The Bike Traveler

Surly Moonlander with a BionX 48 Volt Kit Pre-installed

TBT Crew — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 03:01:00 +0000

We just noticed that NYCEWheels are selling Surly Moonlanders with BionX 48 Volt kits pre-installed. We have purchased BionX kits from NYCEWheels in the past to install on customers bikes and have always had great success with them. NYCEWheels have been selling BionX kits for many years, so I would think their Surly Moonalander with BionX kit is very well thought out and well built.

Click here to go to the NYCEWheels web site.

Here is a YouTube video of their build.

Century Training Program

TBT Crew — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:22:33 +0000

It is the time of year when we need to be thinking of our cycling goals for this year. Last year my goal was to ride a Century ride and finish it feeling good! I had great success with the book by Marla Streb “Bicycling Magazine’s Century Training Program”. The book laid out a clear plan covering everything someone needs to finish a Century ride and feel good about it. The book covers setting up a training plan, motivation, equipment, group riding, ride technique, nutrition, and more. I recommend this book to anyone thinking about signing up for a 100mile ride.

Another great book to use in tandem it Bicycling’s “Long-Distance Cycling”. Which has many tips and techniques to help you have an enjoyable Long Ride.

The Bike Traveler wishes everyone a great 2013 season.

Purchase the books here from Amazon:

This Bike Ride Made Possible by Grip Studs and Surly Bud & Lou Tires

TBT Crew — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:40:40 +0000

Thanks to some inspiration from Lao Tzu Cycles Blog I also decided to stud my Surly Bud and Lou tires. I too had wiped out my bike on a trail with about 2 to 3 inches of snow over ice. So I was really considering studding my Bud & Lou tires the post on Lao Tzu Cycles Blog made me feel comfortable in doing it and that I was not going to just trow my money away.

I have to say they work great! I put about 22 miles on them the first ride out. The trail conditions were a mix bag of frozen gravel, ice, hard packed snow, crusty snow, soft melting snow, and melting ice on the way back. The Surly Lou and Bud tires with Grip Studs handled it all without any issues. The stability of the bike was greatly improved. Granted I still may wipe out on the bike but the chances are far less likely. They do sound like a Mac truck on pavement!

I went with 60 studs in the front and 80 in the rear (I bought the 150 box of 1000′s). They went in easy with the 4000 bit in a hand tool.

To quote Lou Reed “Take a walk on the wild side.”

Here are some pictures:

Surly Bud with Grip Studs Front

Surly Lou with Grip Studs Rear

Trek Transport Rear Disc Brake Upgrade

TBT Crew — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 22:14:30 +0000

Another question Trek Transport owners always ask is “can they upgrade the rear brake to disc” the answer is yes! The bike already is equipped with everything needed for a rear disc brake. This Trek Transport has an Avid BB7 MTN front and rear brake upgrade with 160mm rotors. For the rear brake just remove the old rear brakes and install a disc brake kit on the rear replace the brake cable and you are good to go!

Avid BB7 as Rear Disc Brake on a Trek Transport

Avid BB7 as Front Disk Brake on a Trek Transport

Purchase items here:

Trek Transport Rear Fender

TBT Crew — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 21:33:23 +0000

Here is a picture of a rear fender on a Trek Transport. With minor modifications to a Planet Bike Cascadia ATB Fender it works great. The only modification required was to Dremel out the chain notch in the fender to make it slightly larger.

Rear Fender on Trek Transport

Purchase items here:

Amazon.com Widgets

Trek Transport Triple Crank Upgrade

TBT Crew — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:26:55 +0000

Recently a two year old Trek Transport came into the shop with a worn out bottom bracket. The factory installed FSA cranks were fused on to the bottom bracket on the drive side forcing us to replace the cranks and bottom bracket at the same time. The customer wanted something better than the square taper inboard bottom bracket that the bike came with, so we installed a Surly Mr. Whirly MTN triple on the bike with 0ut board bearings. The customer upgraded to 175mm cranks instead of 170mm that came from the factory (note: this is a 20″ frame). The great thing is the front derailer system on the Trek Transport was set up for a triple crank, but just adjusted down to only use the compact gearing that the bike comes with from the factory. We did have to replace the chain because of the longer length required. We use Park Tools guide for calculating length and put two Sram PC 890′s together to accommodate the length.

Here are some pictures of the upgrade:

Bottom Bracket Removed

Limit Screws Set for Double

New Out Board Bottom Bracket.

Mr. Whirly installed.

Purchase items here:

Triple D Winter Race

TBT Crew — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:22:21 +0000

Another great winter race in the Midwest the Triple D.

ShellTrack Fat-Bike Race 2/2/2013

TBT Crew — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:54:08 +0000

The new Fat Bike Birkie event

TBT Crew — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 04:46:08 +0000

The new Fat Bike Birkie event will be held on March 9, 2013. This race will be held entirely on the Birkie Trail system and will be the only day that bikes are allowed on the groomed ski trail. They have a cap of 300 riders and have less than 100 slots left. It promises to be a fun and challenging event. More info at www.birkie.com

Winter Fat Bike Festival At The Southern Kettle Moraine, WI

TBT Crew — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:18:37 +0000

This looks like a lot of fun!