First Commute of 2010

This is a bit un-BikingBakke like, but today was my first commute to work of the year. The new car, the further distance from work (no so much the distance, but the arrival/departure times plus the new ride time length), and the to work starting with 3km of downhill with little ability to work hard to stay warm are the real, albeit weak, reasons.

This morning was +5 and a great day to start. I'll try to ride on average 2-3 days a week, which is about the same ride time as a 5 day/week prior routine, but likely better quality. Talk about an enjoyable ride, it's unseasonably warm in Calgary right now, but still not many people on the paths (at my arrival/departure time anyway).

On the equipment side, I reaffirm my love my commuter bike. Moots makes a real comooter, but that isn't quite my deal. Nice bike though (understatment - the manufacture of all Moots is unbelievably top notch). The version of a Canadian year 'round commuter I work with is a Moots Mooto-X YBB 29er with a Rohloff hub, S&S couplers, and a Schmidt SON generator hub (pictured here before the SON hub with the awesome LED Supernova E3 headlight and taillight - awesome products as well).

This week's theme is bike efficiency - from road mountain biking in New York, to riding my Cervelo R3 yesterday, to this beast today, it's such a massive contrast it's hard to believe. This thing is not an "efficient" commuter. Its over 30lbs with that setup, and the mechanical drag of the SON hub, Rohloff hub, and weight of the big 29ers make for a lot of effort. But it does make commuting into efficient training time, as I figure I'm working much harder at any given speed than most of the other bikes I could ride daily. Further, it needs mechanical attention at completely irregular service intervals. I change the hub oil yearly, and when I do that usually adjust the slider to tension up the chain again, and I wash it too sometimes. Awesome!


I happened upon the Moots site just to check what's new these days. If anyone's looking for an enduro racing bike, at least give the new anniversary edition Mooto-X 29er a look. They can be built up super light these days, maybe even try asking the Moots guys if they'll do a big Cannondale head tube - actual forked forks seem like mush to me in the longer format for big wheels, Lefty's are an awesome add and cancel out some pretty decent weight. There's something to be said for a frame that you could stage race on for a lifetime and just replace parts endlessly... something so Mootsygood it makes me want one for every day of the week... if I didn't already have one for every day of the week.