Why You Need a Bell
Seriously, this might be the most awesome movie I've ever seen. When I'm at the shop tonight, doing my usual shift, I'm buying one for the commuter bike, and one for the road bike. (Not that I don't already have enough shit on the handlebars of the latter.)
Notes from a Commuter Bike
A few things I noticed over the weekend:
1. Shimano really needs to make the Alfine parts group available for purchase in this country. I don't want to have to buy an entire Civia just so I can tear the crankset off of it.
2. Bontrager Racelite Hardcase puncture-resistant tires? Aren't.
On the same subject, I spent a good chunk of yesterday editing some video of the build -- I chopped out all the sections where I was doing things like talking to people out-of-frame and so on. Then I sped it up drastically. I managed to cram an hour and 35 minutes of video into three minutes and 43 seconds. Not too shabby. I'm creating some intro, an explanation of what you're seeing, and an outro. Maybe tonight it'll be done? We'll see.
A Glimpse
The drivetrain of the author's new commuter bike.
More information coming soon.
Commuter Bike
This will be my final "update" post before the actual building of the commuter bike, as the final part has been ordered: the wheels. Rather than giving Tom, our service manager, $50 and a case of beer to build them, I'm using QBP's Wheel Builder service. Don't get me wrong, Tom's wheel building is nothing short of stellar, it's just that I'm trying to keep costs down on the bike. (Nevermind my choice of hubs and derailleur.)
So the wheels? Shimano XT hubs, DT Swiss Competition spokes, and Salsa Delgado Cross rims.
As soon as they're here, I'll have everything I need to build the commuter rig. That will probably be the subject for my first videoblog post here.
Things of Minor Import
So I'm almost to the completion-point on the commuter bike. Yesterday while at the shop, I ordered the rear shifter and the front brake cable hanger. This leaves me with one thing left to order: the wheels! That happens this Wednesday.
I've been getting prepped for the videoblog entries for this site. I now have, in my grubby little paws, a Flip Video Ultra, and I'm going to start video blogging. I'm going to try for a twice-a-month schedule, and hopefully get to a point where I do that, along with a special feature once or twice a month.
What do these two have to do with each other? When it comes time to assemble the bike, I'll be setting up the camera, filming it, and then doing a high-speed feature so you'll see the whole bike come together in a five-minute span, rather than the ~1 hour it'll take.
This coming Saturday, I'm going to take it for a shakedown cruise and ride from home to the office and back, just to check out the route and make sure that everything will go smoothly for future rides.
My planned route:
Cannibalizing!
The commuter inches closer to completion. I've taken the brake calipers -- Avid Shorty 6s -- off my 'cross bike and installed them on the commuter. They'll be fine on a commuter rig, but I wasn't very happy with them in competition last year. The 'cross bike will be receiving a set of the Paul Components calipers later this summer.
This will leave me with just the STI brake/shift lever and the wheelset to order, and the commuter bike will be functionally-complete.
So the cyclocross bike plans? Some minor upgrades before the start of 'cross season: Paul Components Touring Canti brakes with the Moon Unit bridges. Also, replacing my crappy Cane Creek cross-top levers with Paul's re-issue of their levers. Some blue Nokon cable housing for the brakes, and a longer cable hanger for the front end. A new seat -- the SLR is a comfy seat, but I kept bruising the hell out of my ass and thighs during the dismount. Maybe -- and that's a big maybe -- a carbon seatpost and stem to increase the ride comfort.
Writing and Bike Update
The novel is still in the outlining/gestating period of things. Last week, while driving to work in the rain, I wish some evil upon the more tentative ("wussy") drivers out there. Those wishes were not fulfilled, but they did lead to the idea of an interesting environment. I filed it under "Neat Place to Set a Sci-Fi Novel"...and did nothing more with it until Sunday. I realized that it will work into the currently book quite nicely, and be even more useful if/when I write follow-up pieces.
On the bike side of the equation, I already went ahead and blew my entire next bike shop paycheck on parts for the commuter rig, which is getting close to done. Acquired: Shimano XT rear derailleur (the cool "Shadow" model), bottom bracket, crankset, chainring (42-tooth), fenders, and a few other minor items.
On order: handlebar, bashguard, and some other cheap part I can't remember.
Still remaining: wheelset, STI 9-speed shifter, front brake cable hanger (using cantilevers), brake calipers (front and rear), and then I have a ridable bike. To make it commuter worthy, I'll still need to get panniers,
Can't wait to have this done and start commuting.
My Commuting Future
[If you're here for more information on commuting by bicycle, try starting with this particular entry.]
Not a lot exciting to report here. Racing season was supposed to kick off on Sunday, but I didn't make it. There's an opportunity tonight, but I don't have the energy for it. I could race on Saturday, but there's this century ride on Sunday, and it's my last ride with my friend/riding compadre, Liz, before she heads off for her medical residency in Buffalo (NY) and I never see her again.
Progress on the track bike has stalled -- don't think I'll be racing the velodrome this year due to financial constraints.
Awareness and the Road
The city of London has an ad they're playing about staying aware of your surroundings while driving, which I'm embedding here for the sake of completeness:
This has inspired some thinking on the subject and I am beginning to wonder a few things.
Are cyclists frequently victims in vehicle accidents because we're such an unexpected encounter on the road? Or is it that driver's ed spends all of about 30 seconds in dealing with the subject of cyclists? Thoughts?
Intro to Bike Commuting, Part IV
Photo by jessflickr. Licensed under the Creative Commons.
[This piece is the fourth in a five-part series in this blog about how to effectively commute by bike. For Part I, click here.]
I'm hoping that my earlier posts about bicycle commuting got some of you inspired to get out there and start riding. Here in Minnesota, it's still a little bit on the cold side, and (as I write this) in almost the middle of April we're under a winter storm warning. I've been working on building a commuter bike, since my commute is about 7.5 times longer than it used to be. A single-speed won't suffice anymore. (I'll detail the completed bike in a future post.)
So. You've been commuting. You're probably dropping weight, and starting to see a general improvement in your moods. But things could be better. This section will discuss things to improve your commuting experience.
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I'm at Surdyk's Liquor (303 E Hennepin Ave, at University Ave, Minneapolis) w/ 2 others. http://4sq.com/6n6XNM [fontosaurus]
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Checked in at Surdyk's Liquor
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.@nickhobart dude this one is SLAYING me. http://www.dontevenreply.com/view.php?post=84 [fontosaurus]
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Dude. Last hour VERY productive. Spent it trying to get a migrated contact lens out of my eye. Fuck. [fontosaurus]
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I'm at Wells Fargo (425 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis). http://4sq.com/6e3CnI [fontosaurus]
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Checked in at Wells Fargo
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I'm at Don Pablo's - Roseville (2700 Lincoln Dr, Roseville). [fontosaurus]
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Checked in at Don Pablo's - Roseville
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I favorited a YouTube video -- Cycles http://youtu.be/-0Xa4bHcJu8?a [fontosaurus]
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have my Friday off, so here's my Follow Thursday: @mightywombat, @veloveggies, @Scoutwell_Cat, @kilgette, @actualmiles, @DoWhatITellYou #ff [fontosaurus]
