Ron'S New Raven

[RonS]

Trying to copy photos from Photobucket, part deux.

Managed to get out for an evening ride to try out the lights. The path, which starts about 3km from the house, is about 10km long and winds through trees and meadows alongside the Fraser River. Packed with walkers on a sunny weekend but deserted at dusk.







The location of the pump seemed like a good idea at the time, but it effectively raises the stand over height  about an inch, so I'll be moving it. Perhaps I'll get a mini pump to put in the trunk bag.

Matt, the mudguards are Planet Bike Cascadia II MTB. They are very similar to SKS in looks, but the guard itself is all polycarbonate, no metal liner.  They come complete with the flap. They are also less than half the cost of SKS here in Canada.
They went on very easily. They must have been stored correctly as they were almost dead straight. I just eyeballed them on centre, tightened everything up, and trimmed the stays.
The white bit on the flap is a piece of DOT conspicuity tape. It's used on commercial trucks in North America.

The photos appear to be in the right place. Thank you for the tutelage, Dan.

[Danneaux]

The photos appear to be in the right place. Thank you for the tutelage, Dan.

Very welcome, Ron; the photos look great and so does the bike! Very nice to see the low-light evening shots.

A small note to Matt: PanetBike is very good about selling small parts, the Cascadia mudflaps among them. I have ordered several sets for some of my bikes with SKS 'guards. For a complete listing of ehat they have available, see: https://ecom1.planetbike.com/smallparts.html

The flaps are about 2/3 of the way down the page. PB's fender struts and 10mm drawbolts with nylock nuts are outstanding as well; I much prefer them to the usual 8mm variety. Free domestic shipping if you're in the YewEssay, minimal direct shipping charges otherwise.

Best,

Dan.

[David Simpson]

What a fantastic place to ride.  I ride on similarly gravelled trails, and I think you'll find that your tires are a perfect balance for those trails and paved roads.

Do you get a lot of mosquitoes along the river there?  Part of my regular ride is on a trail next to a creek, and on summer evenings (around dusk) I need to keep my mouth shut when I ride.

- Dave

[David Simpson]

Free domestic shipping if you're in the YewEssay

They also provide free shipping to Canada.

- Dave

[Hoodatder]

Cracking looking bike. As they say "Less is more". The subtlety of the tan saddle is spot on.
I hope you relished the build of this bike and it gives you extra momentum when out cycling.
The Arkel panniers do it justice as well. To quote Yves St Lauren - "Fashion fades - style is eternal" and you got style, bro.

Ian

[jags]

photos and bike just get better
Ron check out Dan's nomad for a clever place to fix pump.
i actually though yours was good until you said about stand over height
so whats the verdict on the headlight.
next few bob i get  i will get that set up, i have good battery lights but the dynamo makes a lot of sense, and summer night riding is CLASS.


jags.

[RonS]

Dragged my neighbour out for an evening ride last night ( gelato at the turn around point for an incentive ) and yes, Dave, the bugs were getting into my mouth.

The 2in Supremes are great for almost all riding surfaces. The only time they have lost the battle is going up a 20% grade on a gravel covered trail.

Jags, the seatstays on the Raven are spaced closer at the top than the Nomad, so Dan's clever mounting of the pump was not an option. I tried. My Zefal is also the model 3, quite long.
I decided to get a new pump. MEC, a large outdoors equipment co-op ( Canadian version of REI in USA ) had a nice mini floor pump for only $29 ( about £16 ) so I thought I'd give it a try.



It's a Filzer Mini Zee. At 34 cm it's a little big for a bar bag, but it'll go in a trunk bag, or, in my case fit nicely in its included clip in the unused water bottle position.
I'm very pleased with the pump. The body is aluminium, so it should last. A rebuild kit is available for $5. It has a hose and a very accurate gauge when checked against the SKS Airchecker. The gauge is poorly positioned ( faces down if valve at 6 O'clock ).
It's easy to use with the fold out foot peg, and it pumps a lot of air. It filled my 2in Supremes at a rate of 3PSI per 4 strokes and did a 700-32C tire at a little better than 1PSI with every stroke. Better than the Zefal.

I'll do a totally unscientific review of the lights when I have some time on the weekend. I will say now to anyone about to buy a B&M Cyo to spend the extra €5 for the premium model. It is so much better than the previous generation I do not understand why B&M still sells them.

[Andre Jute]

Thanks for the excellent report and photo, Ron; I was keen to see your Kleen Kanteen installation.

About the mini pump: that's a place where it will get dirty fast. You may want to look in clips by Topeak and others, sold as spares by Chainreaction and probably just about everyone else, which fit a minipump under a water bottle, so you can choose your mounting and don't lose one of your bottles.