Thursday, December 19, 2019

A Quick Cold One

It's cold today:


Oh, sorry, I mean it's relatively cold for New York City in mid-December today, but not cold in the grand scheme of things, so spare me your "Minnesota humblebrag:"


Yes, I know you don't even bother with kneewarmers when the temperature is over 20 degrees American.  Good for you.

But anyway, here in the tropics we're having a bit of a cold snap today.  Moreover, we're coming off a period of rain and snow and fluctuating temperatures that has encased pretty much everything in a fairytale-like shell of ice:


While it may look pretty, those heavy ice-encrusted tree boughs have been falling off lately, which is why I always wear my pedestrian helmet at this time of year.

As for riding, freezing temperatures coupled with a dusting of snow presented me with a perfect excuse to hop on the Jones LWB and pop into Highbridge this morning:


Sometimes just an hour on the bike is all you need (or all you have time for) and Highbridge affords me the opportunity to incorporate some dirt into that hour:


Moreover, even though it's capable of multi-day bikepacking expeditions (don't forget your designer axe!), the Jones is equally ideal for a quick urban winter jaunt: it rolls right over ice patches and inch-deep road salt deposits (the city has gone seriously crazy with road salt this year), and I also don't have to worry about wiping out on the Broadway Bridge:


Not only does the entire road surface consist of metal grating that can get very slick when it's wet, but it's also a lift bridge, so you have to contend with the metal maw depicted above.

On a road bike you've got to lift both wheels to make it across, but on the Jones you just roll on over it.

Speaking of Jones, obviously you can buy affordably priced SWB and LWB (smooth or knobby) versions, but Jeff Jones also informs me he's offering new titanium SWB framesets in his store:


They're available in Spaceframe and Diamond frame versions, with various fork options:


Given that the Jones and the new-to-me Litespeed are basically my two favorite bikes now I find the idea of a titanium Jones extremely compelling.

Here are the prices:

Jones Plus SWB titanium Spaceframe with Ti Truss fork- $4540
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, Ti Truss fork- $4240
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, steel Truss fork- $3640
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, steel unicrown fork- $3340


But the best thing about Jones's announcement is that his email came with all sorts of GIFs.  Here's one illustrating the difference between the SWB and the LWB:

See that?  The fit is same, but the wheelbase is longer.

Here's one showing that the steel and titanium SWBs both have the same geometry:

And here's one of a cat:


Sorry, I just slipped that one in there.

So yeah, if you're ready to build your do-anything dream bike now's the time.

I wish I was...

And for you Minnesota Humblebraggarts wondering how the titanium Jones frames old up in temperatures under -50 degrees, you'll have to take that up with him.

20 comments:

  1. I think you mean "hold up", not "old up", unless you're using some clever phrase meaning how they age ...

    Dirk

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  2. Also: that cat is either waving at me or getting physical, and either way it's creepy.

    Dirk

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  3. "The frame's upper tubes are long, thin, braced, and curved in just the right way to allow them to flex and keep the bike vertically compliant; the downtube, chainstays and seat tube are oversized to keep the bike torsionally stiff."

    Is this a Bicycling review or does Jones write this himself?

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  4. NYC has gone seriously crazy with road salt this year!

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  5. It was 22 in the local DC suburb this morning, so Ima bit surprised it was only 21 in NYC. But we don't have the pretty frozen stuff.

    If you're like me, you'll get that Jones Ti, thinking that you'll replace two bikes with one, but you won't and it will still be N+1. Magic.

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  6. that's like 8000 canadian

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  7. For a sec I thought purchase of a new Jones came with a new cat. Rats. I’ve always wanted a cat upgrade.

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  8. The popo won't ticket a jojo it ain't no tenovo

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  9. bad boy of the southDecember 19, 2019 at 5:48 PM

    Looks like our dopey cat.
    Is that a Cat 3 kinda cat?
    Anyways,a Jones bike.The gif that keeps on giving.
    Stay warm wherever you are.

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  10. Thanks for this post, Snobby, I found it quite titillating because in the Pyrocene's preeminent land; Australia, yesterday (today, your time) was our hottest day on record.

    Here in Sydney it hasn't rained for, like, 20 years or something, and the entire city has been shrouded in thick smoke for the past month. It reached 11 times safe levels on one day and it makes your eyes water, irritates your throat and gives you a permanent headache.

    I'm not sure if the above is a boast or a call for help, but if you want a preview of our dystopian post-apocalyptic future, you try riding in that toxic furnace.

    I'm sure cycling in chilly, snowy, slippery conditions is not without it's challenges, but you know, its no Gehenna.

    PS what happens to all the salt on your streets? Doesn't it get washed away into waterways and wouldn't it pollute the joint?

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  11. goddam; over $4000 for a frame! I thought you were the bicycling iconoclast.

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  12. Anon @ 6:36
    "PS what happens to all the salt on your streets? Doesn't it get washed away into waterways and wouldn't it pollute the joint?"

    BINGO!

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  13. Still trying to keep my frame purchases under $500. Those GIFS are nifty though. Soma just blew out their sweet, Tange Prestige steel (Smoothie)ES Long-reach road biek frames for $250. Deal of the decade. Soma has discontinued the "old standard" long reach road bike, like Surly did with the Pacer. (Soma's still got, for now, their 73mm centerpull frame) The bike industry is mostly about pushing hard on the dish breaks and non-standard axles these days. Keeping it fresh. About those wet decks, yeah they're a little zesty when its wet. I get about a thousand feet of what seems like 3" spacing, open grid, diagonal bridge deck on the best route out of town. It wreaks havoc on certain lower spoke counts and skinnier tires too(well, 28c but what can i say? they're FASTER.) Maybe i do need that Jones after all.

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  14. Suwannee Dave,

    Not only have I never called myself a "bicycling iconoclast," but I don't even know what that means.

    Given that the complete steel bikes from Jones cost half that and arrive ready to ride I have no qualms about sharing the titanium frames nobody is forcing anybody to buy--and of course the true iconoclast doesn't have to buy anything!

    --Tan Tenovo

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  15. ...Falling ice is no joke--even in the urban scape! I took a walk around downtown Manhattan yesterday and a gust of wind caused a shelling of sharp ice pieces falling from high rises onto the sidewalk. I had to run and duck under an awning. I'm lucky it wasn't pieces of terracotta!

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  16. That titanium LWB Jones plus on 29er x 3.25 56mm carbon rims is a sweeeeeet ride. Take it from me. Well, don't. Take it that is. It's my favorite bike (out of only 7.)

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  17. Wow...21F. That's just a bit nippy. I didn't ride last night after work cuz it was kinda windy (10mph) and pretty chilly (54-56F)..AND, gets dark by 5pm (I get off work at 4). I guess living in the CA Central Coast can make us a teensy bit spoiled (or so some people say...I don't see it). That Jones Truss fork in Ti gives me the chills...(as does the entire spaceframe)...if only. But I'm already at D=N+1 right now. But if I lived where it truly got cold (and that horrid white cold stuff) I'd definitely have some kind of fatbike. I'd just have to lose a bike to get it.

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  18. I like to live dangerously, that's why I just roll over those expansion joints on the Broadway bridge with my 25mm Contis.

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  19. On eBay chiner 29er frames are selling for $200. Mine flexes more than a Jones which is probably a bad thing but some of us just like to live on the edge and on a budget.

    Looking at weirdo bars for a Krampus build and found this. http://whatbars.com/

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  20. I'm actually surprised by the helmet comment. I would think falling icicles would pose less of a risk than whatever is happening on the streets of New York. I'm generally in support of limited helmet use but I didn't think falling branches would be a better reason to wear a helmet than city traffic.

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