The new old road bike

I think it happened to all of us that sometimes we start appreciating things we have only after we lose them. This is sort of how it went with my old 2008 Lemond Poprad. There were many things wrong about that bike, like the stock saddle being uncomfortable, original wheels being just so-so, weak brakes, and those old-fashioned, non-ergonomic handlebars. But one thing was really good - the frame. It took me quite a long time to start appreciating it though.

Fast forward nearly 10 years and now the bike has completely changed. In fact, the only original components left are the frame, headset, and fork. Every other part has been replaced.

Fast forward another 5 years and there is no bike anymore. Once I built my new gravel bike, the old Poprad was stripped for parts, hung up on the wall in the basement and left there, as I did not know what to do with it. I still remembered the ride quality of that frame though. It is US-made from True Temper OX Platinum tubing (essentially a very high tensile strength steel, comparable to Reynolds 853, I believe). Clearly, I started thinking that it was too good to just trash it and I didn't really want to sell it. The best option was of course to repurpose it and build a new bike on it.

Frame in its original finish, before all modifications.

Frame mods

That proved to be a bit complicated. While the frame was excellent, the original fork was junk and had to be replaced. Unfortunately, that fork was built to the old cyclocross standard with 410mm axle-to-crown length. Because modern forks are typically 395mm long, that meant a new fork would be 15mm too short and would significantly alter the general bicycle geometry.

The obvious solution was to machine a 15mm long headtube extension, press-fit it into the bottom of the head tube, then braze all around and polish to hide the joint. It took me a while to find someone who could do it but eventually in early 2025 the frame was ready.

Finding a new fork was also a bit tricky as there is no longer a large supply of carbon forks with 100mm QR dropouts and cantilever brake pivots. Fortunately, I was able to get a Ritchey WCS Cross fork that was a perfect fit.

Paint

Once the frame was prepared the next step was to paint it. At first, I was considering sending it out to a professional paint shop but cost turned out to be prohibitive, given the paint scheme I had on mind. So I decided to do it myself using SprayBike paints.

I won't go into the details of the whole process, but it's important to keep a few things in mind:

• Surface preparation is critical. I cleaned all parts with isopropyl alcohol and then always handled them in nitrile gloves after that.
• Masking is important. Place sacrificial screws in all threads in frame and tape the inside of the bottom bracket shell and head tube.

Painting in progress. You wouldn't be able to tell that the head tube was extended down. The joint is completely invisible.

• I had to make several custom hooks from bent old spokes to hang the parts while painting. It's a bit easier with fork since you can hold it by the steerer but frame must be hung up for painting.

• Several cans of paint are needed. In my case I had to buy the Metal Primer, Carbon Primer, Silvertown grey paint, Meise Orange, Elderberry purple, and Satin/Gloss top coat.
• When they say that "one can is enough for the entire frame" they mean it. Literally. Actually, they should say that one can is JUST enough. Because I was painting a fork and stem also, I had to get 2 cans of top coat and 2 cans of primer.
• Splatter look was fun to work with. Basically, I sprayed some paint into a plastic cup, then dipped a fine paint brush in it and splattered over the parts.

• It's important not to rush and give it a good 2hrs between the coats and a week after the last top coat, before building the bike. In my case I also had to wait a few months to even get started. I was ready to paint in January but had to wait until April for air temperature to be at least 50F and for a sunny day with little wind.

Anyway, I think the end result is pretty good. If I had to do it all over again, I would paint the entire rear triangle purple and splatter it in orange for contrast, but at the time I got to that step I was already out of the orange paint, so it is what it is.

Finished frameset with the stem, ready to assemble.

Build kit

Since I have accumulated a number of parts over years, I was in a fortunate situation that I could put a bike together using many items from the parts bin. Generally, aside of the fork, the only new components I had to buy were the headset, rims, cassette, chain, saddle, and brakes. Even the tires are reused and these are likely over 10 years old at this point but still in a "like new" condition. Some of you will notice right away that Compass Stampede Pass 32mm x 700c tires no longer exist. The brand was renamed to Rene Herse years ago.

The rest of the build kit features my old White Industries T11 hubs laced to DT Swiss RR411 rims, WI crankset with a 40T chainring, and a 10-speed Ultegra RD-6600 derailleur that came with the original Poprad. I really like this rear mech as this is likely the last classic-looking Shimano mech in polished silver. Shimano, just like most other manufacturers, dropped that shiny polished look from their components in the next releases. For me it feels like a change for the worse.

To run this old mech with a 11-36T cassette I had to use WolfTooth Roadlink to extend the derailleur hanger. The whole thing runs quite well actually with the help of downtube-mounted Microshift shifter. I know a downtube shifter may look really old school and out of place in 2025, but I wanted to keep the whole thing simple and lightweight (Hence, 1x10 setup with a single chainring). And I really don't mind this type of shifter on a road bike, although it did require me to adjust to it a bit. For the first several rides my fingers were intuitively looking for shift paddles near brake levers.

Speaking of brakes, this is where I decided to splurge a bit and got new Paul Minimotos in purple. These are fun and brake really well in combination with the "ancient" Ultegra 600 brake levers.

The only part that may need to be replaced at some point is the saddle. Right now I'm using Ergon Pro TiNox, which is ok, I guess. Let's just say that for spending a whole day on this bike I would prefer a more comfortable one.

Complete bike, ready to ride.

Final thoughts

I'm pretty happy with the final result. This is a really lightweight (8.2kg or 18lbs) bike that is fast and accelerates quickly. The durability of the paint is to be seen, but so far I did not notice any major issues. I'm considering getting 35mm wide tires once the old ones wear out. The frame and fork can fit tires this wide so why not go for it?

Around Lake Champlain on a road bike

Well, it's been a while but somehow I couldn't find time earlier to write a few words about my latest bike trip. Since back in April I finally managed to put a "new" road bike together, I wanted to try it out on a longer route.

First, the bike isn't really new. In fact, it's exactly the same old Lemond Poprad you have seen here back in 2012. Basically, since I built a new gravel bike in 2018, my old Poprad was disassembled and sold off for parts (partially, at least). The frame was nice though and I was looking for way to repurpose it, so I got a new fork, rebuilt the wheels, and pull out as many old parts from the spare parts bin as I could find. The result is a "new" road bike, that's actually pretty fun to ride.

Anyway, the idea for this route was to partially revisit old places (on a road bike this time) as well as to explore the unknown-to-me side of Lake Champlain in NY State. Since there aren't many gravel roads right near the lake's shore, road bike seemed to be perfectly appropriate. Additionally, I figured that I could travel really light and skip all camping equipment, booking a couple of budget hotels in the area. Call it credit card touring if you wish.

Day 1 - Williston, VT to Ticonderoga, NY (104km or 65mi)

Having nearly nothing to pack up for the trip, I left my house on Thursday (June 27th) in the morning and drove north towards Burlington, VT. As usual, left my car at Park & Ride and I was in the saddle at about 11:20am. The day was cloudy, with heavy overcast skies, but despite that it was warm (21C or 70F). It felt actually like a nearly perfect weather for bike riding (dry, cloudy, calm), but less so for taking pictures (grey skies are kind of boring).

Shortly after taking off I discovered a problem. The previous night I decided to charge the battery for my Ricoh GRIII but somehow instead of being charged, the battery got discharged completely (I had some issues with batteries in this camera before). At least I was able to confirm that the camera works and problem was only with the dead battery. So that meant that I can still recharge it in the hotel, but it left me without this camera for the rest of the day. Fortunately, I still had the old Lumix GX1 with me.

I got to Vergennes where originally I planned to stop for lunch, but I wasn't hungry at all so I snacked on a protein bar and decided to keep going. The route was taking me south, near the lake. There are some nice views from the hills in Addison County overlooking the lake below, with mountains across on the NY State side.

Eventually, I reached the ferry. Turns out that the ferry closes at 6pm, but I was there around 4pm so that was not an issue. However, after crossing the lake I just missed the cut off time for ticketing at Fort Ticonderoga. They stop selling tickets at 4:30pm. As I was getting quite hungry at this point, I decided to stop at the Ticonderoga Natural Foods store in the town center. Late lunch, but better late than never.

I did a short loop around the town but as there isn't much to see there, I got to the hotel early (~5:30pm). I could finally shower and charge the camera for the next day. Since the hotel was conveniently located near Walmart, I decided to resupply, and I must admit that food selection at Walmart is lousy at best. Unless I was just unlucky at that specific location.

Day 2 - Ticonderoga, NY to Plattsburgh, NY (143km or 89mi)

Friday, June 28th, I started at 7am. That's what happens when you don't have to waste time in the morning to pack up the tent and you go to bed early the night before - early starts.

The weather forecast completely missed the mark as it was predicting clouds, periods of rain and even thunderstorms in the afternoon. Instead, I got a perfect sunny morning weather with a very pleasant 16C (61F), later warming up to 24C (75F) in the late afternoon, but with some more clouds. Awesome cycling conditions, especially considering a light cool breeze from the lake.

Fairly quickly I reached the historic Fort at Crown Point, or its ruins, actually. Nice picnic spot with some pretty lake views.

I kept going with a brief stop at Port Henry, then reaching Westport, stopping for a quick lunch. From there my next stop was at Essex. That's where the route becomes very scenic with some magnificent views of the distant mountains in Vermont across the lake.

Not that I'm in favor of closing the already-scarce passenger train lines, but if the Amtrak Adirondack line ever gets axed, its tracks should be converted into a scenic bike touring route. The tracks are in places right next to the lake shore so I imagine that on the day like that one with great visibility, views from the train must be absolutely awesome.

Essex was cute, but next I had to climb across some hills to reach Ausable Chasm - an old hydroelectric plant on Ausable River and also an interesting tourist attraction of the river gorge.

From there, it was only a short run to Plattsburgh and since it was still early, I went to a local bar at the marina for a fish dinner with a pint. I got to my hotel around 5pm, resupplied at Hannaford (much better than Walmart) and called it a day.

Day 3 - Plattsburgh, NY to Williston, VT (65km or 40mi)

Saturday was supposed to be tricky as forecast was predicting severe weather changes. Periods of rain were essentially certain, but the worst part of it was supposed to be the wind, blowing from the south. As the most of my route was in the southern direction, taking me over the islands on the lake, I started to seriously question my choices. On top of that, some thunderstorms were forecasted in the afternoon. All that just didn't look too exciting.

I left the hotel around 7am again, considering two options: #1 - staying on the original route, which meant going further north towards the Canadian border, then crossing the lake over the bridge to Alburgh, and then going south back towards Burlington. Or, #2, taking a new alternative  route, by ferry to Grand Isle and going straight back to Williston through Essex Junction.

As you can tell from the map, option #2 won, mainly because the wind was absolutely wild so I  was quickly very glad that I don't have to ride in it for the most part of the day. Also, I figured that the since the main purpose of this trip was to see the NY side of the lake, I have already done it on the day before, repeating the route over the lake islands made little sense, as I have been there a few times already. I simply didn't feel like adding miles just for the sake of it.

The ferry ride was "fun", feeling like being in the sea during a storm. The ferry was swaying with large waves crashing into its sides and flooding the deck. Temperature on the lake dropped quite a bit, but as soon as we arrived in Vermont I was welcomed by light rain and warmer weather.

On the way south the rain stopped eventually, but strong wind was slowing me down. I finally reached the southern tip of the island and I discovered that the bike ferry connecting the causeway was closed on that day. I sort of expected this and while I have no idea what the reason was, I figured that they probably closed it as they thought that no one will be crazy enough to ride across the causeway in the middle of rain with strong winds. I had to find an alternate route.

That made the rest of the trip less exciting as I was forced to take more main roads, unfortunately sharing the space with cars. But I also figured out that since I had to ride towards Colchester, it made no sense to go back to Burlington, and I made my way directly towards Williston instead.

I briefly stopped at Essex Junction for something to eat and a hot tea, and I was back at the car at 11am, just before it started raining again.

Overall, it all worked out quite well, maybe except the last day, but views I have seen and new places I have visited the day before were rewarding enough to make the whole trip worthwhile.

Is the golden age of bicycles over?

This is a tricky question to answer. How do you even define a golden age anyway? To each their own, I think, as what matters to me may not matter at all to others. Anyway, just when I was pondering on the latest trends in the bicycling industry, Russ from Path Less Pedaled published this video:

First, I should explain what this golden age means to me. I'm a simple man and I like simple things, bicycles included. My type of bike is all-mechanical (although hydraulic brakes are ok) that looks somewhat classic, perhaps even retro. That doesn't mean I'm a luddite though. I appreciate certain innovations if they make my life easier. This may include thru axles with disc brakes, tubeless tires, and dynamo lighting. But it also means that I have very little need for aero carbon frame, ultralight carbon wheels, internal cable routing, and any electronics. 

Unfortunately, in the recent years the general trends in industry have been exactly opposite. It looks like bicycle companies are pushing aero-everything (frames, cockpits, even seat posts). With this, new bicycles come with internally-routed cables (which may looks pretty but is painful to service) and integrated cockpits (more aero, but not allowing for any adjustability).

Is this the future?

This also means a widespread use of carbon fiber. Don't get me wrong - it's a fantastic material (although not recyclable = not good for environment), unfortunately, it cannot be finished in polished silver. I just like those classic polished silver parts and they seem to be disappearing like "tears in rain". As more and more components are made with carbon fiber, we see more components in plain black: rims, handlebars, seat posts, cranks, brake levers, even derailleurs.

To sum it all up, for me the golden age of bicycles happened perhaps some time between 2005 and 2015. This was a time when we could pick from a wide selection of different types of bikes, using a large variety of components.

It was a time when the world was slowly switching from 10 speed to 11 speed road groupsets and Shimano introduced Dura Ace 7900, Ultegra 6800, or 105 5800. Many of those components were still available in classic polished silver finish. It's all gone now. Black is the new silver.

All these groupsets were completely mechanical and electronic systems were barely taking off. Now it feels that you can't ride your bike if you don't charge your derailleur, shifters, and your Garmin.

This was when we had a full variety of wheel sizes with 29" and 27.5" wheels being both popular and available, while even 26" wheel not being fully out of question. Now it looks like everyone forgot about 26", 27.5" has dramatically lost its momentum, and the industry is already trying to persuade us that we will need 32" wheels soon (for what?).

This was the time when aero wasn't in its full craze yet. Now new frames are often sculpted to be be more aero at a cost of utility, cockpits are integrated, seat posts are ovalized, and housing with cables must be completely hidden.

This was when though e-bikes were growing in popularity, the fully electric mopeds were not yet dominating. Now I feel that bike paths are full of high speed electric motorcycles that pretend to be bicycles, yet you never see anyone actually pedal them. In fact, while the youngest generation may be very interested in personal transportation, they don't want to pedal a bicycle. They just want to ride on it. E-mopeds will be the new bikes.

If I could predict the future, it doesn't look too exciting for me. Looks like the cycling world is evolving towards:

• more aero and this usually means more carbon fiber
• more complex systems with integrated electronic controls, wireless communication, etc.
• larger wheel sizes
• more factory-built wheels with carbon rims
• larger cassettes with more gears (14 speeds anyone?)
• more e-bikes and e-mopeds

So what's the risk? How will all this affect things I love? I predict that:

• Simple and efficient mechanical systems (like 2x9 setups) may become limited to only very low cost components. There will be no further development of high-performance mechanical gearing. Gone will be those 9-speed XT cassettes and Ultegra-level chains.
• "Peak mechanical" systems will become more obscure and niche. They will still exist but will be kept alive by alternative brands (Rivendell, Crust, Velo Orange, Merry Cycles, etc.). Russ compares it to the situation with CDs or vinyls - now used only by few.
• Polished silver components may exist with a very limited availability (unless they become fashionable for some reason) and will likely be provided mainly by alternative brands (Paul, White Industries, Nitto, Sugino, Garbaruk, etc.).
• Tires that are not applicable for racing (i.e. are not 700c) will become less available and 27.5" tires will be likely kept alive only by some small brands (Rene Herse, Ultradynamico, Simworks, etc.).
• Analog bicycles will be a minority. Even basic recreational bikes will have automatic, electronically-controlled gearing systems.
• Servicing bicycles at home will become difficult. Many components will be either of proprietary standards or have electronics built-in, making them impossible to service without proper tools.

On that last point, I strongly feel that those bike enthusiasts who fully embrace integrated cockpits and electronic shifting are the ones who are mainly interested in performance, but do not actually service their own bicycles. In such case paying someone to deal with the cable routing through a fully-integrated handlebars is not an issue.

On the other hand, those of us who ride to travel, often into the unknown, expect the bicycles to be reliable, simple, and easy to fix. Proprietary electronic components will not take us there.

Rene Herse Umtanum Ridge tire review and other 2.2" options

Back in 2017 when I put together my new "gravel" bike, my go-to tire choice was Maxxis Ikon. You can call my decision weird or unreasonable, but I was switching at that time from a bicycle that had a maximum tire clearance of 35mm and the typical gravel tire choices at 40-45mm were simply not wide enough for my taste. My local trails always run through forest paths, full of roots and rocks, and therefore, wider tires seemed necessary. That also meant that I went with 27.5" (650b) wheel size, to squeeze in as much rubber as possible.

Years later, I still think it was a right call, even though most leading manufacturers have abandoned the 27.5" wheel size so I may need to rely on smaller, boutique brands. I feel that 27.5" x 2.2-2.3" (56-58mm) is a perfect wheel/tire combo on gravel, allowing for plenty of grip, extra comfort, and large enough diameter and width to roll well over anything, while still making for a relatively compact bike. Even now that many race gravel bikes run 700c wheels and 50mm wide tires, I'm still very happy with my non-racing choice and think that the extra 6-8mm of tire width helps quite a lot to dampen rough roads.

Maxxis Ikon TR EXO 27.5" x 2.2"

• tubeless-ready XC tire, better suited for dry conditions and hard-packed surfaces
• measured width on Velocity Blunt SS (27mm internal) rims: ~56mm
• measured weight: 580g in the old non-EXO version (manufacturer's spec for the new EXO version: 650-700g, depending on the source)
• price: $70

Maxxis Ikons served me well for a few years, but after wearing out through 2 sets of these tires, and when I was ready to buy a 3rd set, I noticed that things have changed for the worse (for me). Maxxis completely abandoned the old casing and went with the new, reinforced EXO sidewalls. That's probably a good choice for XC riders, but that's not how I was using those tires! I certainly much more preferred the softer, cushier sidewalls over heavier, stiffer ones with more protection. I had a chance to directly compare the new EXO version with my old non-EXO one and the difference was immediately noticeable, even without mounting the tires on wheels. The EXO tire is stiffer, feels tougher and heavier. While I can understand Maxxis' decision, I wasn't happy about it. Nevertheless, the old Ikons still remain my benchmark to compare all other tires against. They were light, fast, supple, supremely comfortable, easy to install, and with perhaps only 2 potential issues: (1) rolling noise on pavement and (2) some sealant seepage through sidewalls over time.

My overall rating (for the old, non-EXO version):

• comfort: 5/5 (very supple!)
• grip: 4/5
• speed: 4/5
• noise: 2/5 (noisy, but it's a MTB tire)
• weight: 5/5 (very light in non-EXO casing)
• width: 5/5 (true to size)
• ease of installation: 5/5
• price: 4/5

Rene Herse Umtanum Ridge 650b x 55mm

• ultralight knobby, tubeless-ready tire
• measured width on Velocity Blunt SS rims: ~51.5mm
• measured weight: 553g (standard casing)
• price: $78

All this made me look at other options out there, not that there are many to choose from (but that's another story). Since I was searching for a wide, yet lightweight tire, Rene Herse was a very obvious choice, and as soon as the new "Umtanum Ridge" was announced, I got really excited about it. I finally got a pair last year and been riding on these for the last 8+ months. 

Generally, I'm quite impressed. There is no doubt that these RH tires are of high quality, fast-rolling, very lightweight, and very supple. They provide excellent comfort, good grip, and what I like a lot after switching from Ikons - are very quiet. I mean, they are not silent, but for a knobby tire, the rolling noise is impressively low. Even their high price doesn't seem too bad at the moment. As long as you don't pick the Extralight or Endurace casing, the cost of a single tire, despite not being cheap, is comparable to all other high-end offerings. Over the last 8 months I also have not noticed any sealant seepage through sidewalls and that's typically immediately visible on tan sidewall tires.

Would I buy them again then? Sadly, no. What completely disqualifies them for me is their width. They are simply not 55mm wide. My own measurements on pretty wide (for gravel standards) rims show only 51.5mm. Other reviewers also found the same exact problem. I have also read in the past that RH's other tire, the 26" Rat Trap Pass is reportedly only 2.1" wide, even thought it is rated at 2.3". It seems to me that this is a common issue with many (most?) RH tires. They are simply not wide enough. I also don't buy Jan's explanation that:

"Due to the nature of hand-made tyres using natural rubber, the size can vary batch to batch, but they err on the side of smaller as larger could mean tyres rubbing."

Difference in size between several copies of the same tire could be explained by manufacturing tolerances, if we could find tires both smaller and larger than nominal. But in this case all tires seem to have width far on the low side, indicating RH's manufacturing process is simply way off target. And no - deliberately selling undersized tires because "larger could mean tire rubbing" is not an explanation. This is just BS. No experienced cyclist who is willing to drop $80 on a tire will be happy receiving a falsely-advertised product. If I buy a 55mm wide RH tire, I expect a 55mm (+/-1mm) tire, not a 50mm tire (In fact, if I wanted a 650b x 50mm one, there are many more choices out there).

It seems to me that RH should therefore either, (1) change the sizing on their tires, (2) set the process back on target, or (3) add a note on their website stating "Please be aware that these tires run routinely narrower than advertised". Interestingly, their website shows quite the opposite:

• Actual width on 21 mm rim (internal): approx. 56 mm
• Actual width on 23 mm rim (internal): approx. 57 mm

No idea where this comes from. If this was true, then my copy of tires should be about 60mm wide on 27mm internal width rims. Either I have a bad luck, or Jan must have measured a completely different batch of tires. Anyway, my overall rating (for Standard casing version) is:

• comfort: 5/5 (very comfortable)
• grip: 4/5
• speed: 5/5 (fast)
• noise: 5/5 (very quiet for a knobby tire!)
• weight: 5/5 (light, but it's really a ~50mm tire)
• width: 1/5 (severely undersized)
• ease of installation: 5/5
• price: 3/5 (pricey, but not too terribly for the Standard version)

Ultradynamico Mars JFF 27.5" x 2.22"

• lightweight tire for all road surfaces, tubeless-ready, with centered knobs for reduced noise and increased speed
• measured width on Velocity Blunt SS rims: ~55.5mm
• measured weight: 620g
• price: $65

Now it's 2025 and I'm thinking that I should have stocked on a couple more pairs of non-EXO Ikons back when they were still available. On top of that we have new tariffs on most products from Asia, which means that soon all tires will become more expensive. I'm still riding on RH tires, but it prompted me to think ahead and buy a pair of Ultradynamico Mars JFFs. I have not had a chance yet to try them out, but I installed one briefly and so far they certainly look very promising. They are lightweight and true to size. I think I will just use Umtanums until they wear out and then switch to Mars JFFs for the nearest future.

Here is how both tires look together, on the same rim (RH Umtanum Ridge on the left, Ultradynamico Mars on the right):

My overall rating (so far):

• comfort: TBD
• grip: TBD
• speed: TBD
• noise: TBD
• weight: 5/5
• width: 5/5
• ease of installation: 4/5
• price: 5/5

The general conclusion is that buying tires can be a lottery sometimes. From what I have notices so far, the manufacturing tolerances of Japanese tire brands are typically quite good, but a lot depends on the tooling design. It seems that in many cases brands get it right (See online reviews of RH Fleecer Ridge, a 700c x 55mm tire, showing that it's mostly true to size. My Ultradynamico Cava tires measure 49mm, being rated at 48mm. Both of these are made in Japan). But sometimes the bad happens and the final size ends up being off target. And because changing tooling can be very expensive, the problem gets never corrected and we end up with tires that not perform as expected.