How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing

So I'm thinking of attending the WVMBA race this coming weekend if I manage to hold off this lingering cold that everyone around me seems to be getting, so I took that Ferrous I built back in December off the wall hook last night & went to Moriane State Park. I could sence the bikes excitment to carve the trails, it was somewhat like the excitment a new puppy has when you take it for its first visit to the park. Yea it knows something cool is about to happen but it isn't sure what, never the less it gets real antsy & excited. This is what I senced the Ferrous was feeling. Those of you from around here understand the trail @ Moriane and just how difficult & rocky it is. It isn't a long trail (yet) looping around for a total 7 miles but its a great testing ground for any new bike and its handeling and ride qualities. On to the trial system I went and I must say I was looking forward to riding this Steel Steed. I always take any bike that I've rebuilt out for a good test ride to make sure everything is working properly and all adjustments suite my liking. I quickly noticed its flexibility as I rocketed across the first section of rocks and small boulders, impressive. As I started the first small climb up the Power Line I instantly noticed a thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, with every pedal stroke. At the top of the climb I stop to inspect the bike and the origin of the noise. It didn't take me more than a few seconds to notice my crank arm was hitting the chainstay as the bike flex under my pedal stroke (also known as storktorq). How disappointing! This wasn't something I could remedy on the trial, in fact this will require me to install a wider Bottom bracket or different crankset.Since the Ferrous has an extra wide rear frame I will be unable to maintain the shorter Q factor (distance between cranks) that suites my smaller build. This is good information for those of you wanting to purchase a Ferrous. Also with this tight fit my heels rubbed the seatstays as my pedal stroke came around. I was immediately let down but since this fix couldn't be made I forged onward to test the feel & ride of the steel frame over the rocks. I must say that this bike felt similar to my older Bluestone Ti frames, springy, flexy, responsive & comfortable. I really liked it except for the frame width factor. I'm almost positive that this bike won't get raced much because of this frame width. When you ride as much as someone like me you notice things like Q factors and they become very important, yes I ride other bikes with a wider Q factor but for racing I like my stuff set up a certain way, with this bike I will be unable to get those measurements. Well, enough about my disappointments along the trial I came across Greg (below-a student @ SRU and Danny Wilsons Room Mate). Danny Wilson has been a past teammate of mine for more than a few years up to this season and currently helps students @ SRU to obtain bikes to travel to classes. Also Out on the new section of trial , yes I said new section (almost 4 miles of singletrack littered with more rocks & boulders) was Dan Spurk who was building more of the trial. He was eager to tell me just how the trail would finish up with an awesome gradual decline where momentum will carry you over and through a large section of rocks! He's hoping that his group will have this completed before Summer. If you have time look for the Trail building days on the PORC website. Thanks Dan and everyone else for this new section and the relations between bikers and the Park Manager. We need more guys like Dan.
Oh before I sign off let me add a bit about the new shorts that I got. There a pair of Treks top line Circuit Bibs and boy are they nice. Small chamois, good fit with a rubber lining around the leg ends instead of elastic (which creeps up during a ride). The rubber is just a bit tacky and sticks instead of needing to tighten around your thigh. I really liked these and will more than likely be getting a few more for the race season.
Stork