Trailblazing…

The sustained hot, dry spell would be the obvious time to get some serious miles in on the road bikes, but for various reasons, I’m finding myself drawn to exploring deserted lanes, by and bridleways aboard Ursula and Denise.

Part of this stems from practicalities. I’m testing trail-biased shoes and eyewear and was also keen to see how secure some luggage and mounting hardware would prove in these contexts.

Then there’s an anchor point rooted in those formative teenage years. The desire to escape on a lightweight go-anywhere drop bar machine. The sort I lusted after, having been seduced by Muddy Fox’s Trail Blazer, which featured in the March 1987 edition of Bicycle magazine. To date, I've only seen a couple in the flesh-later incarnations from 1989, which were still appealing but lacked the original's impact.

Muddy Fox's innovation quickly saw them synonymous with domestic, grassroots mountain biking. Aside from the Trailblazer and better- known Courier (which I've also seen converted to drops) was their Bigfoot. This was based around 24inch wheels, aimed at smaller riders and women specifically. This was a time before sloping top tubes and compact geometry, which arguably revolutionised people’s access to well-fitting, comfortable off-the-peg machines.

Then along came Specialized’s Rock Combo in 1989. These had a very short production run. Its hybrid identity foxed some in the UK's cycling press, others tested it alongside tourers, and I can appreciate the logic Fifteen-year-old me had just added a 1982 Holdsworthy Claud Butler Super Dalesman to the fleet, so a £450 Rock Combo was decidedly out of reach. Acquiring one would also likely induce parental handwringing and wrath, not least as my school attainment was decidedly below par during this period. While physically present, I was out on a ride, exploring faraway lands and meeting strange ladies who made me nervous but took me in and gave me breakfast. More about North East London another time...

Hailed by some as the forefather of modern gravel/adventure bikes, the Rock Combo wasn’t simply a Rockhopper with drops. Steeper angles, with a slightly lower bottom bracket for improved laden stability. 26x1.5 was the suggested clearance, although I’ve heard people managing 26x1.75 and even 2 inches sans mudguards (fenders). These and the Muddy Fox discussed were arguably all-terrain bikes in the literal sense, hence why I remain very drawn to them and wedded to the concept.  Dawes added a little more tour to their interpretation a decade or so later, starting with the One-Down, which was ultimately replaced by the Sadar. Love child of tourer and mountain bike, the One Down certainly turned my head back in 1999.

These were based around a Reynolds 631 frameset and 26inch wheels, drop bars and came complete with rack and mudguards. Some frames, forks, and components I would happily give a good home, but wouldn't entertain classic prices. Girvin’s Flex Stem falls into this category and divides opinion. I loved mine, but the technology has been outclassed in performance terms by suspension forks and contemporary designs such as Vecnum Free QENCE’s ultra-refined Suspension Stem

 Vecnum FreeQENCE Suspension,  Stem | cycling-not-racing  Redshift Sports ShockStop TEST & REVIEW REDSHIFT SPORTS SHOCKSTOP SUSPENSION STEM and of course, Kinekt Kinekt Suspension Stem 90mm | cycling-not-racing

Staying with the Flexstem, many riders noted issues with stability and control, especially when the elastomer had worn. Not what you'd want in tandem with a whippy bar when thundering along rutted sections of singletrack. The closed face design, typical of that era means more involved, time-consuming bar swaps. (At least compared with two or four-bolt faces that followed and remain standard today).  

25.4mm also limits handlebar choice. Nitto still offers their RM-013 Dirt drop Bar, Grand Randonneur B132AAF and Nitto RM-3 "Dirt Drop" Handlebars in 25.4. On-One's Midge are another flared design offered in 25.4, so you may be able to find some NOS (New Old stock). I loved their shape, though found the narrow diameter a little whippy for my tastes, so upgraded to 31.8. Stem length is another consideration. Cross-country mountain bike framesets tend to have long top tubes, so even a short reach suspension stem may prove too stretched.

Tyres can be another source of compromise. There's sound argument for having two sets of wheels. One set shod with road-biased rubber, the other with knobblies. All too often, dual-purpose models were the worst of both worlds. However, there are some designs capable of delivering in both contexts, albeit with greater rolling resistance over metalled road and less bite in technical, gloopy trails.

Specialized Crossroads were available in 26x1.9 and provided a little more room around unicrown forks and tighter rear triangles. I'd shod Ursula with some, following a 25-year hiatus and was pleased to discover the Crossroads still relevant, providing enough speed to keep things engaging along the lanes, while offering proper scope for exploring dirt roads and byways. True, these aren't tubeless-ready and wire beads, add some grams but on the flip side, they're rugged and offer decent puncture protection.

CST’s Patrol  CST Patrol Folding EPS Tyres | cycling-not-racing roll very nicely on hardpack and are quicker over metalled roads than weight and tread patterns would imply. However, over longer distances, the additional rolling resistance becomes more palpable, although I’ve been able to chase down and overtake the unwary. No punctures to date, either. 26-inch wheels have been superseded by 27.5, and in broader terms, 650b and 700c. New, dirt-biased 26-inch models are now comparatively rare, although we're not talking rocking horse droppings, or hens' teeth. There are exceptions. Nutrak X Vee Frenzy Gravel is a 90tpi tubeless-ready, design marketed at gravel audiences. Alongside the 700c and 650b, there's also a 26x1.95. Continental still offers tubeless-ready models, including their Cross King Protection Black Chili Tyres Continental Cross King Protection Black | cycling-not-racing

Back to complete bikes...Marin Four Corners 2 caught my imagination and is arguably a contemporary evolution of the "go anywhere" drop bar narrative. Filed in their Adventure category, it features a double-butted Cro-moly frameset with oodles of braze-ons. 3 bottle bosses, four-point carrier and mudguard (fender) mounts, and scope for 50mm (1.95 inch) tyres.

Wonder if there's a frameset option...

Michael