It was a perfect weekend for both road:
And trail:
And so I toggled between both on the Roaduno:
At one point I even ducked into the forbidding Trails Behind The Mall for a bit:
Yes, it’s Roaduno, but if there happens to be some singletrack between one road and another it’ll do what it has to do.
In two-speed mode the bike really does have a toggle switch too. Currently, I’m using the 38/26 chainrings it came with, and a 17-tooth rear cog, which is one tooth more than the stock 16. In this configuration, on a typical mixed-terrain ramble around these parts, I almost never feel the absence of any additional gear combinations. The big ring’s good for everything from the flats to short and/or gradual inclines, and the little ring takes care of pretty much everything else–it’s about the equivalent of the low gear on a road bike with a standard crank, so you need to get out of the saddle on a steep road climb, but it’ll still get you over pretty much anything.
I could certainly see one day adding a third ring as sort of an “overdrive” for long stretches of flat road or the sorts of descents that aren’t quite steep enough for gravity to completely take over, and no doubt I will eventually, but I’m in no particular rush to do it since I’m so pleased with the gearing as it is and I’m not exactly riding in pacelines these days, plus I like the simplicity.
So are wide-range front-shifted two- or three-speeds poised to be the new 1×12?
I dunno, but they’re certainly the exact opposite, which naturally appeals to the contrarian in me. In fact, awhile back a reader offered to send me a quad:
If ever there was a bike that would benefit from a quadruple chainring it’s the Roaduno. For that matter, maybe I should just go quintuple:
As much as I adore the Roaduno, even I have to admit that once you’re bolting a five-ring crank to it instead of just riding a bike with a rear derailleur you’re really just being obstinate. Even so, the site specifies that the quintuple is “only recommended for a bicycle with a long chainline” like a recumbent, trike or tandem, and I can’t help wondering if those trademark Rivendell chainstays would qualify.
Gearing aside, the fit is sumptuously comfortable, and I am very pleased with the drop bars:
Obviously the bike is happy to be set up as a true singlespeed, but in toggle switch mode it really does manage to combine the fun and simplicity of a singlespeed with the convenience of a geared bike, and it realizes what I was trying to accomplish with the erstwhile Artisanal Singlespeed when I’d gear it up and change the tires for longer rides:
All of which culminated in the bike’s eventual dingle-ization:
In retrospect I suppose I was simply getting too old for a singlespeed mountain bike and clearly what I really needed to keep the flame of irreverence alive was a two-speed fat-tired road bike–though looking at the Artisanal Singlespeed again does make me miss it.
Speaking of road bikes with fat tires, people call them “gravel bikes” now, and they’re everywhere. Even when I don’t see them I know they’ve been here. That’s because I’m a tracker, like Leonard Smalls:
Just by looking at the trail I know a small group of people have ridden through here on Gravel Kings:
It’s also clear from the tracks that they hand handlebar bags and MAAP clothing and rode up from Brooklyn.
Just call it a hunch.