1. Ragley Marley.
It's a bit odd to put this cheap, generic aluminum hardtail mtb on the top. I'm not mountain biking much these days, except for the pond loop behind our house. Certainly nothing that will challenge this long and slack hardtail with 120mm of travel up front.
But... I like cheap bikes that punch above their weight, and the Ragley is that. The bargain $80 Suntour fork works well, and the overall bike ride well, even though it's aluminum. Big tires help. I've been practicing my cornering technique (and my manuals) on our flat pond loop, learning my way around the new school geo on a trail that might work better with an older, 72 degree HA 29er.
I didn't have any major complaints with the Advent nine speed drivetrain I had on the bike, but a closeout special led me to upgrade to Box 11 speed:
The extra low range will be nice when I get back to this hills (46t vs. 42t on the Advent), but the Box stuff doesn't have the smooth feel of Shimano, Sram, or even Advent. The shifter effort is higher, and many shifts end in a loud "clunk!" Though I do like that the shifter has dual direction activation, like Shimano:
Something else I like about the Marley is the bars. I've had these Salsa Bend 2 bars forever, and never really liked then. But recently rotated them so the ends point up slightly, instead of down, and now I really like them. Maybe more than my Jones bars, at least comparing the main grip position. The Jones loop bar wins on versatility and number of positions.
2. Bike Friday Crusoe
The Crusoe is what I use as my road bike these days. It actually does pretty well for this role. It's lively, rides well, and is comfortable.
There are some downsides to using a 20" wheeled folder as my main road bike (besides looking like a clown, most likely). The small wheels throw out an anchor whenever I ride across grass, and the bike has a slightly loose, slightly creaky feel that a full size bike doesn't have (or the Xootr, for that matter).
3. Jones
I'm not riding the Jones much these days. I tried it with big, 29x2.5" slicks, but that feels a little unwieldy. Maybe that's due to mostly riding 20" tired bikes, though my Ragley with 27.5x48mm Gravel Kings was still a fun ride. The Jones is OK on the pond loop, but feels like overkill there. Of course, the Ragley is overkill there as well, but at least it's cheaper overkill.
I think I'll get back in sync with the Jones when I get back to trail riding. It's such a good climbing bike. I'm curious to see how the short chainstay Ragley compares. On my few rides so far, I prefer the Jones, at least when climbing. But for now, it hangs on a hook on the ceiling.
4. Xootr Swift
It's not really fair to put the Xootr nearly last. It's the cheapest of my bikes by far, about 1/3 the cost of the next runner up. I like the way it rides: it has a solid feeling that the BF lacks. But, whenever my ride is going to be more than about 10 miles, I find myself reaching for the Crusoe. It's a better road bike, while the short wheelbased Xootr feels more like a folding bike. The Xootr is my bike for short neighborhood jaunts with the kids. When I'm travelling again someday, it might move up the charts with it's better folding system over the BF.
5. Mercier Kilo WT
It's for sale. Make me an offer. Fixed gear isn't my thing anymore, and a recent flat reminded me how much I hate track ends:
I'm always thinking about what bike comes next. My bike budget won't support it right now, but I'm thinking I need:
- a 27.5 fat tired road bike to use with my spare disc wheelset, those GK tires, and that Advent drivetrain. This would replace the Crusoe as my solo road bike. I'm looking at a Surly Midnight Special, Ritchey Ascent, or Black Mountain Road Plus. Or maybe a custom Marino. It seems like I have most of the parts I need, but once I figure in everything I still need, I come pretty close to four figures. That means I need to sell something for this.
- an old lugged road bike. Just because I want one. The risk here is I will try to convert it to 650b, again. Though maybe with braze on cantis... but this would fill about the same role as the 27.5 bike above.
- a late 90s hardtail. V brakes, maybe a short travel fork. Something from my heydey of mountain biking. I think the fork will help raise the stack over the earlier NORBA bikes. This desire is mostly due to too much reading of my old mountain bike magazines late at night. I have no rational need for this bike, I just want it. A Voodoo Bizango (again) would be ideal.
Assuming the Mercier sells, I'm at four bikes, but three more wants. Seven bikes is too many for me, so something will have to give.
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