Agree 100% with " Friction shifting is a cruel mistress. I found myself hesitating to shift, worried I’d miss a gear while ascending, so I sort of grunted it out in a select few gears. It’s the only ride I’ve been on in a while that made me lust for indexed shifting."
I used to have a grilver Clem H with 2.25 knobbies and a Jones bar. I could sorta get used to how long it was, but the singletrack I have access to has enough rooty, quick turning little ascents that made me really want an index-shifter on the rear. Would highly recommend setting it up that way for those in similar situations. [image: Umstead_rear_quarter_75%.jpg] Tom On Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 12:10:18 PM UTC-4 dros...@gmail.com wrote: > I found myself on an unplanned ride today with my Gus Boots Willsen, and > let me say, it’s a real mountain bike—no doubt about it. Sure, it’s also a > hillibike and a damn good cruiser, but until now, I’d been treating it like > a dad gravel rig, cruising along the easy paths. Today, though, I was out > there with a buddy on a full suspension beast, and the Gus held its ground. > > But let’s talk about the shifting. Friction shifting is a cruel mistress. > I found myself hesitating to shift, worried I’d miss a gear while > ascending, so I sort of grunted it out in a select few gears. It’s the only > ride I’ve been on in a while that made me lust for indexed shifting. The > 2.25-inch cross-country tires I’m currently running? Not ideal. A wider > tire with lower pressure would have been a game changer, no question about > it. Surprisingly, my 70 degree swept handlebars were an actual blessing as > they allowed me to keep my weight back while descending. > > Thank the gods for the SQ Labs 602 saddle—padded and ready for the chaos > of rocky terrain. I shudder to think what it would have been like on one of > my Brooks saddles. I was seated, navigating through a minefield of rocks, > without a dropper post to save my undercarriage from abuse. > > I’ve ridden my fair share of 90s mountain bikes, and I’ll tell you this: > the Gus is a more capable singletrack machine with its improved geometry. > Today’s ride opened my eyes. The Gus is more than just a hillibike. It’s an > all-rounder, ready for whatever madness the trail throws at you, so long as > you’re keeping the rubber on the ground. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a21e3e20-f190-4ad1-ac9e-8840198dda8bn%40googlegroups.com.
