Running Lean(er)

On the finish of 2023 I intimated that maybe I’d be eliminating some bikes.

Nicely, it’s 2024, and as of in the present day I’ve settled all household enterprise:

Barzini…

Philip Tattaglia…

Moe Greene…

Stracci…

Cuneo*…

*[OK, this one wasn’t actually my bike but I did send it back to Classic Cycle and I needed a bike for every name in the scene.]

Every of those bikes is now both with a brand new proprietor or within the technique of being delivered to a brand new proprietor.

Positive, not like the heads of the 5 Households these bicycles weren’t my enemies–removed from it. Every served me effectively, and a few had been actually particular. For instance, the RockCombo was among the best all-arounders I’ve ever ridden, and the made-to-measure Engin was positively beautiful and a motorcycle I by no means thought I’d relinquish. However like Michael Corleone I need to not let my feelings intervene with enterprise. Additionally, like several self-respecting bike dork, whereas I could have “whacked” 4 bikes, I additionally used this as an excuse to fill a emptiness and anoint a brand new capo de tutti capi:

So kiss the hand of the most recent member of The Household:

Sure, after a shady backroom deal the Vinershiki will stay on Tenovo turf for the foreseeable future. And whereas including a motorcycle once I ought to be subtracting them might appear to be a step backwards, it’s truly a extremely calculated transfer, as a result of having a pristine classic Italian specimen like this may maintain me from doing one thing reckless like trying a pricey and time-consuming all-out restoration of the Faggin:

Now I can maintain it in dirtbag mode like Lob meant.

As for being with no single-speed mountain bike for the primary time in lots of, a few years, that’s an enormous psychological hurdle, however the reality is that I merely don’t have time to spin slowly as much as the mountain bike trails nowadays, whereas the Jones will get me there and again effectively and in consolation–after which as soon as I’m there it will get me up and over every little thing with (relative) ease:

And whereas nothing is as mechanically easy as a singlespeed mountain bike, the Jones has been boringly dependable, needing solely minor changes right here and there. I did detect a teeny little bit of play within the crank on my trip this previous weekend, and whereas on SRAM/Truvativ/No matter cranks like these that’s a easy matter of fidgeting with the preload adjuster, I did almost lose the crank on the crabon cyclocross bike not too way back:

And I spotted that within the 5 years I’ve had this bike I’ve by no means checked the fixing bolt:

So after years of not excited about the crank in any respect, I all of the sudden determined I needed to verify it now. Alas, I didn’t have an 8mm hex key on my multitool, however thankfully my trip took me previous a kind of public bike stands:

Although because it turned out all of the hex keys had been stolen:

However a minimum of there have been loads of cone wrenches in case a passing bicycle owner had a sudden need to overtake a loose-bearing hub.

So as an alternative I saved using, checked the bolt with a torque wrench once I obtained residence, and located it to be as cosy as a bug in a rug, which suggests I had nothing to fret about within the first place.

In any case, the Jones is probably the most car-like of my bicycles–not as a result of I exploit it like a automotive, however as a result of it really works extraordinarily effectively in its inventory kind and I’m not inclined to tinker with it:

I imply I do know loads of individuals customise their automobiles, however I don’t. And sure, I’ve tinkered with the Jones up to now, like once I rode it with Rivendell bars and a friction shifter for awhile:

It was a enjoyable experiment, however finally Jeff Jones obtained the bike precisely proper, and past including equipment or no matter there’s actually no level in messing with it or second-guessing him. This bike may even soak up all of the using I’d in any other case have accomplished on the singlespeeds or the RockCombo, and I do know it’s going to accomplish that as readily as these fat-ass tires soak up tough terrain:

However keep in mind, plus-sized tires like this are completely out of fashion:

As a result of they “dumb down” the path:

Whereas a motorcycle like this doesn’t dumb it down in any respect:

That is like saying giant print dumbs down books if you spend 16 hours a day watching TikTok.

Mountain bikers actually are the worst.

Once I love a motorcycle, I’m at all times interested by what individuals are saying about it on The Internets, and I’m at all times deeply disillusioned. In addition to that silly article about plus-sized tires, one other factor I’ll typically come throughout when studying about Jones bikes particularly is one thing alongside the strains of:

The Jones full bikes are like completely overpriced as a result of they solely include NX however the [WhateverBikes IronicName] comes with GX and prices much less.

Proper. It’s definitely not a motorcycle for everybody, however assuming you’re in search of a motorcycle like this–that’s to say a inflexible do-anything bike with full off-roadability that’s designed to just accept trendy parts–which do you assume is a greater worth? The bike {that a} bearded bike freak has been obsessively refining for years and years and years at this level and that types the idea of his whole firm and upon which he’s staked his whole popularity? Or the suspension-corrected novelty bike from an enormous firm that has like 400 totally different different fashions too however makes use of contrived irreverence in its advertising and marketing supplies and comes with a derailleur that prices $20 extra?

However my favourite dumb factor of all that mountain bike individuals say on the Web is that mechanical dick breaks suck:

I definitely get that there are individuals who want hydraulic brakes for numerous causes, which is completely truthful. I additionally get that due to the perverse issues designers are doing with bikes now the cables just about need to be hydraulic:

[Oh, please, you asked for it you Mountain Wankers.]

However assuming a “regular” bike I don’t know what sort of setup errors individuals are making to conclude that mechanical disk brakes by some means “suck” or are insufficient to sluggish or cease an off-road bicycle with precision.

That is concerning the level at which individuals on the Web will then say “Nicely you don’t trip laborious sufficient,” which, primarily based on what I’m seeing on the market, is the hub calling the headset black.

However sure, the Jones is a outstanding machine. Put some fenders on there and you would commute on all of it week after which disappear into the wilderness for the weekend with out altering a factor:

I typically discover myself fantasizing concerning the customs, however the bike’s so ridiculously competent and enjoyable as is I understand that’s the very last thing I want, and 5 years later it’s principally precisely because it was when it first got here out of the field: