Cheap Steel: SE Stout 1x9

I really wanted a steel bike. Why? Heck, I don't know... what kind of question is that? I just wanted a steel bike. But it had to be cheap. And it had to have at least a few gears to go easy on my crap left knee. Cheap with a few gears... a 1x9 set-up should do it. And thus the quest began. Last spring my quest centered around a Gary Fisher Ferrous. But as 2009 wound down, GF decided they weren't selling enough and stopped offering these steel bikes. Bummer. And it seemed like they dried up on eBay too. As time ticked by, my Internet surfing eyes kept coming back to the SE Racing Stout... and Bikes Direct was now selling it - in a box - for just under $400... shipped to me. Well I just couldn't resist... What follows are post-build pictures. For my own future reference, and possibly to provide other folks with some information not found elsewhere, I thought I'd document some of the details of the build. Here's the finished bike, ready to roll. It won't be clean for long. SE offered a green bike in this model year ('09) but they seemed to have been snatched up first. I would've preferred a green bike, but for the ~$200 savings I'll settle for red. I don't know what they call the color, but I call it "1990 Thunderbird SC Red". If you know me, you know why...

Closer view. You sharper dudes out there might start to notice some non-stock parts, and you'd be right. The only thing I kept from the stock bike were the frame (duh), the headset, the wheelset, and the seat. Everything else was auctioned on eBay, save for a couple odds and ends worth keeping - the bottom bracket (a nice ISIS unit) and the stem (a nice light 100mm x 7d piece).

While we're staring at the headset, I should point at that the stock headset appears to be a steaming POS. Now before you go off and say "well, what did you expect", please note I'm not here to say whether the bike is a POS or not a POS. I knew that for $400 I'd face a combination of pleasant and unpleasant surprises, so it's no big deal... just pointing out the good, the bad, and the ugly. So chill.

Anyway, the stock headset is just an old-fashioned ball-in-cage affair. The balls are small and the cups are crude, so when it takes a dive I'll just slap in a decent headset and go on with my life. The badge on the head tube is real nice.

See, I told you it is a 1x9. That's a SRAM X.5 rear shifter there, and no front shifter. No, it doesn't have the snazzy name of the X.7, X.9, or X.0, but I used this one to maintain consistency with my other bikes. You see, the current X.5 is just like the last-gen X.7s I have on my other bikes.

The Titec carbon fiber bar and aluminum/carbon wrap stem were just laying around so they got pressed into service. The carbon bar will soak up some of the vibes from the rigid steel fork.

Speaking of the steel fork, I had a barely used Salsa CroMoto Grande fork laying around so I installed it. This fork has more offset than the stock SE Landing Gear fork (43mm vs. 38mm) which will quicken up the steering. And heck I just like the looks of the contrasty black fork in place of the red stocker. Both have about the same axle-crown measurement: ~470mm, equivalent to an 80mm suspension fork. Both are steel. Also, the stock fork had v-brake posts and I was installing discs, so the Salsa disc-only fork is cleaner.

Speaking of discs, here are the BB7s I installed. Why BB7s and not some funky hydraulic set-up? I've got BB7s on my other bikes. No brainer.

Those discs are 180mm, btw. I used 'em 'cause I had 'em. Note that Avid's adapters are for their 185mm discs. And yes, 5mm is a big difference on discs, so some clever adapter finagling had to happen. The front adapter is a 160mm rear adapter. Yes, just add 20mm to the rear adapter's size designation and - presto - you've got the equivalent front adapter size.

If you're REALLY SHARP you've noticed a quick-release skewer in place of the stock solid axle. First, about the stock solid axle: it's a 9.5mm x 26 tpi thread. Sort of odd, since most front axles are 9mm... found out the hard way since I ordered a 9mm assuming that's what it was only to find out I was wrong. So I got a Wheels Mfg. #10 hollow QR axle and cut it down to 111mm. Wow, those Wheels Mfg. axles are really nice compared to the ugly and soft stockers!

One strange thing with the Wheels Mfg. axle - it's a tad skinnier than the stocker. The stock solid axle measures out to nearly 9.5mm on the threads whereas the WM axle was between 9.3mm and 9.4mm. So things are a little looser on the WM axles... but that shouldn't pose a problem.

Moving away from the front of the bike (finally), here's a shot of how SE does the bottom bracket and ties it into the chain stays. Sorta old school, but solid. And cripes, there's that GD plastic Shimano BB cup... yeah I know someone makes an alloy cup, but it costs about as much as a BB!

While we're here, a note about the general construction of the frame. First, the welds are nice - nicer than those on my '08 GF Cobia frame, for sure. Second, everything else is not as nice as my GFs. There is a strange set of ripples on the drive side of the downtube near the bottom bracket. Can't see it, but it's there and it's strange. And the paint (or is it a powder coating?) is nice and thick but chips easily... ask me about how the chain slipped it of my hands while I was installing it and how the derailleur slung it around at a crazy speed and chipped the paint on the seat stay (ouch). Yeah, my bad, but the paint seemed brittle. Some of the junctions between the stays and the frame are a little odd too... odd as in who cut that, a blind guy. And the rear v-brake posts aren't welded on at the same height and angle. No biggy for me as I'm running discs, but another oddity nonetheless.

The seat stays are mounted in the same fashion as the chain stays. There's good tire clearance for fat tires... the one here is a fat Kenda Nevegal which still clears even with the rear axle slid pretty far forward. That said, my '08 GF Cobia frame has even more tire clearance (and my '06 GF 293 has less...).

Why this exciting picture of the water bottle mount? Well, you may not be able to see it, but the water bottle mounting lugs are not set straight on the seat tube! The two on the down tube were straight, though. Batting .500 I guess. Luckily the water bottle cage is easy to bend so as to give the appearance that all is straight.

Moving right along, here's the front end of the drivetrain. I had a Race Face Turbine crankset laying around, as well as a 30t chainring sans ramps and pins, so on they went. Yes this is a 94mm/58mm compact crankset, so I could even install a 29t chainring if I feel really feeble.

Because the stock bottom bracket was ISIS, I bought a ubiquitous Shimano UN52 68mm x 113mm square taper bottom bracket (complete with the plastic cup on the non-drive side... did I mention I hate those). Keeping the chain on the chainring is a Spot Singlespeed chain guard on the outside and an N Gear Jump Start chain deflector on the inside.

The Spot guard had to be ground down to clear the bulky crank arm... nothing a few minutes with a Dremel and a file didn't cure.

The Jump Start had to be cut so I could tighten the clamp more. You see, the seat tube outer diameter is about 30.3mm and the Jump Start only comes in 3 sizes. I bought the 31.8mm clamp version but perhaps I should've started with the smaller size. Oh well... some careful trimming of the plastic clamp cured that too.

The SRAM PC-991 chain is a tad on the long side as I may want to try out that new Shimano 12-36 cassette. Oh yeah - about the cassette - that's a SRAM PG-980 11-34 there. I wanted a cassette with a carrier to distribute the load to the freehub better, since SE implied it was aluminum. OK, they said the hub was aluminum - the freehub is steel. Shoulda guessed. With a steel freehub you can run pretty much any cheap cassette you want since the steel freehub won't be affected by individual cogs digging in, whereas cassettes with carriers should ideally be used with softer aluminum freehubs.

Lessee... that's an X.9 long cage hanging there. Yeah, I coulda used a medium or short cage with a 1x9 but I already had the long cage. Maybe I'll snoop around for a cheap shorty.

Here's a good view of the combo chain tug / derailleur hanger. It works. Also seen here is the bolt-on rear axle which I believe is a conventional 10x1 mm thread. It's a cheap soft POS like the front, and yes it's even a little bent. I will either replace it or go to a QR set-up. I'm not sure the QR thing will work well with those monster axle mounting tabs though.

Speaking of bent, one of the tabs - the left one - is a little bent. Bent as in curved, not the result of a badly aligned weld. Doubt it happened in shipping as the box was intact. Luckily the bend is toward the back and doesn't seem to affect either axle or brake mounting. Again - welds are good, the rest "not so much". As long as it works, I can live with some imperfections... heck, my wife does every day!

The stock seatpost - a 27.2mm x 350mm unit - looks a lot like this Bontrager post. It was a real nice piece, but I figured I'd eBay the new post and use the Bonty.

The seat seems real nice so I'll give it a go.

Wheels are Weinmann ZAC 2400 rims with 36 spokes laced to SE-branded hubs. The hubs use simple loose bearings. The rims are v-brake compatible. Bottom line - nothing fancy here (and nothing light!) but they should give some decent service until I find a deal on a better wheelset.

Until I can think of something else to cover the welded-on v-brake posts, I slipped some black vacuum tubing over 'em. Ugly, but not as fugly as a plain steel post. If I feel bold I may cut 'em off altogether.

Check out the cool "SE" cut into the left tab. The disc brake mounting slots also seemed cool but they just seem to let the caliper rock back and forth in a random fashion with no real rationale as to why. Perhaps the rock-ability is to accommodate different disc sizes, and/or to allow some fine-tuning of where the brake pads ride. Or maybe it's for easier wheel removal with certain brake set-ups... who knows!

That brake adapter is a rear 185mm piece cut down to accommodate a 180mm rotor. One nice thing about this set-up: I can get the wheel off without removing or even loosening the brake caliper.

So that's about it for the newest build. Despite some imperfections, I'm happy with how things came together. A quick ride around the 'hood already reveals a velvety smooth ride compared to the aluminum rigid; can't wait to hit the trail!

Full Circle

Yeah, I was out for a ride yesterday, but this is not a ride report.

You see, 4 days of rain were winding down and I had to get out, so I hit some local stone roads and the like. Which gave me time to reflect a bit.

Flash back to 2006. I finally (finally!) got a new bike. I flat refused to ride the old Specialized Hard Rock anymore. Since then my hardnosed attitude towards the old Spesh has softened a bit, but that's another story...

But suffice it to say that by 2006 I was rusty. Like real rusty. Like don't bother with the WD-40, where's the Naval Jelly and does it come in gallon sizes. And bring some sandpaper. That rusty.

So the new bike seemed a little strange to me. In hindsight, well no crap... it's a big jump from a 1988 steel rigid 26er to a 2006 aluminum 29er with shocks fore and aft. The riding position was different and I was - admittedly - a tad, uh, cautious you might say.

To put my mind at ease, I made some changes to the bike. Those that know me are not surprised. "He never leaves well enough alone" is probably what my detractors would say. I say change is good. Or is it?

I remember one of my earliest ride impressions on the new bike. Holy crap, I felt like I was about to go over the bars at a moment's notice. So I reached out to Easton and picked up a riser bar so I wouldn't feel so "leaning forward". Today, I chuckle at that bar swap. Since then - after about 4 seasons of riding - that riser bar is collecting dust, having been replaced by a flat bar. Moreover, I'm considering flipping the stem to drop the bar even more. You see, my new rigid 29er has a much lower bar height and I've really taken a shine to that position. I've learned that lower is often better, and lower can mean fewer endos, not more, as my center of gravity is lower.

I also remember thinking I needed more travel on the front fork. It's a Reba Race, and they typically come set at 80mm travel but can be revamped for 100mm of travel. So I bought shock fluid, printed out instructions, and got all set to do the surgery... only to find out the fork was already set at 100mm! But my lack of planning isn't the moral of this part of the story - it's that I thought more travel would be good, and more travel would elevate my riding position (remember the prior paragraph?). Now I'm actually thinking that knocking the fork down to 80mm travel would be a good thing. Heck, most of the Sugar 293s came that way, and now I can understand why.

And then there's the subject of tires. Being a Gary Fisher, the 293 came with Bontrager tires - ACX models specifically. They seemed awfully simple, so as tire makers began rolling out one new 29" tire after another, I was snatching them up. I was part of that "wider must be better" wave. Most of the new wider tires were so wide they rubbed the chain stays. And then I started to reconsider. My first "hmmmm..." moment was watching my friend spin up a steep icey slope with his ACXs biting in every revolution, then when it was my turn my new-fangled fat tires just spun out. Hmmmm... maybe there's more to this. Fast forward a few years. My go-to tire is (drum roll please): a Bontrager ACX. Yep, I've come to appreciate two things about these tires. One, they are simple but they work. And two, they are light for their size. Why not an ACX? Why not, indeed.

Wheels. Yep, one of the big ticket items on a bike. Mine came with some rather uncomplicated Bontrager Race Disc 29er rims. No fancy hubs, only 28 spokes, sorta narrow. Knowing how my small brain works, you know I had to be thinking there was better stuff out there. A few big bills later and I had some wider rims sporting 32 spokes on fancy hubs. And now that I've had them for a couple years, I've really grown to appreciate the stock wheelset. The new rims creak and the old ones don't. The new wheels needed to have the spokes re-tensioned, but the old ones were fine. The new rims make tire swaps a trying experience, but you can change tires with your eyes closed on the old rims. And, the old rims are lighter. Once again I was reminded why the bike came with that particular wheelset - they just plain made sense. Still do, as I use those wheels on the new rigid.

So after a few seasons under my belt, I've come full circle in a lot of my bike-related thinking. Higher isn't aways better, bigger isn't always better. Then again, maybe it's the bike that's come full circle. I now have a better understanding of why the folks at Gary Fisher put those parts on that bike. I also now know why rusty 40-somethings don't willy-nilly dictate what parts belong on a bike. I've come to respect the careful thought that goes into specing these bikes, thought that only comes from decades of experience. I still won't leave well enough alone, but I must admit I'll be giving some extra consideration to the stock parts on a bike and why they're there.

Harmony Hill - September 19

It was a good week - five rides! Three of them were at Harmony Hill. Why, you ask? Well, it's Spencer's favorite place lately... so why not. The trail work here has really paid off... it's a great place to ride. Nothing too technical, but there's enough rocks and roots to challenge us here and there. So on this day, Kelly joined Spence and I for a great ride - temp was probably in the low 70s and the trails were in good shape. The summer's rains have slacked off a bit, finally giving us a shot at some mud-free pedaling.

Gettin' ready to ride.

Kelly's full-squish 29er on left, my no-squish 29er on right. HH is a great place to ride sans shocks.

Spence is pedaling through the pasture, soon to reach the woods.

A gradual uphill makes for a good warm up, then we enjoy a great downhill stretch... twisty stuff to a straight fast run to some tighter stuff... blast! Here Kelly is coming down the straight downhill, probably shaking her head as I - heaven forbid - take her picture.

Break!

An hour or so later and a few loops under our belts, we head back up the hill to the parking lot. Here Spence is getting set to head back up that straight downhill section... though now of course it's a straight uphill section!

A few minutes and a whole bunch of heavy breathing later, we're back at the lot and the ride is over. Love those cool September days!

Marshburg - September 6, 2009

It might seem like I stopped riding, but a few vacations got in the way of consistent riding this past summer, and indeed I only got a few stray rides in here and there... when I wasn't packing or unpacking. With summer mostly history, here's some pix from a ride in the Allegheny National Forest near my in-law's house in Marshburg, PA.

Kelly following Spence down one of the zillions of dirt roads. This is a good place to have a GPS with you, even if you think you know where you're going.

Fun section! This one turned into a little river, due in part to all the stinkin' rain we've had this summer. I cleared this section, but Kelly and Spence are a little smarter.

Little tiny bit of water leads to slightly bigger bit of water ahead... Kelly contemplates her next move while Spence contemplates drying his feet. Figuring my feet might get wet anyway, I just pedaled thru.

Righteous biking along beautiful forest stream.

Big puddle. Actually, "small pond" might be more appropriate - tadpoles and all. Spence says "heck with walking" and pedals thru...

...and Kelly pedals thru too. To this point it's mostly downhill... and from here, we log several miles of steady climbing along more forest roads, finshing the ride just in time to head off to the family Labor Day picnic!

Annual Memorial Day Old Fart Tour de Blue Marsh

Saturday, May 23, 2009 - the Second Annual Old Fart Tour de Blue Marsh! Luckily the weather forecast a week out was for rain. That actually meant the weather would be beautiful... and it was. What a great day for a ride! Sonny-boy Spence, bro Roger (aka Crud), great friend George and I departed my house by 8 AM. A stop to tank up the old bod at Pattie's Place got our bellies off to a good start!

State Hill Boat Ramp. Crud on the left, Spence on the right, George hiding.

By 10 AM we were dropping Uncle Crud and Spence off at the State Hill Boat Ramp. They were going to ride from there and head counterclockwise to the Church Road parking lot. This would reverse the shorter route from last year (which ran from Church Road to the Visitor Center) as well as add 3 easy miles, making their total distance about 11 miles. They took off at about 10:15.

Church Road parking lot - George is ready to roll.

After dropping them off, George and I drove to Church Road. By the time we drove over and got ready, it was 10:45 AM. Our plan was to ride the entire 23 mile loop, ending up where we started at Church Road. I was hoping to catch up to Crud and Spence, but hmmm... we got twice the miles or more and are starting a half hour behind? Right...

Pretty sure this is near mile marker (MM) 12, 2.5 miles into our ride.

George was riding a nice Gary Fisher Cake 1. Sweet 26" XC bike with plenty of carbon fiber, right from the factory. And it has a funky, pricey XTR derailleur which we had to fiddle with the night before. George had some brand new Bontrager ACX tires as well. Both he and I have been thru other tires and we still list the ACXs as our favorite all-around tires.

George's VholdR helmet cam and a real sweet floral accent.

My GF rigid resting.

For this year's tour I'm riding my new (to me) rigid. 29" wheels and carbon fiber in the fork, stem, and bar all help to smooth the ride, but the 40 psi in the tires don't. I could've dropped the pressure but the trail is dry and fast... no desire to slow myself down with fewer psi.

George on break 'tween MMs 9 and 10 circa Justa Rd.

George descending from the rocky overlook between MMs 8 and 9 at Sterner's Hill Road (west). Note the new side trail bypassing the root mess.

Somewhere between MMs 5 and 8.

Chillin' at the Stillin' Basin... watching the perch jerkers...

George climbing near MM 28, about 16 miles into our ride. "It's all downhill from here, George!" OK, so I lied.

Crud gives a two thumbs up. Hmmm - he's suspiciously far off the trail... wonder how he got there...

Spence took some pictures of his ride with Uncle Crud, so thank you Spence for the pictures above and below. Crud got a lot of video of his ride... using a handheld cam! Crud's video is priceless... maybe I can get it on here someday, or at least a link. My favorite scene from Crud's Vid: picture a bouncy descent, screeching brakes, a lot of "whoa - whoa - WHOA!" and then green leaves fill the screen. Crud says, in a matter-of-fact tone: "I'm down."

Crud trying to convince his leg muscles to carry on...

Done! Spence, Crud, and George resting "apres ride" at Church Road. Great ride guys!

Crud and Spence got back to Church Road about an hour ahead of me. We never did catch them... maybe next year we'll go opposite directions so we're sure to meet up during the ride!

On the way home, a stop at Rita's was mandated. Wow... a large mango/vanilla gelati never tasted so good!

Middleburn to the Rescue!

Yep, you're looking at a new 30 tooth middle ring and 40 tooth big ring. They are Middleburn rings of the Slick Shift / Hard Coat variety, meaning they are ramped and pinned (hence the "Slick Shift") and coated for durability ("Hard Coat"). The coating is weird in that grease sorta stains the stuff, but BFD... the gears do the trick! Current cranksets were born in the 26" tire era and are typically 22-32-44 as far as tooth count goes. 29ers have taller tires (duh) and to compensate for the 10% extra diameter, a theoretically ideal crankset would have 10% fewer teeth on each ring. The crankset on this bike now sports a 20-30-40 set of rings. I'll admit it - if I grew bigger muscles I could've stuck with the 26er rings. But the 20-30-40 sure feels nice when you're climbing the steeps. And - an added bonus - additional clearance under the big ring. So there's less chance of boogering up a rather pricey ring on a rock or log - a good thing.

I couldn't resist making this octane sticker for the bike... you see, I have access to these stickers, and if you cut a 2 off a 112 octane sticker and a 9 off of a 98 octane sticker, you can make your own special sticker. How cute.

Later.

Nottingham County Park - May 16, 2009

(sorry for the cell phone camera pix...)

Wanted to try a new place, so I drive 45 minutes to southern Chester County to Nottingham County Park. I'd never seen this park before and I gotta say I was impressed - real nice place. For some reason - forest fire or just strange soil - the woods looked more like woods I've seen out west - lotsa scrawny pines, not too much hardwood like we're used to seeing here in southeast PA. Sort of cool - made me feel like I was riding somewhere far from home! Not knowing what to expect, I brought my cushy full-suspension bike for the ride today. Man, after riding the rigid for awhile, riding this is like cruising in a '72 Caddy - real smooth. The official trails are all doubletrack, and you couldn't find a technical element here if you're life depended on it. That could make for a boring place, but there's plenty of elevation change and fast downhills to spice things up. Tough place? Nah, not that tough! Found this unlucky critter at one end of the Buck Trail. My take on mountain biking in this park - it's a good x-country ride. You can keep your speed up both uphill and downhill. Then, if the doubletrack gets old, hop on a fire break trail for some fun. The one shown in the pic above was a blast. There's a few stream crossings in the park and this one above was the most fun of the bunch. What you see is a small "crick" on the right merging into another small crick on the left. Here's an unusual (for Nottingham) section of woods - deciduous with a bright green fern carpet. Way more inviting than the dense thorny bushes which occupied almost all of the areas where pines were found. Those thorn bushes looked purty from a distance, but an up close look revealed one stout tire puncturing 1/4" needle after another. After another. And another. Millions of pickers. There's no way you wanna fall into those bushes... not sure you'd make it out in one piece! Well, that's enough for now. Next time I'll bring the rigid and maybe the rest of the family.