dbrk
contributor
Reged: 12/18/03
Posts: 201
Loc: Finger Lakes, New York
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Some may know that I own a custom Psychlo-YBB. It's built with about 4 or 5 degrees of slope so it's not really a cross bike. The bb is lowered, the chainstays longer and the whole thing is meant to evoke good feelings about bad, bad roads, fat road tires, and messy, nasty days in slush and mud. Tomorrow promises to be just such a day. I have recently swapped out to some narrower tires, 32c Vittoria Randonneurs. I had been using Pasela 35c. I didn't much care for the tall profile of the Paselas which, imho, were not great in the turns for being so tall. Great fat tires should be ROUND. I'm also not much interested in knobbies because I take the bike on gravel and dirt roads as well as some pavement. It was designed to be a real roughstuffer, not a portage crosser.
I have to say that the design of this bike is downright brilliant. I told Moots exactly what I wanted and they came up with a GREAT solution, one that avoided the dreaded headtube extension (which is almost always a compromise one can avoid) and they sized it perfectly.
Moots has welds like none other. But every Moots rider knows that.
There is one more thing about this bike. The decal is flawed. The top tube decal is supposed to read "Psychlo-YBB" but the decal maker must have had a hangover because it reads "Pschlo-YBB". I asked about this and, well, apparently it's one of a kind.
dbrk
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dcotcamp
new member
Reged: 12/23/03
Posts: 10
Loc: Saginaw, MI
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I too have a psychlo YBB. Mine is a stock bike. I'll echo all Douglas said about it. I've ridden on the road quite a bit with mine (plus raced cyclocross on it).
Its ability to soak up 'hits' is amazing. The welds are beautiful, and I don't think you can beat the utilty of a 'hose it off when you're done' Ti frame for riding in messy conditions.
If you mash on the pedals, you can induce a little 'bobbing' feeling in the back, but that goes away if you smooth out your pedalling.
If you're forced to ride on really bad pavement, or ride dirt roads a lot, I think this bike is something to seriously consider. A frame with 'road' geometry but 'cross clearance seems to me to be a terrific idea for someone who doesn't plan to race cross on it.
Dennis
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eric_owens
new member
Reged: 12/26/03
Posts: 11
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alas, dbrk, it is not one of a kind. mine, received last spring, suffers from the same decal devoid of the y. it also, like yours, has more of a road geometry (deeper drop and a sloping top tube, WITH the dreaded headtube extension, but i'm 6'5" tall) and is a great rough road and easy trail machine.
2 questions:
the piston on the ybb suspension has scoring after 2000 miles. i suspect that road grit gets trapped in the spring cylinder and causes this, but having never owned other suspension systems, i'm not sure what to expect. any thoughts?
how do you like the 32c Vittoria Randonneurs? I've been riding the tufo 30c tubular clincher, which is very round, but i've been thinking about moving to a larger tire.
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eric
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dbrk
contributor
Reged: 12/18/03
Posts: 201
Loc: Finger Lakes, New York
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Moots told me that the ybb piston puts up with a lot of crap before it needs any replacing but you do need to grease it. I use regular Phil grease which seems to be a not too thin, not too thick choice. The scoring is normal.
I took the Pasela 35c's off the bike last week and put in two rides on the Vittoria Randonneurs. These are more heavy duty but I don't think thick they are much wider than a Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy. I like the Randonneurs much better than the Paselas but not as much as Ruffy Tuffys. The RTs are very round tires. Still, the Randonneurs ride nicely, round and with a good momentum, they aren't scary in corners. I pumped them up more than I usually would, about 110psi. I just wanted to feel them roll.
dbrk
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eric_owens
new member
Reged: 12/26/03
Posts: 11
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are you disassembling the upper cylinder, or just smearing some phil green goo on the exposed piston?
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eric
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dbrk
contributor
Reged: 12/18/03
Posts: 201
Loc: Finger Lakes, New York
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I smear Phil grease on the piston. Word has it there is not much to this mechanism, just an elastamor (sp?) and that doesn't require the goop. A call to Butch or Dan at Moots might be in order here.
Nice folks, those Moot'es
dbrk
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