It's August! Riding through the heat.

[north woods gal]

Sheila, the Log Lady is actually quite comparable to the much more expensive Gunnar in terms of ride quality and handling. Been extremely pleased at just how close it is to the Gunnar. That steel fork is exceptionally well designed. The Log Lady really is a steal for the price. Close enough, in fact, that the new Log Lady frame with fork at only half the price of a new Gunnar frame was a no brainer. The LL is light, agile, fast and nimble, just like the Gunnar. After all, it was designed to be a racing single speed MTB.

As much as I hate to say it, the Krampus is a tank compared to the other two. The Krampus geometry and build, though, is very different. The Krampus, like most Surly bikes is overbuilt, designed for slugging it out on nasty single track, not for racing like my two single speeds. It's a great bike in its own right, but it rides much slower than the single speeds. Of course, those big fat 3" wide tires and rims on the Krampus do slow you down a lot compared to the lighter wheels on the single speeds. Love plus and fat tires, but when it comes to pavement riding, there's just no way they can keep up with lighter, skinnier standard MTB wheels and tires. Not going to happen. For instance, on our morning rides with my husband and his fat bike, I can just keep up if I ride a fat bike. If I ride one of the single speeds with their light 2.25" tires and wheels setup, I ride circles around him, I really do. Never underestimate what going lighter with your wheels can do for your biking. I'd rate it as number one for a performance mod. Works on MTBs, just as it does on road bikes.

One of the easiest ways to lighten up a wheel on an MTB like the Krampus is to go tubeless with the tire. Really makes a big difference. Gets you a lighter wheel and better traction to boot. In fact, some bike companies are now going tubeless on their MTBs, right from the factory.

Crankin', would love to send some of our cool weather your way. Temp, up here, at ride time, this morning, was only in the 50s. Had to bundle up with leggings and a sweatshirt. Did my usual 12 miles of pavement on the Gunnar, but spent the rest of the day doing errands, so no trail riding.