Saturday, October 30, 2010

All Steel

She is beautiful!  Very clean, straight forward and simple.  Took a first distance ride on Sakatah trail from Elysian to Madison Lake and back (35KM).  Rode smoother than the Sirrus and extremely quiet.  Still running on freewheel. took about 1:10 to do the loop.  Need to do some seat adjusting, lower just a hair and tilt forward a tad more.  Also thinking I will raise the bars one of the spacers currently above the stem.
Got a fantastic little, well not so little gift from Ben at Milltown when I picked up the Steamroller.  Got a bike carrier for the Big Dummy!  Thanks BEN!
Going to be a tough choice now which bike to ride. Really don't have any desire to ride the Specialized, thought it was the cats meow for over a year but since I got the Dummy and now the Steamroller, well there really is something about steel!
Over 800KM this month!

October wind-down

October is almost done.  Been great weather.   Road to St. Peter this morning to watch the Halloween Costume run (77.8 KM round trip).  It was a bit tough riding 99, wind was just right that it would throw you off balance from the side every now and again.  Will hit 800 KM with ease this month.  Next month might be another issue.
The KEEN Wintersport II's came in yesterday. Think they will be great for winter riding.  Light, flexible  and seem just warm enough yet will not over heat.  In a strange sort of way I can hardly wait.
Headed to town to pick up the steamroller!  Thinking about a run across Nicollet County tomorrow, 40-50KM, just to test it out!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

STEAMROLLER

The Steamroller came in yesterday afternoon.  Hung out and watched it get built.  Very sharp, white and black.  Put a rear break on it, going to have to find some metal clips from an old bike for the rear cable. Zip ties are ok but clips would be nice.  Took it for a test spin....What a blast.   Was having planning issues the night before regarding handle bars.  Was thinking a flat bar might be better than the Surly Open bar.  Pumping up the hill behind the Faribault Library convinced me the open bar is the answer.  Had to take it back to the shop, payday is on Friday.  It looks nice hanging in the window though.

Friday, October 22, 2010

NEW GLASSES

The new glasses finally got here.  It took a little while this time but I still stand by Shuron LTD, (shuron.com).  One of the few things still made in the USA and the only optical frame company.  Tried once again to get Northfield Optical to order the frames for me but they refused to cooperate once again.  As I did last time I contacted Shuron for Northfield Optical to ensure that they would receive the frame at wholesale and be covered by warranty, bah blah, blah.  The bottom line for Northfield Optical was their profit margin on a $5.00, Chinese made frame is much better than on a $75.00 American made frame.
Shuron is fantastic to work with.  Call them up, tell them basically what you want from their on-line store.  They will (with a credit card number for one frame) send out frames in multiple sizes for you to try for fit.  You decide which one.  I have been having them do the glass work so I just call them after make frame choice and package up the test frames and send them back and the new looks show up in the mail!  Up yours Northfield optical!  Shuron staff is great on the phone, very courteous and they never try and tell me I don't want cable wrap temples (I can't understand these optical shops that do that, they either have never done any manual labor or they are too f-ing lazy to order cable wraps).  The stand behind their warranty, no questions asked.  Broke a couple bows on my last pair and they were covered.
  Didn't get the Serial Killer style this time, went back to the old jim.  Round, gold wire rims.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pugsley

Took a short test ride on a Surly Pugsley this afternoon at Milltown Cycles.  One almost has to ride one to appreciate one.  It is an odd looking beast but rides like something else altogether.  Design engineering is very well thought out, the options for wheel set-up  (front wheel could be set up as a single gear allowing you to change out in a bind).  It looks like it would be a ton of steel to move but geometry and set-up proves differently.  Peddles easily, handles extremely well, very responsive.  Found myself being drawn towards every rut and obstruction on the street.  One would have to get used to the tire noise when on pavement but then it really wasn't designed for hard surfaces.  Low pressure tires almost feel like you are on a full suspension bike.  Really a fun bike!  I would think about one if I had more time for off off road riding.  Imagine it would be fun in the snow.  Milltown has two in complete and ready to go out the door.  Highly recommend at least stopping by and giving it a good look.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Musings

  Rice County 1 between I-35 and Dundas was finally open for traffic on Saturday morning.  Great ride in from Millersburg for Saturday coffee at Blue Monday with the "boys".  Noticed on the return trip that the ditches are all nicely groomed and seeded, already for the ATV/Snowmobile crew to tear-up.  This portion of County 1 is nicely paved, six foot paved shoulders, seems they flattened out some of the climbs.  Curves are nice and gentle.  Approx. 1K west of Dundas there is a curb and gutter installed, it is a bit confusing in the dark, the shoulder suddenly narrows 18".  Rides fairly fast.  Hope t holds up, it will make for a nice commute to and from Northfield.
  Was in the south Metro this morning.  Stopped at a couple of the bigger (chain) bike shops just to look around.  It proved to be a repeat lesson how nice it is to have small local shops that are willing to help one decide on products rather than telling you what you want.  Thanks Ben and Curt, I appreciate your knowledge and demeanor, you might not have everything in the world on the shelf but you are not out there pushing goods I don't need.