Aspero Ekar

[ducati2]

I have ridden a Factor 02 for the last couple of years and thought I would try an experiment with a replacement bike this year. A bike with primarily road duties and disc brakes, fat tires, tubeless, and mechanical 1x. Built with Ekar, Shamal wheels, and Black Inc seat post and bar/stem.

- Disc brakes? This not made a difference to me one way or another.
- Fat tires? This has been a win. The roads in and around Seattle are bad and getting worse. A bit of extra width and volume have made my rides more comfortable. Currently Gravel King + slicks with a 38mm width.
- Tubeless? A win so far. At least six punctures that have healed themselves. Let’s see how this pans out over time.
- 1x? I would classify this a win for the kind of riding I do. I ride alone and leave the house for my rides. Plenty of gear range to handle rides with 100’ of hills every mile and high enough gearing to let me spin along at a 20+ mph pace. There is extra gearing that would let me ride much faster if only I had the legs. I suppose I could ride with most fast group rises in town and would only spin out going down hill, which is something I don’t care to do anyway. Currently a 40 tooth front chain ring and 9-42 cassette. I haven’t experienced any issues with cadence and gearing jumps.

I have been riding for 40 years and about 500k kilometers. This experiment has been a fun change of pace.