Rawland cSogn 2.2

I'm not sure if I'm exactly on 2.1 or 2.2. Numbers confuse me. Suffice to say, though, that the Sogn is in a slightly different iteration, but I claim that to its credit, not its failings.

I've gone over this, but 1.1 was the original build with the Dirt Drops, which became the 1.2 with the Nitto Rando plus some other stuff like my old Blackburn rear rack.

To become the 2.0 I trail-i-fied it and took if for a very singletrack-ish ride in Cherokee Park. I added touring stuff for the DBNF trip, and below is how it ended up, although this pic is sort of crazy, silly, busy, Patrick. The 2.25 RacingRalphs I added performed fabulously, although we found knobbies to be overkill for two of our three days. Once "Teaching moment" is more consideration of tire selection for that part of the world (DBNF). A hearty Marathon-type tire would suffice, I think, for most situations. That being said, those knobbies sure were nice to have on the very chunky Fixer-Leeco this time.  Other of note was the use of the front mini-rack with the 'lil Loafer and Ortliebs on the rear. I had mounted the old Gnashbar "mtbike" panniers, which PJ insisted that I change. Given the amount of rain we saw this weekend, it proved to be the wisest, most cogent choice of the weekend. The Jones Loop bar was good on the Troll, with a bit of right hand numbness. The Jones through the weekend was better, giving me numerous positions to attack the miserable climbing we punished ourselves with.

Yesterday I should have ridden, but I spent a couple hours fiddling and fixing, getting ready for the school-year commute. The Sogn changed again, from an off-road tourer to an urban, do-anything commuter. The RacingRalphs were swapped for the massive 650b 2" Contis I bought from RBW  a ways back. Yes, they're heavy. No, I won't win any races. Yes, they'll plow through anything, and I think that is the greatest asset an urban tire can do for me personally. Also I removed the mini-rack and moved the IQ CYO up to the top of fork position. I've been wanting to return the mini to the QB for a while- no logical reason- and since the rear rack can haul pretty much anything short of the cargo bike, it's now gone. I also remounted the 2" fenders for the commute season. Finally, instead of using the Ortliebs I fished the old C'dale panniers out of storage (the left one's spring was so strong I almost couldn't get it on). I have a few sewing touch-ups to perform on these, but they're sizable, sturdily mounted, and it saves my Ortliebs for touring. Fact it, I don't commute a ton in the rain anyway.  The drowned rat look in front of teenagers at 7.45 just isn't the best option, at least for my mine developed vanity.

The Sogn is taking place of the LHT in my bikie heart, with the Troll an unloved cast-off. The Rawland has a sporty ride, nice all-rounder features, and so far has done the trick as a roadie, trail/tourer, and now as a commuter machine (30 sunny miles today). Sorry to say, but some of you should be jealous. If anyone was looking for a genuine all-rounder, one that could do road, trails and do some medium lifting, The cSogn seems like a very nice option.  I would rank my "grunt" bikes in order of cSogn/LHT/Troll given my uses and experience.


And if Sean @ Rawland were smart, he would keep a Sogn all-rounder (a la RBW's Atlantis) as a permanent offering in its stable.