New Velo On The Horizon!

The Ciocc is great, but the lack of real fenders are going to be tough this winter. (The Miyata has just-about full fenders, but only fits 25's with them, and just feels clunky when riding it.. I might make it a fixed gear again).

So... with some dough ready to be spent, and some ideas in mind, I went window-shopping (on the web). Indy Fab? Great bikes, but I don't have time and/or patience to wait for them to build one up. Not to mention went I went to a bike shop out on the peninsula to inquire about one, all I got to show for it was a shiny IF catalog, and a "yeah those are great bikes." I guess their IF guy was out that day.. oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be, at least not yet.

There's Rivendell of course, but personally those seem like a lot of money for what sounds like a heavy frame. While they do have great style in the bikes they produce, I'm not quite ready to take the boutique-dive just yet. And of course there's Co-ho bikes, Pereira, etc. And Davidson downtown. I can envision a custom rando bike on the horizon eventually, but I want a new bike NOW! I don't have the patience to wait for a spiffy custom frame. 

As a side-note, I thought about throwing my love of steel out the window, and buying a Crumpton Carbon Randonneur bike. It's $11,000. I thought about it for about five seconds, then decided to wait until I'm at least 50 for that one. I could buy lots of bikes for that price! A more "reasonable" custom rando bike would be in the $4-5k range, but even then I don't want to wait for this bike.

Not to mention, Jan Heine's 600k coming up in September. That's not that far away, time is ticking!

So I e-mailed Lloyd at Velo Bike Shop, and inquired about a Surly Pacer. I had narrowed down the choices to the Pacer or the Salsa Casseroll, like what Robert has. But in the end the more classic look of the Pacer's top tube is what swayed me, as they appear to weigh roughly the same.

It will be my Randonee/Commute/Rain/Fun/Critical Mass Machine, my do-it-all rig. My main requirement for the bike was that it fit full fenders, with wider tires. The Pacer advertises 28's with fenders, 32's without - that should be just fine! (I've been riding on 25's lately, and can actually feel a slight different on rough roads; the 28's should feel even better)

I'm thinking a handlebar bag, and of course a dynohub, most likely a fancy SON model. Maybe even downtube shifters. Can't wait!

My Winter Ride - Miyata Fixed Gear

Last night I finally got my rear fender to fit on my fixie, but just barely. With maybe a few millimeters of space, it's a tight squeeze, but it worked for the 25-mile commute today.

After a few seasons of trying to use 'race blades' that cover 1/4 of the wheel, I'm trying out something hopefully dryer. Now that it's so wet outside, I figure I might as well dedicate a bike to the current season: crappy. The full rear fender with the race-blade on the front (complete with diy water-bottle extension) keeps the bike, and me, much cleaner than before.

So here it is, my Miyata 305 fixie:



The 14x40 (~77 gear inches) is kind of tough up some of the steeper hills around here, but big enough to make downhills fun. Going up the paved trail next to 520, my rear wheel was sliding on the wet leaves on the ground, but somehow I kept riding up and up. The rolling hills on the Eastside aren't so bad, and the trail is decent enough to keep you off the busy roads for most of the way.


Here's today's commute profile - just goes to show you really can't go far in Seattle without hitting sizable hills:

So bring on the rain, bring on the winds! I'm prepared, finally.