Surf Check October 02 2011, 0 Comments
I made it out for a quick ride around the neighborhood in time to catch the sunrise. Yes the surf is almost flat today, but the light show was amazing.
Time for pancakes and then to get on with a day of riding, chores, and a bit of fun stuff.
Today was not a god day to sleep in. I rolled out of bed at 6:30 to the best morning light in two months. By the time I was out and about the light show was over, but the day is still the most clear we have had. I ended up taking the scenic route to run some errands.
It is going to be an incredible day, lots to do, and I hope it is this nice by you!
It has been a few weeks since our little girl started child care a couple of days each week. After our post lunch ride I was reviewing the pictures and noticed a pattern. She is in on Monday and Tuesday, and guaranteed fog, gloom and onshore winds. The other three days she is home, the sun comes out, the surf is usually pumping, we watch from the beach, and the playgrounds are blazing hot to the touch.
We still have tons of fun, and I cherish each moment, but I really do want to get back in the water someday.
If only the rest of life's challenges were that big of a deal.
One of my mid-week luxuries is the swap meet. The predisposition to wander through other people's junk for sale probably comes from my dad dragging me through garage sales and the Thunderbird swap shop as a little kid. Today the fog is back in force after one day of sun.
I even find useful things in the piles once in a while. Today, things came up empty, and it is time to get back to something productive.
I rode the Trek on the longest trip yet today. 22 Miles round trip to the farmers market. The wind was hitting pretty good off of all four corners as I worked through the ride. While not quite as fast as I am on the Roadeo, I made quite respectable speed, still averaging between 12 and 15 mph on the open road. The front loading, low trail geometry, sitting upright of this bike build really has me smitten. I am really looking forward to installing the basket I have on order.
I have not had the Roadeo out in the last couple of weeks, and am feeling like I should put it to use this week, but the Trek is jus so much fun to ride.
The bike is back on the market the owner decided it needs to go, not going to get the use it deserves, and needs a new home.
Not the usual fare here at O.A.C., but raising funds for another convert.
I have a 16 inch Niner Eat My Dirt in the garage that a friend asked me to help him move out. The build is super trick: Fox F29er fork, Sram XX, Stan's ZTR wheels, Ti Crank Bro's Pedals, Raceface Turbine headset and stem, etc. The pictures tell the whole story. It seems like everything on this is Carbon or Ti, I went over it with a magnet and no sticktion any where. It is the lightest mountain bike I have had in the garage, I wish I had a scale just out of curiosity's sake. I figured I would throw it out here before sending it off to eBay later this week. $
2500 $2300 (new lower price) gets it shipped anywhere in the continental US. You can use the Pay Pal button below, and please follow-up through the comments or contact page. Local sales, cash etc. will help to ease the price a bit
[gallery link="file" order="DESC" orderby="title"]
Thanks for taking a look, hit me with any questions you might have - Happy Saturday
Finally made it to the end of the week, one of those weeks where days feel like weeks and the week felt like a month. This morning it was trying to rain with a false start, not fog and not quite thunder storms. Just gloomy out. Then it gave way to an incredible day. I loaded up the team on the family truckster and headed down to the beach to get some sun, air and check the surf.
Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend and play outside!
Usual run around town this morning. First longish ride on the Trek. As the initial impression is taking shape all I can say is that this bike gives a really nice ride with the 650b conversion. The handling is shockingly precise and smooth for an old beat up bike like this, with heavy frame tubes too. Big thoughts are forming...
I took some pictures this morning of the bike I threw together over the weekend from parts in the garage. The Frame is an older Trek 400 sport bike converted to 650b. By using the smaller rim I could run a fatter cushier tire, and also bring the front end geometry into a range that will handle well with front biased loads.
I have a few Trek frames in my garage that I bought off of Craig's List and they have been hanging from the ceiling for almost 2 years now. All three have their dents, scratches and other marks of age. I decided it was high time to do something about it. The fringe benefit is the fun in building a bike up instead of stripping one down to sell. With a little planning and 30 minutes here and there I was able to put this together from parts in my bins of spares.
About a month ago I picked up a pair of NOS Weinmann 750 brakes, and they pushed me to get this done. The 750 calipers have just enough reach to get to the 650b rims. There is plenty of room for the 584x37 Col De La Vie tires, and fenders are in the works. The wheels are decidedly not S&S, Phils laced to Velocity Dyads, but they belong to my wife and i am "borrowing" them. I used an old MTB stem, bars and levers that span 20 years of age. The shifting is handled by a Shimano Deore DX in the rear, Suntour XC high normal front and NOS 105 clamp on DT shifters. The front rack is the Bruce Gordon (made in Oregon) rack that used to live on my Rawland. The saddle is an Avocet Touring in pretty good shape. All of the cables and housings are from my recycle bin.
Initial rides have been unloaded and it handles fantastic. This will become my around town bike for errands and such. There are only a few things I hope to change. The handlebars will be switched out with some Wald 867 bars that are on the way. I may do something about the saddle, but i tis OK for shortish trips. I have some newer brake shoes to put on, but the old black blocks have been slowing things down acceptably. As for fenders, I have an older set of the VO zeppelins that were bought on clearance 3 years ago, and will be re-shaped to work here.
Yes, new bikes are fun, but sometimes the best bike is what you have. At least for the moment.
Remember - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle
This has been an interesting week, and for some therapy I went through te garage to help a phoenix rise from the ashes. You may have heard of the Bridgstone Urban Bike or even Jan Hine's much more refined GBUB (Grand Bois Urban Bike), I now have my very own S&SUB:
As in Sanford and Son Urban Bike, finally bringing a beater Trek 400 back to life a sa 650B conversion with a fantastic spread of parts from all corners of my garage. With the Rawland on its way out the door soon as well as a couple of others it was time to press some of the lonely frames back into action.
Initial impressions are pretty good too, this is going to be a fun bike in the stable.
Time for pancakes and then to get on with a day of riding, chores, and a bit of fun stuff.
It is going to be an incredible day, lots to do, and I hope it is this nice by you!
We still have tons of fun, and I cherish each moment, but I really do want to get back in the water someday.
If only the rest of life's challenges were that big of a deal.
Happy Friday, enjoy the weekend and play outside!
I have a few Trek frames in my garage that I bought off of Craig's List and they have been hanging from the ceiling for almost 2 years now. All three have their dents, scratches and other marks of age. I decided it was high time to do something about it. The fringe benefit is the fun in building a bike up instead of stripping one down to sell. With a little planning and 30 minutes here and there I was able to put this together from parts in my bins of spares.
About a month ago I picked up a pair of NOS Weinmann 750 brakes, and they pushed me to get this done. The 750 calipers have just enough reach to get to the 650b rims. There is plenty of room for the 584x37 Col De La Vie tires, and fenders are in the works. The wheels are decidedly not S&S, Phils laced to Velocity Dyads, but they belong to my wife and i am "borrowing" them. I used an old MTB stem, bars and levers that span 20 years of age. The shifting is handled by a Shimano Deore DX in the rear, Suntour XC high normal front and NOS 105 clamp on DT shifters. The front rack is the Bruce Gordon (made in Oregon) rack that used to live on my Rawland. The saddle is an Avocet Touring in pretty good shape. All of the cables and housings are from my recycle bin.
Initial rides have been unloaded and it handles fantastic. This will become my around town bike for errands and such. There are only a few things I hope to change. The handlebars will be switched out with some Wald 867 bars that are on the way. I may do something about the saddle, but i tis OK for shortish trips. I have some newer brake shoes to put on, but the old black blocks have been slowing things down acceptably. As for fenders, I have an older set of the VO zeppelins that were bought on clearance 3 years ago, and will be re-shaped to work here.
Yes, new bikes are fun, but sometimes the best bike is what you have. At least for the moment.
Remember - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle
