Trails

A few weeks ago, I got rejected when I rode to the mountain bike trails at Shawnee Mission Park. Well, I guess the parks department finally decided the trails were dry enough to let people loose on the singletrack this weekend. I can say that the trails were far from dry in many places, though. I did my best not to rut the trail out too badly, going around the mud where I could.

Shortly after I arrived, Chris showed up with his Long Haul Trucker. It must have looked somewhat interesting. A big, heavy urban bike and a steel road touring bike, tooling around on the mountain bike trails. I believe the term for this is "underbiking."


Mostly, I just wanted to wring the Urbana out one last time before I write my final review. The huge tires almost act like a suspension fork. I even managed to get a little air in a few spots.


I haven't ridden singletrack in a very long time. I had forgotten the serene beauty of the trails, and how much work it is to constantly maneuver the bike around obstacles and tackle hills. I'll probably feel the burn in the morning.



Random Tunage:
Amber - Anyway (Steve Porter Remix)
B-Movie - Nowhere Girl (Adam Freeland Remix)

Hauling

ALDI down the street sells these gigantic re-usable grocery sacks. They're almost too big to be useful, sometimes. I could probably fit two or three paper sacks of groceries in here.


I also have my Apple schwag bag, which is the same size as the more traditional re-usable grocery bags. Of course, both of these were made in a sweat-shop overseas out of highly processed petroleum, then sent here, likely on a huge cargo ship that burns a few gallons of diesel per engine rotation, but whatever. As you can see, the custom RNR Rack for the Urbana is designed to carry these style of bags. I generally throw panniers on for trips to the grocery, but I tried the bags today.


The unique top plate of the rack is easier to see in my first photo of the bike before unboxing (cropped):


So how does it work? First, you hold the bag so that the top of it is even with the rack, then you tuck the handle into the two top-facing holes on the opposite side.



Lastly, you reach your fingers into the holes on the side of the rack, and you push the handles under the screws that protrude downward, to hold the bag firmly into place.




I really should have taken both large bags, but wanted to show how you can use a more traditional sized bag as well.


I actually did groceries yesterday, but was in too much of a hurry to take photos. I staged it today for the pictures. I took the Urbana to Hen House, rushed home, dropped off groceries and took it out to the Tienda Casa Paloma Monday night ride. I haven't seen those guys in ages, and it was a fun trip. All told, I put about 25 miles on this bike yesterday. Today, I am feeling it.

While it's perfect for running errands and going to nearby places, the riding position doesn't lend itself well to longer distances, such as riding 4 miles each way to a 10-mile recreation ride. I think next time, I'll switch over to my road bike for the Monday night ride.

Surprise! It's snowing again!

I was hoping I'd get a chance to test the Urbana's 2.6" wide tires on the snow. While Fritz may have sand, I jumped at the opportunity to goof off in 3" of snow. This stuff had a thin layer of ice on the pavement, with slush in some spots, and a thick, wet snowpack on top of that. It's the stuff that I love riding my mountain bike in.

I was a tad apprehensive about the Urbana's tires, because they're very lightly treaded, an attribute that really helps keep the rolling resistance low.


Let me make myself clear. This is bar none the best handling bike I've ever ridden on snow. You want to stay seated to get moving, but once you're up and running, these tires are very confidence-inspiring.


The fenders did their job, and didn't get terribly clogged, either. There's still a lot of snow all over the place, but it kept the slush off my pants and out of my face.


While trying to slide sideways, the tires grip hard again as soon as you let off the brake. It's hard to actually wipe out in the snow. It's not impossible, though. This blurry mess is a still frame from a video clip where I found myself sliding on my ass in slushy snow after laying it down.

Miscellaneous Downtown-ness

JR's Folder


Lorin tries the Urbana.


Hanging out in the Mexican Consulate meeting room


Gratuitous stair descent


Graffiti 1


Graffiti 2

In tribute to Tron Legacy

If you haven't seen the trailer for Tron Legacy yet, WHY NOT?



Tron was one of my absolute favorites as a kid. And what was my favorite part? The light cycle arena, of course!

A flash photo and a little editing for color.

No trails for me

The trails are still too wet to ride on without leaving damaging ruts and erosion. I was looking forward to some off-roading. That's okay, I suppose. I had a very hilly 10-mile round trip to the park and back.


Also, I think this is the most I've ever put on a cargo rack. All told, it was about 50 pounds, or about 1/3 of its rated capacity! I had some refrigerated stuff in my backpack as well. The grocery store is only a mile and a half away via parking lots and lightly-trafficked residential streets, so I didn't have to ride too far. The bike was surprisingly stable, and as you can see, the kickstand even holds it upright when loaded in a top-heavy manner.

Not a girl's bike

I've had to correct a few people on the Urbana's step-through frame when they call it "a girl's bike." Then Fritz made this post. He's also reviewing an Urbana. But mine is cooler because it has the kickstand and a chain guard.


Locked up next to a commuter-adapted Bianchi mountain bike at the JCCC campus

Culturally, women weren't allowed to wear trousers in the olde days. That, as you know, has changed. The step-through bicycle frame allowed them to easier mount and dismount the bike without flashing the audience. Also, it allows women to ride without their skirts riding all the way up to their crotches, which would be somewhat inappropriate.

As it turns out (and as Fritz mentions), the design also makes it easier for a man to get off of a step-through bicycle. Imagine that! In urban settings, it's not uncommon to see people riding a few miles from their lofts to their offices slowly whilst wearing business casual attire, suits or dresses with skirts. Suit pants and dockers don't like it too much when you pull a Chuck Norris roundhouse maneuver to get on or off the bike. You simply don't have to worry about that with a step-through frame. You can tilt the bike to reduce this effect to a certain extent, but if the rack is loaded with stuff, you might not want to do that, either.

At any rate, the traditional diamond-frame design allows for a stronger, lighter bicycle. In fact, many bicycles designed for women these days are not step-through frames. Step-through frames are gaining world-wide unisex popularity for utility and recreation applications where the weight and speed of a bicycle aren't quite as important, particularly among the elderly who are prone to be less bendy than us darn whippersnappers. Like Fritz, I've come to enjoy the ability to get on and off the bike a bit easier. I'm also really enjoying the chainguard, much for the same reason I liked it on the Swobo Baxter: I can wear long pants and I don't have to worry about my cuffs becoming stained or masticated by the evil chainring monster.

The Maul

It's that time again. Locked up at Oak Park Mall, where you're likely to be mauled by rabid consumers, trampled by moms with strollers, or be subjected to the obdurate moping of emo kids. If you're lucky, you may only get run over by Paul Blart in one of the day-glow-yellow golf carts with doors Smart fortwo coupes.


After the usual first-friday meetings, the guy we'll call "Cog" took the Urbana for a spin. He has a farm a way outside of town, and is looking for a do-all bike for errands around the farm. One of his requirements is that it'll survive the apocalypse. He says "I want one." It was interesting to see a 60-year-old dude ram the bike straight into a curb to get back up onto the sidewalk. I love how the reflective sidewalls turned out in this otherwise horrible photograph.

Things I would not do on a beach cruiser

I spent about an hour on the phone with Haniya from Urbana bikes the day that I put this thing together. Haniya almost dared me to break the Urbana. Well, she told me that I wouldn't break it, and wanted some action shots if I decided to try to break it. That sounds like a challenge, right? I'll save the video and other highlights for my final review, but let's just say this is one of the more tame things I subjected the Urbana to this afternoon.



Urbana is trying to position themselves in the niche of hard-working, durable utility bikes for the urban, car-free lifestyle. They're meant to be comfortable and bomb-proof over everything else. sturdy alumimum frame, CrMo fork, quality welds, beefy drop-outs, well-built wheels and flat-resistant balloon tires mated to high-quality hubs means that it'd work fine for weekend strolls down the bike path or boardwalk, but it'd be a waste. Comparing it to my wife's dainty Townie cruiser also made it clear that this isn't a beach cruiser.

I put another 15 miles on it today, and some of those miles were over some of the worst railroad crossings I know of, and on some of the most blighted streets near my place. Lots of curbs were taken at speed without making any attempt to pop over them, and, as you see here, I did the obligatory stair descent. I also ramped it off a shorter stairway, but couldn't get an action shot of that.

I'm having quite a bit of fun with this bike, and I haven't even been able to knock the wheels out of true.

43 Pounds, as delivered.

Curious, I weighed the Urbana on my bathroom scale this morning. I stood it up and balanced the rear wheel on the scale and it came up with 43.0 pounds.

Not believing it, I weighed myself alone, then weighed myself holding the bike. 43.2 pounds.

This is one heavy bike.

Okay, okay...

Hy-Vee, originally uploaded by KC-Bike.

It's an Urbana Bike. And I think they only have one model. The low step-thru design is gaining a lot of traction as a unisex design for utility bikes, and the rear drop-out kickstand is a nice touch. This bike is HEAVY, and the tires are absolutely huge! It reminds me of a Surly Pugsley, but not quite as extreme. Urbana is letting me play with it for a while. They included a factory-installed rack as well as some fenders with decent coverage. Many more details coming in future posts.

This looks like fun

Just a sneak peek of Test Mule 1...