Monday, January 23, 2012

Pat tracks

Posted by John Speare


> 8:06 AM

4 comments:

Andy D. said...

Pat's fat tires put as much rubber on the road as my old Karmann Ghia did, undoubtedly with better effect.

Every time I see your MB-2 in action, it makes me want to put my neglected MB-1 of the same size and year back in service.

January 23, 2012 at 8:34:00 AM PST
John Speare said...

BDD: When I was 16-25 or so, the Karmann Ghia was my dream car. I did the air-cooled VW incantation during my 20's instead. I dig those cars... If I had the room I'd still have a beater VW laying around. A car so simple even I could fix it.

As for your MB-1 -- I say go for it. I've spent the last couple days day-dreaming a perfect "city/urban/commuter" -- based on the MB-2 and XO bikes, with 559 wheels, carbon(!!) fork, hydro disc brakes, rear load, integrated fendeers and light, space bars, 2x9 gearing, 747 OS tubing. Silly but in a rad way.

The MB1 has really steep angles (by today's mnt bike standards). I'm pretty sure it's 72/72, which makes for a great do-everything turd bike.

January 23, 2012 at 8:59:00 AM PST
Andy D. said...

I had a 1970 KG coupe from about '92 to '95, and it was easily the coolest car I'll ever own. It was simple (and frequently necessary) to work on and got 40+ mpg. The "big" 1600cc engine and front disk brakes made it a lot sportier than the '71 Beetle I also had. My KG looked nice on the outside, but it came with copious rust holes in the floor and the heater was functionally ornamental. I was living in Wyoming at 7,200 feet, so these items posed problems.

One winter day, at the crest of a hill on a slightly icy two-lane highway, I discovered the traction limitations of a 1,600 pound car. We floated off the road, spun three times and ended up in the ditch on the other side. Luckily there was no traffic as we crossed the oncoming lane. No damage to car or occupants, but I sought out a Subaru 4x4 wagon within a month. I'd still love an air-cooled bus, but these days I would rather spend my money on bikes.

I'm intrigued by your incarnation of an MB/XO based city bike. I bet this is something that Glen could easily whip up :). I'll be testing a bike equipped with a belt drive for a couple of months, and depending on the outcome, this drive might be something to add to the mix.

The steep angles and riding feel of the Logic Prestige tubing of the MB-1 sold me when I bought it new. If I remember the literature, it was advertised as 71H/73S, but I've never measured it. In the brief era from about 1988 until the proliferation of factory-suspended bikes, many top-notch mountain bikes adopted Bridgestone's geometry.

January 23, 2012 at 9:51:00 AM PST
Pat S said...

The tires have 8 psi in them right now - makes for a pretty serious footprint. Brandy and I had a super-fun ride/run through the park last night on that thin layer of wet snow over the existing 2-day-old stuff.

January 23, 2012 at 10:22:00 AM PST

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