Little Joe
Don’t tell Little Joe this, but I really wanted a road bike to replace the Big Blue Oschner, but I had a dilemma. One, I already had a road bike (albeit a 20+ year old bike), and two, I knew that sometime in the next few years, I had to buy a mountain bike, preferably a Novarra from REI.
I suppose I should take a moment and explain why I needed to buy a mountain bike. You see, El Cap has invited me to a mammoth mountain bike ride across the Andes for for a certain undisclosed birthday, which will remain nameless. I wanted to get a Novarra, because the cap’n has a Novarra, and if I get the same bike, we can purchase one or two spare parts for the expedition knowing that they will be compatible for either bike in the case of a mechanical emergency.
My Idea of a Hybrid
So I knew I needed a mountain bike sometime, but I wanted a road bike too. What was I going to do? I kicked around the idea of a hybrid, but it doesn’t really solve either problem. A hybrid would just tease me about the fact that I had neither a true road bike, nor a true mountain bike.
Then I thought about El Cap. He doesn’t have a road bike. He has done the MS150 three years in a row on a mountain bike. If El Cap could do it, I thought, so could I. I don’t typically recommend a mountain bike for a century ride, but if you want both worlds: the mountain bike and the road ride, you would do much better to go the route of El Cap and I. Get a hard tail mountain bike and put slicks on it for the road rides, and put knobbies on it for the off road.
This is my kind of hybrid. Keep the knobbies on for your single track passion, and get slicks for road riding. When I put my slicks on, I can get downhill speeds of 40+ mph, and on the flats, I can easily maintain a speed of 18+ mph (yes, I know, the average speed on most of my rides is lower, but that’s with hills, headwinds, etc.). I have the added bonus of a more comfortable riding position. The best part of a century on a mountain bike, however, is when a long nasty hill is involved, I have a granny gear up my sleeve.
I know road bikes, and you’re no road bike
Yes, that’s true that it isn’t a road bike nor does it pretend to be. I admit that tucking isn’t as natural, and I don’t have all of the hand positions, but after Reach the Beach and the MS150 ride, I can say that the mountain bike is easier on my back than the last two years on my Ochsner. I also admit that I don’t have the 52 teeth large chainring, the bike is heavier, and there is more rolling resistance with a smaller and wider tire, but considering the fact that with a change of tires, I have a true mountain bike, I can deal with the shortcomings when on the road.
Little Joe’s Stats
Little Joe is a 19-inch, 2006 REI Novarra Bonanza. The two selling points of the bike for me were the disk brakes (by Hayes) and the Ritchey clipless pedals (spd-styled). I’ll be honest, it’s pretty much entry-level (there actually is one other hardtail in the Novara line that’s lower in price, but I never considered getting that one). Thanks to technology, today’s entry level bikes were last decade’s top of the line. After all, I have a sturdy and light aluminum frame, clipless pedals, disk brakes, and decent shocks (Manitou).
I could be a bike snob and paid an extra 500 bucks to get top of the line, but let’s be honest here. I’m not planning on competing. I don’t race downhill, and I won’t ever be on a professional team. Also, I still plan to get a road bike some day, so I need to keep on good terms financially speaking with the Mrs. Samwise.
What’s in a Name?
So, you may be wondering why name a bike? First of all, I am one of those bizarre individuals with a need to name important objects. This is keeping in line with the whole Lord of the Rings / Fellowship of the Chainring theme. Many swords and objects were given names: Sting, Glamdring, Narsil, and even Gronde, the battering ram from Mordor, all had names.
“But why Little Joe?” you ask. Well, faithful reader, I’ll tell you. Hopefully, you picked up on the Bonanza/Little Joe connection. I really am not that big of a Bonanza fan, nor am I much of a Michael Landon fan, but the Little Joe I’m thinking of is the Veggie Tale parody, called The Ballad of Little Joe. In it, Larry the cucumber plays the lead, Joseph in a bizarre combination of a Western/Bible story. Little Joe is my hero: first, he interprets funky dreams; second, he has an amazing talent for organization; and third, he has the best lines (”Hey desperados, you better come to your senses” and “I’ll do what I know is right, despite incarceration”)
As Dr. Phil would say, “and how is that working out for you?”
My answer is quite well. I would be lieing if I said that I didn’t salivate when looking at the many nice road bikes, but I don’t regret my decision. Especially after taking Little Joe off road. I can say with experience that a real mountain bike makes a huge difference off road. I say this after having navigated the Deschutes River Trail for three years on the Lumbering Rhino, a steel framed monstrosity that El Cap gave me so I could join him and the other guys on our yearly trek near Bend.