Getting My Fingers Soiled – Bike Snob NYC

I’ve been doing most of my driving on the highway as of late, however this previous Saturday the warmth and humidity relented considerably, and so I figured it was a superb time to lastly get again off of it once more:

I used to be lengthy overdue for a reunion with the Jones, and it felt good to lastly get some filth beneath my tires.

Whereas driving a Jones with out the eponymous bar is type of like going to a pizzeria and ordering the Sicilian slice as a substitute of the common, I’ve been having fun with the novelty of the Tosco bar:

I like authentic bar too, after all…

…however as I discussed final week I’ve a factor for sweep:

Clearly the Tosco requires an extended stem, nevertheless it’s actually not all that totally different from the Jones bar in that it provides you a rearward portion for upright cruising and for sliding again within the saddle on steep descents, in addition to a ahead place (the place I’ve received that second set of grips) for extra detail-oriented maneuvering, and naturally for getting “aero.”

For pure offroad driving the Jones bar is significantly better, and as Jeff himself famous throughout an e-mail alternate across the time that interview with him, it’s potential this bar may slip or worse beneath exhausting use–you understand, like this:

However I trip like this:

So I’m not too involved.

However, I will probably be restoring the bike to its authentic state within the close to future so I can as soon as once more take full benefit of its Jonesness.

Within the meantime, having been totally brainwashed by Rivendell, the opposite quirky factor I’ve been doing on the Jones is utilizing a Silver2 friction shifter, which isn’t presupposed to work with a SRAM Eagle drivetrain however really does–with one caveat. As I discussed after I first put in it, you’ve gotta push it kinda far to get into the bottom gear. Nevertheless, that’s much less of an issue on the Tosco bar than it’s on the Jones bar as a result of totally different form, and the lever remains to be simple to succeed in right here…

…at which level it’s within the penultimate gear:

After that I’ve received to stretch juuust a bit to get the chain onto that final cog…

…nevertheless it occurs earlier than I’ve to contort myself an excessive amount of:

Little question there are friction shifters that may work higher with this explicit drivetrain, however there’s a particular pleasure in utilizing one thing that’s not presupposed to work however does, even when it doesn’t work completely. In actual fact, I used to be feeling so smug about my renegade drivetrain that shortly after taking the above image I executed a tough multi-cog shift to my very lowest gear simply to show that I may do it–after which this occurred:

I’ve by no means over-shifted a sequence into the spokes with a 50-tooth cassette, however now that I’ve I can guarantee you it’s not enjoyable:

It actually received caught in there good, too:

Ultimately I used to be capable of free it, after which I regarded like I’d been fingerprinted:

The harrumphers on the market could also be inclined to impugn the large cassettes of as we speak for making thrown chain restoration exponentially tougher, whereas the techies would possibly say I brung upon on myself with my foolish friction shifter. In actual fact, I’ve solely myself guilty, as a result of clearly the restrict screw was off, and I’m stunned it didn’t occur sooner. Happily nothing was broken, and the remainder of the trip was trouble-free:

Talking of Jones, my LWB is the primary model of the entire bike (that may be “V1”), and I see now that it’s as much as V3. Most firms that promote full bikes don’t go into a lot element in regards to the components, particularly on the lower-priced fashions. Possibly they’ll draw consideration to one thing just like the shifters as a result of that’s what persons are educated to have a look at after they store (“This bike comes with XT as a substitute of SLX so it should be higher!”) however you don’t know something about that unbranded hub or all that different stuff the standard shopper tends to miss till it wants consideration otherwise you need to change the cassette. Jeff Jones then again tells you every thing–and I imply every thing–about what he placed on the bike and why:

“How thick are the plates on the chain?” is a query you most likely weren’t asking, however he’s received you lined anyway:

I’ve by no means labored for an enormous bike firm, however I’m guessing most of them haven’t personally examined a derailleur to destruction on a monster e-bike earlier than deciding to place it on a whole bicycle:

The most recent Jones completes additionally include a alternative of hydraulic or mechanical disc brakes, and as a fan of the latter who’s needed to endure all kinds of “Mechanicals are inadequate to cease me and my awesomeness!” from Web MTBros I appreciated his totally pragmatic breakdown of the particular variations between the 2 system:

He additionally goes into all of the element you may presumably need on the variations between the entire bike and customized construct frames:

Most bike firms fill their web sites with syntactical cellulite about how a motorcycle is “quick on circulation and loves getting down on techy trails.” Yeah, however does it have a kickstand plate?

Talking of the stuff on the most recent Jones completes, it seems like 9-speed is the brand new 12-speed:

It’s amusing to see firms utilizing advertising and marketing buzzwords and flashy web sites to say what the harrumphers have been harrumphing all this time–not that it’s a foul factor. I’m glad some firms appear to be sticking to mechanical:

They name it a “manifesto,” I name it frequent sense:

The cable is lifeless, lengthy stay the cable.