It started out with a fairly inauspicious repairing of the Lawn Mower.
It progressed through to an equally benign storing my fishing gear.
It ended up being a 7-hour, Kronenbourg-fuelled mass purge, clean, reorganize of the Garage. Design on a dime, if you will. Design on less than that, actually. Design on bugger-all money. I am not quite sure where the time went (suspect into liver) but somehow we ended up at 9pm with about 1/10th the stuff we used to have, and a fantastic nook that’s all mine! Now I have a place to work on the bike, car, whatever without being in the way of anyone getting in and out. Finally anything we could want in the garage is easily to-hand and not under 6 boxes containing last month’s supply of irradiated Haggis or a dead water buffalo.
Last week I received my new Selle Italia Saddle and Thomson Masterpiece seatpost but it was 105 in the shade hence little opportunity to try them out for real. The weather cut us a break this weekend and I was able to take the Wabi out for a few hill sprints.
My posterior is happy to report an increase in comfort and ventilation from the new saddle, while the gorgeous machined seatpost enables me to really dial in the riding position. I chose to go for a post with no setback because my arms are long compared to my femurs and it really does slot you in nicely to a more aggressive riding position.
While I’m not a total weight weenie, it is nice to just be shading under 15lbs for a ride that cost $700 stock. The wheels, hubs, cranks are all still stock but I won’t be replacing / upgrading any of these until they fall apart. I need my commuter to be bombproof! Once again I have to give large respect to Wabi for making such a superb fixie.
So Adam finally wins. I think the integration of Flickr and Lightroom is much better than Picasa so I’m moving over. To celebrate I went out for a ride on my newly fixed, hopefully more puncture-resistant fixie and took some shots of the Lupine Wilma at night in the end of my album. It’s a fantastic light and I love it.
If you want to add me as a contact on Flickr – I am, unsurprisingly called CatSpit
I am in danger of becoming obsessed. Need winter front light for my bicycle commute. Have been researching for a month, can’t make a damn decision. I know what I really want, but it almost costs as much as the bike. So many options, lumens, beam patterns, mounts, companies… Lupine Lighting Wilma is currently top of the list. As the evenings get darker sooner, I need to make a decision soon. Just how many lumens does one need in the NOVA area to give drivers a chance of actually seeing you? About 3 suns worth, I would imagine..
Last night while watching the ribloodydiculouslyamazing Hayao Miyazaki‘s “Spirited Away” (千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) for the nth time I put the bike on the stand. While continuing to marvel at this beast of a fantasy movie I ripped off the handlebars, tape, rear brake and installed all of the Profile Design Carbon components, leaving only the front brake on because even though it’s a fixie I’d like to see the brave soul who rides my commute brakeless.
I had honestly intended to put some bar tape on there as well to make the ride more comfortable, but.. I just can’t do it. The commute is only 11 miles and I can’t bring myself to cover up that glorious carbon fibre (UK spelling, natch) weave. I’ll get some thicker gloves because … oh hell just LOOK at it.
I can’t get over my guilt for cannibalising my 12 year old faithful friend last night. I’m not going to lie, I shamelessly took the old trusty KHS frankenbike off the rack, ripped, slashed and gutted any half decent part off it, depositing the rest with a ‘free’ sign next to a recycling / trash area.
Now I know it’s just a bike, but damn this morning I feel like I didn’t do right by it. Old Trusty has seen me through countless storms, hail, snow, cars, oil, flying debris, verbal assaults, late nights, early mornings, successful filters, unsuccessful filter-bunnyhop-pavements, improved fitness, upgrades, downgrades, scrapes, gouges, bruises and always been true.
See, the fact is it was completely knackered – bendy frame, exploding components, wires that would gouge your eyes out as soon as you looked at them, brakes with only slightly more stopping power than a light breeze. Somehow it deserved more – perhaps setting on fire and throwing into the middle of a Recyclotron5050. Perhaps shining up and making into something new.
I’ll choose to believe that someone picked it up, to give it both an overhaul and happy new home.
Ordered a new carbon fiber stem, aero base bars and tt brake levers tonight. Very excite, sexy time. At the same time I’ll kill the rear brake off the Wabi Lightning and save even more weight. I can’t wait to see what the build looks like with all the pieces on. While I’m keeping the front brake on a fixie which most purists will sneer at, I would challenge them to ride my commute brakeless. Using your legs to stop is all fine and dandy on the NYC flats, but trying to stop at 35mph down a hill when a car pulls out in front of you is completely another matter.
I’ll just have to make sure I get the components on my bike before I eat them all in their lusciousness.. Mmm, carbon fiber.. nomnomnom! Arrgh hurry up and get here!
In a fit of madness I turned my regular easy bike commute into something much harder. While this new route is a lot safer traveling predominantly on the bike paths, it’s definitely a lot harder once you get off the W&OD trail. I tried it going home last night and even in 85 degrees and high humidity I made it ok aside from making the wrong turn when I was approaching home which added a mile when I was tired – grr!
I think it will probably be good for a couple of times a week as a change or when I’m feeling feisty, but I’m not sure about the round trip just yet. 40 miles on a work day is kind of a lot. Still, gives me something to aim for. I just wish it was all as smooth as W&OD because I tore that joint up. My new hobby is passing fully decked out [Race Replica | Spandex Riders | Carbon Triathlon bikes | Aero bars | Aero Wheels] on my Fixed gear. Nothing personal, I’m just saying it might be possible to get some exercise without spending 8 large.
