Window shopping and filthy saddles

I was scouring craigslist, the general so-called "Inter-Net", and eBay yesterday morning. My buddy across the street has decided to buy a bike, but his finances are really slim. What he would spend on a spankin' new bike might be better served on finding a decent used one. So I was elected bikexpert by default, and was given the task of hunting down a proper ride for him.

He also is kind of intigued bt BOBishness, and knows fullwell my affinity for Bridgestones. He asked me to find him a MB of some caliber; I had to let him down, telling him they are no longer made, and finding one for "a song" can be easier said than done. So, when I hit eBay at 7AM and plugged into the Cycling area, then typed in Bridgestone for the search criteria, something WONDROUS came up. It was the first day of its listing:





An all-original (as far as I can tell) 59cm 1989 RB-1. The BIN price was absurdy reasonable. You might can figure what happened next. It arrives next Tuesday....

When I told my friend about it, he rightly replied "What the HELL is wrong with you??" I didn't have much a defense. However, this forces my hand to either sell some of the flock, or ship some bikes to new orleans so I can have bikes to rides when visiting. Space is becoming a premium in my wee apartment.

Yesterday I went for a ride in the balmy high-40's afternoon. I left work due to some impending stomach distress, thinking I didn't want to reach Critical mass at work...if you dig my drift. After riding the nastiness out, I washed down my poor filthy 500 and hit the road. Just barely down the melting snow mass filth of the Lakefront Trail, i realized I had forgotten to put my rear fender back on! Needless to say, my ass/backside was spackled with filhy grit, along with the new saddle! I had read that Proofide should be applied to the underside if one rides without fenders; I took it for granted that the fender would be there, so I didn't do so.

Good old Cycle Smithy allowed me to pop by, clean off the saddle, and apply a touch o' the goodness to the Brooks. It's feeling pretty nice, by the way, but I was getting unholy paranoid that drenching it with filth is nothing but shitty for it. But so far, so good.

(my) BIKE DAY 2007!

First off, I hafta extend a hearty Happy Mardi Gras to everyone---even if the vast majority on the planet, let alone New Orleans, has no idea what it means. Today is Fat Tueday and NO is celebrating its 151st Mardi Gras, and I got pretty forlorn at one point today.

These Blues were mitigated by the morning's commute and the luscious HIGH THIRTY DEGREE weather. I didn't even have to wear my synthetic Ninja mask that has become my second skin under my helmet during these arctic travels. It's really amazing when you have to look forward to literally FREEZING weather. Whoa. And riding in 15+ MPH winds during the last several months has apparently made me a beast; winds today were almost non-existent and I was keeping up with traffic on Clark both before and after work.

Then I found out that ComEd was going to shut our office's power down early in the afternoon, leaving us all to "work from home", or to just fuck off and have a proper afternoon freakout. I had ALREADY chosen the latter when I spied the package on my desk:

THE B-17 HAD ARRIVED EARLY.

Included in the package was a reallll sweet personal touch: someone had caught Mardi Gras beads and threw some in the Brooks box, along with a description of all things pre-Lenten revelry. It was a killer swing that I, as a former New Orleanian, found touching. That, along with an early delivery, has cemented Wallingford a place in my heart. AGAIN...I can't believe that I never knew of the shop when I lived there.

I got back to my place at 3PM, put my new saddle on (I didn't buy any Proofide, however), and set off to feel the magic. I stopped by the Brit's place so I could prod him to ride--he REALLY needed it--and we headed a short distance to Wrigleyville and Johnny O'Hagan's. After a few adjustments, I was feeling nothing but fine on top of the saddle and and am totally looking forward to tickling my ass with this sweet leather feather.

HOWEVER: I keep reading conflicting ways to expedite the Brooks break-in process. Sheldon suggests total saddle submergence; but I've read equal amounts of E-wisdom that profess no pre-treatment! Can anyone offer any nuggets o' good before I fuck up yet another nice piece of bikequipment?

So it is done

With a steady income comes an ability to indulge my lust (or is it need?) of all things bikey. Just a few months ago, a fender seemed like a total indulgence; now I see it as a necessity. Riding in semi-frozen filth bilge for the last several days has amply proven that point.

The XO's lovely stock Avocet saddle--now 15 years old and having supported my ample bottom for well over 15000 miles and through every possible weather condition (sans earthquake)--is looking tired. Is there retirement age for a saddle? It certainly still fells great, but I feel it should be relegated to a bike that has less attention focused upon it. Time to stave off the inevitable decay. I may slap it on the 500, then take its old Avocet Touring model and put it on the Bianchi; the Touring saddle is beset by awkward asspaddery. And I feel that I'll RARELY ride the Bianchi.

I knew today that it was time for a new saddle. And I knew, from poring through countless testimonials of a Brooks saddle's goodness (my own stepfathers' testimonial when I was young counted for a ton!), that I would have one. So, now that I have been blessed with the victory of PayDay, it has been done.



I was going to go to Wallingford during my last visit home and express total shock that I had NEVER been there during my many years of New Orleans residency! In lieu of that, I ordered my honey B-17 Champion Special from there. I found cheaper versions online, but GODDAMN do I feel a mad fealty toward a kickass New Orleanian bike shop. But I really do wish I could've dropped by in person! What's a few extra bills to help support a lovely shop operating out of the ashes of Atlantis?

But I like to spread the love around. There is a mad flutter for some offerings I've spied at Hiawatha....

(Holy K-righst, if only that bike were BIGGER!!)

Blizzard biking!

I thought yesterday's ride was challenging; little did I know that I'd be just foolhardy enough to dismiss today's forecast and actually bike through a blizzard!

I picked up a rear fender after work last night-one I can take from bike to bike. I don't have, or really want a dedicated commuter/filthy conditions bike, so I figured this was a good purchase. And I also figured that if today was indeed gonna be a mess, then I at least wanted my sweet ass to be dry at work. And I meticulously cleaned the poor XO after yesterday's jaunt, so I wanted her to be resplendent in cleanliness for at least a day.

So my option for lunacy was riding the 500 to work. I'm not as suave on this bike, but am slowly getting a "feel" for it. However, since the 27" wheels are pretty shot, I set up the 700c's and adjusted the brakes accordingly. Luckily, the pads extended enough. The chief drawback was that these wheels were from the Bianchi, and are running 700x23 tires....not exactly conducive to crushing my enemies (or at least snow and slush) beneath me. At the same time, I didn't feel wobbly, and was really enjoying the feel of the bike today. I don't really know if the difference in wheel diameter really made all that much difference, or if it's because I raised the stem up about a half inch; the fact is that the 500 was a TOTAL RIOT this morning...well until it overshifted and got the chain stuck between the frame and the freewheel. UGH!! THAT was a blast to fix in the inclement conditions.

So, if getting to work was met with little obstacle, going FROM was a different story. Over the course of the day I noticed that the wind had really picked up (over 40 mph) and the torrential snow seemed horizontal! I managed to leave a little early, but the street the office is on--readily passable at 9 AM--was a slushy gauntlet that I had to walk the bike through. That kinda blew, but at least I was outside and heading homewards. And when I finally managed to get on a pedal-able route, the chain was skipping like hell over the freewheel (differential wear from chain and freewheel?); the powergrips were all wet and mucked up, making them really difficult to slip in to; and as I would pass a wide intersection, the NE winds would cleave right in to me and threaten to knock me over fuckwards. At least there was more road for me to claim at 2:15, without having to watch my back constantly for crazed, sliding cars.

In under 2 years of living here, this may be the most snow I've seen fall in one day. There was a considerable amount that fell between 9 and 2, and it looks like the shit is not gonna let up. I think today I may have become that "nutjob" I used to envy when I was trapped in my car and would see that lone intrepid cyclist forging through conditions that would have (formerly) made me soil my underoos by just thinking about them!

That being said.....If I'm gonna continue riding through these kind of conditions (and I pray this ends soon), I want a MF-ing TANK. Not Army issue, mind you, but a fat-tired, fully fendered, bombproof, all-condition ASSHOLE.

P.S. I had to snap a pic of the bike after today's ride. It looks like Saquatch! It's on my phone currently, but whenever I figger how to transfer to the Mac, I'll get it posted. It's a fun shot.

Quite a successful Saturday

I was INEXPLICABLY hung over when I got up yesterday morning. I recall not drinking much at all with the New Orleanian gang Friday night, but also remembered not eating much substantive at all during the day. We went to some Cheesedick Lincoln Square joint before attempting to go bowling, and I had to opt out of the awesomely outrageous artichoke dip and jalapeno poppers in lieu of (luckily--the only saving grace) hand-cut fries and tatar sauce. I was a Goddamn paradigm of health, I tell you.

So when I got up on Saturday feeling like a belt sander had taken me forcefully in the mind and mouth, the prospects of my trip to West Town Bikes started to look fairly dim. BUT, around 1:45 PM, I finally managed to get my jive together, run to the LBS for handlebar wrap, and head down Damen toward the shop. Nothing like a little two-wheeled penance to get one's shit together. The going was unholy sloooow on Damen, yet made the typically strong western winds an iota more bearable.

West Town Bikes was cool as hell. There were several workstations that one could grab, mount a bike to a stand, utilize all the tools at the shop's disposal (a real wealth of groovy stuff!), and pick any and all persons in attendance's brains for info/advice/whatnot. Good thing, too, because I had absolutely NO experience in dicking with adjusting/removing bar-end shifters; between all those in attendance (THANK YOU Anatoly and Squeeky!!), I managed to get the deed done! The deed being removing my old stem and putting the Nitto Technomic in its stead, and getting the moustache bars back in line. It was tricky going for a while, but in the grand scheme of things I feel like I learned a freaking TON. I am definitely gonna go back and check out all the classes that they're offering.

It was dark when I decided to take off; in the interest of time, I held off re-wrapping the bars. Even with lights, paranoia is the law when I ride through Chicago at night. But I got on the wrapping trail this morning, went out for a spin, and was unholy battered by cold and wind! Goddamnit. I am sincerely tired of bitching about the wind, yet I am in total awe of a force that so profoundly impacts the quality of my rides.

Sorry. I had to go see the Police play "Roxanne" on the Grammys. I was excited, but I've definitely seen/heard better performances from them. I still am excited about their upcoming tour. Being a heavy metal/punk ronk knucklehead in the '80's was a prohibitive barrier toward seeing any music with a modicum of class!

Back to the bike! Last night, the Technomic went on with almost no sweat, was raised it to its amazing, extended glory, the bars were adjusted accordingly, and headed home. Hrm. it wasn't quite the epiphany I was looking for! But when I saw the new setup after today's ride, I noticed that the Nitto bar has a (more or less) negative rise, whereas the Ritchey Force stem has what appears to be a neutral rise; this meant--to me at least--that I needed to get the Nitto up quite a bit higher than if I were raising the Ritchey (if it had some amazing stem length!) the same amount.

So currently it looks like the Nitto has about 5 inches exposed from of the head tube; I'm gonna ride the XO to work tomorrow to see if it seems any more comfortable. If nothing else, the sucker sure is purty.

Strange soreness, lovely addictions, and more!

Far fuckin' out.

For some reason, my legs feel like they have been pummeled by the fists of an angry midget (Wait! In this PC clime, I mean DWARF). And I have no accounting for it! These last two weeks have seen my average mileage plummet, and I tend to not push the Hell out of myself during the commute. Granted, the wind is strong and pretty brutal and my body hasn't ridden in temperatures above 15 degrees in a Helluva long time, but I am wondering if these current conditions are really the culprit.

So, I spied a semi-new Columbus-tubed Univega frame on Craigslist today for a pretty reasonable cost. at the same time, I hafta ask myself: do I NEED another bike. Um, well NO. Yet, do I WANT one? (Sheepishly): YES. Goddamn! Woohoo! ANOTHER addiction. ;) But I saw it coming. I make okay money, the first time I can say that in my adult life, and I think I'd rather spend a modest amount of money on groovy bike gear than I would on a MacBook (which i really DO need!). My co-workers often notice me prowling Craigslist bike pages, and often offer. "J, didn't you just BUY a new bike??" Damn how these beautiful creatures get inta your blood like this! :)

Finally, I am thinking about heading to West Town Bikes tomorrow. They're offering a experience-led maintenance workshop (12-7 PM) for a donation, and I think it may be the best forum to put my new stem and handlebar wrap on. And with the sultry conditions that the wizened, precognizant meteorologists are foretelling, it'd be a real crime not to take full advantage of this. 2 years in Chicago, and I am sick of saying "WHY DIDN'T I DO THAT????" No more, I tell ye!

And this year, I am NOT gonna miss Body Worlds again.

On riding while colder than I have ever been

Sorry. "Ode to a Grecian Urn" was taken, so I had to resort to this awkward, inelegant title. But it's been on my mind since Monday. The Great Midwest SuperFreeze hasn't dampened my commuting at all, but it has prevented me from doing any extraneous miles. Maybe with the promise of the nigh-tropical 19 degree temps for the weekend, I can make some road up.

An issue came up this week, though. The 500 seems to want to shift by itself, often after waiting at a light for a period of time. I am wondering if the 0 degree conditions are contracting the cables and forcing a fakie-shift. Hmmm. Other than that, this ole Cyclone drivetrain ("Dude!! Your shit's totally CYCLONIC!!!!") is pretty smooth and sweet. And I also noticed that the stock Avocet saddle is wonky: the rails hve been bent a bit, and the right "asspad" slumps a bit downward, so it's not the most comfortable. All easy fixes, I hope.

BUT. I rode to Wicker Park yesterday to meet my friend. he and I were going to see our buddy Greg, who is the drummer for the Autumn Defense--a damn fine band and a Wilco spin-off. We got to hang in the Wilco loft for a bit and hear AD rehearse. I tell you what: seeing this awe-inspiring space was almost enough to rekindle my dormant dreams of rockstardom. I don't know if I could ever leave there! And it was easily an equipment geek's wettest of dreams. Eeeewww!!!!

But I digress. Along the way to meet Phil in Wicker Park, I felt a mean, palpable wobble from my rear wheel, and it was getting increasingly difficult to ride. At the same time, I blamed the mean resistance on the ubiquitous omniwind. When I arrived at my destination, I spun the wheel, noticed an evident wobble, then it stuck to the right chainstay. Argh. It was THAT untrue. And that also explained the more-than-usual resistance I was feeling while en route to Wicker Park. Now, what chaps my ass is that I just got the bike tuned/overhauled/whatnot, and I feel that a wheel getting so wanged so quickly is pretty odd. However, the deep, molecular dynamics of wheels and tension is not my forte.

I rode the XO to work today, having not been on it in over a week, and DAMN is it a fine ride. Jeez. And I didn't notice any shifting weirdness with it. Perhaps this blows my aforementioned theory all to Hell. What sucks is that I was hoping to get the 500 nicely tweaked so I can take time to install the Technomic stem on the XO and re-wrap the bars. I've never taken off barcons and I hear it could be a lil' challenge.

So, I am going to head to Johnny Sprocket's after work tomorrow and see what I finagle (sp?). at the very least, I am hoping I can get a gratis truing.

P.S. at 6'1" and with a 46 (best to my estimation) shoulder sizing, would 52" wide handlebars just be too wide? They pretty much approximate the width of the moustache bars.....

This should be illegal

This cold is so pervasive and assholish, that it should be considered illegal. Here is the latest swanky temp reading:


Sweet mother of fuck is it cold. I actually had to strap the old 500 to an indoor trainer today and have a 40 minute freakout. I FUCKING LOATHE this kind of cold.

But I went (crap. drove) to a Marshall's today and bought sweet ski-gloves that should work well for outside cycling.

How in the fucking name of reason do people exist in this kind of weather? Christ Fucking Jesus!! I'm only a 2 year Midwestern cycling renegade, and I'm already thinking again about Louisiana....!

New handlebar Thursday

"SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!!"

"Whay pay for the whole seat, when all you'll need is the EDGE????"

Okay. Rool back. I have no idea why I was inspired by scrotum-tugging exhortations of internal-combustion-fueled assholery, but what the Hell. some of that crap is damn funnny.

Alright. I think it's out of my system. Back to the task at hand. A few days ago, someone on Craigslist posted some handlebars--"Wider than normal"--and for a LOW LOW price (sorry, that asshole voiceover action is still resonating) of 30 bucks. I met up with her tonight, after a wacky missing identity inital meeting fiasco straight of a movie by a director that only 2% of America has seen.

I waited outside of the agreed-upon spot, but then someone told me it was almost 6, so I figured it was gonna be a no=show. As I was leaving, I unlocked my bike and noticed that 2 women were pulling up. I guess I was iced and glazed over pretty well, not putting 2 and 2 together (and I didn't SAY anything), and I left...thinking somewhere in the back of my head that these women very well may have been the people i was there to meet.

Long story short: i called my Craigslist "liason", and she confirmed that she and her friend were, indeed, the people I was there to meet. So I rode back to Taste of Heaven and scoped out the bars. Whoa. Light. Whoa. WIIIDE. But at 52 cm, they're .5 cm less wide than the moustache bars (which i love), so I figured they'll be, if nothing else, INTERESTING.

But for a new snafu: I am wondering if these more modern bars (that double-stepped slope on the drops) will readily fit into an old-school quill stem. More to follow.