Thursday, June 27, 2019

And The New Test Bike Is...

Well, school's out, and you know what that means:

I'm riding early!


In fact this morning as the sun was just peeking over the horizon I headed over the George Washington Bridge and once again encountered a "pesticide"-related road closure:


It's not unusual to find the so-called "River Road" barricaded, and it's common practice among cyclists to disregard them.  However, I've been riding on River Road for over 20 years, yet only now do I seem to be encountering closures due specifically to spraying.  Maybe it's just bad timing on my part, or maybe it's a vast conspiracy.  Either way, this time I said "Fuck it" and kept going--right past the pesticide truck as it was in mid-spritz, by the way, and I'm pleased to report I feel totally fine with no adverse affects whatsoeaeeiarEOEPWOIAR....U9HE.

In other news that you'll no doubt find far more interesting than my Fredly endeavors, I finally received my package from Jones Bikes, and here's what I got!

(Relax, I only got one bike.)

Yes, it's the new Jones LWB Complete!  Last year Jones introduced the SWB Complete, which is what I've been riding (and loving) for the past year, and now he's offering an inexpensive, ready-to-ride version of his LWB bike.  And I got one to test!

So what's the difference between the SWB and the LWB?  Well, here goes:
  • "SWB" stands for "Short Wheel Base," "LWB" stands for "Long Wheel Base."  So the LWB has...a longer wheelbase!
  • The SWB comes stock with 27.5+ wheels; the LWB comes stock with 29+ wheels
  • When ordering the LWB you can opt for a smooth tire setup or a knobby tire setup (I went with the latter)
  • The SWB comes in black; the LWB comes in black or red!  (But I got black)
  • The SWB sells for $1,799, and the LWB sells for $2,050
With regard to that last bullet point, first I'll say that I've had absolutely no issues with any of the components on the SWB.  However, the LWB does feature some upgrades.  For example it's got a SRAM Eagle 12 speed drivetrain, whereas the SWB has a Shimano Deore 10 speed drivetrain.  It's also got a cartridge bearing headset versus the SWB's caged ball headset.  The tires on the LWB (whether smooth or knobby) are also tubeless ready, whereas the tires on the SWB are not.  (Though in a flagrant disregard for my own safety I've been running mine tubeless for many months now, and apart from some pesticide-related delirium I'm doing just fine.)  And oh yeah, the rims on the LWB have eyelets.  I may be missing other parts differences, but these are the ones that were most obvious to me while assembling the bike yesterday.

"So relatively minor component differences aside, what's really the difference?  Which one do I buy?"  Well, I haven't actually ridden the bike yet!  Also my kids are out of school and my wife has a business trip coming up so this thing may be taunting me for the next few days.  But rest assured once I've got some time on it I'll report back and do my best to articulate the differences.

In the meantime, here's a photo of the two bikes side-by-side:


(Photo: Elliott Weiss)

Please note I've preemptively replaced the saddle, but other than that (and the pedals) the bike is as I received it.

Anyway, until I've actually ridden the thing for awhile it's all speculation, but I am extremely excited to see what this thing can do.  There are lots of roots and rocks around here and on paper this looks like it should handle that sort of terrain with aplomb--maybe even two plombs!

I'll keep you posted.


34 comments:

Chazu said...

Somebody, call aplomber.

Jeb said...

Podium!

Jeb said...

Podium!

mikeweb said...

Great pic of the Joneses!!

(it's good to see that poor photography talent doesn't run in the family)

Chazu said...

My neighbor across the street is a practicing nurse with about 30 years of experience. She told me recently about a recent patient of hers. The patient was outside her home, with her dog, when a pesticide truck pulled up to spray a lawn adjacent to the patient's property.

The patient and the dog stayed outside during the spraying. The dog was dead within days. The patient was hospitalized after the dog died, which was when my neighbor met her. The patient lingered for a couple of months; long enough for her to hire attorneys to sue the pesticide company. The patient died before any significant progress was made in the case.

And... my next-door neighbors (also across the street from the nurse) pay to have a big pesticide truck pull up and spray poison on their lawn a few times a year. They don't have any kids, but we do, and so we have to pay close attention whether or not the truck is present, and if so; to button up the house and keep the kids inside for a while. Also, I'm occasionally recruited to go into the poison lawn to retrieve an errant ball or frisbee because my kids are forbidden to walk on it. My wife (also in the healthcare biz) says that I have the "biggest body" in the family and so I'm more able to handle the exposure to the toxins. Nice, huh?

The neighbor who gets his lawn sprayed regularly? He had a massive stroke a few years ago. He survived, but his health continues to deteriorate.

This is all anecdotal, of course. But try this on for size: "Inhalational Alzheimer's disease: an unrecognized—and treatable—epidemic" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789584/

Anonymous said...

Podium? https://www.wgrz.com/mobile/article/news/stolen-bike-returned-days-later-in-tonawanda/71-aae8664c-ad8f-4398-8bbf-310ccefbc78d

Lewisburg, West Virginia said...

LWB stands for Greenbrier Valley Airport.
And nothing else.

ktache said...

oddly enough, just opened an email from Jones, about the LWB, came to you to ask if that's the new test bike, and yes, of course it is.

Ellie said...

Podium? Hey Tan, are you going to be building a special garage to house all those bikes like Seinfeld did for his cars? Ride on!

dancesonpedals said...

Long Wheel Base? That's what they rented me in Bend. (Not a Jones, but a Trek Roscoe 8) The folks at Pine Mountain Sports took one look at me & set me up with the bike least likely to get me killed: Long WB, slack head tube, 3 inch tires.
Just the thing for my annual MTB outing on green and blue trails. Enjoy Jonesing on your Jones.

1904 Cadardi said...

Aplomb? Not interested.
Two plombs? Okay, let's see where this is going.
Three plombs? You have my attention.
Four plombs? Check the bank balance.
Five whole plombs? Impossible. Can't be done. Nobody has ever achieved five plombs.

huskerdont said...

Yeah, I once had a caged ball headset; it's okay if you're into that kind of thing, and times being what they are.

Dooth said...

Tan annnnnnndddddd Mr, Mr Jones Mr Jones Mr Jones Mr Jones.
They have this thing... going on.

Freddy Frederickson said...

Two Joneses? Could thing we don't ride together, or I'd have to worry about keeping up with them.

HarlenC said...

Our transfer station will not accept lawn clippings. They are considered hazardous waste due to the prevalence of pesticide spraying.

HDEB said...

Good luck getting through your wife's business trip with your sanity intact if you are temporarily single-parenting your seventeen children.
The LWB Jones looks fun but I'd imagine the turning radius is ridiculous, making that bike unsuitable for silly-tight singletrack.

leroy said...

Well this explains my dog adding "Me and Mrs. Jones" to his karaoke set list the other evening.

I swear that dog can wail.

And not in a good way.

leroy said...

Oh dear. Just read the comments. How am I going to break it to him that Dooth has released his version first.

JLRB said...

Twins!!

My lawn attracts flyers from spraying companies. It's green, but if you look closer WEEDs. I couldn't care less.

NOPO ISON

Anonymous said...

Tan, you keep torturing me with your fun on a (free) Jones and he would not even let those outside Grandcheato's empire to buy one. Had to content with putting Jones bendy bar on something similar. Tariffs and taxes make imports madly expensive from your side of Ocean...

BamaPhred said...

Instead of posting my rant, here is the shortened version. Enter “organophosphate” into a common search engine. For all I know you have. You are carrying your Epi pen?

Anonymous said...

Ran a spray truck for awhile. Had three cats at the time. I would not even come near those guys until I shed my uniform in the basement (no cats allowed down there) and had a shower.


And an adult beverage or two.


Or three.


Okay, or elebenteen.


kthxbai

bad boy of the south said...

Safe riding on the the new Jones.
Passing the older one to your brother(?)?.
Okay.no more riding past the spray truck.
Only spray you can pass through is the lawn sprinkler type.
Sermon is over.(for now)

Some guy from upstate said...

You couldn't have gotten the red one so we can tell them apart? Here's a picture of two bikes: one is a black bike with funny handlebars and fat tires, one is a black bike with funny handlebars and fat tires that are slightly bigger, and it's slightly longer.

Is there a specific wheel width requirement to race in the fat bike class? Maybe the Jones (in either lengthway) could avert your issues with those pesky fatbikers. If you could live with yourself afterwards ...

Anonymous said...

"I am extremely excited to see what this thing can do" Did they kidnap the Real Snob again? I think "the thing" can do little more than what is shown in the photo. What the Snob (or whoever has replaced him) can do on it is of course a different thing - but I think he (or she) will sit on the saddle, grab the handlebar and push down on the pedals, pretty much like every other bicycle out there? ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 5:34am,

So what bicycle have you received for testing? Please point us to your blog, magazine column, or radio show where you discuss cycling much more interestingly than I do.

Wait, you don't have any of those things?

Yeah, I thought so.

--Tan Tenovo

anonymous Huskerdont said...

I don't even know why anonymous posting is allowed. Wait, we're all anonymous on the entrynet, nevermind. I am going to start using "anonymous" as my user name everywhere I go. And I'm going to name my band "Closed for Private Event" to make sure we get maximum turnout.

bad boy of the south said...

Oops!my post went into the reply mode.
My apologies.

Anonymous said...

Hey don't tar all of us anonymouses... anonymi... anonymarati...
Don't tar all of the Anonymati with the same brush. I'll have you know, we all have to pass a rigorous and demanding Captcha Exam to prove our qualifications to post comments here. And some of us in real life are totally fricking awesome brilliant scientists (probably) and loving parents, always the life of the party, people just gravitate to us, we just always somehow make everybody feel special, we'd give you the shirt off our backs, and we also enjoy foosball, a quiet reading nook, and walks on the beach at sunset with our lovely wife Cindy and our kids Aidan, 12, Cindy Jr., 7 and little Tannyr, 2, but we just don't want our comments publicly associated with our real identities.

Anonymous said...

What guidance does the cinema offer RE the pesticide blockade? Well it's true the one in Close Encounters was a fake. But on the other hand, the "river road" in Hotel Rwanda was probably best avoided.

Anyway school's out means... WECAN'TEVENTHINKOFAWORDTHATRHYMES

Anonymous said...

"So what bicycle have you received for testing? Please point us to your blog, magazine column, or radio show where you discuss cycling much more interestingly than I do.
Wait, you don't have any of those things? Yeah, I thought so"
WOW! This guy's a real industry tool. Please, please, please let the Real Snob out of captivity and get rid of this egomaniac. Whoever this guy is, will he be on "Fox and Friends" next?

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 3:11am,

You know what? You're right: I am an industry tool. Jones, for example, makes great bikes and I want them to succeed. In fact I want the entire industry to succeed and for everyone involved in it to do well so they can keep making bikes and feeding themselves simultaneously, and in turn we can keep riding them. Crazy, right?

--Tan Tenovo

PS: Corollary to Godwin's Law says any asinine media critique will eventually mention Fox News for no reason.

PPS: You suck.

Anonymous said...

Have the Snob's kidnappers made ransom demands yet? Do we need bitcoins to free him? Do we have to buy a bunch of these Jones bicycles? Please tell us so we can free him and get back to his snark instead of the kind of mindless blathering about the qualities of a bike we can read on any of the bazillion advertorial cycling websites clogging up the innertoobz. Please! I'm (almost) begging you.
PS Kidnappers suck.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 3:27am,

Stop reading me forever, you don't deserve me.

--Tan Tenovo