Beautiful day to ride a bike!

Both running 1x, even on road bike? How do you find it?

I run 1x on mountain bike, and have always been tempted on road bike but can't see wide enough range. My 'thing' in cycling is climbing stuff, and end up climbing some insane things, so when I set my climbing gear, the top gear possible seems too easy to spin out on the downhills.

Sram Force 1x rear deraileur/cassette with the rest Sram red22. You get the same ratios as a 2x, reduce some weight too. Rear cassette is an 11-42, front is a single 42. The spaces between gears are a bit larger, but cadence doesn’t effect me as it’s a gravel bike...I ride it everywhere.

I'm in the hills of Scotland - not very often using the big dog. Maybe we can buy a chainset and split? 😀

That's pretty tempting if you're getting the same ratios. Any time I can lose a decent chunk of weight off my climbing bike I'm a happy guy! I may need to look into that this year.

Sure, here are some pics when building...

Loving the graphics on the top tube, very nice build!
I'm just thinking of "The Rules" for photographing your bike "...the accepted practices include putting the chain on the big dog...". Your bike solves that problem 😀

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#26

No prob. By the way, rear Force derailleur is “clutched” so it keeps tension. No need for a chain guide or concern for a dropped chain either. It’s a lot like the Sram eagle on my mountain bike.

The BMC is sweet, but that gravel bike tho...😗

Is that Lauf fork all it's cracked up to be?

I think so, it replaced a rockshox SID. No maintenance, noticeably lighter, and it’s so ugly it’s cool. The Lauf does bob just a bit when peddling out of the saddle, but it’s only neg as far as I’m concerned. If your not bombing down mountains, and just doing some somewhat aggressive trail riding, I would recommend.

Today was not a good day for riding a bike in the Surrey Hills unless you like copious amounts of slop, spinning wheels and everything moist. Speedy and a PO representing....

You have seen most of it before but I like summing up things so here is a late bike chronicle 2017:

2017 – bike wise.

Last year saw quite some action in my hobby work shop. I do have some different hobbies and/but they are used for different purposes. The bikes are a practical tinkering-aesthetic feel good hobby.

In my line of work there are no closures. It just goes on forever and ever. Because of that it is nice (or rather – crucial) to have a hobby in which I can get the satisfaction of actually finishing something. To be able to say to myself – “hey – look what I have done!”

2017 saw some closures.

In January I got this fairly rare Merckx CorsaExtra, circa 1991-92, in Columbus Max tubing. It had mismatched wheels and some things in the build I wanted to “correct”. Somewhere in early July I had done the work. Got a front rim to match the rear, a Dura Ace stem and seatpost, a red Flite saddle and another handlebar, classic looking tires, etc.




In March a very unusual 1989 Masi 3Volumetrica “Milano” came my way. Bought as a bare frame I took my time to plan it and until June to finish it. With its bright red colour and white details - C-record parts it sure stands out. I built the wheel with polished Campagnolo Lambda rims and the somewhat coveted C-record high flange hubs – and it was pure joy doing it.




In July I finished a project that I am very, very pleased with aesthetically. A late 80ies Geliano 115S with mostly Mavic components – with a ZAP derailleur system as the main attraction (apart from the frame of course). No other bike on my flickr-site has triggered more attention than this.




In August I finished my 1989 Colnago Master Piu project. A frame that I have had since new finally got resurrected to its rightful standard. It was about time.




My 1989 Bridgestone finally got its (almost) last part – a front derailleur. With that in place I could start using the bike. The frame is a -89 and for a long time I tried to get the right parts for it. In the end I changed my plan and got a donor bike with most of a 1994 XT group. The front derailleur did not fit and it took some time to get the right one. What is it about the “almost” above…? Well there is something in me that need to change those LX cranks to XT…



Both these bikes got rid of their black side wall tires that had shamed them. They look very much better with tan wall tires




I took a knife to a Swift titanium saddle to get it to look proper.

Before


After



I started a three Bianchi projects – one 70ies Bianchi Specialissima frame finish project, a 1974 Bianchi Specialissima complete bike project and a late 60ies Bianchi Specialissima restoration.

Small frame:



Not so small (right size for me):




And the 60ies here (September):




That concludes 2017 bike wise for me.

Looking forward to 2018 and some more finished projects.

I had to look up irascible...

Sorry to hear that. I have not met him for many years. But back when I did he was very nice and talkative.