September 22, 2007
We got two round 2 Bombadil (650B MTN BIKE) prototypes last Thursday, and I built the 52 today, quickly (4.2 hours). We also got in a 60cm, for 700c wheels, but haven't built it yet. Next week.
Both were clear powder coated locally, in a day ($125 each).
Small details will change--we'll put on a kickstand plate, for one, and maybe we'll monkey around with the rack boss position. Anyway, the bike rides really good, just how I'd hoped and expected. I put Moustache Handlebars on it, with an 8cm DirtDrop stem. The tires are the 45mm-wide Schwalbes. Because of the thicker walls in the tubes, it takes a 26.8mm seat post, and I had to buy that at REI last night--a leftover, for $9.25. I was surprised to find that this old familiar and super common size is rare these days, but it makes sense, with all the overultra-sized tubes out there.
The 52cm frame will fit PBHs of 83 to 87, about. It has a 6-degree upslope on the top tube. I wanted to see how it set up and seemed to fit with Moustache Handlebars, and with that stem, seems fine.
Probably we will offer Bullmoose bars as an option for those who want them. They're not adjustable, but we might have them in two versions. I think, though, that the more upright you are, the less a few centimeters of reach matters.
If your body is 90-degrees straight up dead vertical (for instance), let's say that's comfortable. Now, if you lean forward so your nose is now in a pocket of air that used to be 6-inches in front of it, you'll be no less comfortable, but your reach has grown a whopping halfa foot. It works a similar way with your arms, too. If your arms are coiled up and as unstretched out as a snake charmer's cobra, you can unfurl them a lot without feeling stretched.
On a modern set-up with hi-seat/lo-bars/stretched out & straight-armed nearly maximally, a difference of half an inch in reach is huge, because you're already on the rack.
Anyway, the point is....when you're laid out flat that a cm here or there becomes a make-or-break deal. Bullmoose bars actually have more than one grip option. The normal one, and stretched out more on the connecdtor piece. When I rode them years ago, I was all over the bars and didn't think about it. I didn't ride them for years, but Bstone used them on a couple of models, and I've ridden them on old Ritcheys, too.
One thing that all Bullmoose fans like is the 16-degree sweepback of the grip. This was lost when the straight bar (6-degree sweep, typically) took over in about 1986.
No doubt Moustache H'bars have as many or more advantages, as do drop bars that are high enough, but a Bullmoose is still pretty good, and the case for it on a bike like the Bombadil is more than just style.
I shouldn't even say it like that. STYLE affects your mood and attitude when you ride, and to me (at least), slinging a leg over a Bullmoosed bar bike will make me feel different about the ride, and to some extent that's one of the points of having more than one bike. Still, I love the Moustache H'bar, and Albatross bars, and I'd like to try high drops on a short stem. We will offer bar options, as we do for all bikes.Bullmoose bars will be super expensive because they'll be hand-made and fillet-brazed by Nitto. They'll be heavy, too, but the bike IS going to be the Bombadil, not the Will-o-the-Wisp.
The Bombadil sample frame is made with all the correcdt tubingm, and doesn't weigh as much as I'd hoped and expected. Just 5lb 3oz before paint. I forgot to weigh it after painting, but paint is usually 2 to 2.5 ounces.
I will ride it more tomorrow. Here are some pics:
Had I known the grease would be so obvious in the head tube shot, I'd have wiped it off clean. It's the best-color I've ever seen. It happens to be Sta-Lube blue--the same boat trailer wheel bearing grease that Gary Fisher used to favor for the early '80s mountain bikes. Using it to coat the contact area between an aluminum headset and a steel frame is sort of like using a steel cable to hold up your pants, but it's as cheap as any other grease, and there's no harm in it. (I usually use lanolin for this purpose, but this was right there).
We also got in some early trial sample second versions of the IRD freewheels. I never had a problem with the first ones, but some did, and the reason was detected and fixed, seemingly. So we got half a dozen to try out, and I put one on my A.Homer Hilsen and tomorrow will ride it up the second steepest hill in Lafayette (Martino Drive). I don't expect it'll break, but I am supposed to try it, and so I will.
