L'Enfer D'Hunterdon

[August]

This was the first in a series of three "Belgian themed" (poor roads, bad conditions) rides put on by Kermesse Sport in March and April. As it turns out, the weather was good, though Dave, Jed and I all agreed it was about ten degrees too cold. We had each brought bikes that had been on display at NAHBS, Austin—Dave on his Cyfac, Jed on his Engin, I on my Ellis. 76 miles (plus five for an unplanned detour), five thousand feet of climbing, and a sprinkling of fast gravel descents made for the perfect test course for my Ellis Di2 Dirt Road Bike. I'm happy to say it performed without a hitch, and all of the ideas that went into the design on the part of Dave Wages and myself proved to be good ones.

Dave's Cyfac was built with "crit" geometry; he said it handled the off road sections alright, but the short wheelbase made the bike a little loose when the gravel got larger. Jed's Engin was inspired by a vintage Lotus, and there are lots of little details to find when looking closely at the bike.

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http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5567922396_955fb31935_b.jpg

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The start.

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The temperature at the line.

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Six miles in, letting loose on the first long gravel descent, a piece of granite punched a hole int he sidewall of my rear tire. Cold.

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[August]

Fast forward and we're nearly done. "More comfortable than my Arione right now," Dave says.

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The Ellis

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5567339569_e96e6c58f8_b.jpg

Di2 is absolutely perfect for this bike and these roads. Pity it's so expensive—never misses a shift, no matter how dirty or wet, and virtually no effort to press the buttons, which is good when you're holding on for all you've got on some washboard downhill.

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"Cracked," and I was feeling it myself. Not too much longer, though.

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Complimentary River Horse at the finish.

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There are two more of these coming up, both of them in Eastern Pennsylvania: the Fools Classic (http://foolsclassic.com/) & the Fleche Buffoon (http://flechebuffoon.com/). They are very well organized and the routes are smartly planned. If I can swing it, I'll attend them both. I hope to see some of you there.

Chris—

[rugbysecondrow]

Awesome, thanks. I might have to look into one of the April rides.

Paul

[Peter P.]

The black and white photos give a real vintage feel to the event.

It looks like Dave Wages took the care to provide maximum clearance on short reach brakes for fat tires; nice job.

The paint job on the Engin has great style.

I'd love to hear more details about both bikes.

[roydyates]

Your photos are great. Looking through them, I kept thinking is it possible there is some other Hunterdon that looks just like Hunterdon County NJ. YOu have to scroll a long way before you see pointers to New Hope and Doylestown.

Can you post a cue sheet or online course route? It loks like it might be fun even if you're not racing.

[veloduffer]

Looks like fun. Too bad there's no cobbles. :p
The pics are great.

[thwart]

Good stuff. Thanks for the post.

[jeffreyt]

Great pics and story. That's my neck of the woods and I ride those dirt roads every week. New Jersey always gets a bad rap, so I'm glad that you had fun.

The 2011 que sheet can be found in the "course" section on the website http://hellofhunterdon.com/ Also, if you read the FAQ section, I'm the person they're referring to that did the ride on a single speed.
-jeff

[goonster]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5021/5567339379_903ce749c7_b.jpg
Nice bikes.

What tires are those?

[robin3mj]

Nice event- I grew up in Central NJ and half had my eye on these rides if I was to be up that way visiting relatives that weekend.

Do all 3 of the featured bikes have standard (short reach) brakes? How fat a tire did/can you fit in each?

[Dave Wages]

Nice bikes.

What tires are those?

They're Challenge Paris Roubaix's. Chris, did you have to boot the tire, or was the sidewall puncture small?

The bike looks great, I'm jealous, I'd have loved to be there with my Di2 Dirt Road Bike too! :D

Cheers,
Dave

[Dave Wages]

Nice event- I grew up in Central NJ and half had my eye on these rides if I was to be up that way visiting relatives that weekend.

Do all 3 of the featured bikes have standard (short reach) brakes? How fat a tire did/can you fit in each?

I can't speak for the other 2 bikes but on Chris' Ellis I maxed out the brakes reach with a slightly longer fork and bridge placement. He was running Challenge Paris Roubaix's, which are listed at 27mm, but are probable closer to 29. I had a set of Grand Bois 32's here that went on my NAHBS rando bike, and they fit fine also when I checked the clearances.

Cheers,
Dave

[Fixed]

i like the green bike it looks great
cheers

[sjauch2]

Oh man this looks like a great ride. Wish I had known about it. I'll be there next year.

[rugbysecondrow]

I can't speak for the other 2 bikes but on Chris' Ellis I maxed out the brakes reach with a slightly longer fork and bridge placement. He was running Challenge Paris Roubaix's, which are listed at 27mm, but are probable closer to 29. I had a set of Grand Bois 32's here that went on my NAHBS rando bike, and they fit fine also when I checked the clearances.

Cheers,
Dave

How do you like the Paris Roubaix's? I might give those a shot next.

Thanks,

Paul

[August]

How do you like the Paris Roubaix's? I might give those a shot next.

Thanks,

Paul
Challenge tires ride very nicely, but they're a little fragile. The Parigi-Roubaix (a little latinization) is amazing, really the only one of its kind in existence: a true 28mm, light-weight clincher with a high thread count. I had mine at about 80psi and was feeling no pain before the puncture. Great tire.

[August]

They're Challenge Paris Roubaix's. Chris, did you have to boot the tire, or was the sidewall puncture small?

The bike looks great, I'm jealous, I'd have loved to be there with my Di2 Dirt Road Bike too! :D

Cheers,
Dave

I had to boot the tire, it's toast. It finished the ride, no problem, though.

One word (acronym) for you, Dave: D-2-R-2-1-8-0-K

[August]

The black and white photos give a real vintage feel to the event.

It looks like Dave Wages took the care to provide maximum clearance on short reach brakes for fat tires; nice job.

The paint job on the Engin has great style.

I'd love to hear more details about both bikes.

The Engin is fillet-brazed with some stainless headtube rings, a seatmast with Drew's Engin-brand cap, a lugged, straight blade fork, and a TIG stem with Engin face plate. I agree about the paint--it looks even better in person.

The Ellis, where should I start? Double oversized Reynolds 953, True Temper S3 and Dedaccai tubes with fully polished S&S couplers; beautifully sculpted Llewellyn Slant 6 lugs; Ellis 17 4 stainless dropouts; internal Di2 wiring with polished stainless reinforcements; lugged fork with Keith Anderson TITO dropouts. As Dave said, there's clearance enough for a 32mm tire, and the Dura Ace road calipers are plenty powerful. I asked for this set-up because I hate cantis, and it's working very well so far.

[AngryScientist]

great pics and report, thanks. i also had no idea these rides existed, i may have to jump in for the next series, cheers.

[Miller76]

I am a newish transplant to the NJ bike scene and have signed up for the following rides:

Sourland Semi Classic
http://sourlandclassic.com/
Sunday March 1, 2015, 10:00 AM, Hopewell, NJ 08525

Hell of Hunterdon
http://hellofhunterdon.com/
Saturday March 21, 2015. Blawenburg, NJ 9:00 AM

The Fools Classic
http://foolsclassic.com/
April 4, 2015

I have yet to decide which bike to ride. I have a choice of the following:

CAAD CX9
CAAD 10 Di2
Breadwinner LOLO

I don't think the Breadwinner has enough clearance for tires much larger than 25mm.

Any suggestions as to what tires to use would be great?

thanks

[fiamme red]

I am a newish transplant to the NJ bike scene and have signed up for the following rides:

Sourland Semi Classic
http://sourlandclassic.com/
Sunday March 1, 2015, 10:00 AM, Hopewell, NJ 08525

Hell of Hunterdon
http://hellofhunterdon.com/
Saturday March 21, 2015. Blawenburg, NJ 9:00 AM

The Fools Classic
http://foolsclassic.com/
April 4, 2015

I have yet to decide which bike to ride. I have a choice of the following:

CAAD CX9
CAAD 10 Di2
Breadwinner LOLO

I don't think the Breadwinner has enough clearance for tires much larger than 25mm.

Any suggestions as to what tires to use would be great?

thanksYou should be fine with 25mm tires.

[EDS]

You should be fine with 25mm tires.

Agreed.

[Davist]

I ride my CAAD 10 with 28s. I ride 28s on that everywhere though. 25s should be fine as well..

[Hank Scorpio]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5021/5567339379_903ce749c7_b.jpg

Is that a cowboy lying down face first over your right shoulder?

[Miller76]

Thanks everyone, really looking forward to the ride

[Miller76]

I was looking at tires, specifically the Panaracer Gravel Kings in 26 or 28
Any other tire suggestions that you would use for this ride? Currently have continental gp4000 on an older set of Mavic a cosmic that I was planning on riding?

Thanks all



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