From Bikes

I installed the Origin8 flared drops on the Redline (since I purchased a set of Tektro levers that would work with the V-brakes) today. There it is. Note the various other high tech bits:

• Awesome high rise steel stem. I await the day the shonky weld breaks and I pull a George Hincapie in the middle of Iron Grate at Frick.
• The wrench for the rear wheel duct taped to the seatpost.
• The safety pin holding the saddle bag together.

The shakedown went well. I started by tooling around a bit on the flatter bits of single track, then climbed up to the Blue Slide park/Meadows and went down Iron Grate. It took but a moment to get used to handling the bike in the drops. In fact, within a few minutes, the bike seemed to handle better with the drops–perhaps because I was a bit lower when in the drops, or perhaps because I felt like I could really drive the front end a bit more because of my hand position. Braking was easy, as the Tektro levers are comfy and didn’t require more than a finger to lock the wheel. The only things that felt a bit odd were getting the front end over big obstacles and getting a bit of air on a few of the bumps. Better to keep the bike on the ground, methinks. At one point, coming down Iron Grate, my rear wheel hit a rock and a root in quick succession, and I cannot believe that I didn’t flat or, given the noise, completely bust the rear wheel. Let’s hear it for high volume tires. There are also a number of ticks being emitted from various areas of the bike–the front end sounds like the wheel is completely loose in the fork when I go over anything, and something (saddle rails, maybe) was clicking. The chain sounds horrible, too. Given the nice surface coating of rust, I think I should probably replace it sooner rather than later.

I have a few more changes I’d like to make to Redline, too. Ideally, I’ll get some mechanical discs, if only because those V-brakes has been thoroughly abused. I’d also like to futz with the gearing a bit more, perhaps downsize the freewheel to 18 teeth, and get a 16 teeth TomiCog for cruising to the park. Spinning 32×20 on city streets is kinda silly.

Posted on 19 September 2008