BrocLuno

I love this thing on the street. Light enough (30 lbs) and I do not care about rocks, gravel, ruts, pot holes, pavement cracks/heaves, fallen branches, nada ... So smoooooth



Nice day between rain storms

KraneXL

Your hybrid looks like a mountain bike?

hokiefyd 

I've always wanted to try a full suspension mountain bike and hybridize it with smooth tires and upright bar for cruising. What make/model is that bike (frame)?

BrocLuno

Obviously it was a MTB. The PO wanted to move to 29'er Santa Cruz something, so sold the old one cheap ($100).

It is a K2 (Girvin) Pro-Flex - prolly a 4000 model or so circa 1999. Aluminum frame, Easton carbon swing arm. Marzocchi Marathon Doppio Air fork, Fox RL shock. Mavic Crossland wheels with road'ish tires at full pressure, so rolling resistance is not much.

I gotta tweak the 3x8 drive train. I need to step up all the front chainrings. 22-32-44 is not large enough for the road. OK for trail work if steep enough, but no good on pavement. I'm thinking 26-39-49 or 50 will do much better. Other than that, I'm goinna leave well enough alone.

Yesterday I was picking out pot holes and pavement breaks for fun. I tried suspension seatposts and such. But, cars whizzing by on my left and having to be careful with rock falls and debris in the bike lanes got old. My road bikes were always a bit harsh, and they don't like anything but smooth. This thing just does not care, at all

Moos1991

Fun project, but i dont know what to think about its aesthetics ;P

BrocLuno

Yeah, they are a bit out there

Took me a while to get used to it. Now I think it's kind of "Clockwerk Orange". Something to ride into a dystopian future ...

hokiefyd 

My brother has a GT bike from that era with similar wheels (Mavic radial laced in the front, and the rear is radial on the NDS and 3x laced on the DS) with those old school Deore parallel-push V-brakes. Pretty interesting equipment.

Doctor Morbius

I could see riding that down to my local to get some eggy weggs and steaky wakes.

BrocLuno

Yeah, I'm not going to attempt a century or a 1/2 century on this thing. But 25 miles is doable, especially on a scenic trail

BrocLuno

Replaced the generic black big box pedals (were just place-holders) with some WellGo Lu-990's yesterday. Same as on my wife's new ride.

Nice big flats with Kraton grip strips at about 370 grams a pair. The lit says 406, but mine were lighter ...

I have some 230 gm/pr Mg pedals with grip pins if planning going seriously off-road on parkland trails and the like

Thinking about riding parts (or all of) the old Usal Road this summer. It's an old dirt stage road from the 1870's along the ridges in the north coast approaching the "Lost Cost". Very much a "gravel bike" kinda experience. Lovely scenery and views of the Pacific between the trees.

Only downside is the occasional Narco Grow traffic en route to town or their camps ...

BrocLuno

Usal Road:


In summer after drying out.

After any appreciable rain.


On a good ride day. Not me or my friends, just a snap off the net. But with a bit of fog for cooling, it's a great ride

IchbinJay

Great bike and nice looking route. If you're looking to further improve your ride, try Michelin Country Rocks. They're awesome tires for MTB to hybrid conversions.

BrocLuno

Definitely will look into those