A couple years ago I bought a Brooks B17 Narrow for my then commuter singlespeed. I used the saddle for a while on the singlespeed, but I didn’t like leaving it outside at a rack or in the rain all day. Since I moved, and later sold the singlespeed, the Brooks sat waiting in a box. In my quest to better fit the Gunnar, I swapped the Flite XO in favor of the Brooks.  So far the Brooks is working out very well.  It is not quite broken in yet, but it is still very comfortable.

On Sunday afternoon I rode the Gunnar and attached Brooks from Marino Rocks to McLaren Vale and back. I rode portions of the Coast to Vines Trail and the Adelaide Southern Veloway for a total of about 64.5km.  Both trails are fairly well marked, but the Coast to Vines Trail does disappear into a rail station for a short distance near Marino.  The trail routes, street crossings and surface quality/maintenance are among the best for paved trails I’ve ridden.  How many bike paths have you seen with a center line, passing zones and large, well maintained shoulders?  The scenery is also spectacular and ranges from the beach (coast) to rolling hills and vineyards (vines).  Overall, this is a great ride.

The Coast To Vines Trail

The Adelaide Southern Veloway (right) and the Southern Expressway (left), the longest reversible one-way freeway in the world.

I want a new stem for my Gunnar cyclocross bike.   The Gunnar currently has a Salsa steel stem that is exactly what I want, but a little too short.

After an exhaustive search I’ve found very few road stems with the 26mm clamp.  Does Thomson make one?  No.  What about Moots?  No.  FSA?  Nope.  Salsa does make a couple stems with 26mm clamps, but the steel version doesn’t come in the length I want, and the one that is the proper length is welded aluminum and looks like it belongs on a downhill bike.  The rest of the current offerings seem to all be forged aluminum clones with slightly different but equally garish logos applied.

I thought I found the perfect stem.  eBay came though with a new old stock ITM/Colnago Ergo Lite.  Unfortunately, the sellers description of a 1 1/8″ steerer with shim to 1″ was incorrect and I now have a nice looking but useless stem.  For anyone considering an Egro Lite stem, note that while there is a shim, it is in fact for angle adjustment and only works for a 1″ steerer.

It seems that the perfectly adequate 26mm road bar has fallen out of favor for the ridiculous looking 31.8mm bar.  Moots, Thomson, Salsa and just about everyone else make varying assortments of 31.8 stems ranging from nice (Thomson) to hideously ugly (Easton).  While trashing my 26mm bar for an otherwise identical 31.8mm bar is a potential solution, replacing the bars, tape and computer mount just to accommodate a silly fad is unnecessary, expensive, and annoying.

Currently it is a toss-up between a 26mm to 31.8mm shim or a new frame.  I’ll let you know what happens.

I’ve been a MAKE Magazine subscriber for several years. Out of all of the logistics and details that come with an international move, my MAKE subscription has been the easiest and least problematic to deal with.  Not only did MAKE forward my subscription across the planet at no cost, they also mailed out an issue I missed (also at no cost).

What else?  MAKE also has great tips like converting that useless PC into a Baby Rocker.