Frank

This bike, as far as I can tell, is a 1995 Schwinn Moab-S frame with a dizzying pile of upgrade equipment bolted to it. Here's a sampling:

The OEM fork was a cheapo RST from the mid-1990s. That got upgraded to a Marzocchi Bomber Z2. It's an older fork but fully adjustable. I wish it had lockout, but it doesn't.

The OEM rolling stock was a pair of reasonable 1.95" Kenda tires mounted to some crappy off-brand rims and entry-level Shimano hubs. This got upgraded to a pair of Bontrager Corvair rims with asymmetric drilling on the rear wrapped in 2.2" Bontrager JonesXR tires.

Brakes: Upgraded all around, with Shimano Servo-Wave levers going to some really nice V-Brakes.

Crankset and drivetrain seems to be stock entry-level Shimano Acera stuff from the factory, but with different chainrings and cassette gearing.

And then there's my added flair: Lights and a rack. Now all I need is a nice pair of fenders. Despite the massive tires, there's plenty of clearance.

Over the past few weeks, this bike has revealed itself to me. It's a well-mannered Frankenstein bike. It's big. It's slow. But it gets through all kinds of stuff. With its insane 22x30 gear combo on the low end, I wonder if it could pull tree stumps out of the ground or be used to tow an SUV. The high gear leaves a lot to be desired, but it's not about getting around quickly. It's just about getting around.

Anyhow, meet Frank, my winter bike. I didn't actually ride this bike today. I opted for The Twelve instead, since the roads were clear.

Fools' errands

I had some errands to run today. I had an appointment with someone at the library. I showed up right as they opened and there were no other bikes on the rack. Just an old razor scooter that looks like it's been locked up and forgotten for the past 5 years. It turns out my appointment wouldn't likely be until after noon, so I snagged a bite to eat on the ride home.

I went back around noon, only to be told that I needed some paperwork from home. It'd have been nice if I'd been told this the first time. I went home. I couldn't find some of the paperwork I needed. So I rode to a government office to get that paperwork, which involved a half-hour wait, not too bad. Then, I finally got back to the library, confident I had everything I needed, at around 2:00 PM. And there were STILL 4 people ahead of me. So I renewed my library card, poked around a bit, and waited for my appointment. But hey, I got good news out of the deal. Still, it felt like I was being sent on a wild goose chase for a while.

Most of the bikes I was locked up with were of the toy-store variety. The "nicest" bike aside from my Trek 1200 was an e-Zip battery assisted bike. Still, all of them looked like they were well used for getting around town, including decent locks and a few equipped with headlights. On my way to the government office, I ran across an older gentleman who also seemed to be getting around town more than just out for a ride, as well as a recumbent rider. Who could blame anyone for riding on a beautiful day like this?!




Tomorrow, it sounds like my buddy Chris is going to start biking the whole way in to work (downtown) again, so I'll probably join him in the morning, with whomever else he decides to rally for the convoy. I have some paperwork to drop off downtown in the next few days, anyway. I mean, I could fax or snail-mail it, but why bother, when it'll be a great morning for a 30 or 40 mile ride?

Random Tunage:
Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

Test Mule Zero

It's from Swobo, and it (for some reason or another) came in a box labeled "Novak." But it's not a Novak. It was also delivered by a hamfisted UPS guy who (as you can see) left it wrong-side up. Somewhere along the line, the box got clobbered, too. Totally lame.

I've never actually built a bike up before. I've taken them apart plenty, and fixed quite a few of them. I've just never taken delivery of a box and turned its contents into a ridable steed. It was pretty easy, though.

More pics tomorrow. I think you'll like it.

It's ALIVE (Kinda)

I've been slowly and surely amassing parts to get The Goat back on the road. Back in September I had decided that I'd kind of like an internally-geared hub. I'd been thinking about it for a while longer than that. I have a few hookups and could score the Nexus 3 pretty cheap. Then, there's the spokes, the rim, the labor to assemble the wheel (I'm not ready to do that myself yet) and other stuff.

My Diamondback Sorrento did pretty well the past two winters, but it's taken a lot of abuse. it's still on its original derailleurs, crank, shifters and chainrings. Also, the cables and housings were new when I bought it right before Thanksgiving '06 but now they're more than 2 years old. Also, the good wheels I bought for it had been moved to Hybridzilla, so they're gone.

A few weeks back, I started looking into what it would take to build it up again. The derailleurs barely budged, and wouldn't spring back. The cables were in need of help. Obviously, new wheels (one I figured would be built on a Nexus 3-speed), a new chain, and probably a new single-chainring crank. The v-Brakes were also sticky. Basically, she'd seen a lot better days.

I found some old tattered (and seriously wobbly) wheels in my parts closet. I found a bunch of brand new cable and housing as well. I took the brakes apart, cleaned them, and greased the pivot points. They worked nicely again. I painstakingly trued the old wheels, replacing two spokes that were broken. I found a never-used SunRace 8-speed cassette bolted to an old hub. JR gave me the hookup on an old rear rack, too. It took some creativity to get it home earlier this week, as shown above.

It became quite obvious that buried in plastic tubs I keep in my "junk closet", I really had most of what I needed to kludge together a working winter beater. I just needed one more shifter cable and a chain. And maybe a pair of derailleurs.

After reading this post on Blue Collar MTB, I emailed Guitar Ted (who wrote it) and asked for advice on the derailleurs. He told me to soak them in solvent, clean them up, and work them by hand to see if they'd quit sticking and spring back like normal. If that worked, then he said to use something like TriFlow all over the moving bits to make sure things slide nicely. Sure enough, it worked like a champ. In fact, my front derailleur has never liked shifting to the small chainring, even when I bought the bike 2 years ago. Now? It's smooth like butter. It shifts better than the day I got it.

I was too busy with family to make a "give thanks" post yesterday, but it's obvious that I have many friends here who I'm thankful for. It's easy to be thankful for those who donated some of the essentials I needed when a bunch of my gear got stolen. I'm also equally thankful for those who offer advice and kind, encouraging words. Thank you, all.

Oh, and I suppose I should let you see the current incarnation of The Goat. I need to get some metal bracing to finish attaching the rack to the seat stays, but this should be all I need to keep me rolling through winter.

Reflections on Kansas City media coverage...

I've been somewhat mum on my reactions to the latest media coverage of bicycling in Kansas City. Apparently, my reaction isn't too far off from others' take, either.

I can't speak for everyone interviewed, but there are three recent pieces of media coverage that have me a little bit concerned: Up To Date's show on Bicycle Commuting, the One Planet: Cycling in Kansas City episode, and the recent NBC Action News spot: Bikes Vs. Cars.

The chaps from the BBC, when I first ran into them, were aghast as if they'd just experienced several near-death-experiences back to back. No, we don't have bike lanes everywhere. No, we don't have street sweepers running 24/7. The route they presumably could have used was Main Street. Several times this summer, I've ridden on Main Street and even Brookside Blvd to get around, even in rush hour. It's pretty easy riding, except for the hill near Liberty Memorial. Bicyclists use the bus lanes quite often, and KCATA doesn't have a problem with that. When I see a bus coming, I safely merge into traffic or get off the road and let the bus pass through.

They claimed that putting bikes on the bus is "what you're supposed to do" in KC. Take a stroll through Midtown any time during the day, and it becomes clear that bicycles are viable, respected vehicles on the road. In droves, cyclists travel between downtown and Westport. I'm not downplaying the reporters' opinions. The racks on the bus are good for covering longer distances or for cyclists who are not comfortable in rush hour. The rest of the terror that the reporters seemed to have could be due to anything, including riding on the opposite side of the road. I can appreciate that.

In Up To Date, I think too much focus was given to the dangers of bicycling, the challenges cyclists face, and the lack of infrastructure. That's not really any one person's fault, because the discussion was being steered by the entire panel and the callers as well.

If things were as bad as the media has portrayed lately when I started riding two years ago, I wouldn't be doing this. I would have given up! In the two short years I've been using my bike to get around, there have been a lot of improvements to boot.

Sometimes I wish I could change the name of this site to "KC Commuting" because that's what I'm doing. I'm getting around Kansas City. I don't always use my bike. I don't always use the bus. I don't always use my car. I don't always car-pool with friends. I don't always walk. I use whatever means seems like the right choice to me given the situation. Countless scooters, bicycles, buses, cars, pickups, vans and SUVs interact with one another in a civilized manner every single day in this town. Sometimes I have a bad day and whine about (or even belittle) a fellow road user because of a specific incident. Sometimes it's a motorist who honked at me. Sometimes it's a cyclist riding against traffic. Whatever the case may be, we're all out there. We're all trying to get where we're going, and we're all the same. Urban infrastructure in Kansas City isn't missing a whole lot. Miles upon miles of bicycle-safe routes exist already, and the city is in the process of bolstering and marking them as such.

It's a shame that our panel on Up To Date couldn't praise more of the many community benefits of cycling and walking for basic transportation. Environmental impact is the only community benefit that was mentioned. All the rest were selfish, personal benefits such as health and saving money.

I've been interviewed by NBC Action News twice now. The first time was during Bike Week in May, and I think that one went quite well. The most recent spot was entitled "Bikes Vs. Cars" or something similar. This just boggles my mind. No one actually pits bikes against cars or vise versa. The motorists interviewed were sympathetic, not angry for the few short seconds they were allowed to speak: "I'm afraid I'm going to hit them!"

We ride with cars. We are part of the traffic on the road. Likely, cyclists don't get honked or yelled at any more often than other motorists get honked or yelled at. We're just out in the open and can hear the shouts a little easier. The people who road rage aren't angry at cyclists. They're angry people looking for an excuse to vent. Very few of the incidents where a motorist and a cyclist have an altercation are due to malice and an us-versus-them mentality. Crashes happen because of inattention and scoffing laws in the interest of convenience. ALL road users are guilty on both counts, regardless of what kind of vehicle is in use.

"Bikes Vs. Cars" also seemed to dwell a lot on the injuries sustained by cyclists. Any uttrance of injury was picked up like it was blood in the water. No one writes about the countless injuries sustained by other road users.

Not to break out with the nerd factor too much, but I'd like to start wrapping up this rant with a quote from noted security expert Bruce Schneier. It's about terrorism in the news, but it applies equally as well to bicycling woes:

"... the very definition of news is something that hardly ever happens. [emphasis added] If an incident is in the news, we shouldn't worry about it. It's when something is so common that its no longer news - car crashes, domestic violence - that we should worry. But that's not the way people think."

In closing, I'd like to state that some excerpts of my interviews that made it into media coverage lately might have been taken a bit out of context. All of us get around this town just fine, regardless of what transportation method we choose. As the economy crunches us, we're all going to feel some growing pains. I don't think this is out of the ordinary.

I'll see you all out there on the road!

Cannibalism

Silly me, breaking the rules too.

The wheels came off The Goat today. I can't remember the last ride I rode on the Diamondback Outlook (lovingly dubbed Hybridzilla), but I do know that I shuffled things around back in early December, decommissioning 'Zilla. From that point forward, she's rested on her back protected from moisture but left in the cold of my balcony. Today, She traded places with The Goat. Bike cannibalism at its best.

The Forte SlickCity tires came out of hiding, and boy are they in sad shape. Usable, but the tire beads are showing their age. Whenever you have to do anything with these tires, I swear it's like trying to put 24" adult BMX tires on 26" rims. It's hard on the tire bead, it's hard on my levers, and really hard on my hands. When these tires finally give up the ghost, I am definitely buying another set. These have been awesome tires for building a street friendly and quick ATB. Combined with clipless pedals and a cassette with an 11t cog, this bike scorches along quite nicely. I achieved 29.5 MPH on its shakedown run at 93 RPM cadence. Sprints well into the 30s will be easy to come by, and the 32mm 85 PSI tires feel plush compared to my road bike but still glide along the pavement with some efficiency.

With any luck, The Goat won't be on her back for too long. Assuming my wife still has a job this week (very long story), I've been given permission to shell out for that double-wall XC wheelset that JR is selling.


The last half of my 6 1/4 mile shakedown run happened with a really gross mist and lots of wet road grime. She still runs just as well as I remember. The SlickCity tires handle water okay with the exception of really hard braking, so tomorrow's rainy commute shouldn't be much of a problem.

Random Tunage:
Binary Finary - 1999
Binary Finary - ChacMool

Clean bikey!

Not much to say about last night's commute. This morning, I was extra hungry and there wasn't anything tasty at home, so I stopped by Burger King for some breakfast to eat at the bus stop. Once downtown, I saw the remnants of a pretty serious car crash. Lorin swung by to have coffee with me. It's been a few weeks, so that was cool. We bewailed the current state of the presidential race, bickered about music, and discussed the upcoming Bike To Work Week plans.

I swear, this time of year I spend almost as much time cleaning or fixing my bike as I do riding it. Okay, not quite, but I do spend more than a mere morsel of my week doing preventive maintenance, adjustments or repairs. If my bike is in any kind of disrepair, I pretty much have to figure out what's going on. Noisy chains, noisy brakes, and crufty shifting are not an option. Last night's clean and tune took a few hours but it was worth it.

I can tell you that I found the most awesomest degreasing agent ever made. Brakleen. Holy moly! Not only did it shine my rear gear cluster and chainrings up, but it evaporated in about a minute even outdoors in sub-freezing temperatures!

Anyways, here are some obligatory photos. Bath time for bikey!

My whole bike was covered in this grimy film:


I took the wheels off and scrubbed them down first, then threw the rest of the bike in the tub. First upside-down, then right-side up like this, but leaning over so it wasn't resting on the rear derailleur:


The rear cluster. I cleaned it with Brakleen and ran a rag between sprockets while it was still off the bike. This photo was after I re-lubed the drivetrain and all that good stuff.


The Goat is clean! Sorry for the over-exposure. The reflector tape throws it off and I mis-calculated the exposure time.



Random Tunage:
Des'ree - Dreams can come true
Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe

Bike Repair Twosday

The Goat's rear brakes were grinding yesterday morning, and were worse last night, starting to chew up my rim. Upon inspection, I found that one of my rear pads had some aluminum built up in it. This isn't uncommon, and I've had the same problem with the OEM brakes on my road bike before I switched to the Swissstops. Furthermore, though, the pads were pretty much hosed anyways, so I set out to get some new ones.

My road bike has some issues as well, so I took it to Bike America while brake pad shopping. They offer free lifetime tune-ups on all new bikes purchased there, which is really a hell of a deal when you consider how much labor could potentially cost for tune-ups alone. If you need a wheel trued up, a new chain, or a complete overhaul, all you pay for is parts. I figured I'd let them work on my 1200 now when business is slow. While I found my brake pads, Tyler went to work.

The main thing that I noticed with my 1200 is that the spokes on my new Shimano R500 rear wheel were hitting the derailleur in its lowest gear. I rarely go down that low, but on the occasions that I did, I was greeted with "ping ping ping" and quickly shifted up again. My hanger was slightly bent. Tyler re-set it for me. My rear wheel was a bit out of true as well. He straightened it up. He also did a quick lube and overhaul of my front brake, which I didn't know was in dire need of attention.

With as bad as my brake cables were last time I checked them, I went ahead and picked up a good length of brake housing, two new brake cables, and the various ferrules and ends for them.

The brake pads I picked up for The Goat (shown above) are Gigapower brand replaceable pads and holders resold under the Bontrager label. I opted for replaceable brakes this time around. The Bontrager and Kool-Stop Linear-pull ATB brake pads will fit these holders, so finding replacements will not be an issue.

The Goat needed a lot more help than I'd initially thought. I ended up completely refurbishing all of the brake pivots. I mean I completely tore both cantilevers completely apart, cleaned them all up and re-lubed them before re-assembly. I gave the frame a good, thorough wipe-down as well, and half-ass cleaned the drivetrain. I started around 8pm and I didn't get finished until close to midnight. Granted, I took a break for supper in there somewhere, but still...

I need to take The Goat in to get the rear wheel tweaked. All the rest of the stuff I was going to have the bike shop do after winter's left us, I did on my own last night. I can true wheels, but I don't have a truing stand so I can't guarantee I'll get the rim centered properly and the rear wheel's out of true in several places making it hard for me to judge what part of the wheel is where it should be and what part is out of whack. I'd rather leave that to a pro.

I didn't have time for a shakedown, but at least I knew my 1200 would be in great shape.

Decent weekend, beautiful morning

Last night I took my sis-in-law's new bike out to her and got it all adjusted. She has a job a few miles from home, near Crown Center, so it should work pretty well. Right now, she's blowing $60 a month on bus fares. She'll still have to pay for some bus fares when she has to take my niece to day care, but this should help her out quite a bit.

I bought a lock and chain (ghetto rigged the same way as the chain I use to lock up at work) for her, and donated one of my reflective ankle bands and one of my emergency tail lights, which isn't very bright - I told her where to get some good lights for cheap or free. Heather needed a new backpack for her college classes, so my wife also tossed in a backpack she bought last year but hasn't been using much, and some goodies for our niece. If this works out well for her, I told her I'd meet her halfway on a new set of tires. They're $15 each at a local shop -- they're a really obscure size, but the guy at Turner's always stocks some oddball tires for people like me.

Of all the people on my wife's side of the family (aside from my wife, that is), Heather's pretty much the only one that's shown any level of responsibility lately. I know a $15 bike, a lock and chain, and some miscellaneous gear isn't much, but I believe in my heart that it will go a long way. She earned it.

There's rain in the forecast for today, and I'd already had my mind set of mountain biking to the bus this morning. I'll make it up by hitting the recovery ride tonight. It was a wonderful 62 degrees when I left, and 66 or so by the time I showed up in the parking garage at work. The thick, grey cloud cover overhead displayed a few deep violet and red gashes of bloody sky, lit up by the obscured sun. It was quite a sight.

Random Tunage:
Bloc Party - I Still Remember
Agnelli & Nelson - El Niño

Bought another bike today

But this one is going to my sister in law. She lives close to downtown Kansas City MO (near 27th and Jackson for those who know KC) and uses the bus a lot. After riding with us back at the end of July, my sister in law seemed to warm up to bicycling for transportation. It's faster than walking and beats paying for the bus for short errands. She doesn't have a car.

Anyhow, I found this relic on Craigslist last night. It's a Murray 10-speed. All steel, of course. It's probably from the late 70s or early 80s. I've never seen a 10-speed with 26" wheels before. It may well be older than I am. It was only $15 but needed some love, despite being in seemingly good shape. I had to tighten a lot of stuff. The headset was loose. The rear derailleur limiter screws were all out of whack, letting the chain freely drop off both ends of the cluster. The bottom bracket was crunchy, so I took apart the one-piece crank and refurbished all the bearings. I cleaned them well, and applied a gratuitous amount of marine axle grease. That stuff is simply amazing in bottom brackets. It's a little more viscous than I'd desire, but it keeps things well protected.

Anyhow, I'm taking it over there tomorrow to see if it will work for her. It's very small, and given the adjustments I had to make to my MTB to get it set up for her, this should be just about right. It's got the OEM tires on it, but they appear to be in suitable shape to ride on for the time being. The good thing is that almost any mountain bike tire should fit on this bike, given the wheel size, frame clearance and brakes.

I put about a mile and a half on it between the initial shake-down run and all the little tweaks and adjustments I had to make.

Our bikes have a new home

Well, kind of.

About 2 weeks ago, I attempted (and failed) to re-organize our storage room to hold more stuff including the bikes on the bicycle rack. What I succeeded in doing was relocating the rack so that it was completely useless, putting it in a position to where no bikes would fit on it. Prior to this, I'd used it quite a bit for about 2 months without any problems.

Today, my wife told me to mount it on the wall in our office. There's ample room and little furniture in our office, which is basically just a computer lounge room. The patio is enclosed and we've never had a problem with our bikes getting wet or dirty out there. Whichever bike I am using for commuting at the time usually sits in front of the fireplace. The rest are on the patio. Now my mountain bike (which is currently out of commission since I stole its rear wheel for my Outlook) is the only one outside.

The rack itself is by Delta Bicycle Products. I found it on Craigslist being practically given away. It was still new in box when I got it. Look for a full product review later this week, or maybe even today.

Shown in the photo are my wife's Champagne Pearl Electra Townie 3S and my Metallic Black/Brushed Aluminum Trek 1200. The rack is also holding our helmets, gloves, and other accessories between the bikes.

Random Tunage:
Seal - Crazy
Chicane - Offshore (Ferry Corsten remix)

Added another bike to the family

We finally were able to go out and grab my wife's Townie 3S today. While we were at it, we picked up some accessories. I already have more than enough lighting laying around the apartment, but she needed a bike bottle cage, computer, and a trunk bag to carry her stuff. Not to mention the mandatory helmet and worthwhile gloves.

I've probably ridden it more than she has already, and it's a really fun and comfortable bike to ride. We're going to go hit the trails for some fun this evening.

Raining :(

Well, it's officially raining on the first day I get to actually use my new bike. What a bummer.

This bike is a world apart from anything else I've owned. I'll have to get used to both the shifters and the radically different gearing, but other than that, this bike is nothing short of amazing. 20 miles per hour comes effortlessly on the second chainring. I can't wait to put her through the paces once the weather gets a little nicer. Something tells me that my lard speed record of 44 MPH is about to be shattered.

I got my bike!

Pics tomorrow...

I picked up my Trek 1200 today. My financing was approved for more than enough to buy the whole bike almost twice, so I splurged a bit (read: went into more debt than originally planned) on accessories and did it right.

Rear pannier-compatible rack. Let's face it, a bike like this doesn't deserve a seat-post mount rack.

NiteRider Evolution Smart light. With higher speeds comes the need to see further ahead. This is a great light from what I've seen so far.

Shimano SPD pedals. Yes, the double sided mountain bike pedals like what I have on my hybrid.

Bottle cage, in silver. Because I need hydration and my bookbag doesn't agree with camelbak. Maybe a set of panniers to go on my new rear rack is in the future.

Another Trek Incite 6i computer. Although, all I'm really using is the mounting bracket. The 6i has the ability to switch between two wheel sizes, so I'll just use one of the computers and swap it between bikes.

I haven't had much time to ride it. Today was crazy, as I also sold off my wife's old van that's been sitting around for way too long. Looks like rain and bad weather is in the forecast for the next few days. I'm not going to let a little water stop me from enjoying my bike, though!

A little update

I had today off, but I didn't get to enjoy the nice weather. I was too busy running around trying to raise funds by selling stuff that I own.

Why don't I have my road bike yet? Well, a few reasons.

1) Nick, the guy who's thinking of trading me a bike for a car, has a pretty funky schedule.
2) I'm kind of holding out to see if my Escort will sell so I can get a Trek 1200 instead of the 1000.

Nick wasn't there when I took my car up to the bike shop Wednesday night. I went in there today (details below) and Nick had one foot out the door. I may go again tomorrow, hopefully I can catch him at a good time.

After talking to another bike shop (same company, different branch) I was convinced to look at a closeout Trek 1200 as well. I test rode that bike today and it's really nice. I hadn't actually ridden the Trek 1000 yet, so I went out to the other store today and also took it for a spin.

My initial reaction is that I really, really like road bikes. My next reaction is that I don't particularly care for the Trek 1000's Sora brifters. The thumb button thing basically requires you to retreat to the hoods when you're shifting. Minor downshifts on the RD can be performed in the drops, as can upshifting the FD. If you need to pick up the speed a bit, you have to move to the hoods to bump up a gear or two. With the Tiagra brifters on the 1200, I can pretty easily upshift or downshift from within the drops or over the hoods. On either bike, I think I might want to add some Cane Creek Crosstops. We'll see if I have any room for things like my handlebar bag, light, and cyclo-computer first.

My final reaction is that even though the 1200 is a better bike, it only came in one color scheme last year. While it's a nice looking bike, it's hard to beat the eye-grabbing Orange color. That's a really sharp looking bike.

About my other problem... last night, I went ahead and posted my Escort for sale for $750. That's about how much I'd need to pick up the Trek 1200, because it's on closeout pricing. I'm still kind of confused, but I think I might go for the 1000. It's a perfectly decent bike. Like any new bike, it'll take some getting used to, but I'm certain that it'll serve me very well.

Tomorrow looks like lots of rain again. It figures, since I spent a lot of time cleaning the drivetrain after Wednesday's grimy, wet commute.

I think it's time for a road bike...

I'm so convinced, that I'm pretty much willing to straight-up trade one of my cars for a good road bike, or sell the car to buy a road bike.

Now, my dream bike at this point in my life would be a nice, gently used Redline Conquest but in reality I'll probably have to settle for something more along the lines of a used Trek Pilot 1.2 or maybe a 1500.

I'm sick of surfing craigslist all day long, finding nothing but bikes that people expect to get $800-$1000 out of. I don't care if it was a $1200 bike and you rode it for one season - you won't get me to cough up a grand for your bike.

Not only that, but there are other circumstances in my life right now. We have two cars and an SUV. One of my cars barely sees any use. It still runs, but it needs a little bit of love. I'd get a lot more use out of a solid road bike than I'll ever get out of that car. I'm kind of hoping that someone in KC is getting sick of looking at the bike that they bought in '05 which sat in their garage all summer last year, but needs a car for a teenager or something.

If I decide to sell, I may only get $500-600 out of my car -- Not exactly the kind of money I'd need for a brand new bike. I guess I start watching the bike shops and pawn shops a bit closer for used bikes.

Bikes Everywhere!

I had to make a trip to the Library today. It must be the unseasonably warm climate. There were 3 bikes chained up next to the library! The white Trek 820 belongs to a guy who works there. I know for certain he's a bike commuter. I haven't seen the other two bikes before.

The comfort bike had a unique twist, though. The owner re-used an old inner-tube by running the lock chain through it to protect the paint. Interesting re-use of an old tube. I'll definitely add that to my list of possible inner-tube re-uses.

The Outlook

Not more than a few days later, still ecstatic about my purchase, I found another Diamondback on Craisgslist. Under the wrong impression that Diamondbacks were all built from higher quality components than department store bikes, I jumped on it. It wasn't a bad investment. It was a 1998 Diamondback Outlook. This gentleman had gotten it for Christmas some 8 years ago, but only rode it around his cul-de-sac before hanging it upside down, dormant, un-used, for close to a decade.

It was practically given to me. Much to my chagrin, I found a cheap freewheel rear wheel on it once I got it inside. Since I got the bike so cheap, I went ahead and took the bike shop up on a new freehub rear wheel with a cassette. The shop had a cassette that was a take-off from a brand new bike, so they pretty much threw it in for free. Even though the Outlook has only 7 speeds on the rear derailleur, I went ahead and got an 8-speed cassette so I could use both wheelsets between my 24-speed Sorrento and the 21-speed Outlook. The Outlook barely set me back $100, all costs added up.

So, I had two bikes, one with knobby tires and one with slicks. Interchangeable wheels, interchangeable lights, cargo rack, seats, and whatnot. There are very few things as satisfying as having a backup vehicle in case of mechanical failure.

I also strapped a toolbox to the rack, for carrying my tools, a change of clothes, and my lunch. You can see it in the photo above.

Shortly thereafter, I went ahead and sold what was left of my cheap wal-mart bike on Craigslist as well. A gentleman came and picked it up to give to his son for Christmas. He had a spare rear wheel for it, so it was not going to cost anything to fix it up. Hopefully his son weighs less than I do, and takes care of it. It treated me well for the short time I had it, and it had plenty of life left in it except for the rear wheel.

The Sorrento

I swung back by the bike shop the day after my bike bit the dust to see about getting it repaired. This is the same place that had high prices that I couldn't afford. The options were interesting. For $25, they could sell me a new cheap rear wheel, put the old gear cluster on it, and send me on my way. They warned me that I'd probably be back in another month or two. The wheel design (called a freewheel) is a cheaper setup that doesn't lend itself well to overweight riders, or to rough riding conditions (curb hopping, occasional pot-holes, etc.) Unfortunately, I met both of the criteria that makes for hasty wheel carnage.

Another option was to spend about $60 for a new cassette-style wheel with a freehub. These wheels are more durable by design, and better suited to my application. Unfortunately, the gear cluster from my old broken bike isn't compatable with these style of wheels, so an additional investment of $20-$30 would be needed to pick up a cassette to go on the wheel. Considering that I only paid $60 or $70 for the whole bike, spending another $80-$90 to fix it didn't sound like such a good idea.

Then, the manager took me outside, to a row of used bikes that he'd taken in trade for newer bikes that his other customers had bought. The conditions I was riding in called for a hybrid or mountain bike of some sort. A racing road bike would never hold up to the kinds of things I do. I tested two used mountain bikes that were being sold for $100 each. One was a Ross, the other a Diamondback (which oddly enough, had slick street tires on it, like wide road bike tires). I put dibs on the Diamondback (a 1999 Sorrento SE), and asked the manager to install a new chain. It already rode like a dream. It was every bit as solid as some of the newer bikes that were selling for $350 and up. For $100, I couldn't go wrong. I picked it up the next evening after work.

I swapped the accessories (lights, cargo rack, etc) from my cheap old bike, onto the new one and started riding to work almost every weekday.