Dirty Kanza 200 - My Bike & Equipment
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 4:00AM 6 Comments I was in a tizzy leading up to the race regarding what bike to bring. Now that I shared my secret goal of finishing in sub 18 hours and in the top 20-30, maybe you can see why I considered riding my Vaya. My set up on the Vay is lighter and faster. However, I fell back to the bike I know and love, my Bike With No Name. It was the perfect choice. I can't tell you how perfect it was for this rough course.
Brief stop on the CC road with my Bike With No Name
First off, I love titanium for a bicycle material. I don't care what others say and I don't care if folks comment that "You have to say that 'cuz you need to sell titanium bikes for Salsa." I will simply remind folks that I could pick and ride any number of bikes from steel, to alloy to titanium. I chose titanium for it's ride quality and low weight.
Second, I love my Revelate Designs, formerly Epic Designs, frame bag and gas tank. I carried ALL my stuff with me. No outside support. I did not buy one bit of food in any of the convenience stores as I carried it with me from the beginning. This was only possible due to my frame pack and gas tank. Thank you Eric.
Third, I only made one gear mistake. OK two, but they are the essentially the same. First, I never actually got around to setting my wheels up tubeless. I also never got around to replacing a fairly well worn rear tire before the race. As I mentioned yesterday, I sort of thought some of the horror stories were Kansas folk lore. I was wrong and I should have put a brand spankin' new rear tire on. I also should have gotten the wheels set up tubeless after riding with folks and seeing first hand what the right set up can do on this brutal rock surface.
Fourth, if I did it again, I may install my Cane Creek Thudbuster ST and ride that instead of the Eriksen ti post I rode. I chose not too ride the Cane Creek because I had dialed my fit and comfort in so well prior to the event that I did not want to touch my seat position, angle, & height for fear of not getting it just right again. Yeah, I know that probably sounds stupid but it is the truth.
In the end, I just can't help but think my bike was near perfect. The fact that I rode the race on Saturday, drove 9 hours home on Sunday and went to work work feeling good on Monday morning is proof that this bike is pretty darn special.
Dirty Kanza in A bike with no name, DK Wednesday
Reader Comments (6)
Nice post ride observations. I'd love to sample Epic Designs work but I'm thinking my smallish order placed many moons ago is never going to show up. I don't have a Ti bike frame but I have other Ti goods. I've used the metal in my outdoor and hobby pursuits for a while and I can see your point for it being a good choice for a frame. Owning a Ti frame is on my list but its a long list.
You may be shocked J to learn I recommended a Vaya to a good friend in need of a decent road bike that can do a "bit" more, handle some very different situations. See how open minded I am?
Gnat, I was so glad to see you chose the titanium rig for this event. I knew there was a price to be paid for "going fast" and you pretty much nailed the idea when you say, "I was able to drive 9 hours and go to work the next day". Try that after riding a Vaya at our age and condition. Price for going fast = too high, at least for me and where Dirty Kanza is concerned. Other gravel isn't anything like that. A Vaya is great for Iowa/Minnesota/Nebraska, etc.
You might also want to note that Epic Design is now Revelate Design due to the dust up with a certain "big S" company.
Hey, I remember that road! Wow - you carried everything including the "linebacker of a body" (not my words - don't hate) you have. That's quite impressive. Maybe I can hook you up with some support if you ever are crazy enough to try the DK 200 again.
Simply love this statement since these are the roads I ride for fun, "horror stories (the roads) were Kansas folk lore. I was wrong and I should have put a brand spankin' new rear tire on."
I ended up having to toss an almost brand new Schwalbe Marathon Extreme into the garbage following our Kanza thrashing... Yeah, it's brutal. I was totally over-riding my tires. Good thing I had 'em set up tubeless. My rear tire had more than a dozen spots where the sealant had plugged up holes or cuts across the tread zone. It's still holding air! I actually rode my Vaya to work today that way... LOL.
Fun times...
I shelled an almost new Marathon Extreme last year. It went into the trash after having been booted multiple times from mile 35 to the middle of Lil Egypt Road. Interesting to see the take on tubeless vs tubes. My first flat this year was when I pulled off the road to withdraw from the race. I was riding insanely high pressures (100 PSI) to keep the flats at bay. It worked, but if I try that again, I'll need to have a Thudbuster on my La Cruz instead of the Thomson I have on there now. One of your Salsa compatriots had double flatted both of his tubeless tires on his Vaya and was running tubes front and rear by the time he left the first checkpoint.
Steve, great to meet finally meet you.
I should have added a few more details to my thought. It is not the end all. I just think the combination of larger tire that is new like the Bontrager 1.9 or similar and tubeless would have given me more protection and overall, fewer flats. I suspect I still would have flatted.
I believe you were referencing Koski on his Vaya - He was running Conti Speed 42's. I also know others that ran the speeds and they had some flat issues too so I don't think that tubeless or tubed worked with that tire.
The extremes typically do well, but Gersib had the same experience as you. He ran them tubeless and shelled a tire.
Right now I am thinking just that the larger volume tire (not cross type widths) coupled with tubeless will work better and still provide reasonably better performance and that I would still carry all the stuff to repair a tire and replace with tubes. .