This is a poorly-focused picture of a very cool bike, one that I’ve been anxious to see and ride:  a Jamis Dragon 650B.

650B is a wheel/tire specification. In short words, 650B is halfway between a 26″ and a 29″ wheel. 650B proponents say that this size gives the rider the benefits of a 29er (low rolling resistance, better traction, smooth ride) without the limitations (geometry issues, toe overlap, high center of gravity). I can’t say if 650B will stick around for the long haul or not, but it is gaining momentum. More and more tires, wheels and forks are available all the time. Things look pretty good, but selection is not what it is in the 26 and 29 worlds.

This particular 650B is composed of several interesting pieces:  Steel Reynolds 853 frame. A very nice White Brothers Loop TCR fork. American Classic wheels. Syncros (a division of Ritchey) cockpit and seat post. And a Shimano SLX drivetrain.

Know what? I did that, too. I said to myself, “That’s one helluva bike, marred by an SLX drivetrain.” It’s not that I thought SLX was bad, I just thought it was pretty darn average. However, we’ve built four Dyna-Sys (10-speed) SLX bikes this week and they all shift really good, so I’m rethinking my stance.

A few words about Dyna-Sys. When Shimano introduced their 10-speed mountain bike drivetrains, it looked very much like a quick response to SRAMs very awesome XX technology. A closer look indicates that Shimano spent a long time working on the entire system. Interesting bits include closer-ratio rings in the front, a Dyna-Sys specific chain and two big changes to the cassette: a huge 36-tooth cog and a tightening of the middle ratios. The idea is two-fold: make front shifting better and make the Primary Driving Gear (Shimano speak for the middle ring) more usable via the wider range of ratios in the back.

Most of us are used to Rock Shox or Fox or maybe even Manitou forks, so this White Brothers Loop thing might seem a bit odd. It is for real? Yes, it is. One of the challenges high-end fork manufacturers face is the threshold between locked-out and active. For instance, you don’t want the fork to bob when you’re pedaling, but you’d like it to absorb the hit if you run over a log. Everybody uses some sort of internal valving techniques to achieve this platform, and the Loop uses magnets in its Aura damper. Very clever. The TCR in the fork name refers to its possible adjustments:  Threshold, Compression damping and Rebound damping. All in all, it’s quite a fork.

The whole package is great. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think the frame is gorgeous. The green is sparkly in the light and small-diameter steel tubes appeal to me. The American Classic rear hub makes that neat patter sound that American Classic freehub bodies make. Plus the ride is something — but something that’s difficult to quantify. It’s not as whippy as a racy 26″ bike. It’s also bigger, more substantial, but without that too-big feeling some 29ers engender. In short, it’s different, but different in a good way, like your favorite dish made with a new ingredient, like a Hendricks martini.

Hello. Today’s blog is a little bit different from those you may have seen in the past. For starters, I, Lily Krone (aka Tim’s Daughter, or just That Girl With Glasses Who’s Sometimes in the Shop and Often has Food Stains on Her T-Shirt), am writing this post. Secondly, today’s blog is not so much an update or tidings of some exciting event as it is an amusing anecdote. So…here we go:

A couple of weeks ago, my dad (Tim), Ryan, Kim McGowan and I drove up to Grand Rapids for a cyclocross race in my dad’s car. The two bikes were on the roof rack on top of the car, as were the bikes’ front wheels. A few miles into our commute, when we were on the freeway, my dad opened the sunroof to check that the bikes and wheels were safe and secure on their mounts and noticed that Ryan’s wheel was shaking precariously in the rack. He said he was sure it’d be fine, but maybe we ought to pull over and check, just to be sure.

We pulled off onto the D Avenue exit, and Ryan reached on top of the car to tighten down his wheel. Within minutes we were back on the open road, with these yellow and orange trees and this green, green farmland just stretching out forever. My dad did another quick wheel check through the sunroof and noticed that Ryan’s wheel was still moving around more than we perhaps would have liked. We decided after some consideration that it could make it until we got to the race.

Just a few miles after that, my dad looked in the rearview mirror and began chuckling. It seemed that Ryan’s wheel had fallen off the car after all. My father gave us a play-by-play of Ryan’s wheel skidding along the highway. “It’s hit the road!” He laughed, “It’s hitting the guardrail! It’s in the median!”

Ryan, thinking that my dad was joking, peered up through the sunroof. “Tim,” he said, “my wheel’s still there…but your wheel isn’t.”

All laughter abruptly ceased and an expletive was heard emanating from the driver’s seat. I got the distinct feeling that maybe this wasn’t funny anymore. “We’ve gotta turn around,” he, my father, said, “do you see any of those emergency turnoffs?”

A few moments later we were using one of the Authorized Vehicle Only turnarounds to get to the other side of the highway. When we got to the spot that my dad imagined the wheel had landed, he pulled over, put on his hazards, and hopped out of the car. Ryan followed him and together they scurried across the highway and awkwardly hopped over the guardrail. They jogged down the median, searching for the wheel. To add to the humiliation that had already been felt, my dad tripped and fell in the wet grass. They continued on, though, for about fifty yards, until they located the wheel, which was significantly less damaged than my father’s pride.

My dad and Ryan returned to the car, wheel in hand, and we continued on our expedition to Grand Rapids, Land of the Single Stage Sewer System, this time with all wheels in the trunk.

Tired of the same old black seat bag? Me too. These guys sport cool designs, plenty of storage and a loop for your blinky light. For your safety. Because we care.

The weather the past few days has been spectacular — cool in the morning and rising to 70ish in the afternoon. Where was this weather all September? I do not know.

Anyway, thanks to the wonder of Winter Hours (Pedal doesn’t open until noon) I’ve been out riding between the hours of school starting and work starting. Yesterday it was forty when I began my ride, today it was 53. Brrr. Cool enough for toe- or shoe covers and windproof gloves. For a wuss like me, at least.

One of my favorite companions on days like this is one of these:

A Craft Pro Zero Wind-Stopper baselayer. It’s a regular (which is to say, fantastic) Craft Pro-Zero long-sleeved baselayer with a Gore Wind Stopper panel sewn to the chest. I like biking in it because it keeps my trunk warm without overheating the rest of me. For winter running, it’s the perfect thing to wear down to just about freezing, especially against the wind. My wife gave me one of these on my birthday years ago. In the time since, I’ve amassed several more, always wishing I had one when the rest were in the laundry.

You might check this out and say, “Nifty! But $80 for underwear is stupid.” I’d agree if said expensive underwear lasted one season or two, but I still have the original garment my wife bought me six years ago. In fact, I wore it this morning. So, yes. $80 is a lot to spend on fancy underwear, but $15/year doesn’t seem bad at all to be more comfortable on those chilly days.

We’ll be open a little bit less for the next few months — setting up at noon and close at the usual time, with a couple of changes. We’re now open until seven on Monday and Wednesday, and six for the remainder of the week days. Saturday remains the same, 10-5.

I have to admit that the shop staff is pretty excited by the prospect of a few more hours to ride in this wonderful, if all too temporary, Indian summer. Quick: go smell the grapes.