Tag: mohican

TWO WEEKS WITH THE CANYON SPECTRAL: ON CFR E-MTB

The thing goes everywhere. And the cassette glows.
One of these days its gonna go up the Over/Under descent at Vulture’s Knob.

Overall as far as ride quality, I can say that it has increased my riding fun by at least 50%. Maybe more. Some people say that E-MTBs can make your regular trails seem boring. I haven’t found that to be true. Ripping up climbs adds a whole new dimension to a ride. And the sheer speed has already made me a better rider. I will admit that a trail like Vulture’s Knob is now a lot more fun going in the opposite direction from normal. Technical climbs that are just a big pain in the ass on an analogue bike are now a cool, doable, repeatable challenge. And my heart isn’t ready to explode out of my chest at the top. Never thought I’d say it, but East Rim Phase II CCW is now my preferred direction.

The motor/battery compartment actually extends lower than the chainring. The bash guard is beefy, but if I’m gonna bash over logs, I’m bringing my Chromag.

Pedal strikes have been an occasional annoyance. I’m kinda used to the low bottom bracket of my Santa Cruz Hightower, so I know that “thunk” feeling. But I’ve been reading a lot about shorter crank lengths, so I bought some 160mm to swap out the 165mm stock cranks. I’m also going to increase the front suspension from 150mm to 160mm, which the bike is designed for. (I found out that the 150 to 160 on a Fox 36 is fairly common and relatively cheap.) Further tuning of the suspension will eliminate my worries, and of course improve ride quality.

I haven’t had to diddle with the headset cable routing yet but I’ve done some research and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. It also hides the motor control cable.

Yeah, but what happens if you get out there and run out of battery? I spent the first week range finding. The range seems to be somewhere between 40-50 miles depending on amount of climbing and the ride mode. I did nearly two full laps of Mohican on a single charge. I’ve found that the lowest setting, ECO mode, is plenty for most all the trail riding I’ve done. Every once in awhile I’ll bump it up to TRAIL and rarely up to BOOST. The bike came with the largest battery available on an E-MTB: 900 wh. My concern isn’t really battery range, but battery life: how long will it last and will Canyon make after-market batteries available for purchase? So far, their response is “not yet.” But I’ll be first in line to buy the smaller, but still compatible 720wh battery which will give me the option of switching batteries and allow for shorter, but lighter and more nimble rides.

As far as riding with the motor off, it pedals amazing well for a nearly 50 pound bike. I did an out-and-back with our dog Csaba without the motor on, and it seemed like a doable proposition to ride for a few miles without assist.
Mohican “backwards” is now an absolute hoot. And maybe the best way to ride it.
Speaking of battery life, one of the reasons I bought the bike is so I can keep up with my son Adam on our rides near Durango CO in July. We’ll be staying off-grid in a yurt for a couple of days, so I bought an inverter/generator, which seems to charge the battery more quickly than a wall outlet. I plan on plenty of off-grid camping in the next few years, and I can always use a generator as a back-up source of power at our place in Northern Michigan.
My rides at Big M last weekend were some of the best I’ve ever had up there. I tried to show as much etiquette as I could when passing riders. Not gonna share my thoughts/knowledge about where E-MTBs are “legal.”
I spend a lot of time in the higher gears and I have to remind myself to shift occasionally. The power lag after a stroke also tends to make for some hard shifting, and I might decrease that so I don’t go through a cassette too quickly. Maybe the reason why SRAM developed the Eagle Transmission drivetrain?
The grippiness of the Assagai up front and the Minion DHR out back just adds to the fun. For a guy who always wanted a dirtbike, this thing is the perfect compromise: quiet (relatively), easily transportable, and rideable just about everywhere. Ok, I’ll say it: EVERYWHERE. Most places I’ve ridden so far have E-MTB segments recorded on Strava. I think it’s curious that E-MTBs have been widely embraced in Europe.
The XTR four piston brakes are definitely needed not just because of the weight of the bike but because I’m going so much faster. Yes, I know: I already almost killed myself once. This time, though, I’ll die with a smile on my face. Just kidding.
Everything seems hooked up and thought out, which isn’t surprising since Canyon was one of the first big players in the E-MTB market, and the Spectral has already undergone quite a few iterations. It’s not a perfect bike, but it was well worth $7999.
The final descent on the NCT out of Big M gets a little “hectic” as they say and I’ll have to cool my heels a bit. But geez, between the fire roads and 30 miles of single track, not to mention the NCT and the Huron Manistee National Forest, Up North has exploded with possibilities. Bored no longer!

Some Randoms:

I might never Zwift again. My rides now give me whatever level of workout I want, and I’ll be able to moderate my sweat level during the colder rides. Nothing good about a cold, sweaty ride. And my friends never gave me kudos for Zwift rides! I also feel like Zwifting through the winter contributed to some of my early spring burnout this year.

I’ve had to be careful about uploading Strava rides because I’ve earned some analogue trophies. I’ve set the viewing to “Followers only” and that keeps me off the analogue segment records.

There’s an odd feeling of fatigue after long distance rides. You don’t put out a long distance effort, but your mind tricks you into thinking you ought to be more tired. And I’m ok with no longer pushing my body to extremes and calling it fun.

e-Isolation: I’ve already felt it. People don’t want to hear about how much fun I’m having. I did a climb in the Cuyahoga Valley the other day that I had never cleaned. Even though I was out of breath and my heart rate was skyrocketing, it felt awesome. But it wasn’t a time to share my exhilaration with my buddies. My climb was aided. In their view, I’m sure, I was cheating. In my view, it was a fucking blast!

There is that analogue yearning. But the ebike is a temptation that’s hard to resist, and I’m going to have to mix in some analogue rides. Its like that old saying: it never gets easier; you just go faster. Well, it gets easier and I’m going faster. But now I’m not chasing that ever elusive level of hyperfitness that culture and marketing demands of us, and that probably isn’t very healthy in the long term – at least for me.

Last but not least, Karen and I did a ride – she was on the Canyon – and she was faster than me for a change. I think I found a new riding buddy!

P.S. I think I just coined a term: aBikes. Analogue bikes. Versus eBikes.

FRESH LIKE AN EBIKE

LIKE YOU, I’ve been trying to take advantage of this oddly warm February weather. And maybe like you, not only have I’ve been feeling that typical mid-winter lack of motivation, but I’m also…I’ll just say it out loud…REALLY BORED with the typical places and routes I’ve ridden over the last few years.

ARE WE MEN OR MICE? So after a well-made plan to do a Cleveland urban assault fell apart as quickly as it came together, I jumped at the chance when Egg, the Ride Incubator, hatched an idea to join Mike J. for a ride from his house near New Franklin, west of the Akron/Canton metroplex. (More on Mike later – he’s a real deal OG whose Wanted poster once allegedly appeared on the CVNP Rangers office wall.) Mike dropped from the scene for quite a while but recently, he’s been getting back into riding and he does some cool stuff down by Portage Lakes.

The “new” in New Franklin sounded like the perfect antidote to the burnout crouching on my horizon.

I self-rescued from this unusual spillway at Nimisila Reservoir

A BUNCH OF TOOLS: Mike J led me, The Rik, and Egg on a tour of the upper Tuscarawas River Valley then the Nimisila Reservoir and Portage Lakes Area. Nimisila Reservoir: very cool, bald eagles and ospreys and such. A new-to-me oasis. It was nice to tool around Portage Lakes, drink a beer and shoot the shit. Reminded me of cruising around the suburban lakes of SE Michigan.

DEUS EX MACHINA: the exact same doggy brush that my wife uses on our dogs. Wot are the odds?
So The Rik decided to use it on Egg. It was a happy grooming.

Thirty five miles and 1600 feet of climbing felt just right on a sunny 50 degree day in February.

SO THE NEXT DAY, after seeing the brutski gravel route Paul M. and Matt O. did in the hills of north central Ohio, I decided it was time for a good ol’ solo ride with navigation. I converted their 50 mile, 5000 ft route into a shorter 30 mile 3500 ft. route starting in Killbuck. Peaceful, quiet, meditative climbing (the climb out of Glenmont is particularly ball-busting). But the Stache’s meaty beaty big and bouncy 2.8 Rekon up front left me picking bugs out of my teeth on the hairball “technical gravel” descents.

SPEAKING OF NEW: The recently installed PNW Rainier Gen3 dropper passed the test winningly.

THREE THOUGHTS:

#1 I would have ridden my “gravel bike” (which is really no more than my original 29er circa 2005 made new by converting it to drop bars) but alas, it is sadly, embarrassingly, and unfashionably devoid of this: Coast Suspension. Probably my next purchase — if I can get the seat post unseized.

#2: Once my headphones took a shit around mile 10, and I could no longer listen to turn-by-turn directions from Ridewith GPS, I was left to stop at most intersections and check the route visually on my phone (which I do not have mounted to my handlebars). For years, I have resisted plopping down $300 for a Garmin, a tool I thought I would only use on infrequent rides such as this. But with retirement and more rides such as this also crouching on the horizon, the lure of Lezyne’s well-reviewed cycling gps unit is becoming tastier and tastier.

#3: Dude blows by me on a dirt bike at about mile 20. He looks like he’s having fun. Honestly, I am too. But so does Jeff Jones in this video posted recently on BikeSnobNYC:

Not only is Jones on a 29+, but the video is from 2021, and the motor on his prototype is removable – worthy of a Zwift thumbs-up flurry. QUESTION: How much more fun would I have had with a little kick in the pants on some of those climbs?? The jury in my mind is closer and closer to rendering a verdict.

EXCEPT…with its mud pits and goo, an ebike wouldn’t have helped in this ^^ particular section of the route. (note the cool 29+ bike). All in all, the Killbuck/Glenmont area is a nice new alternative to the typical gravel routes out of Mohican.

A FINAL NOTE: I’m up to a whopping 2 subscribers! And just surpassed 1000 views! Although I have been accused of being an Influencer, I assure you I’m just doing this for fun. Nevertheless, thanks to Bill M. and my lovely wife for allegedly reading this thing. I’m seriously thinking, though, about pinching off the monthly fee to try to get rid of the ads for dick pills and belly fat cures.