Another Brodie commuter bike here.
Put some 1.5 slicks on an old Alpha.
Post pix of your commuter bike.
I like Mighty, bought my crosscheck from them.
As for the Brodie vs Fargo, we start splitting the difference between a 29er and a cross bike, which for rigid, geared, drop-bar (with bar end shifters) and disk brake equipped bikes can become difficult. Very likely, for my stable, it could very easily come down to tire clearance..
so, as an employee of Brodie, why do you have a Fargo?
As for the Brodie vs Fargo, we start splitting the difference between a 29er and a cross bike, which for rigid, geared, drop-bar (with bar end shifters) and disk brake equipped bikes can become difficult. Very likely, for my stable, it could very easily come down to tire clearance..
For a given top tube, a Salsa Vaya will have a longer head tube than a Brodie Elan/Argus/Circuit. The Fargo (at least the second gen) isn't exactly in the same category, with suspension corrected fork and a HUGE head tube.
My commuter these days smells like outboard.
My commuter these days smells like outboard.
do you ever pedal anymore, other than on-vacation-location photo shoots?
I like Mighty, bought my crosscheck from them.
As for the Brodie vs Fargo, we start splitting the difference between a 29er and a cross bike, which for rigid, geared, drop-bar (with bar end shifters) and disk brake equipped bikes can become difficult. Very likely, for my stable, it could very easily come down to tire clearance..
so, as an employee of Brodie, why do you have a Fargo?
Yup, there are definitely differences and interesting ones at that, depending on what you hope to do with the bike.
I don't own a Fargo, sorry if I confused you. Sold my Romax late last year and finally replaced it with a Pact, our new road bike.
do you ever pedal anymore, other than on-vacation-location photo shoots?
A couple of new arrivals should have me pedaling more…
Sold my Romax late last year and finally replaced it with a Pact, our new road bike.
Everyone's selling their cross bikes for road bikes ;)
Yup, there are definitely differences and interesting ones at that, depending on what you hope to do with the bike.
I don't own a Fargo, sorry if I confused you. Sold my Romax late last year and finally replaced it with a Pact, our new road bike.
oopos, i mistook the vaya for a fargo
Been about 6 years on this bike now. It's been many places and seen many things.
I also have this for grocery shopping and carrying a passenger if needed, but I'll be buying a bigger, better one soon.
OK … bought a 2012 Cove Stiffee XC to replace my 2001 Stiffee FR which complemented my Jake the Snake XC bike as a commuter/runabout. The FR was fun to ride on the 'Shore, but was a bit of pig for the commute (about 42 km round trip, about 20 km offroad, 1800 ft elevation change).
Bike is the cheapo build from Cove Bike Shop ([HTML_REMOVED] $1100) - its mostly stocked by Chaz as a frame. Stock brakes and fork are a little sketchy, but for the price, can't really complain too much. Plus it looks hot. But this thing is a blast to ride on a trail/road commute, and it is really STIFF! With front fork lockout and its tall upright stance, the thing rides almost like a roadbike on road flats, but is great for bunny hops and bouncing off kickers. Took it out on the 'Shore, and I felt transported back to 1991, living in mortal fear of getting pitched over the 'bars. I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it again (I survived riding fully rigid with canti brakes on the N Shore in the '90s, and to the amazement of local medical experts, went on to father children).
Look forward to zipping up to 7th Secret this summer on this fun toy and ripping down, reliving the Glorious Past! Maybe I'll even put on some purple-anodized bar ends.
Since I'm a one bike do it all kind of guy/gal/hermaphrodite I'm thinking about a 29er hardtail for commuting, xc and trail/am riding. Banshee Paradox with 2 wheelsets perhaps. 2x10 gearing.
I would have to keep the bike in my office, locked to a filing cabinet and guarded by a team of fugly secretaries. But it just might work.
Wrong. Always.
Since I'm a one bike do it all kind of guy/gal/hermaphrodite I'm thinking about a 29er hardtail for commuting, xc and trail/am riding. Banshee Paradox with 2 wheelsets perhaps. 2x10 gearing.
I would have to keep the bike in my office, locked to a filing cabinet and guarded by a team of fugly secretaries. But it just might work.
Is it space keeping you to one bike? For the cost of a second wheelset you can likely find a cheap commuter.
Is it space keeping you to one bike? For the cost of a second wheelset you can likely find a cheap commuter.
likewise, if the second wheelset is for commuting, it can be a much cheaper wheelset than the 26 wheelset BB would have to give up if BB's fleet was replaced with a 29er
IMHO, there are problems with the idea that different wheelsets are an easy fix.
First of all, I don't think the wheelset really affects your commute time (unless you are commuting 100+ km a day). I've tried slicks on hardtail MTB and it didn't knock more than a few minutes (if that) off of an hour commute. How the bike frame geometry, weight and setup affects your pedalling efficiency is FAR more important, I would say. (ie Its not about the wheels or tires - its about the bike).
Second, it really only makes sense to have a swappable front commuter wheel. The rear wheel requires you to either switch your one freewheel cluster over or to buy a second cluster.
Switching a freewheel cluster is somewhat tedious (I'm lazy), but you may not think so. If you have 2 clusters, you will probably find at some point you will get incompatible wear between your 2 clusters and the chain (depending on how much you ride each cluster). You may be lucky and only have to replace the chain and one cluster, but it is likely you will have to throw away the chain, and the 2 clusters prematurely. For that amount of money over the long term, it is probably better to buy a bike that you can both commute on and do some types of trail riding on and then leave the pig iron for gnarlier types of riding. The amount of time you spend switching wheelsets probably will probably negate the time savings from a better-rolling setup.
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