So I had not had a chance to test ride the Vortex since I built it. The day after Christmas I called The Stable and ordered a set of tires for the Vortex. They came in and Michelle picked them up for me on New Years Eve.
Barbegazi!
The tires are the Bontrager Barbegazi! Very nice looking tire for snow. Unfortunately we do not have much of that. I had planned a ride for Saturday, January 2, 2016 and wanted to ride these tires and test the Vortex. So that meant heading to the Bicycle Den (the basement) to mount the tires up. This proved to be quite the task.
If you have been following here you know that I purchased my wheels from Bikes Direct and they came with Vee Snowshoe 4.5 Tubeless Ready tires. These tires proved to be very difficult to remove from the wheels. I spent a great deal of time getting them off the Mulefut wheels. I have never had this much of an issue removing a tire. I finally got them off and installed the new tires (I will have to take off the new tires when my red rim strips come in).
As I expected the chain rubbed on the rear tire in the easiest gears. I was riding the next day and needed a solution. So I started removing the front derailleur and shifter. I took the front chainring off of JJ's bike as well as the 11-40 Praxis cassette (I will get him an 11-42 Microshift cassette by spring). I pulled the chainrings off the crank that was on the Vortex and then put on a Shimano SLX rear derailleur and Shimano Zee rear shifter. The bike was now a 1x10!
Front wheel with Barbegazi mounted.
The tires are supposed to be 4.7 inch wide. However, mounted to the 80mm Mulefut they measure 4.4 from outside knob to outside knob. Not so sure that you could run a 100mm rim with these tires and not have chain rub on the tire in the easiest gear?
So the bike was now ready for a test ride that would take place the following day at Island Lake!
Changes cut the weight to 31 pounds!
Test Ride: This bike really attracts attention with the paint and build. The geometry is spot on and it handles great. Setting on the bike it almost feels small. However, the top tube length is in my range. The bars are definitely not wide enough. I have a set of wider bars and will change them out to see how it feels. Even with the narrow bars the bike handled like it was on a rail!
I was a little concerned with the gearing I ended up with. There is a 30 tooth on the front and an 11-42 cassette. This proved to be a more than capable gear for Island Lake!
The tires have excellent grip and less rolling resistance than the Vee Snowshoes I have used in the same conditions. Hoping to be able to test these tires in some snow before this winter is over.
Next step will be to change out the bars and test out a wider bar. Hoping this will make the cockpit feel more to size. The rest of the bike is spot on and could not be better. For the Black Friday price that I purchased this frame at it was one of the best bang for the buck I have ever had!
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