Last week during the trip to the mountains, I noticed that the stock bar tape on Maddie was a little loose and would occasionally slide around exposing the bare aluminum bars. This was a convenient excuse to add a little more color to the bike instead of the boring black that came stock. When I saw that Speedgoat was having a sale on trainers last week, I decided to take advantage of the savings and get some new tape while the shipping was free. I had a hard time deciding which color to pick, with my favorites being white and pink. I thought that the white would go well with the frame and compliment the white cages well. On the other hand, I do seem to like ugly bikes and putting pink tape on a bike with red accents definitely fits the bill. I ended up getting the white despite the undeniable fact that pink bike parts are awesome. The UPS man showed up today with my order so Madeline is now all dolled up with her new look.
I haven't really ridden the trainer much but it seems to be a quality item. I may end up getting some kind of mat to help dampen some of the vibrations so I don't disturb the neighbors.
I went on a ride with Mikey last week and came to a pretty scary realization. I couldn't be happier with my current bikes. I like them so much that I don't think that I really need another bike. In fact, I could get rid of the Ziggurat and never miss it. Both of my main bikes, Michaelangelo and Madeline, are really sweet rides and a ton of fun. I used to be able to spend hours dreaming over my next bike but why bother anymore. Even when I came up with this weeks bad idea that I will never follow through with, trying a cross race, I couldn't come close to justifying a new cross bike. The 1x1 will take 700c wheels with tons of room to spare so why not just throw some drops on that. Sure it will have to be a singlespeed but that isn't really a problem. Hopefully I will be able to talk myself into a custom frame or something sometime down the road. For now, I will just ride what I have.
Disco Anson in 1.5 weeks. If you are riding, bring your A game. Maddie and I will be arriving in style for the 50 mile ride. Sorry Ethan, no mountains on this ride so it will be ruled by the king of the valleys. Unfortunately, I have no idea who or what that is.
5 comments:
I noticed you'd get rid of the Ziggurat but no mention of getting rid of Ann. Could be a good bike for a 'cross race. If you really want to try one I would be up for racing on my mtn bike. I think they are pretty common at the NC CX races, particularly the category we would ride.
I would much rather use the Surly for cross if I were to enter a race. I would probably change the gearing and get some skinnier tires but those are the only changes I would make. Ann would need pretty much new everything before she would be ready for any type of race. If I were to put that much money into it I could probably get a brand new bike. Chances are that cross racing will never be anything more than an office fantasy for me, although there is a race in Southern Pines the week after Disco if you want to try and talk me into it (which is doable). I think it is pretty cheap, ~$30 for entry and one day license. You are also more than welcome to use that Manitou fork if you want something with lockout.
The white bar tape looks sweet! It'll show dirt after a while, but it's the best color for a black bike.
I think it would be fun to try a 'cross race. Unfortunately, $30 and a round trip to Pinehurst is out of my budget right now. The first race of the NC series was at Merideth College last week and 100 people raced in the mens Cat. 4. I'm sure we could beat some of those people.
I am surprised spur. I would not expect you to make such a blatantly racist comment as "black bike". Unbelievable. On a more serious note, the white tape is already showing dirt after just a couple of rides. I am hoping that people will see the dirty tape and think that I must be hardcore and ride all of the time. That is way easier than actually riding all of the time and wowing them with my speed and endurance.
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