ANOTHER big weekend…

Saturday we had dinner at the Prime Rib to celebrate wife’s parents 30th anniversary. Us and 8 of our closest relatives…we bought down the house. I entertained myself earlier on in the day by firing up the espresso machine for the first time in about 2 weeks. Need to spend some time ranting about coffee too. Sweet sweet coffee. The only thing I miss with my new job is my leisurely weekday mornings where I’d hang out in the kitchen and pull a few shots before driving to work. Later I washed the wife’s car, and took the Trucker out to the store, post office, and bank to get a few more miles in. Sunday, more ESPRESSO in the morning, then I went for my 15 mile route down St. Paul street towards Federal Hill and back to check out Light St. Cycles, which is one of the few Balto. bike shops that I’ve been past, but never but never went in. The Surly performed admirably in traffic. St. Paul st. REALLY needs repaving. I almost bought a pair of fenders, but I wouldn’t have had any way of easily getting them home. The help was nice, but since she was the only one there, and there were 2 other customers who wanted to do test rides, I didn’t bug her too much. Sunday evening we had the first Steamed Crabs of the season. Tweaked the brakes and derailleurs while watching ‘Running With Scissors’ (BIZARRE MOVIE). Great weather, and good times.

Shiny Chain

Best thing in the world to clean all the loose dirt and crud off a bicycle chain is something you’re probably throwing away every week. Take a few used dryer sheets and use them to wipe down the surface of the chain before applying new lube. (I’m using the Pedro’s Ice Wax and like it a lot). I still use one of those Park Tool brushes to get all of the crud out of the cogs and chainrings, but for wiping away the fine grit and soaking up all the dirty old lube, they shed less fibers than paper towels or those cheap home depot ‘shop towels in a box’. It’s less waste than throwing away a cotton shop rag every time too. If you use liquid fabric softener or don’t do laundry, I guess you’re out of luck. Small in the grand scheme of things, but I felt like sharing.

Long Haul Trucker complete weight

Not that the average LHT owner or potential owner is too concerned about how much their bike is going to weigh, but for the record, I weighed mine, and it tips the scales at 25.2 pounds. The frame size is 60cm. Only add-ons by me are a Brooks B-17 narrow saddle instead of the Velo, Time ATAC Alium pedals, 2 stainless bottle cages, and a brass Incredibell.

Kinetic Sculpture Race!!!

It’s back and better than ever! Click here for the details. This is one of those things that I always forget about till the last minute. Probably one of the most awesome spectator sports out there, and if I had a covered carport or garage and 75 hours a year to waste I would definitely be breaking out the welder to build something. Think ‘Red Bull Flugtag’ with less (not to be confused with NO) intentional crashing into water. It’s fun for 3 reasons, (1. You get to see all the cool fantastic human powered machines that drive around the harbor. (2. It’s a fun day rain or shine to get out and meet a bunch of cool people. (3. You haven’t lived till you see the expression on the face of some uninitiated dude in a suv when a giant paper mache teapot pulls up next to him at a red light.

I talk about the bicycles part 2

Where was I… Oh yes.
I was recapping all the touring bikes I looked at and how I ended up with the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

What I was looking for was a road/light trail bike with a large comfy frame that would feel good to ride all day on long trips. I also wanted something that was built strong and had a ton of tire clearance so if I wanted to run 40+mm tires and fenders it wouldn’t be a problem. I’m a large guy, and there was no way I was going to enjoy riding a bike with the super skinny tires on it that the average American cyclist uses on a daily basis.

I’d read extensively in the Rivendell Bicycle Works website, and was a huge fan of their Atlantis frameset. I liked the “do-it-all” mentality that they designed into their bikes. I’m not the type of rider whose trying to wring every last second out of my ride to work or the local coffee shop and get there as quickly as possible. I take my time, and I’m keeping my mountain bike, so if i want something to take off some ‘sweet jumps’ I’m covered there too. Everything they had written about how they size their bikes made sense too, but with saving for a house and for our future, I could not bring myself to spend 3k on a bike with a classic lugged steel frame and a beautiful paint job – however enticing it was. Then through a little more research I had a revelation. Study this geometry chart and this geometry chart. I have never been one to look really seriously at geometry charts, but when I saw the amazing similarities between the Long Haul and the Atlantis in frame geometries, I started to look at other bikes, the fixed gear frame, other fast-type road bikes, mountain bikes, to compare how alike/different THEIR frame geometries were, and in comparison, these frame geometries were nearly carbon copies of each other. So to make a long story short, the Long Haul Trucker was the closest thing I could get to my dream Atlantis. And as a reward for being not too much of a snob for appearances, I’ll have roughly $2k in savings sitting in the bank 5000 or 10000 miles down the road when I want to upgrade to a King Headset, a set of Phil Hubs, or whatever I want.

second pic

click on the pic for a larger pic.

Initial 5 mile test drive report. Rides like no bike I’ve ever had before. That’s not the greatest endorsement, because the only thing I’ve ever owned for the road is converted mountain bikes, but it is solid and fits great.

Good points: 1. It’s built like a tank. 2. It has a great finish on the frame. 3. It’s still relatively light. 4. Almost all the components are awesome. Not top of the line, but solid and built to last. 5. The color looks great in person. This bike is fun to look at.

Mediocre points. **Disclaimer – I’m super happy with it and these are all EXTREME nitpicks** 1. The wheels are very obviously machine built. They’ve already got a very slight warp to them. It’s similar to the Alex wheelset on a bike I bought for my wife 2 years ago – and very minor – the kind of thing you can fix in 40 minutes by relieving the spokes and re-truing the wheel, but still annoying. You can’t expect hand built wheels for a bike at that low of a price point any more. 2. The bars top section is completely flat. After using my moustache bars for the past 8 months. I like that curviness, and wish they had a at least a slight 5 degree ramp. 3. Wish the cassette was LX or XT. The solid Deore cassette sprockets are heavy just looking at them, and the freewheel has a pretty heavy ‘clunk’ to it when it engages (rather slowly some times). I’m spoiled rotten by the White Industries freewheel on my singlespeed though. 4. The complete bikes come totally built up from Taiwan. Just install the bars/wheels/etc… and they’re ready to go. That sounds good, but since it came built up, I never got the chance to do any type of frame preparation to the insides of the tubes. I have to put that on my list of things to do when I do my 100 mile initial tune-up. It’s a little of a pain, but well worth it.

Originally I was going to ‘junk it up’ and put my old racks and computer on it right away, but I’ve since decided to wait and get a wireless computer and a stainless rack for the back. I’ll only bolt my front rack on when I’m taking it on long trips. I’ll also be looking for a good pair of light full coverage fenders down the road. For now it’s fun to cruise around town, and even for a Long Haul Trucker it’s still lighter than anything else I own!

First Pic

Here’s a first pic!

Looking at that photo makes me want to finish re-doing the basement more than anything. Ugh. Had time for another trainer ride last evening and re-adjusted the handlebars once I got back from after-dinner drinks with my old boss. This is my first bike ever with drops, so it’s taking a little bit of getting used to.

First ride outdoors this morning on the way to work. NICE. I hadn’t planned on using it to commute yet because I still don’t feel right about leaving it chained up to the racks outside, even on nice days. Like all new things, that will pass in a bit. For my sanity, Anne was nice enough to let me keep it in her office today so I can go over and stare at it dreamingly every few minutes.

So Awesome

The Surly came yesterday. I got a message from Erin in the front office. “you have a very large box waiting for you”. It was everything I could do to not go over, tear the box open and start assembling it right then and there. More later with pics, but all I had time for last night was to assemble, lube and adjust everything, and put it on the trainer for 20 minutes to adjust the seat/bars/etc… The second hardest thing I’ve done in the past day was looking up at the ominous clouds this morning, knowing it was going to rain at some point in the day, and deciding to commute to work on my ‘craigslist special’ instead.

I talk about the bicycles

The 60cm LHT is on it’s way from Illinois to Baltimore. Should be here tomorrow.

It was one of those things. I was riding the Specialized for several months that I built up because the Trek was too small. I didn’t invest too much into it, so I didn’t feel too bad when I found out that it was too small as well. I should have known better. I always felt cramped on my old Giant Yukon frame from 10 years ago whenever I rode it more than 35 miles at a shot. It was 21 inches, the Specialized was 21 inches. I always pushed the seat as far back on the rails as I could adjust it… Oh well. Add the additional reach that I got from the moustache bars, and it was fun to ride for 50 or 60 miles at a shot, but it still didn’t feel right. Probably had something to do with the fact that I was so far forward on it that it felt like my weight was centered over the front wheel. It got me through the winter riding a couple hundred trainer miles anyway.

I might have even continued to ride it for a while longer, because it doesn’t feel THAT bad, but there were also a lot of little hacks that I had to perform to get the brake levers and the bar-end shifters to work correctly with a mountain bike frame. The 7 speed drivetrain that I’ve transplanted from 3 bikes down the line is nearly shot too. Spending money on new chainrings, cogs and chains for a 12 year old bike that doesn’t fit perfectly doesn’t make sense.

Then I got really serious about finding a correctly sized frame. Rivendell Bicycle Works has the most remarkable looking bikes. Right up my alley, except for the fact that frames run $1400 for the production models, and nearly $3k for complete bikes with sensible parts groups. I would buy in a heartbeat if I was made of money, or I didn’t mind looking back every 2 seconds when I was out in public to see if anyone swiped my bike. They did have some great information about their philosophy on picking a correctly sized bike. Regardless of the fact that I couldn’t afford it, I’ve been lusting after their Atlantis frame since before I built up the Specialized last summer. Once I knew I was buying something new, I started researching, and found that the field for inexpensive, stout, affordable road and touring bikes is amazingly small.

Here’s a quick rundown of some of my favorites I saw…

Rivendell Atlantis – This IS the bike I would buy if it were not for the price.
Kogswell Model G – I love the Custard Yellow color, and the idea of geometry tweaking by ordering a slightly different fork. I was turned off by the 650b wheels. Yeah, you can order them from tons of places, but what if you blow a tube or a tire when you’re out on the road and you have to pick up a spare.
Trek 520 – Also a very good option. I like the base price, steel frame, standard bar end shifters, unobtrusive graphics, and the fact that it’s made in the USA. The things I wasn’t crazy about were the small maximum size tires that you could fit in the frame with fenders (32’s with fenders according to this forum), and the ridiculously high gearing. 52/42/30. That’s a little more ambitious than I was looking for in a loaded touring bike. That’s more ambitious than I would need ANY day.
Bianchi Volpe – Another good option. I liked the color, disliked the integrated shifter/brake levers. The price is good too, but it’s a little cheaper than I was looking for in some components.
Novara Randonee – Novara’s entry. I like, but it has tire clearance issues and I’m not crazy about the integrated shifter/brake levers. Novara also makes the Safari. I like that it takes 26 inch wheels, because I have a bunch of that stuff, and the trekking handlebars look interesting too, but the largest frame size they even make for this bike is 20″. Pass.
The Xtracycle – Now this is cool. I really liked the idea of building one of these up from an old frame, but that would still leave me with the problem of having a frame that was too small for me, unless I went out and bought a new frame too. Surly is also making a standalone frame version of this bike called The Big Dummy. This is awesome, it will be available this summer, and comes in a frame size of 22″. I lost interest when I found out the msrp would be in the range of $900 for the frame only. Total cost even if I didn’t replace the aging drivetrain from my Specialized when I stole parts off of it would be well over $1000 once I bought the integrated rack system and everything from Xtracycle.
MORE LATER, I’m tired >>