Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
The geometry of the ToughRoad is more hybrid than contemporary mountain bike. But if the head angle seems steep compared to today’s MTBs and the riding position shorter and more upright, it’s worth recalling that we were quite happy off road on not-dissimilar bikes until relatively recently. For cruising along, on road or off, it’s fine. However, any evidence he finds is mysteriously erased and his life is threatened whenever he tries to prove to others that the plane crash was not an accident. As the situation grows more complex, he is forced to become partners with Go Hae-ri ( Bae Suzy), a covert operative for the National Intelligence Service striving for a promotion. Determined to find out the truth behind the accident, Dal-gun and Hae-ri embark on an investigation that leads them deeper into a tangled web of corruption. What sets Vagabond from other samurai-genre manga that I have read (Lone Wolf and Cub, Demon Slayer and Rurouni Kenshin) are these intimate, personal and philosophical battles between strong individuals. Nothing is loud and epic in scope, no over-the-top techniques, no grandiose spectacles of rivalries. Just quiet battles. And Takehiko Inoue lets us see through all these in his work. We are in there to experience it all. And the value that you can take away from Vagabond is deeper than popcorn entertainment, but something deeper than that. The only fly in the gearing ointment is the front mech, a conventional Shimano Deore FD-M618 unit that sits just 2-3mm from the rear tyre at its closest point.
Musashi finally reaches Sekishusai, again facing off against a master in an unconventional battle of wills, and (yet again) comes face to face with his unpreparedness. The ghost of his vengeful and violent father comes to haunt him and show the dichotomy between his initial belief in strength and conquest above all vs the inner strength and peace of the true masters he is beginning to face. The bestial nature and raw strength of Musashi is once again shown to be inadequate to true mastery of the sword. Musashi moves on leaving Otsu and Jotaro to follow in the wake of his search for another challenge.
This feels like a turning point of some sort for Musashi. He's still on his quest to battle the greatest fighters in the land in his quest to become invincible, but the face off with the master of Yagyu is quite different than that of his battle with Inshun previously. Most notable, however, is the very well-turned hull which, together with details such as the characteristic leap and an effective stroke in the hull, provides a proud and dry passage even in really messy offshore weather. Oscar Kihlborg, Louise Rosenquist, Sören Kjellkvist, Hans Fridel, Christian Johannesson, Andreas Petersson… Whilst enjoying your rowing adventure, it's also a highly effective training tool for everyday exercise.
With the honourable exception of the Sven Pathfinder, every drop-bar bike I’ve ridden off road before the Vagabond has been something of an exercise in frustration tolerance. Tyres have been uncomfortably hard due to being narrower than I’d like, and the cyclocross-style riding positions have compromised control. The Vagabond rides much like a rigid 29er. With its tall head tube and big wheels, the Vagabond looks ungainly. It’s less a gravel or cyclocross bike than it is a drop-bar 29er with touring braze-ons.EASY TO MANAGE - Easily loaded onto car roofs and launched with a standard super-neat canoe carriage. A 40-28 chainset and 11-36 cassette provide a more useful (that is, lower) range of gears than the gravel bike standard. I didn’t need anything higher or lower on road or off, but there’s nothing to stop you fitting a bigger cassette like the ToughRoad’s 11-42.
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