On the finish of 2023 I intimated that maybe I’d be eliminating some bikes.
Nicely, it’s 2024, and as of at present 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.
Certain, in contrast to the heads of the 5 Households these bicycles weren’t my enemies–removed from it. Every served me nicely, and a few had been actually particular. For instance, the RockCombo was probably the greatest 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 have to not let my feelings intrude with enterprise. Additionally, like several self-respecting bike dork, whereas I’ll 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 latest 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 after I must be subtracting them might appear to be a step backwards, it’s really a extremely calculated transfer, as a result of having a pristine classic Italian specimen like it will maintain me from doing one thing reckless like trying a expensive and time-consuming all-out restoration of the Faggin:
Now I can maintain it in dirtbag mode like Lob meant.
As for being with out a 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 today, 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 experience this previous weekend, and whereas on SRAM/Truvativ/No matter cranks like these that’s a easy matter of twiddling 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 instantly determined I needed to test it now. Alas, I didn’t have an 8mm hex key on my multitool, however thankfully my experience took me previous a kind of public bike stands:
Although because it turned out all of the hex keys had been stolen:
However no less than there have been loads of cone wrenches in case a passing bike owner had a sudden want to overtake a loose-bearing hub.
So as an alternative I saved driving, checked the bolt with a torque wrench after I obtained house, and located it to be as cosy as a bug in a rug, which implies I had nothing to fret about within the first place.
In any case, the Jones is essentially 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 nicely in its inventory type 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 previously, like when 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 also take in all of the driving I’d in any other case have performed on the singlespeeds or the RockCombo, and I do know it would achieve this as readily as these fat-ass tires take in tough terrain:
However bear in mind, plus-sized tires like this are completely out of favor:
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 whenever you spend 16 hours a day watching TikTok.
Mountain bikers actually are the worst.
After I love a motorcycle, I’m all the time interested in what persons are saying about it on The Internets, and I’m all the time deeply disenchanted. Apart from that silly article about plus-sized tires, one other factor I’ll typically come throughout when studying about Jones bikes specifically is one thing alongside the traces 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 actually not a motorcycle for everybody, however assuming you might be on the lookout for a motorcycle like this–that’s to say a inflexible do-anything bike with full off-roadability that’s designed to simply 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 premise of his complete firm and upon which he’s staked his complete fame? 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 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 actually 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 must 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 persons are making to conclude that mechanical disk brakes one way or the other “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 experience exhausting sufficient,” which, based mostly on what I’m seeing on the market, is the hub calling the headset black.
However sure, the Jones is a exceptional 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 would like, and 5 years later it’s principally precisely because it was when it first got here out of the field:
I’m jealous of the kickstand mount on the V3 bikes although.
