The Orange bike rolls...

I had a quiet weekend which gave me some time to get the Orange bike into ridable shape.




I had to swap put the knobby tires I had used, they were just too wide to fit and they rubbed the chainstays in the back. I got a pair of big ole cruiser tires that are just great. I used mostly old parts from the original bike. The new parts added are;
- Seat; I pulled the Brooks B67 seat off my touring bike for this project.. this is a much better use for that seat. I replaced it on the Surly with a Brooks Flyer Special (which I just love on that bike)

- Brakes; I used a pair of Shimano Deore Linear pull V brakes that Dan had given me a while ago. They don't fit this bike as well as I'd like, but they do the job. I also needed to add a cheap pair of Linear pull Brake levers.

This bike will be my "run around town..." bike. I think I'm going to add a basket to the front, big enough to carry groceries and gyms stuff.

This Old Bike

Before I had the new bike, there was the old Bike:




The old bike had fallen on hard times after years of neglect. I was ready to give it away on Craigslist twice before realizing what a nice frame it was and how much sentimental value there was with it.




So I stripped the frame down and had my local bike shop send it out to be stripped and powder coated. The results were amazing...







I'm now setting to work to rebuild it. The first pass I'm going to put it back together with as many of the old pieces. Later I'll begin swapping parts out.

Today I pulled both hubs apart, replaced the bearings and readjusted them..

A cool web tool for mapping your ride/walk/hike

There are some really nice tools available on the web to let you map out a bike ride and see not only distance, but (more importantly for us chickens) elevation.

Here is a glimpse of a fantastic ride that Dan and I took on Memorial day. This ride heads up into the San Mateo hills and along the ride along the San Andreas fault zone.

Below is a look at the whole route.... to see the details, follow this URL: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/san-mateo/460094816206

Touring means carrying stuff...

I picked up my racks this week and installed them on the Surly. These are made by a German company called Tubus. They are lightweight steel racks capable of carrying 90pounds on the rear and 30 pounds on the front. The racks come with a warranty card that promises that if the racks break in the first three years, they will send a replacement to you via courier, anywhere in the world. (Click on any picture to see a larger version)




The Front racks are simple, light and very sturdy. They mount to both sides of the fork as well as to the dropout lugs.



Here are the front and rear racks on the bike



And here is a shot with my Ortlieb Classic Panniers mounted. I have rear bags, but not the smaller version designed for the fronts. I'll be watching Craigslist and Ebay for a used pair.



I love these panniers. They are essentially big waterproof bags, but they are really well made, they can hold a ton of gear and they have an ingenious latching mechanism for attaching to the rack. Dan used a pair of these when we rode in France a few years ago and I was sold. When we got back from that trip, I returned the REI bags I had been using and bought a pair of these

The Mid-Life Crisis Bike

Some people get red sports cars, I got a blue Surly Long Haul Trucker. Here is a bit about my bike and a few pictures. (you can click on any picture to get a giant version)

The LHT is designed for Touring. It has a long wheelbase and a relatively laid back geometry. The frame is made from steel which is strong, flexible and (important if you are on a world tour in the middle of the Yukon) repairable by any welder. The back wheel sits on long chainstay's, resulting in more room for panniers behind your feet. The Framebuilder has also added lots of connection points for the racks and water bottles you'd want on a long tour.



I had a local shop build this bike from the frame up in order to get a few specializations I was interested in. One thing they did for me was to build the wheels by hand. This allowed me to get very sturdy rims and to build wheels with more spokes (36) than the norm. The result of this was to create very strong wheels. With the weight of gear added to my weight, broken spokes become a common occurrence.

Speaking of broken spokes... one of the cool little add-ons to the frame are these little Spare Spoke Holders built into the chainstay:

The label "Fatties Fit Fine" is referring to the spacing for large tires, not to the rider.



The other thing I did with the wheels, was to have the shop use a Shimano Generator hub in the front wheel. This little gadget will convert my motion into 3 Watts of electricity to power lights. There is almost no noticeable friction from the hub. The little grey block on the right is where the wires will connect (I still need to get the light)



The gear shifters for this bike are ingenious, they are built into the brake levers.
To shift one direction you push the small black levers toward the wheel, to shift the other way you push the whole silver lever in. It takes a little getting used to, but is is amazingly convenient when riding.




For riding the long haul, I added a Brooks Leather Saddle with springs. This has been a great addition, it was really comfortable from the first ride. As I've gotten the saddle broken it it has improved (though there is an annoying squeak I need to take care of).




I gave up trying to fit my size 13s into those stupid little toe clips and I refused to have to wear special shoes everytime I ride (I use this bike to ride to work almost every day). I added these monster platforms. They have lots of little grabbers on the decks and my feet stick in these almost as well as if I had toe clips.





Lastly, I added a rear cassette with 10 gears. The result of this is a really smooth progression of gears. As you climb a hill you can drop down just enough to keep your legs working.