Tuesday, January 06, 2009
I just blue myself.
- Tobias played by the hilarious David Cross from Arrested Developement
I rode to work in the rain again. J and I might be moving to Portland, so I figure I better get used to it. It's not so bad except for steep downhills where your speed propels stinging water droplets onto your face.
We "borrowed" (and returned) a neighbor's bike the other day for a J&S bike ride. [edit: I guess some back story is involved here and also a tip to number dial bike chain users. The bike I bought had a dial chain with it but it seemed pretty crappy and flimsy so I upgraded to a 6 footer with a key. But I did remember Subaru saying that it was only one number away from the right number, so when I ran across our neighbor's nice bike with a dial chain, I tried out that trick to see if it was common. Yep!] It was a lot of fun and can't wait to get J's bike from Orlando. She also has some furniture there which would be cool to bring up here. Getting it here is the only problem.
The other bike was very nice. I wasn't super crazy about the twist gear changes. The brakes were very nice, basically they're a step up from the old school inverted V brakes, but just below the hardcore radial brakes. The seat had springs in it which made it a tad wobbly in turns but otherwise was nice. It had a nice relaxed handlebar position, which I'm looking into a bit. The thing that really blew me away was the tires. They were not as thick as mountain bike (MTB) tires but weren't as super thin as road bike tires. They really cut down on the rolling resistance. I'm thinking those would make an awesome birthday present.
The local bike shop quoted me $125 for a tune-up. That would replace the chain, rear cassette (back gears), brake pads, true the wheels, replace the cables and the crankarm (what the pedal sits in) that is bent and loosens periodically. Sounds like a pretty good deal considering I could do all that myself but I'm a tad busy with writing. He said it would be almost as good as new and since it's an older bike, it is less likely to get stolen. Honestly I'm not super worried about it being stolen. I have a super beefy bike chain that I generally run through the frame and my basket and sometimes through the rear wheel, and around the bike rack of course. I figure if anyone really super wants my dirty old front wheel, they can have and give me an excuse to get new tires and wheels!
Group meeting went well yesterday. Our new group member seems to be working out but it's only her second "official" day.
Oh, I almost made it to school with pictures, but I changed into my waterproof pants for the ride here and left the memory card in my comfy pants at home. Doh! Clean shaven Seth pics coming either tonight or tomorrow. Promise.
I rode to work in the rain again. J and I might be moving to Portland, so I figure I better get used to it. It's not so bad except for steep downhills where your speed propels stinging water droplets onto your face.
We "borrowed" (and returned) a neighbor's bike the other day for a J&S bike ride. [edit: I guess some back story is involved here and also a tip to number dial bike chain users. The bike I bought had a dial chain with it but it seemed pretty crappy and flimsy so I upgraded to a 6 footer with a key. But I did remember Subaru saying that it was only one number away from the right number, so when I ran across our neighbor's nice bike with a dial chain, I tried out that trick to see if it was common. Yep!] It was a lot of fun and can't wait to get J's bike from Orlando. She also has some furniture there which would be cool to bring up here. Getting it here is the only problem.
The other bike was very nice. I wasn't super crazy about the twist gear changes. The brakes were very nice, basically they're a step up from the old school inverted V brakes, but just below the hardcore radial brakes. The seat had springs in it which made it a tad wobbly in turns but otherwise was nice. It had a nice relaxed handlebar position, which I'm looking into a bit. The thing that really blew me away was the tires. They were not as thick as mountain bike (MTB) tires but weren't as super thin as road bike tires. They really cut down on the rolling resistance. I'm thinking those would make an awesome birthday present.
The local bike shop quoted me $125 for a tune-up. That would replace the chain, rear cassette (back gears), brake pads, true the wheels, replace the cables and the crankarm (what the pedal sits in) that is bent and loosens periodically. Sounds like a pretty good deal considering I could do all that myself but I'm a tad busy with writing. He said it would be almost as good as new and since it's an older bike, it is less likely to get stolen. Honestly I'm not super worried about it being stolen. I have a super beefy bike chain that I generally run through the frame and my basket and sometimes through the rear wheel, and around the bike rack of course. I figure if anyone really super wants my dirty old front wheel, they can have and give me an excuse to get new tires and wheels!
Group meeting went well yesterday. Our new group member seems to be working out but it's only her second "official" day.
Oh, I almost made it to school with pictures, but I changed into my waterproof pants for the ride here and left the memory card in my comfy pants at home. Doh! Clean shaven Seth pics coming either tonight or tomorrow. Promise.
Labels: Arrested Development, bicycle, mustache
# posted by Seth @ 7:18 AM 
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