44 Bikes

[fortyfour]

...

[blasdelf]

stainless?

I encourage you to experiment with these: Lacquer-Stik&reg | Markal

the background is too open to fill in, but all the details would work great

[fortyfour]

stainless?

I encourage you to experiment with these: Lacquer-Stik® | Markal

the background is too open to fill in, but all the details would work great

Stainless, correct. I'll check those out though. Interesting product. I may try enameling one of these badges too one day. Gotta get my kiln running however.

[fortyfour]

Wolftooth 110BCD 42t chainring in the background for a guideless 1x10 setup.

[Burnette]

Attachment 57495Attachment 57496Attachment 57497

Bam! Was leaving with family to get dinner, saw a UPS truck coming down the road, waited for him to pass, but he turned into my driveway and sure enough,
a package for me. My 44 Bikes kit has arrived. The proofs of the kit looked good, the real thing is just amazing.
I optioned the jersey with a Genesis full hidden zipper, the bibs with the Forza HC Men's Trilogy pad.

[Burnette]

Attachment 57498Attachment 57499
Very happy with this kit.
Kristopher, you have a great eye for design.
Really dig the logo, the flow of the kit desgin, the symmetry, bold graphics,
don't take this wrong, but you could kill in advertising design work.
Gonna rock this gear this Saturday at a MS forty five mile training ride
at Paul's Cycling and Fitness in Winston Salem, NC.
Should be a good turn out, fifty to sixty people. I'll tell them, "if you like his kit,
you should see his bikes, they were Made To Shred".
Thanks for making and cranking, love your work/design style.

[fortyfour]

Very happy with this kit.

They turned out sweet. Everyone's getting theirs before I get mine! Just my luck... But super happy for you my man and great to hear that you really dig the kit. I was really happy with the proofs so it's great to see things translate like this.

I'll be doing another order later this fall so for those who missed out, they can scoop some.

I actually do a lot of graphic design aside from 44 Bikes with many a logo, brand project and marketing materials amongst other pieces. I think that experience over many years really set things in motion for a certain level of refinement for 44 Bikes. It took some time to get where I am, but I feel the overall look of the brand speaks to that experience and time. Or at least I hope.

Looking forward to race day photos!

[Britishbane]

Mine arrived yesterday too. First ride will be today after work. Kris, it really does look superb.

[Burnette]

Attachment 57546
Pic from ride today at Paul's Cyling an Fitness shop.
Good ride, good turn out, fifty some people, forty miles, had fun.

[fortyfour]

Pic from ride today at Paul's Cyling an Fitness shop.
Good ride, good turn out, fifty some people, forty miles, had fun.

First kit out in the wild! Thanks for sharing. Made my morning.

[fortyfour]

[fortyfour]

[fortyfour]

[christian]

Kris, first, thanks for your comprehensive contributions to Smoked Out. They always make for great reading and shed fantastic light on both the creative process and the constuction process.

Second, as part of the Hampshire 100 thread, you posted:

Also glad I took the time to build up a new rig as these longer rides taught me a lot about setup for aggressive trails (what I typically do) vs. long distance deals and finding a balance for both.

If you have time after the race, I'd love to hear more about what design and setup changes you make between a trail bike intended for 2-4 hour rides and a 100-mile marathon bike. Best of luck this weekend!

[fortyfour]

If you have time after the race, I'd love to hear more about what design and setup changes you make between a trail bike intended for 2-4 hour rides and a 100-mile marathon bike. Best of luck this weekend!

I plan on doing a run down of pre race prep, what I did, how I did it, bike setup etc in addition to post ride thoughts and discussion regarding what I changed and why. I'll most likely do it via the 44 Blog but also just copy/paste that same content via Smoked Out here and on the Hampshire 100 thread so there's more info out there.

[Amaro Bikes]

Hey Kris,

just wanted to say that your pictures are getting more and more addictive, congratulations for such a great work and absolute thanks for sharing with all of us.

Cheers

[fortyfour]

Officially raced. What a day. Awesome event and course. I've put together a full post race Hampshire 100 over on the 44 Bikes Blog here. No holds barred, tell all read. Bikes. Setup. Training. Fistfights with cramps. Crossing the finish line.

[fortyfour]

So as promised, I'm going to talk about what I changed from my previous setup on my primary bike to my all day endurance rig. The what and the why.

Here's where I started:



This setup is the cumulative riding feedback over a bunch of years. (Pretty much since I started riding mountain bikes 24 years ago). I learned to love low slung top tubes, short rear ends, quick handling and a slightly more upright stance. 29" wheels, for my height, make a lot of sense. The introduction of 650b wheels is a terrific mix of 26" maneuverability with 29" roll-over-ability. Not to mention momentum carrying. For the sake of this conversation, it's 29" wheels. The bike above sports 16.25" chainstays, 70.5* ht angle (sagged), and about a 12.25" bottom bracket height. So not too high and not too low. All built around a 1x10 guideless drivetrain and a 120mm Fox fork. I got talking into entering the Hampshire 100 this past spring and couldn't say no when I realized six 44 Bikes would be in the race. So training on this initially was fine. My days were lighter lower miles between 15-25 miles mixed in with speed workouts and hill training. But as the training increased and the mileage and hours in the saddle wound up... the more I started getting beat up. At first I thought it was a combination of the longer hours and longer rides. Once I felt as though I had a good base under me I figured that things would start getting better but they did not. I kept feeling more beat up. My last long ride was 55 miles and I was broken off. So that's when I started really to consider rebuilding this bike as I knew deep down that "horses for courses" has merit. I did build a few of these "all day" type bikes for clients and had not heard any complaints and only praises. So i decided to apply that same type of recipe to myself.

That's when this was born:



The most notable difference is the seat stay configuration. Honestly this is merely a solidification of what makes a 44 Bikes look like a 44 Bikes. The advantage of the previous setup allowed me to drop the top tube even further for more standover, but really we're talking a few millimeters. So does that really add up overall? No. And I'd like to move away from that previous design. It was meant to push limits of what was possible and I kind of had to go that far out before I could come back to where i originally started. What I really wanted to add were my signature formed chainstays which I have found to drastically increases lateral stiffness. More power is getting transferred through your pedal stroke as a result (that and they are a bit more sexy...). I also wanted to increase heel clearance and add some of the other small touches i've refined (seat stay bridge and carved ISO mount). What really changed however were 3 elements: Chainstay length. Top Tube length. And although small, the addition of bottle mounts. But these changes in tandem with the whole package is still paramount to note.

First head and seat tube angles remained the same. I feel these two in combination with this fork length and type of riding I do have performed well in tandem with other key elements (BB height being one of them). So those two angles remained constant.

Lengthening the chainstays resulted in lengthening my wheelbase (as did the lengthening of my top tube). I've learned from trial and error as well as client feedback that a great ball park for an all day machine that can handle tech, be playful but still have a resilient edge is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16.50" chainstays. Not too short and not too long. "Just so". Front end still pops up without effort, but that extra .25" helps to smooth things out tremendously. That extra bit of wheelbase really helps to create a smooth ride on a long day too.



Top Tube lengthening helped to stretch me out just enough. Not too far so I was too hunched over but helped to relieve some of the weight from my hips/lower back so the weight felt a bit more evenly distributed. Still built "in" the bike however. Bottom bracket height with sag accounted for still is in the ball park of 12.25" depending on tire choice and tire pressure. I also changed my seat tube length and added an extra 1/2". Small but that's a big number IMO. That was 1/2" of seat post not exposed. That's also less exposed seat post to flex. Still just enough to improve standover for quick dabs but a bit more stiffness so you're not losing power when pedaling seated (which I could feel while I was cranking fire roads on my other setup!).



Lastly was adding bottle mounts. I had decided I wanted to fuel through a water bottle. I added two pairs but now I'm glad I did as the next race I'd like to ditch the hydration bag and work just off of two bottles and a handlebar mounted bag for nutrition. Fueling through a water bottle made it a snap when it was difficult to stop or fiddle with the bag (even though the bag on the bar is relatively easy). On singletrack, sometimes my GPS timer would go off and I had no choice but either to wait or take a quick hit off the bottle chased with water. If I did not have a fuel bottle, I'd have been going much longer between when I could physically get calories unless I just stopped (which in some cases you just don't want to do).



So how did all these changes translate on that first ride and subsequent ones? Instantaneous. My last longish ride I came back feeling a lot fresher. I had not been sleeping all that well as i was anxious for the race so I was already tired but I could already feel just how much smoother and less choppy this bike was. For short rides that are fast, aggressive and fun, the previous setup works (and I'll still have that in my stable). But for a long day, and one you need to be fresh for at every moment, I was already feeling positive returns. Fast forward to race day and I could not have been happier with the bike setup and how it performed. I would have liked my own performance to have been better, but that's another subject. Truth be told I was forced to walk a good distance, but regardless I had over half the mileage still left when cramp sent me deep into a hole and some of the tougher technical sections still left to contend with (after mile 41 of the H100 comes to mind). Dirt roads were fast if not faster and I did not feel like I was bobbing with pedal strokes losing power. On long stretches of open gravel that's key, but on singletrack with plenty of time spent out of the saddle dealing with local tech, the previous setup did not register. Transfer that same long extension and it was producing way too much movement. So much so I think sometimes I was working the seat post down (so it was slowly slipping) which isn't good as then by the end you're not getting proper leg extension. Things stayed put (my ideal saddle height is about 30.5" from the center of the BB to the top of the saddle). In tech this bike still shined. Even in the hole I was able to catch riders. Which felt good but of course since I couldn't climb at that point... they just left me hiking up the steeps. Next time right?

But overall I think this is important to note (and this is only after one event, so note that): Being fresh and not being beat up long term enabled me to stay focused and pick good lines throughout the event. At no time did I feel fuzzy or have that feeling of "please get me home" (which happened on quite a few training rides). With 6 miles left and the best singletrack ahead of me was the first time I felt any pain and it was due to my pack. A few adjustments there and my shoulders were back to normal.

So in conclusion is this a perfect ride? No. Far from it and I would never claim it to be. Have I stumbled on magic recipes? Heck no. This is nothing new. Have I become more well informed and am I better armed to help clients realize good recipes that translate to good solutions for their bike usage? Hell yes. I feel like this whole experience has armed me with some key ingredients that i only could have learned by building, doing and repeating. What I'm looking for in my own bike is one that can perform in every condition equally well and address the trail properly so the rider is at home for what their application happens to be. I can't wait to crank up my longer days and longer miles. I can't wait to build the next bike for that next client looking to maximize their ride experience.

Hope this helps all who inquired about what changes I made and why I made those changes.

[blasdelf]

Goddamn that thing looks terrific!


Did you have any trouble with the tight clearances around the King Cage on the dropped seat tube?

Maybe the Arundel side-loader cages would be worth experimenting with, especially if you wanted to make a small frame bag to be able to ditch the backpack.


Have you given any thought to trying the new X-fusion Trace fork?

[fortyfour]

Goddamn that thing looks terrific!

Thanks. I am quite pleased with how this one turned out.

Did you have any trouble with the tight clearances around the King Cage on the dropped seat tube?

Before I began welding, I took care in placement so I could manage bottle in/bottle out. If I'm running one bottle, which I was for the race, I prefer it on the seat tube as the weight feels more balanced/centralized. Often with these type builds though if the client wants a bottle cage it typically goes on the DT but I drop it down as close to the seat tube as possible again to centralize the weight and maximize the bottle size that will fit. Only smaller bottles will fit on that location however on my bike which is fine. It was my fuel based bottle. I'd carry a much larger water based bottle next race and ditch the pack I believe. But to answer the question: No problems with clearances. Crank/chainring is good, and curve did not interfere on the seat tube. Really happy that the

Maybe the Arundel side-loader cages would be worth experimenting with, especially if you wanted to make a small frame bag to be able to ditch the backpack.

Last night I took a short spin on this bike with only a bottle (1 hour ride). That had to be most likely the first time I've ridden a mountain bike without a pack since somewhere in the mid 90's? It was really amazing not to have that weight on my back. I did not mind drinking from the bottle. I do remember those days when crap would get on the bottle and that's no fun. For longer rides I'll carry a pack but I think I'm going to stick with a bottle for the time being to see what it's like just to use a bottle and regulate hydration that way. You only really need 20-24oz give or take / hr in typical conditions (which we're in right now coming into the fall).

Have you given any thought to trying the new X-fusion Trace fork?

I have not and do not plan on it. I'm a bit of a sucker now for Fox. Love their forks and they are one of my OEM's. I'm more interested in trying different tires right now as tubeless is relatively new. I have a Continental Trail King 2.4 and a X-King 2.2 I'm going to try shortly in combination. 2.4 up front 2.2 out back.