A Quick Cold One

It's cold today:


Oh, sorry, I mean it's relatively cold for New York City in mid-December today, but not cold in the grand scheme of things, so spare me your "Minnesota humblebrag:"


Yes, I know you don't even bother with kneewarmers when the temperature is over 20 degrees American.  Good for you.

But anyway, here in the tropics we're having a bit of a cold snap today.  Moreover, we're coming off a period of rain and snow and fluctuating temperatures that has encased pretty much everything in a fairytale-like shell of ice:


While it may look pretty, those heavy ice-encrusted tree boughs have been falling off lately, which is why I always wear my pedestrian helmet at this time of year.

As for riding, freezing temperatures coupled with a dusting of snow presented me with a perfect excuse to hop on the Jones LWB and pop into Highbridge this morning:


Sometimes just an hour on the bike is all you need (or all you have time for) and Highbridge affords me the opportunity to incorporate some dirt into that hour:


Moreover, even though it's capable of multi-day bikepacking expeditions (don't forget your designer axe!), the Jones is equally ideal for a quick urban winter jaunt: it rolls right over ice patches and inch-deep road salt deposits (the city has gone seriously crazy with road salt this year), and I also don't have to worry about wiping out on the Broadway Bridge:


Not only does the entire road surface consist of metal grating that can get very slick when it's wet, but it's also a lift bridge, so you have to contend with the metal maw depicted above.

On a road bike you've got to lift both wheels to make it across, but on the Jones you just roll on over it.

Speaking of Jones, obviously you can buy affordably priced SWB and LWB (smooth or knobby) versions, but Jeff Jones also informs me he's offering new titanium SWB framesets in his store:


They're available in Spaceframe and Diamond frame versions, with various fork options:


Given that the Jones and the new-to-me Litespeed are basically my two favorite bikes now I find the idea of a titanium Jones extremely compelling.

Here are the prices:

Jones Plus SWB titanium Spaceframe with Ti Truss fork- $4540
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, Ti Truss fork- $4240
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, steel Truss fork- $3640
Jones Plus SWB titanium Diamond frame, steel unicrown fork- $3340

But the best thing about Jones's announcement is that his email came with all sorts of GIFs.  Here's one illustrating the difference between the SWB and the LWB:

See that?  The fit is same, but the wheelbase is longer.

Here's one showing that the steel and titanium SWBs both have the same geometry:

And here's one of a cat:


Sorry, I just slipped that one in there.

So yeah, if you're ready to build your do-anything dream bike now's the time.

I wish I was...

And for you Minnesota Humblebraggarts wondering how the titanium Jones frames old up in temperatures under -50 degrees, you'll have to take that up with him.