This weekend

Dan an I got up early for a beating on the old 37 loop.

Sooo, I swapped the FR4 and the Purgatory front to rear.  Now FR4 front with Purg rear. At the same time I went to 32X20 gearing for a chainstay of around 16.5"  I got a really nice chunky ride in today with some brutal climbing (steep with 60 water bars in 1 mile), steep loose down, slow chunk, wider open loose two track mellow climbing.

First:  I swear I noticed the change in bar height swapping these tires front to rear.  It felt like the front end was 10mm higher and it probably was.  That FR4 is tall.  I liked it on the front traction wise.  I ran the pressure pretty low and pounded it a few times into sharpish things and never felt it bottom.  Same in the rear.

Second:  dang this gear is hard.  I can push it, but I walk just a bit more and I don't know if I have the suffering tolerance to continue on with it.  I will though for a while to see if I can build the strength.  How can it be possible to breath so hard at such a low cadence.  Yep, blowing up at 40rpm.....This was my first time pushing 32X20 and I have to say respect to the folks that can do it.

Third:  I think this is the sweet spot for the stays.  Front end is nice and light without being to nervous at speed.

I will ride this set up for more than a few hours....

It works all right



Of course, 17" stays work fine too: