Saturday, November 12, 2022

My Bike Addiction

Addictions can be good or bad...I have yet to determine if my habitual bike buying/selling addiction is good or bad. Some people seem very content with one bike forever...not me, I want to try the newest stuff all the time. I've spent both time and money discovering what works for me and what is plainly useless for me...I found I hate the so called "gravel" bikes; I still prefer a mountain bike and flat bars on gravel any day (just as I have been doing since the I started riding mountain bikes in the mid-1980s. I've also found that my preference in fat bikes is narrower fat tires (yes that is paradoxical) and I prefer very a specific geometry (which most manufacturers don't make). 

In the last few years major increases in pricing has definitely forced me to choose bikes and parts that I would want to keep long term vs. try them out. I thought I was on a roll with my Chumba bikes...I was rather determined to make the titanium Chumba Stella a long term, do everything ride...


But then I "needed" a steel Chumba Sendero for single speed only use and during my wait for the Sendero and older Engin custom steel frame pinged the radar and so it ended up in my shop. 

Then the Sendero arrived a few months later. 

Everything was good, I was all set for a long time with what I had, but the radar pinged again on a used Funk La Ruta 29+ for a decent price (something I've wanted since 2016 when I first saw one but the frame price was always just too much for me to buy one). And as expected the La Ruta hit my shop. 

Then the radar pinged once more and a Waltworks custom steel fat bike showed up at my shop. BOOM...I went from some sort of self control and contentment to over abundance. 


My poor wife can't keep up with what I have and sometimes starts looking a little google eyed at me when a box is delivered or something appears amiss in the colors hanging on the "bike wall" or when her bike is in a new position. 

The Engin arrived in March and is a super smooth dreamy ride for a rigid bike. It has an older geometry with I am partial to for gravel and forest road/trail riding. I smile every time I ride it and in fact started choosing it over my titanium Chumba Stella since the Engin is waaayyy smoother to ride. The Stella has a lot less "give" due to the thickness of the titanium tube it is made with (not all titanium tubing is friendly to ride compliance). The steel Chumba Sendero also had a nicer ride quality than the Stella but I was not overly happy with the feel of the Sendero geometry. 

The La Ruta ruined everything...a short travel full-suspension, light weight titanium frame that can be run as single speed and take up to 29x3.0" tires hit every possible interest for me. I set it up as a single speed with 3" tires...I wanted to hate it because I told myself that the Chumba bikes were all I needed and I was sure the rear suspension on the La Ruta would prove to be just as awful feeling as almost all of my past full suspension bikes. I've never kept a full suspension bike very long since with few exceptions they either feel inefficient or actually ride like a slug due to poor design.

Riding the La Ruta was dreamy smooth, pedaling is efficient even without the rear suspension locked out, it's light, corners well, goes up and down badass stuff amazingly well...I could not find a single dislike except that I would have designed the geometry a little different (like tuck the rear wheel in a bit more and slightly shorten the top tube). It made both Chumba bikes feel harsh and after a few months of debating with myself I sold both Chumba bikes and I'm currently very happy with what I have.