Author: Cris Bloomfield

So a few years ago I had the genius idea of getting a 26″ mountain bike frame and turning it into a cross bike. My mate Jam was selling one of his fleet and in short order I had another beautiful Ti Deluxe frameset and a set of wheels. The silky Chris King hubs were relaced onto 700c/29er rims ready to run tubeless and er, I needed a load of other bits.

So I found a nearly new Cross Bike for sale in the North East and one lunch time nipped out to pick it up. It donated the initial kit for the build, with the exception of the chainset, headset and forks which came in from elsewhere. Standard upgrading bits over time followed as they wore out or broke.

This year it was time for new tyres so I upped to 40mm ones which just about fit and went tubeless. That was well worth it because the ride quality is much better and the new tyres are pretty much perfect for local riding.

Along with a new rear mech (which was scarified to fit one of the boys’ bikes), I also had to replace the big ring which was an experience as the Stronglight one that I found although claimed to be compatible, didn’t without considerable time with the file to make it fit to the crank spider properly.

The trusty seat post and saddle have transferred over having done many miles and have transformed the ride making the bike far more comfortable for longer rides.

So it’s a bit of a misfit bike. Not a mountain bike in the true sense, nor a genuine cross bike or gravel bike either. I will say 26 ain’t dead as all the good ones have all become 29ers like this.

The Big Orange Santa Cruz has been great, but hasn’t really been vertically challenged what with COVID-19 and local riding. Flinging it around Long Mynd showed it was bit under-braked so I upped the rear brake to a 180mm and the front up to a 183mm. Let’s see if that plus new fluid in the lines makes a difference.

The rear shifting has also been a bit speculative particularly in the middle of the cassette. Having tried the standard adjustment it’s not been right so I wondered if it was the SRAM gearset. I’ve started with the shifter, trying a second hand XO unit as a first cure. It’s a chance to tidy up the flight deck too.

I am reliably informed that Torridon is epic “big” mountain riding, some of the best descents that a seasoned well-travelled rider has ever done, and definitely some of the worst/best climbs available. It should definitely be on your bucket list. It looks mint.

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5 hour drive from Glasgow means it’s definitely more than a day trip… Kudos to David Dunlop for the tip off.

So there is a bucket list of places to ride and trips to do. Some are more obtainable and do-able than others. Not that it is written down, but it’s there. Some of them are things I’ve read about, or heard of, others are places I’ve driven past and thought – need to ride that one day. Having been a resident Northerner for nearly 25 years, heading towards South Wales means passing through the hills of Shropshire and the enticing lure of Long Mynd.

Translated as the Long Mountain, it’s a 7 mile (11 km) by 3 mile (5 km) wide lump of volcanic geology sticking up to 1,693 ft (516 m) at the Pole Bank trig point. The heathy moorland plateau is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is largely owned and managed by the National Trust. Bit like the Forest of Bowland – steep sides, flat on top.

Anyway enough waffle. Met up with Al as it was about half way for each of us. Rode a route based on Al’s prior local(ish) knowledge. It was ace and well worth the wait. Bluebird skies, the sun burned away the chill and the wind picked up but the trail conditions were good!

Time does a lot to your memory, back in 2006 I did a big ride out of Dunsop Bridge in the Forest of Bowland. With a new bike, I decided it was time to revisit it, but after the ride the gift of Strava reminded me I’d been back in 2010 and re-ridden some of it.

The epic steepness of Bowland wasn’t forgotten. The difficulty in following the trail was, that and the knee deep mud. There’s only one time I’ve done more pushing and pulling a bike and ended up quite so physically tired after a ride.

Views are still epic. Even if the wind on the tops was strong enough to blow you over, the rain was horizontal and it felt more March than August. 

Still the sun came out for the last descent of the day. The endorphins kicked in and the sense of being utterly worn out by an epic day (6 hrs to cover under 45km) was temporarily dispelled by hammering down a lush green toboggan run…

Last December I went to California. I rode for the first time in the USA. I had a good chat with the folks at Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito as I was passing by (new Specialized road lid and some gloves picked up) and took a good look at the Santa Cruz line up.

Having some saddle time on a 29er led to the Chameleon and after clocking up 600km on that I’ve been loving the dynamics and fit. To the point that riding the Genius just felt cramped and after my last outing over the reshaped trails of Llandegla I was decided. New bike time.

Start Fitness in Newcastle provided the goods. Standard prep and upgrades commenced. Rockstop inserts this time rather than Procore, refurbed the XT Trail pedals, swapped the 36s and Transfer post over and invisiframe wrapped the whole thing (that took about 5 hours but looks great). Ready to roll…

More photos here

I’m feeling the need to revisit this

Many moons ago when Levis tried to put the squeeze on a little British company called Howies. It put them into the national news. Since then and for a long time before I have been working fulfilling a Howies philosophy – wear it out. Last week I had to retire three pairs of jeans and trousers, some more than 20 years old. Time for a new pair, but none of this skinny jean nonsense.

So after going to California, riding a 29er hardtail and spending time in Mike’s Bikes in Sausalito, I decided that it was time to make some changes in bike ownership and get a Santa Cruz.

Whilst the Carbon option looks lovely I’m not sure it’s justifiable to pay the premium to save 1lb in weight. So the alloy frame it was with a combination of repurposed parts of other bikes to personalise it.

Forks off the Scott, Push Tuned by TFTuned with external lockout. Front wheel rebuilt onto a Hope Pro4. Hope headset to replace the Cane Creek one before it gets wet and seizes solid. Hope Race Brakes and floating rotors. Forged and CNC’d stem. SDG Saddle. XTR SPDs. Sensibly Helicopter taped. A tad over 29lbs for the lonnnng XL frame. More photos here.

Winter trail exploring bike sorted. Question is how long can I put up with the vague SRAM NX (not exceptional?) shifting.

Order new Hope pick and mix headset for hardtail. On basis that Cane Creek might be fine for California but seems to last about 5 minutes in the British climate.

Spec is IS standards top and bottom for a 1.5 tapered steerer. Parts arrive. Fettling commences.

Bottom half no problem. Straight in. Split bottom races for fork steerers are a lot easier than trying to drift off tolerance fit ones.

Top half set was incomplete, no top cap in the packet. A week later top cap arrives. Concern that it’s not the right bit emerges shortly after. Err no that is not the right bit. Turns out there is an IS41 type 3 top half (pictured above) and a type 7.

That’s now on order, let’s see if it works…