Great weather

This week has been full of great weather. Sure it was wicked hawt on Tuesday but I made sure to ride really early in the morning and then, since I was stuck at work until 9pm, it was a mild 65 degrees for my ride home. Last night, after getting in from my ride, I overhauled the mtb. Granted there is not much that needs to be overhauled on a hardtail singlespeed but the thing was filthy and creaking worse than an old lady's arthritic hip when we rode on Saturday. I also had a new front wheel built by Brian at JRA Cycles and I wanted to inspect the condition of it after 2 rides.
The 650b experiment seems to be working out great. It fits my Fox Vanilla fork with room to spare and feels just big enough to give me a little extra rolling momentum over the technical stuff without feeling sluggish or challenging to maneuver when it gets really technical. For those that like 26 inch wheels but are on the taller side of the scale (and thus carrying some body mass up higher than average) I'd recommend the 650b wheel option, at least on the front.

With a cold beverage in one hand and some simple green soaked rags in the other I scrubbed the ti frame clean and then moved on to cleaning the parts. I even pulled out the EBB to clean and properly lube it and I moved the bb to the bottom of the shell instead of the top just like Thom recommends. While I wouldn't call the bike spotless, it is a lot cleaner than when I started and it is (seemingly) creak free which is even more important.

The other big motivator for cleaning the Verve is that tonight I've been invited to an exclusive session at some of the best trails in the greater Boston area and I don't want to disappoint the audience with a dirty, noisy machine. I may not keep up, but it won't be due to mechanical issues.