Jinkster

Well?...it took me nearly all day but?...I think I have things sorted out pretty well now and what a journey it has been...from dragging my 10 year old Giant RB out of the shed 2 1/2 months ago and snuffing it up toooo?...nabbing a heck of a deal 2 weeks ago on a $120 Trek Mountain Track that was completely refurbished and in pristine condition...the same one I took for what was supposed to be a short evening after dinner ride and wound up pedaling 10 miles at night scraffing sidewalks, jumping curbs and having the time of my life!

Which ruined me....LOL!...as I don't think I'll ever look at my Giant OCR3 RB quite the same ever again...but who knows...maybe...when I get some good leg strength going to do insane miles on smooth roads but alas?...there aren't many of those here locally...and while the Trek MB was a blast?...I felt guilty about wasting the brand new ritchey climb-max knobbies on so much pavement...and while the adrenaline was indeed flowing that night?...45-50 minutes of whizzing around on a 30lb bike with 26" knobbies had my old diabetic legs pretty much shot out at the end of those 10 miles...and while fun in it's own right?...nothing I would want to dub as a daily severe road conditions commuter...which is when I sort of found myself and realized that what would suit me (and my local riding conditions) best?...would be a hybrid...something smack dab in between my Giant RB and my Trek MB...then enter my just acquired last night 2013 model Specialized Crosstrail Disc...and today?...I went to work decking it out, setting it up and dialing it in...as follows...

It's cool that my Cygolight Metro 550 just clamps on any size bars and it's also cool that the seller included a 110mm 10deg Fugi stem which I opted to replace the 50deg shorter stem with that was already on the bike...and I also went to the LBS to grab a Mirracyle bar-end mirror which I installed as well...as I'll be needing that...



The bike came with these ridiculously ginormous platform pedals which I replaced with Duel-Interface Platform/Clipless pedals...but what it didn't come with was a kickstand...and here is where Bruce the mechanic at the LBS installed one that mounts too the lower support plate and doesn't crush or bend the rear wheel stays....



and the reason I swapped out the stems?...was to lower the bars and stretch myself out just a bit so that...I could transfer my romin evo gel comp saddle onto this bike along with my origin8 tail-light....



This all proved to be great moves for what it is I was looking for...a hybrid bike with CX abilities yet with very near relaxed RB ergo's...which is IMHO?...just what I need for commuting in my area...this put my saddle height at 37"s measuring from the ground up (using the heal too pedal and can't raise my butt off the saddle method of saddle height adjustment)...with a 26" reach from ctr of seat stem too ctr of bars with the bars at 40"s as measured from the ground up....so the bars are 26"s out and 3"s above the saddle and for me?...this seemed to distribute my body weight just right between my butt and hands with an "aggressive enough" riding position to make good use of the romin evo saddle with complete comfort with the pressure properly dispersed unto my sit bones and for bonus points?...tons of thigh clearance for a zero chaffing factor...



And this gentlefolk?...culminated in a bike that allows me to produce gobs of pedal power with ease and near zero worries of encountering any surfaces I can't navigate across with utter confidence....I LOVE THIS BIKE!

And a huge thanks to all those who've helped me along the way and tolerated my endless drivel...THANKS!

Ride Safe and L8R, Bill.

Jinkster

Nobody?...guess I wore out my welcome?...sorry.

Rowan

Where are you posting from? The folks on the East Coast are just getting up and the ones on the West Coast are still sound asleep.

Hard taskmaster.

As to the bike, you love it. End of story.

Retro Grouch 

What did you do with your "ridiculously ginormous platform pedals"? What would you consider to be a fair trade for them?

Jinkster

Well that was a good question...and thanks...didn't realize I never completed my profile...look left.


Posted it 5:49pm EST...yesterday.

Dinner with a shapely young blond with a pleasant personality and a Ferrari franchise?...or?...

PM me your address and they're yours...take your pick.

Coal Buster

There's a picture thread over in the hybrid section. This would be a worthy addition.

bikemig 

Dang Retro Grouch beat me to the pedals. It seems to be a cool bike but we could use some more pics of the bike esp. the drive side.

RonH

Nice looking bike Bill. Ride it like you stole it.

Jinkster

Done...but actually?..I already posted it over there by the time I read this...a thread called "My 1st Hybrid" cause it is! LOL!

Yes he did but here ya go...taken just minutes go just for you.



Thanks Ron and Just Did! LOL!...reason being?...me being somewhat of a re-entry rookie at this and the new Crosstrail being my first ever "suspended bike" of any kind in my life?....I had this horrific thought this morning regarding what I just did too the ergo's of this bike...where I swapped the stem out too the long low one to get more weight on my hands and a slightly more aggressive riding position with quite a bit more "Weight Forward"...then as I was reading up about hybrids (over in that forum)?...I read where some 200+LB riders were complaining of their lower line suntour front fork bottoming out and with me being 210lbs?...I thought...

"Oh No!...did I just do all that parts swapping to go more aggressive and weight forward only to eat up most of my suspension by doing so?"

Now that's the bad news...but the good news is?...I used to road race sport bike motorcycles...a lot.....for several decades....and not only did I used to machine and make internal valving components for compression and rebound damping of race bike suspension systems I also became somewhat of a suspension guru to my inner circle of race bike buds....and it was now time to answer my own questions about what I just did to my lower line (non-lockout) suntour front forks...with an advertised 50mm (2"s) of max travel....so it was....

"Front Suspension Test Ride Time"

and what I did was I took an old twist clip (laying in my toolbox from some sport bike I owned or worked on years ago) and wrapped it around the right front fork stanchion right at the base where dust seal meets fork like so....



and then?...I did in fact "Ride It Like I Stole It!" (as you just suggested) LOL!....doing everything I could do (within my capabilities) in an attempt to bottom out my front forks....I rode over the nastiest, clumpiest roadside grass...then I even caught some air jumping a couple swales...and for a grand finale?....several times I pedaled the bike as fast as I could get it going (on smooth pavement) then purposefully threw all my body weight forward while simultaneously crushing the front disc brake almost standing the bike on it's nose...several times over...and from what I can tell?...NEVER...managed to bottom out the front fork and here's the clip reading afterwards...



as after all of that?...the most compression I got was 1 5/8ths"s...and even giving it my best effort?...was only able to compress the 50mm front forks 41mm's...so if I ever do bottom out these front forks?...it means one of three things...

1. I gained in excess of 50lbs or?...

2. My forks sprung a leak somewhere or?...

3. I did something I wasn't supposed to do at my age and I'm in the ER.

again...this bike is awesome...I can tell it's weight is going to shave off about 10-20% of what I can achieve on pavement with my RB but for what it lacks in range, speed and sprint-ability?...it makes up for in comfort and it's go anywhere rugged character...I'm tickled with it!

NOS88

Comfort certainly has its benefits. Nice job.

fietsbob

FWIW Vanilla is the brand name used by a small boutique Custom frame_builder in Portland Oregon ..

Jinkster

Well thank you very much!

Whoops...well then...I guess a name change is in order...how about Snow White and Violet?...cause I think my road bike "Blacky" is actually going to hit the road...via CL! LOL!

Wanderer

Vanilla was used in ice cream, and labelled as such, much longer than bike frames............ use it where you want.......... LOL

Andrew R

Looks great!

Jinkster

Yeah!...What Wanderer Said! LOL!

Thanks you and?...

It's a Suntour XCT Crankset...sorry...didn't have my readers on! LOL!

KenshiBiker

I love that you knew what you wanted, and what you needed to do to make this bike work for you. I agree with all those who said "Ride it like you stole it!"

Jinkster

Thanks Ken...but the credit for that isn't mine because up until a little over 2 months ago?...all I knew was tires need air, wheels should be round and chains should be lightly oiled...the rest?...is stuff I learned and was taught by others here on the 50+ forum...and yes...they taught me more than I ever dreamed would be useful to know about bikes...from the importance of a correct fitment and a proper set-up too the fact that people have these things called sit-bones and that saddles come in different sizes to accommodate such. LOL!

Now "Style"...that I have! LOL!....but even such?...it took me 2 months and 3 bikes before I homed in on "What Type of Bike" would suit me and my local riding conditions best...and even that was pretty much via "Trial & Error"

But thanks for the kind words!