter locations.

Anyone who let going back to cables from e?

I've built a couple bikes since putting XT Di2 on my 1X mtb. Both newer bikes (also 1Xs) have cable shift.

The Di2 shifts are super-fast and crisp, and I've never missed a shift. I only have to charge the battery every 1000 or so miles. I've never had to adjust the shifting ... for an entire decade.

The cable shift bikes (one is XT, the other is X01) are perfectly fine. But I have to adjust every 200-300 miles. I replace cables every year. And I've missed a shift or two.

No experience with SRAM e-stuff, but I've seen people with dead batteries. It's never pretty lol. I love my Di2 XT, but overall from a cost/performance viewpoint, I'm not planning to put electric on anything again. At least not until I get an electric cargo bike with a big ass box in front to haul my weed around in when I retire

 

[Specialeyes]

So I’m 3 months in with AXS and sort of hate it. I don’t see the point of E-shifting on a 1x mtb, it has no “feel” I don’t want my shifter to feel like a CPU mouse, shifts slower than a good mechanical, is unnecessarily complex (as in batteries).

I road my Kona yesterday that has X01 cable, rode my daughters Salsa rustler ~0.5 miles that has Srawomano (X01cassette+ Chain+ wolf tooth chain ring with XT shift leaver+derailleur) both are way better then the AXS. I have 3 friends that are pro riders that have gone from transmission back to mechanical.

The only points I see in e-shifting are: higher price (for the manufacturer), easy adjustment (but let’s be honest cable shifting once you know what you are doing requires little to no time and effort), and I see an advantage on a 2x road bike for synchronization of the F/r derailleurs or on a TT/tri bike for multiple shifter locations.

Anyone who let going back to cables from e?

I have SRAM transmission on my Mach4 and Shimano Dura Ace on my Tarmac. The only thing that I like about transmission is shifting under load but that rarely happens, it’s just nice to have if I happen to attack a climb in the wrong gear. To that point I have plans for adding a more trail/downhill oriented MTB to the quiver next year and that bike will most likely be mechanical, mainly due to cost savings and convenience (not having to charge batteries).

Now on the road side of things I don’t think I could ever go back to a mechanical group. Electronic shifting is just so fast and crisp, especially if you’re in the Shimano/Di2 camp. I will say there is a point of diminishing returns here. I am running the top tier Dura Ace and my next build would most likely be Ultegra being that you get like 95% of the performance at half the cost. As for SRAM on the road? No, I’d rather not although I have no experience with the latest versions of Force/Red E-Tap. The previous gen stuff was very prone to chain drops, I hated the chunky shifters, short battery life, etc.

 

[OGBeno]

Finally got my SS Esker Japhy completed. Feeling good with geometry and specifications at this point. Most initial rides have me tinkering with shît but for the most part it’s a done deal.

First trip in two weeks to SSUSA in Salida and I’ll stop by Oveja Negra Bike bags and get a frame bag while I’m there and support a local business. They make very nice bike bags, both OTS and custom.

Specs:

-Esker Japhy frame (S2/Medium) steel
-Astral Wheels Serpentines Alloy
-Astral Hubs (made by White Industries) FR/RR
-SRAM GX Rival crank set (170mm)
-SRAM Dub BSA 73mm threaded bottombracket
-Hunter Cycles Smooth Move Low Rise bars
-OORY grips
-SRAM G2 RSC 4-piston brake set
-32-18 ratio currently but have 16/18/20/21 rear cogs for purpose riding
-RockShock SID Ultimate fork 130mm
-Yoshimura pedals
-IRC Tanken 29x2.6 tires (though removing those this week and putting on 2.3 for some faster rolling).
-PNW Loam Dropper post
-WTB saddle
-ENVE stem
-Cane Creek headset

Goal was for a simple yet robust and durable bike that could handle single track riding and be fun and quick and compliant; But still can be a great back country touring bike in the single speed flavor. Something that can easily do the Tour Divide/CT/AZT and lots of desert riding. And can be easily converted to geared bike as needed.

Wanted it to be all mechanical so everything is easy to service and wanted components that can jive with anything one can usually find in any bike shop globally.

And simple. That was key. And really plain looking— black/silver, no stickers, slight color accents that accentuate its simplicity.

I think I succeeded with *a lot* of help from industry folks who hooked me up nicely.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Finally got my SS Esker Japhy completed. Feeling good with geometry and specifications at this point. Most initial rides have me tinkering with shît but for the most part it’s a done deal.

First trip in two weeks to SSUSA in Salida and I’ll stop by Oveja Negra Bike bags and get a frame bag while I’m there and support a local business. They make very nice bike bags, both OTS and custom.

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Specs:

-Esker Japhy frame (S2/Medium) steel
-Astral Wheels Serpentines Alloy
-Astral Hubs (made by White Industries) FR/RR
-SRAM GX Rival crank set (170mm)
-SRAM Dub BSA 73mm threaded bottombracket
-Hunter Cycles Smooth Move Low Rise bars
-OORY grips
-SRAM G2 RSC 4-piston brake set
-32-18 ratio currently but have 16/18/20/21 rear cogs for purpose riding
-RockShock SID Ultimate fork 130mm
-Yoshimura pedals
-IRC Tanken 29x2.6 tires (though removing those this week and putting on 2.3 for some faster rolling).
-PNW Loam Dropper post
-WTB saddle
-ENVE stem
-Cane Creek headset

Goal was for a simple yet robust and durable bike that could handle single track riding and be fun and quick and compliant; But still can be a great back country touring bike in the single speed flavor. Something that can easily do the Tour Divide/CT/AZT and lots of desert riding. And can be easily converted to geared bike as needed.

Wanted it to be all mechanical so everything is easy to service and wanted components that can jive with anything one can usually find in any bike shop globally.

And simple. That was key. And really plain looking— black/silver, no stickers, slight color accents that accentuate its simplicity.

I think I succeeded with *a lot* of help from industry folks who hooked me up nicely.

Sick whip. That thing got a 13BT in it?

Kidding. I like that this is single speed and mechanical. Capable, but you can still get on and just go.

 

[OGBeno]

Good one! It’s got a 1HZ.

 

[jembourbe]

Finally got my SS Esker Japhy completed. Feeling good with geometry and specifications at this point. Most initial rides have me tinkering with shît but for the most part it’s a done deal.

First trip in two weeks to SSUSA in Salida and I’ll stop by Oveja Negra Bike bags and get a frame bag while I’m there and support a local business. They make very nice bike bags, both OTS and custom.

View attachment 3737262

View attachment 3737263


View attachment 3737265


View attachment 3737266


View attachment 3737271

View attachment 3737264

Specs:

-Esker Japhy frame (S2/Medium) steel
-Astral Wheels Serpentines Alloy
-Astral Hubs (made by White Industries) FR/RR
-SRAM GX Rival crank set (170mm)
-SRAM Dub BSA 73mm threaded bottombracket
-Hunter Cycles Smooth Move Low Rise bars
-OORY grips
-SRAM G2 RSC 4-piston brake set
-32-18 ratio currently but have 16/18/20/21 rear cogs for purpose riding
-RockShock SID Ultimate fork 130mm
-Yoshimura pedals
-IRC Tanken 29x2.6 tires (though removing those this week and putting on 2.3 for some faster rolling).
-PNW Loam Dropper post
-WTB saddle
-ENVE stem
-Cane Creek headset

Goal was for a simple yet robust and durable bike that could handle single track riding and be fun and quick and compliant; But still can be a great back country touring bike in the single speed flavor. Something that can easily do the Tour Divide/CT/AZT and lots of desert riding. And can be easily converted to geared bike as needed.

Wanted it to be all mechanical so everything is easy to service and wanted components that can jive with anything one can usually find in any bike shop globally.

And simple. That was key. And really plain looking— black/silver, no stickers, slight color accents that accentuate its simplicity.

I think I succeeded with *a lot* of help from industry folks who hooked me up nicely.

Wicked ride Beno. I see open options without compromises.

Are you considering a Colorado Trail run? If so I'm envious (I can only dream about having all to myself the 2.5 weeks I'd want for an enjoyable end-to-end run) while at the same time nauseated thinking about doing it on SS. Call me a poozie, but that's hard shiit

 

[OGBeno]

Wicked ride Beno. I see open options without compromises.

Are you considering a Colorado Trail run? If so I'm envious (I can only dream about having all to myself the 2.5 weeks I'd want for an enjoyable end-to-end run) while at the same time nauseated thinking about doing it on SS. Call me a poozie, but that's hard shiit

Not the CT currently. I am more interested in doing the Arizona Trail on this bike. Probably in 2 years or so I am hoping to feel ready with my body/mind to pull it off.

It’s 800 miles with a Grand Canyon disassembly bike and hike across for 22 miles with bike on back.

I like Colorado, but I hate rain and hail and thunderstorms at 12K ft.

I’m a desert lizard.

 

[jembourbe]

...

It’s 800 miles with a Grand Canyon disassembly bike and hike across for 22 miles with bike on back.

...

Including a mile of vert after surviving an even more painful mile of de-vert with your bike and all your gear on your back. Ouch

 

[OGBeno]

Including a mile of vert after surviving an even more painful mile of de-vert with your bike and all your gear on your back. Ouch

Yeah, it's legit. I'm currently section hiking the Arizona Trail and have the last 275 miles or so to go which I am hoping to knock out this fall and next spring. At that point I will have a good idea of what the trail will be like on a bike. (of course, staying out of wilderness areas). Either way, it's a dooozie. Ergo, why I am waiting a while to develop both my body and bike skills to be able to pull it off.

 

[OGBeno]

Did a thing.

$100 SS townie.

 

[coleAK]

Did a thing.

$100 SS townie.

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Nice I wish I kept my made in USA cad2 to do the same thing!

 

[gilamonster]

I know it isn't every bodies thing. I've been wanting another dual sport bike in my life. But, don't have time for a to many hobbies. So I thought I'd give an ebike a try. Wow-all I can say is wow. Tons of fun! Anyone who thinks it's just a bike on auto is crazy. I know i didn't get the same aerobic workout as i would on a normal bike. But, I was truely beat after this ride. And looking at my heart rate monitor, I was still hitting some high numbers out there.