Jason aka Dirt Digger , Where's the Beef

[Smiley]

You have marketed your Terraplane very well, as I see it your frame debut will be the most anticipated bike in the photo gallery. I applaud you and think you should find another line of work cause your clearly a better PR guy. I really want to see what your finial product looks like. To tell you the truth, guys like you and Dave Thompson and the reverend Dr dbrk have started to change my mind about what my next frame should look like. I aint racing and quite frankly I just ride fast in the paceline when required BUT I am finding that I just like to ride comfortably and haul a few essential when I go for a ride. Anyway ...Where's the Beef buddy?

[dirtdigger88]

The beef-

Isnt quite finished yet-

I spoke to JB last week- I am looking at mid november when the bike gets painted- so then a couple more weeks in shipping from so. cal. to bozeman then to st. louis.

the hold up - I will take credit for- I could not find a green that I liked- so JB is mixing a custom blend inbetween two colors- then the beige- sure there were all kinds of hues near what I wanted that were "stock" colors- but I insisted on the exact beige of the new VW bugs- custom mixing again- lastly I was torn on my lug outline color-

I learned that the metallics dont do well for outline colors- it makes sence- metallics dont allow for the fine line detail that the solid colors allow for- so the metallic green / gold that I started out wanted wasnt going to work- JB tried some custom blends in the green/ gold line- I just didnt like them- How about solid gold- hmm... maybe. . . but no- So I now have the lug outline color figured out- I am not going to tell you the color- because I think folks will turn their noses up at it- but when you see it in living color you will understand my choice-

What else has all of this time done for me- I have changed the type of saddle I am using- I have changed bar tape- I have gone with a different headset- and have you seen my run at bar plug (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=12187) painting-

So what does this all mean- I hope to have the bike built by thanksgiving- however- the recent post on bike photography (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=12209) has inspired me- I grew up helping my father in his photography studio- I may do some detailed photos of the bike before I build it- Im just not sure- its easy to say I will now- but when the frame is in my hands I may be pulling an all nighter to built it up-

Thanks for asking- I hope the bike lives up to the hype I have created- I am sure Dave and JB's part will- I just hope the parts pick comes together like I have seen in my minds eye

Jason

[Smiley]

Brooks Swallow ? What gives are you ditching this effort ????

[dirtdigger88]

smiley

as you know a swallow measures 15 cm across- on paper that is the same as an arione or a flite saddle- the problem is that with a brooks you loose about 1.5 cm (roughly) of width on EACH SIDE of the saddle due to the rear plate that holds the leather- so the 15 cm saddle really only has a "sitting" area of about 12cm- my sit bones are spaced 11.5 cm apart- if I sat riding straight ahead I was ok- my sit bones would sit in between the plate- but if I moved around any AT ALL- used any kind of body english- got tired- you know rode my bike- my sit bones would run on the plate- it was very uncomfortable- I kept telling myself that I just had to break in the saddle- that was when I was speaking to you before- but I finally figured out the saddle was broken in- it wasnt going to get anybetter-

If you look at the bottom two rivets- the plate makes a sorta "C" shaped hook right at those rivets- that is where I was catching my sit bones

I tried a regular B17 back when nashbar had them on sale and there was the coupon for another 30% off- in one 60 mile ride I was convinced this is the correct saddle- I love my B17 bunches- so I got a B17 Ti for the kirk- with the brass rivets- and I am keeping my demo saddle on my lemond-

I included some pix of the swallow-

I also included some pix of my wheels for the kirk (here I go with the pr thing again)

Clinchers- Ruffy Tuffys on DA10/Open Pros

Tubbies- Dugast 29c on DA10/Reflex

Crossers- Michelin Jets on Chris King/DT RR1.1

[dirtdigger88]

more mug shots

Jason

[Smiley]

Dirt Man , I ride a standard B17 on the tandem, I tried a B17 N and it just did not work as well. I ride a B17 N on my MTB and my fixee and ride the swallow on the Hors Cat and this seems to work just right.
Sit bone placement is so important and I tend to stress that during my fit sessions. I have probably 20 different saddles that I have bought used or new for my clinic to demonstrate the various altering of STA or off-set with various saddle widths. Glad you found the right measurements that work for you BUT did Mrs Dirt measure your sit bones or did you just sit on a sandy beach and measure the crater left behind :)

[dirtdigger88]

did Mrs Dirt measure your sit bones or did you just sit on a sandy beach and measure the crater left behind :)

naw- I just sat on Sandy :p

actually I measured the marks my sit bones were leaving in the brooks- on my flite- they I did actually sit down on cardboard when I got back from a ride once- ya know all sweaty and all- I may be off at the 11.5 but basicly I got too wide an @ss to use a swallow

Jason

[Fixed]

bro the way dirt is we are all going to have thanksgiving treat this cat doesn't miss a thing and it looks like it's as perfect as can be .bro I bet there will be christmas list with(all I want is a bike like dirts's) at a lot of homes .cheers :beer:

[700 x 23c]

The side view of the saddle really looks more "broken" in than I would have expected. Do the Brooks really sag that much once they are broken in?

[Fixed]

bro on the brooks isn't there an adjustmet screw for tension? cheers :beer:

[Serpico]

Dirt,

I think you answered my 'Clinchers or Tubs?' conundrum--both.

Doesn't even need to be an either/or proposition, I'll get the tubs when I'm ready.

:beer:

[dirtdigger88]

700x23c-

Yes Brooks saddles sag as they break in- Im not sure if they sag more under me or not- maybe-

Here is some pix- the one saddle is the B17 on my Lemond- the other is the B17 for my Kirk- the one on my Lemond started out just as flat-

Fixed- yes there is a bolt to tighten the saddle- but there is not a need- these saddles are breaking in perfectly- Brooks says only about 1/4 turn a year-

I do have the saddle on my Lemond turned nose up a bit too much- but the bike has to short of a TT for me- and by setting the saddle like this I can artifically legthen the TT-


I also included a picture of the swallow to show that it doesnt sag all that much

Serpico- of course both- when I am going on dirt or gravel roads I will use the cross tires or the ruffys- the ruffys will be my daily tires- while the tubbies are my weekend tires- so to speak

Jason