Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bikes I Currently Ride

At the moment I ride 2 "road" bikes that are at opposite ends of the spectrum. 


This is my 2008 women's specific design Cannondale Synapse.  It is an all carbon frame with mostly Shimano Tiagra components. 

Stuff I've added/changed:

*Saddle, I don't even remember what the original saddle was but on the 4th attempt I settled on the Specialized Lydia.

*Stem, after trying to get a stem with the most upright angle possible and still finding it not high enough I had my LBS put a stem extension on. Its not the sleekest or most beautiful addition to my bike, but it does what I need it to do.

*Rack, after purchasing the bike I found that I needed a way to carry things.  The biggest problem I had was finding a rack that was compatible with the bike.  The bike was not designed to have a rack installed so there aren't any "braze ons" (attachment points) specifically placed on the frame to allow me to mount a rack.  Because of the aero carbon seat tube I can't use a rack that bolts onto the seat tube. After a lot of searching on the internet I finally found this rack made by Axiom which allows me to use the rear brake bolt and the quick release axle to mount the rack.

*Clip on aero bars by Profile Design. I chose these because the elbow pads would only be in the downward ride on position when actually in use. The rest of the time they are folded up like a butterfly's wings at rest, thus allowing me to place my hands on the handlebar closest to the stem. The second reason I decided to use these aero bars was the more relaxed upward position of the grips. Just like the stem the aero bars aren't particularly sleek looking but they are a more practical choice for a non-racer such as myself.

*Tires - I changed from the original Maxxis Fuse supposedly 23mm tires to Serfas Seca 23mm tires. This has been a recent change and the jury is still out.




Early 70's Peugeot Mixtie UO18




I bought this bike at a bike swap in Dudley Mass. this past winter. Of course it didn't quite look like this when I purchased it, but I'll post about that at a later date.  I currently use this bike as my jump on anytime bike no special clothes or shoes required. 
It is a steel lugged frame with indexed shifting, Mustache handle bars, 700 x 35mm Panaracer tires, Stronglight crankset, and a Velo Orange sprung saddle.  I have a blast riding this bike around in the evening with no particular destination just riding around like I did when I was a kid.



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