mikesee profile

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One idler/pulley adds significant drag.  Doesn't matter the specific bike, the platform, etc... -- changing the direction of the chain matters.

Doing it twice --in addition to twice at the der -- is an absolute dealbreaker for a bike meant to go uphill.

Clicked for the fat/plus content.  Stayed for 'miasmic'.

That bike, there, at this time of year, is screaming out for a Lauf fat fork.

Thin Man to the rescue.

The future is a titanium 29+ Slingshot with linkage fork and paired spoke dyneema wheels.

No batteries, only one extra cable, appropriate amounts of yaw and compliance.

...and decades worth of online opprobrium waiting to be heaped upon it by those that will neither swing a leg over it nor even see it.

TL:DR = The future, like the present, is about hating what you don't know.

Didn't mean to kill him off, but AT is definitely dead.

He sold the biz so he could retire -- maybe ought nine or so -- and shipped me a custom fork on the last day before turning the keys over.  AT started its death spiral that day.

Moment of silence for Action Tec, and Russ the man behind it. Legit good dude with some well executed whackadoodle ideas.

If I could still get Action Tec parts, I would be building a custom frame around that fork today.

Bravo Miguel.  Just for putting it all out there with some clear-eyed perspective.

I'm too busy out faffing about on rivers and in the woods to keep a lawn. But I still yell at the disrespectful little sonsabitches to stay off. Might start shooting paintballs at 'em with the slingshot I use to keep the squirrels off the finch feeders...

I've always been engagement agnostic: I notice it but don't care, and don't believe it matters in any way.

But noise -- man I cannot abide noise when coasting.

I think the much discussed windup on Onyx Vesper hubs -- especially when in my 24t chainring up front and 52t cog out back, winching up something ridiculously steep -- equates to a sort of traction control.  Much less likely to slip or spin as you pause or slow your cadence and then burst to get up/over something.

The silence got me interested in Vespers.  The Traction Control has kept me there.

The slinger is surprisingly compliant relative to any other hardtail I've owned. I've been pretty hard on my body through the years, with a whole host of joint issues all threatening to bring the house of cards down at any moment. Pretty sure this is the last hardtail I'll own, because everything else is just a bit too harsh.

I run the 27.5 x 3.8" tires on 50mm rims. Gives them a tall, rounded profile at high (~8-9psi) pressures, so they roll really well. Definitely feels way more like a trail bike than a fatbike.

Can't rightly remember what year this frame is, but I think it's at least 20 years old now.  I gave it a major facelift in 2020, and a few minor ones since then.  Relatively modern geo now, plus it can fit 29 x 2.8" or 27.5 x 3.8".  

I run the skinnies in the spring when the snow is gone and there's still moisture left in the soil.

I run the fatties the rest of the year -- high summer when things are blown out and moondusty, fall when the roots get wet, stripped, and slick, and winter with studs.

For '23 I had a buddy modify a set of Revelate Nano Panniers to fit the custom rack. It's a bikepacking rig par excellence, and it has deserved custom bags for years now.

This page hasn't been updated for a bit, but most of the deets are here.