u/Gimpdiggity

I was on my first ride on my Navi today. On my way back home I came across a Shelby America truck unloading these two cars.

I jokingly asked the guy overseeing the unloading if he thought the red one (the Super Snake R) was faster than my 109cc motorcycle.

He very seriously said “You never know…maybe just a tad,” before laughing.

He was friendly. Let me take a bunch of pictures.

Shelby is having their Shelby Shelebration in my town this week, and then I’d assume they’re taking them to Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit.

Just picked up this 2026. Looking forward to hitting some back roads on it!

Rode to the end of the new section of Mike Levine in Jackson and ended up going a bit farther.

Mike Levine kind of connects to Falling Waters now, but you have to ride some city streets to connect. The armory is where you switch from trail to streets.

I didn’t feel like getting a flat in the “bike lane” so I turned back here.

That said, I’ve lived in Jackson for 19 years and never knew I could get inside the armory. Pretty cool.

Hi everyone.

Upgrading the poor quality coil fork on my bike to a GVX from Suntour turned into a bit of a nightmare.

The bike was originally specced with 180mm rotors on MTB calipers. That worked fine on the original fork.

The GVX is “Flat Mount Direct 160,” which I came to realize was a ROAD style caliper.

I found some adapters that adapted flat mount to post mount. After doing a bunch of reading, I was able to get it to work-ish…however, it was less than ideal. Some washers were needed for the disc to clear the caliper. From what I was able to find, it’s because the adapters are made to adapt a 140mm native flat mount up to 160mm. So going from 160mm native to the +20 was CLOSE, but not perfect. What ultimately did me in was I could not, for the life of me, get the discs to stop rubbing. They’d be good on the stand, good on the street, as soon as I hit gravel, “tink, tink, tink, tink.”

I finally gave up, did my reading, and found that the Tektro HD-R280 caliper would work with my Tektro MT-275 lever. I wanted the lever off of the MT set because it matches, where the one off of the road set would’ve been slightly different.

I also had a few extra 160mm discs laying around, so I could just go 160 on the fork.

This is how it looks after I’ve installed it, and I’m hoping someone can confirm that it looks correct?

As a final question, the flat mount adapter says F5/+20 on the other side. Would this indicate if I flipped it around, I could still in fact run the 180mm rotor up front? Or would I end up running into similar issues that I did when using the post mount adapters?

Thank you for reading. This project has driven me nuts, but I feel like I’m finally nearing the end.

Hi.

I have a bike that had a cheap coil fork on it. The bike has Tektro HD-M275 brakes on it. It has a 180mm rotor.

I’ve upgraded the fork to a Suntour GVX. Problem is, the fork is set up for flat mount 160.

I’m using a flat mount to post mount adapter to get it to work-ish. It’s been very difficult to get it lined up so it’s not rubbing at all, and it needed a couple of washers to get it so the rotor wasn’t hitting the caliper itself. I’ve got it to the point where it’s pretty much fine, but honestly I’m not happy with it. It seems like it’s just kind of cobbled together, and it also doesn’t look very finished…if that makes sense.

I’m thinking about switching the front over to a 160mm rotor and going with a caliper that actually fits the fork well.

I’d like to keep the levers matching, though. The typical Tektro HD-R levers are three finger levers, and several of them have a different design to the reservoir.

So I’m wondering if anyone knows if my current M275 levers would work with the road calipers?

Thanks!

I like weird bikes.

It’s absolutely exhausting to ride.

But it’s also a blast. If I end up really getting the hang of it, I will move to a 52” full size…hopefully an actual antique.

Took this out to Mike Levine today.

It was surprisingly comfortable as a gravel bike. A bit faster than my Larkspur, probably a bit slower than my Warbird.

Overall, though, I was pleased with how it performed in this role.

2024 XLT in Cactus Gray.

It’s been great for my wife and I so far.

I bought a new chain for my Marin Larkspur. When I got it out to measure it, it’s a bit shorter than the chain that was on the bike.

I went ahead and installed it, and this is how the derailleur looks in both highest and lowest gears.

I’m feeling like it’s alright, but wanted to ask the experts.

First time out on any gravel this year. Weather hasn’t been cooperating with my days off.

I got a ride on the Larkspur in, and as soon as I started trying to practice on the Nimbus (this is something I’ve been meaning to do for a few years now) it started to pour…so that got cut short.

Still a pretty good day though!