Mitsou the Other, Other Woman

Well, after a full season’s worth of abuse she’s lost a little of the shine and that new bike smell is long gone, but she’s still my favorite hardtailed mistress. My wife has always considered my bikes to be the “other” women. With my Santa Cruz V10 getting the most action over the summer, Mitsou, my 2002 Balfa Minuteman dressed in red, would have to be the “other-other woman”. The poor girl, always playing second fiddle, she deserves so much more.

If there was ever a team bike in need, Mitsou was always the first to give up the goods with nary a whimper. Unfortunately, a hectic work schedule kept us off the 4-X competition circuit, though she did see considerable abuse (remember, I’m used to riding with 10 inches of travel) in venues like Golden, Invermere, Kamloops, Fernie and of course Calgary. Lent to friends needing a ride, at the derby, off to the store to get milk, or perhaps a brutal session at the dirt jumps under my fumbling ass. Not once did she complain.

If you remember seeing the French beauty way back in May, she was dressed in a similar wardrobe to that you see today, albeit with different fashion accessories. The Shimano 105 derailleur was poached at the Fernie Canada Cup when Savoie tore his off in practise. The Evil Chainguide is now being ridden on my V10, and the bent Antix pedals were replaced in favor of Block 8 sealed units. She even gave up front and rear brakes to salvage a race weekend on more than one occasion. Some parts like the Block 8 CrankPipes, On-One bar and stem, Thomson post and Fox Vanilla 125RL are going nowhere.

Though she returned from many a weekend missing parts, by Monday (or Tuesday on a long weekend) she'd be 'cobbed back together somehow. Assuming she's capable of emotion, she must be feeling some sort of redemption seeing the mighty V10 hanging in the basement. Looking like she did over so many weekends, devoid of cranks, chainguide, fork and brakes, while her and I are out playing in the snow.

Well, I don't imagine you came here to read about my sick relationship with my different bikes, you want to read about the goods. Since there's so damn many parts that have seen use on the girl, (and the fact I've got the attention span of a gnat) I'll break it down part by part over the next couple weeks. For today however, let's get to the heart of the bike, the Minuteman frameset.

I've got to admit it up front, I've always had a soft spot for steel bikes. Perhaps that's why I chose Mitsou in the first place. Made up of 4130 cromoly tubes with huge rectangular chainstays, the frame sports horizontal dropouts, ample gusseting and very clean lines. Mitsou came to me dressed in red (as you can see) but for 2003 the Minuteman comes in Khaki Green, Matte Black, Raw or Mediterrranean Blue. Speaking of finishes, the Mitsou's red has held up very admirably, especially considering my blatant disregard for it when shuttling in the el Camino.

The 13 inch frame is available in two sizes, long (23 inch TT) and regular (22 inch TT) and the burly, gusseted headtube is double crown approved. Headtube angle is 69 degrees, and the seattube is a conventional 73 degrees on the 6.5 pound frame. BB height is 12.5 inches and the small frame provides a ton of standover height. Cable routing is clean and Balfa has spec'd full length housing for all controls. This brings me to one complaint about the bike. It's not the full-length housing, rather it’s that Balfa's cable routing clips (which bolt onto the frame and are easily replaced) are made of brittle plastic and crack if tightened with too much vigor. I was soon using some red zip ties I had lying around after putting up the Christmas lights last year. On a brighter note, they do match the frame color very well. Contributing to the overall clean look of the bike is the lack of brake bosses. All bikes are shipped without bosses, but Balfa makes some clamp-on bosses that are available for a small surcharge. The clamp-on construction allows owners to fine-tune V-brake placement around whatever size wheel they choose to ride.

Compared to the 2001 model, which featured clearance for 3.0 tires, the 2002 (and '03) models have been moved inward to provide a much better chainline. Rest assured, Mitsou has had a 26 X 2.7 inch tread between her stays with ample clearance for muck and mud. For years, my primary bike has been a DH steed and as such I've become accustomed to slack head angles. Nothing frightens me more than front tire/foot overlap. When set up with a 24 inch rear and Fox' Vanilla 125RL, Mitsou's angles were just about perfect. Honestly, I wouldn't change it either way, but that is obviously a matter of personal preference. The rectangular chainstays and stiff seatstays provide a fairly harsh ride on the trail, but you can sleep well knowing they'll stand up to the biggest dirtjumps and hucks (or in my case, all the 50/50 landings my body can take).

Horizontal dropouts, love 'em or hate 'em, it's hard to argue with their versatility. Even if you're not a tinkerer who likes to play with different chainstay lengths, there's the singlespeed-ability. When running gears and a QR hub, I generally ran the wheel full forward and suffered no problems with movement in the dropouts. In singlespeed mode with a bolt-on Razorrock hub, that hasn't been the case however. I'll be off to the BMX shop soon to pick up some chaintugs in hopes of alleviating that problem in the future. Today, and I'm guessing for the remainder of the winter season, Mitsou's gone BMX style with a 1/8 inch chain, 36 tooth chainwheel and 18 tooth DX rear cog. Cheap and strong, but certainly not light. I see a future with many more bikes built just like this as mountainbike dirtjumpers get tired of skipping drivetrains and replacing bent derailleurs and hangers.

What about on the trail? Well, she’s no DH racer, but under the right pilot, she can rip singletrack with the best of them. She’s as much at home surfing Golden’s steeps as she is flying at the dirtjumps, sprinting off the line at the 4-X or shoving at the derby. This is one very versatile bike. Got an XC ride, raise the saddle and off you go. Want some urban instead, drop the saddle and it’s time to play. I’m not kidding, this bike is versatile.

Complaints? Yeah, there's some, but they truly don't retract from the bike's overall feel, I'm just really picky. What would I change? First, get rid of the plastic cable clips and replace them with the new school zip tie anchors. Second, for a hardtail of this caliber, I was disappointed the headtube and BB weren't faced after paint treatment. I'd rather pay an extra $15-45 bucks in the initial purchase price to get the frame delivered ready to go. In a similar vein, the inside bore of the seattube was a little rough and scratched my beautiful Thomson post when I lowered the saddle way down. Nitpicky? Yes, but like I said, it's details like this that make a good bike great.

While at Interbike this past October, I had the pleasure of meeting Mathieu Albert, the welder who put my little lady together. It was great to see my bike was built by someone who loves the sport as much or more than myself. He's no different than the rest of the crew at Balfa. Fanatics, yeah, that's what makes this sport as cool as it is!

For more information on the Minuteman visit Balfa's Web Site.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my thoughts on Block 8's Crank Pipes