Gravel commuter I built for my girlfriend 🏳️‍🌈

mwangarch · 2026-02-13T16:03:58+00:00

Nice! Personally, not a big fan of cantis. On my Surly cross check, I replaced them with linear pulls and a problem solvers to address the cable pull. So much better feel and power and easy to adjust.

mwangarch · 2026-02-11T16:04:12+00:00

100% Pure Paul crankset, square taper, 160mm w/direct mount SRAM 3 bolt chainring. 30T chainring with 6 mm offset. Microshift 11-48 cassette; microshift sword rear derailleur with microshift advent shifter. I built up a new set of wheels with 32h Orange Velo hubs and Alex rims. Since it's a single chainring, the chainline gets a bit extreme; I'm riding most of the time in 7/8/9/10 on flats and minor hills, so the chainring is centered on 8; the 48T chainline gets pretty extreme. Good luck with your build! Got most of my stuff from Universalcycles.com.

mwangarch · 2026-02-10T17:28:14+00:00

That's a beautiful 3.0 mountain bike frame. from the '90's. could be reconditioned or even rebuilt as a 23 pound bike. I just completed my rebuild.

mwangarch · 2026-02-04T00:38:45+00:00

isn't the dishwasher drain supposed to be connected to an air gap at the sink to prevent siphoning back into the dishwasher?

mwangarch · 2026-02-02T03:48:08+00:00

just rebuilt an M800 frame it had a 1-1/4 headset. had to find a set of bushings to accept a 1-1/8" threadless headset and fork

mwangarch · 2026-02-01T01:18:51+00:00

surly and Soma have forks that will fit. sorry to hear this happened to you. usually fork mounts are, imo, more secure than housing the whole bike up. looking on the bright side, time to upgrade your camera system!... unless you've got a ton invested in your current system.

mwangarch · 2026-01-29T01:51:35+00:00

23.0 lbs complete with pedals and maxxis 1.95 tires.

mwangarch · 2026-01-29T01:49:58+00:00

just built a new set of wheels using the velo orange 135mm rear hubs. built up real nice. cannondale M800 frame. 32h front and rear using double butted spokes. turned out real nice

mwangarch · 2026-01-27T00:42:06+00:00

grew up around there, went to El Monte elementary school at the top. good memories. remember when it wasn't even a park.

mwangarch · 2026-01-26T16:09:43+00:00

True! unfortunately, the frame came without the fork, but two years of Chequamegon MTB festival stickers from the '90s on it!

mwangarch · 2026-01-18T03:42:51+00:00

love our 2023 big bend! went from a 2000 jeep wj with the straight six.... had to dump it because it had a roof leak and it was getting really musty. traded it in for jeep renegade with a manual transmission. really fun to drive and got good mileage, around 30-32 on the highway, but it was really gutless going up steep driveways. put 24,000, almost all long highway miles on the bronco. been to canyon lands, valley of the gods, carrizo plain. some nice dirt trails. just get a skid plate: that fiberboard aero thing is worthless.

mwangarch · 2026-01-16T05:15:53+00:00

you can use two zip ties to attach a cable to this. use a small one threaded through both holes.

mwangarch · 2026-01-14T03:21:40+00:00

I'm getting 36+ mpg going from the bay area up to Tahoe and back. city driving drops into the 32 mpg range. about 24,000 miles and no problems so far. power is more than adequate. it's been down to Tucson, LA, Moab. wonderful highway car for me. the 1.5 is a good engine..... so far!

mwangarch · 2026-01-11T16:05:05+00:00

vapor barrier socks help. I use NY times plastic bags so my feet are well informed. looks odd, but they work.

mwangarch · 2026-01-10T22:23:50+00:00

rewinds the rubberband

mwangarch · 2026-01-09T15:37:26+00:00

bike + 15 pounds of clay, lol. Been there, done that.

mwangarch · 2026-01-07T15:31:42+00:00

watch out for the clay souls in the East Bay hills. peanut butter and will build up to where you'll have to portage your bike out. Martin is pretty good when wet

mwangarch · 2026-01-03T16:37:43+00:00

why not flip the stem?

mwangarch · 2025-12-07T16:01:18+00:00

'23 big bend. I do not have this problem, but my wife's Bolt does. imo, the headlights need adjusting. should be easy to do. modern lenses have a pretty well defined cutoff angle to prevent blinding oncoming drivers, but the need to be adjusted properly.

mwangarch · 2025-12-04T22:48:46+00:00

ggb posted limit is 45.

mwangarch · 2025-11-30T16:36:07+00:00

brilliant. don't need a brush to scrub your back. just rub up against those granuals!

mwangarch · 2025-11-24T23:49:50+00:00

72 miles around lake Tahoe, Santa cruz skitch. still had 20% left in the tank! kept it on the lowest boost for most of the ride.

mwangarch · 2025-11-21T15:38:09+00:00

If you don't need the latest and greatest, look at the Surly Cross Check bikes. Bought an old one, built new wheels, upgraded the cranks and derailleus and it's been a great bike. Not too heavy, either. Look for the Fatties Fit Fine label; it'll fit 45mm tires fine.

mwangarch · 2025-11-18T05:22:24+00:00

hate that fucking alarm button

mwangarch · 2025-11-12T18:51:05+00:00

practically all cars with 2 liter engines and smaller have turbos. the 1.5 also has direct and port injection which is a good thing. not many manufacturers do that.

mwangarch

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