The Almanzo 100 is this weekend in MN. It’s a 100 miles of gravel with seven handfuls of elevation change, one river crossing, no support, and heaps of love.

A couple of us around NCC town have been riding in prep for it all winter and we’re stoked to go (get it over with).

If you’re into this sort of thing, here’s my setup:

I’m over the moon about this new MOOTS PX. I had an extra cage mount added under the down tube for just such occasions. The Revelate Tangle bag (size small), leaves me ample room for bottle access. I could have gone with the medium, but the small has more than enough space to hold what I need. Not pictured is an Arkel Seatbag (magical) that I’ll be using to hold my fix-it-kit (Topeak Ratchet Rocket, Co2 inflator, spare tube, masterlink).

This drivetrain is geared a little high for the steep pitches on the course, but I’ll get over them eventually. Ideally, I’d have run a 11-32 in the back and changed to a mountain derailleur. Oh well.

The Clement PDX tires have been great for most everything around here, so I’m going to stick with them. They’re a little aggressive for a dry course, but they don’t feel slow at all. If there’s fresh gravel, I’ll be glad to have them.

I’ll carry three bottles on the bike and one in my jersey pocket. I’ll rotate between Skratch and Nuun in the bottles. For foodstuffs, I’ll be carrying 3 Tobietillas™ (large flour tortillas with crunchy peanut butter, Nutella, sunflower seeds, and honey), 2 Tbird bars, 2 gels (espresso).

The weatherman says there’s a 100% chance of good times, so I’m not too concerned about clothing.

Let’s ride.

VAPOR COAT.

We had a customer with exquisite taste order a Project One Domane with the Vapor Coat finish and it arrived this week.

It’s really not possible to capture it with a camera – it’s a gorgeous finish. The “U5″ stands for “under 5 grams”. A typical paint job will weigh >100g, so we’re talking 1/4lb off the bike with the Vapor Coat.

We had the idea to take our Blackboard Project outside for this one. Eric did a great job on the photos. 

We’re pretty enamored with the new Bontrager TLR wheels. They set up nicely, ride amazingly, and the weight savings is immediately noticeable.

This bike is delicious.

This is a 56cm and weighs a hair over 15lbs with “normal” wheels set up tubeless and has the added comfort of the IsoSpeed pivot.

It rides like a dream.

We’re going to try something new this summer with some of our favorite and most frequently requested custom builds. We’re going to establish a couple “NCC Editions” of certain models we’re known for or want to be known for.

The first of these will be a Gunnar Hyper-X with lean and mean aesthetics, sensible and strong components, and a gravel/adventure/duty pedigree.

Here’s a sneak peek:

The next NCC Edition in the works is a custom MOOTS project combining the lithe geometry of their Psychlo-X with the rear of their Mooto-X featuring hydraulic disc, thru-axle front fork, 3 bottle and rear rack mounts, and tire clearance for days. Code Name: Minootaur.  Here’s a sneak peak:

Can’t you see all that tire clearance?!

Another NCC Edition you can count on seeing on the floor is Jones Loop H-Bars on select Trek FX,  DS, and Neko bikes. It’s a great upgrade for those bikes, adding miles of comfort and convenience to already fantastic bikes.

Oh yeah. And although it’s not really an NCC Edition, we will be the only place you can walk in and buy a complete Jeff Jones bike, so that’s something to get excited about, too.

We received an amazing call recently.

The legendary Jeff Jones was asking if we’d consider partnering him to sell his bikes.

When the shock wore off, we replied with an emphatic “yes,please”.

Up until now, Jones frames were only available through Jeff Jones himself. Jeff liked the cut of our jib, so we were at the top of the list when it came to dealers he wanted to represent his brand. We’ll be stocking the Steel Space Frame and Steel Diamond Frame, both built up with appropriate components. The mythical Ti Space Frame will be available upon request. We’ll be posting more as things arrive.

We had two beautiful new Trek WSD bikes come in this week.

This is a Trek 7.5 FX WSD outfitted with the Jones Loop H-Bar to create a comfortable, upright road bike. This is a great option for serious riders who don’t like a drop-bar position. The Loop bars offer multiple hand positions and excellent real estate for lights and computers.

The new Trek Cali Series is just now becoming available. We’ve received a few of the basic Cali model and we’re very impressed. This is a ton of bike for the money and the three sizes available will fit an incredible range of people. The new WSD mountain bikes (Cali, Lush, and Neko) are great.