Anyone following the MASH guys riding fixed in the Tour Of California?
02-19-09, 10:17 PM
#26
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Yeah, I think it's just ridiculous. Why not just do the stages on a roadie? With the gear changes on the climbs and descents it almost becomes less about the ride; and more about the gimmick of doing the stages on a FG bike. I'd rather spend my time enjoying the ride than switching gearing on the side of the road.
02-19-09, 10:35 PM
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my guess it that they are going really close to the end of the track ends all on the 17 tooth cogs and all the way at the front for the 21 or what ever it is.
02-19-09, 10:44 PM
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If they were just going to quietly go out and do this on their own, it would be stupid not to use a road bike. If they're going to make a big deal about it and tell all their fans that "hey dude, MASH is going to try riding the TOC course" they're pretty much stuck riding fixed gear bikes.
It would be like if one of the Ramones came out with a rap album. Wait... horrible example.
02-19-09, 11:23 PM
#30
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A couple years ago I went on a semi-fast tour (fixed) of the Coastal Mountains in Oregon for about 250 miles over 5 days and it was extremely difficult. This, by comparison, seems beyond my capacity. Cheers to these crazy mofos.
02-19-09, 11:53 PM
#31
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You can watch the ToC online @ https://tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
02-20-09, 12:27 AM
#32
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Did they? I'm just going off what info is in this thread, very little info it is.......
To be honest, either these stages of ToC are insane hard, or these guys are really really really, not in great shape. It took them how long to go 70 miles? They only accounted for like an hour 20 spend waiting, they were really on the bike the rest of the time?
I am being led to believe that these guys should have put way more effort in their training to actually finish stages, but I guess that'd go against their "cool".....
To be honest, either these stages of ToC are insane hard, or these guys are really really really, not in great shape. It took them how long to go 70 miles? They only accounted for like an hour 20 spend waiting, they were really on the bike the rest of the time?
I am being led to believe that these guys should have put way more effort in their training to actually finish stages, but I guess that'd go against their "cool".....
Sunday’s journey began in earnest. We set out from Davis in a steady rain, arriving roughly 100 miles and seven hours later in Santa Rosa in similar conditions. The pros left 2.5 hours after we did and finished about the same time. Rock Racing’s Francisco Mancebo was incredible today; he rode solo off the front almost the entire race, then outfoxed two riders with much fresher legs who caught him within a couple miles of the finish.
02-20-09, 09:08 AM
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You know I think's it pretty cool what they are trying to accomplish, but in reality it is ridiculous. Like someone mentioned before switching cogs 6 to 8 times a day, come on really. Time to hop on a roadie now.
02-20-09, 09:50 AM
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I think they each have a flip-flop, yes, but one side for higher gearing, the other side for lower, fixed/fixed, which still means that they are switching cogs a lot, when they stop and flip the wheel around, then tighten it back up.
02-20-09, 11:46 AM
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I have been watching the tour pretty closely. Those circuits are gnarly, even for a road bike.
My only thing is, changing gears out for different climbs and what not, doesn't that defeat the purpose of doing it 'fixed'? It's basically having gears, but just swapping them in when necessary.
Either way, best of luck for the rest of the stages!
My only thing is, changing gears out for different climbs and what not, doesn't that defeat the purpose of doing it 'fixed'? It's basically having gears, but just swapping them in when necessary.
Either way, best of luck for the rest of the stages!
02-20-09, 01:15 PM
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Why didn't they just run the White Industries duo drive? Would that go against their "fixed" style?
02-20-09, 01:51 PM
#41
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I tried to word my post moderately but it seems like I still got attacked. Octopus, you are really on the lookout for any sort of fixed gear bravado huh? I tried to acknowledge the obvious differences in capability between some amateur riders riding single-speeds compared with a bunch of pros running multi-speed road bikes, without coming off as slamming all fixed gear riders as silly hipsters, but I guess I didn't get it right.
That sounds like the ride of a lifetime for those MASH guys. It'd really give one a greater appreciation for the efforts of the ToC riders.
That sounds like the ride of a lifetime for those MASH guys. It'd really give one a greater appreciation for the efforts of the ToC riders.
02-20-09, 02:29 PM
#42
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As far as I know - he moved to Oakland for school and started riding with those guys from there. After that I guess it was only natural that they'd take him in. Sorry for the lack of details... last time I saw him he mentioned that he was riding with those guys but didn't say too much about it.
02-20-09, 02:47 PM
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186mi w/6500ft climbing per day average for each rider for 8 straight days all 48x17:
https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/wordpress/?p=1670
https://www.raceacrossamerica.org/wordpress/?p=1670
02-20-09, 05:30 PM
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That was very impressive too, but to me it's like comparing a super model to the cute girl next door, catch my drift?
02-20-09, 08:05 PM
#46
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Honestly, would S3X hubs have been a good idea here, if they were available?
02-20-09, 08:49 PM
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02-21-09, 12:17 AM
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I've been following the MASH crew via the cliffbar blog. A lot more write-up but the pics aren't as great. hahah
https://www.clifbar.com/blog/
https://www.clifbar.com/blog/
