Sunday, August 17, 2008

Naked!

That's how The Twelve feels.

You guys kept asking when I was gonna break out the road bike again. Well, here it is.



I spent a LOT of time on the rear wheel, a lot of time trying to tweak the rear brakes to work properly, and it's KIND OF usable. The Twelve is anything but "alive", however. The rear brake still needs some more work and the proper solution to my woes is still a new rear wheel.

Along with Hybridzilla, I lost a lot of stuff that I've come to rely on. Getting The Twelve back into commuter duty was an interesting game of digging through some old stuff that I'd upgraded, scavenging stuff off of the carcass of The Goat, and simply learning to deal without some stuff.

Gone:

  • DiNotte 200L
  • Trek Incite 11i computer
  • Headland CMT wedge pack (and all its contents)
  • Blackburn Crossrack
  • Trek DiscoTech tail light
I reverted back to the NiteRider headlight, but all it has is a 5W bulb in it and I can't find the 15W bulb right now. I had it set up with the 5W bulb for a few of the longer rides I went on this summer, as a backup to the DiNotte. With this setup, it should run for close to 5 hours. 5W isn't a lot of light, though.

I had a Trek Incite 6i on The Goat. That came off and went into the 11i's mounting bracket just fine. I'm missing all the extra features of the 11i, but hey... I still have a bike computer, I guess.

I also stole the small wedge pack off of The Goat. The theif made off with my CO2 inflater, pedro's levers, multi-tool and glueless patches. I picked up a new inflater and patches today. I have plenty of tire levers kicking around.

The lack of a tail light is freaking me out. I have a small blinky on my helmet but eeh. You know. The lack of a rack is going to be a serious cramp to my (pannier-loaded) style. I really don't like the backpack. The Park MTB-3 got me out of so many binds that I think it's going to feel a little odd knowing I don't have it. The headland CMT held a TON of stuff.

Taking inventory of the stuff I need to get back into the game full force in my perceived order of most pertenent to least:
  • Tail light (got my eye on the PB Superflash)
  • Rear Wheel (Shimano Acera, something cheapish?)
  • Rack -- Okay, scratch that -- John in Calgary hooked me up
  • Multi-Tool. The MTB3 rocked.
  • Eventually, another DiNotte, before the mornings get too much darker and the nights start coming on too much sooner.
I have put a link to my Amazon wishlist to the right. I really suck at begging, but I can't afford not to right now. Don't feel obligated, though.

I'm going to ride to the bus tomorrow morning, I may ride all the way home. I haven't really gotten to shake The Twelve down yet, so I don't want to be stuck on the side of the road tomorrow with a wheel that's buckled into a pile of spoke-spaghetti, 7 miles from home, 7 miles from work, and 4 miles from the nearest bus stop.

I'm hoping I can get Hybridzilla back, but this will have to work for the time being.

8 comments:

Sirrus Rider said...

Hey Noah,

Have you considered scratch building your own wheels? Maybe something a 36 spoke as opposed to a 32 that you find on most modern road bikes? Or finding a set of 36 spoke wheels ready-made and on the cheap? A 36 spoker might handle your weight better.

PS. I hope you find Hybridzilla's kidnapper and crush his nuts with a pair of pliers.

dvicci said...

What an incredibly raw deal. I mirror the hope of everyone else in that you find Hybridzilla.

Anonymous said...

Sirrus Rider, the visual of nuts and pliers isn't pretty.

Noah, again, sorry to hear about the bike. Your road bikes looks very nice but I must admit that I have a hard time looking at it and not feeling somewhat nauseous at the site of fenders on such a beautiful machine. I know it's for commuting but man. That's like going to the local steakhouse and ordering fish. That's just not right.

Noah said...

Bryan, Keep in mind that this was built up as a commuter from the get-go. It had a rack on it (which was moved to Hybridzilla when I stopped using this bike regularly for commuting). Perhaps This will change your mind? I personally think it looks pretty slick with the rack AND the fenders, but fenders took some getting used to, aesthetically.

This is how it looked the day after I bought it. A rack is at home on this bike.

Chuong Doan said...

Hey Noah,
You might be pretty happy with this light instead of the Dinotte:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10727
I have the Fenix version and its pretty dang bright- enough to light up the road and actually see where you are riding. You probably already have the rechargeable AA's... I just cut up and old inner tube for padding and use a rubber band to mount it to my bars. You can also do the same thing on your helmet. $20 can't be beat.

Noah said...

Good call, I've seen a lot of talk about Fenix on BikeForums. The bastards got away with my newest set of Rechargeables too, and apparently my Polar Bottle. This day just keeps getting better.

I'll look into that. Definitely a viable option. Got pics of your setup?

Chuong Doan said...

I plan on going to Casa Paloma tonight and I can show you then.
Man that sucks!

Anonymous said...

I saw that pic with the fenders and rack and had a gag reflex.

I'm just pulling your chain man. The bike looks sweet. I'd do the same thing if I was commuting too. Which is something I should probably doing anyway. Your a better man than I.

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