Andy and Jesse are the current bike fanatics, but Kate is about to join the crew. I'll post details on their bikes in the near future. Below, some details on my (Andy's) bikes:
I used to have a Raleigh Grand Prix, back in my college (U of Minnesota) and grad school (U of Chicago) days. I loved that bike and rode it for more than 10 years with minimal maintenance, until Tess and I left Chicago behind for upstate New York.
I got fat. When I got a job close to home (Power Technologies, Inc), I bought a department-store (OK, KMart) Huffy and started to ride. It was heavy, and a pain, and I didn't enjoy it very much.
Then one day last fall I was riding past a used bike lot when I saw a bike that looked very familiar, and I bought...
...my "Old" '74 Raleigh Grand Prix. The frame was everything I remembered from college, but the components--well, let's say I upgraded things a bit:
Shimano RX100 levers, Ultegra bar-cons, MegaRange derailer and 14-34 7-speed freewheel. GB bars and stem, Raleigh cottered cranks, Simplex front derailer. Cinelli wrap, Rhoad Gear rack, Nashbar bags and saddle. The headlight is Cateye Halogen, computer is Equus, pedals are generic. Machine-built alloy rims and Avocet tires.
I rode more than 1,000 miles on this during that fall, constantly changing and upgrading components until it got to the state described above. But as I rode it more, I got better, and there's only so far you can take a '70s sport-touring frame. So I scratched around on the internet and with some of the Raleigh's parts, and some things I bought used, new, and/or was given, I built my "new" 1990 Bianchi Campione...
Equipped with:
ITM handlebars & seatpost, generic cro-mo stem, RX100 brakes & levers, SunTour Command shifters, Shimano 105/Matrix Aurora wheels, 105sc rear derailer, 12-25 cluster, Gipiemme crankset, Sachs chain, Zefal pump, Michelin tires, Cycolinea bar wrap, Avocet computer, Carradice saddlebag hung from Brooks B17 Champion Special saddle, generic handlebar bag. Bottle cages by Nashbar. Shown with MKS platform pedals, it now wears Wellgo road SPD pedals. Front derailer is a SunTour Lite.
Don't worry--most of the parts from the Raleigh that didn't fit on the Bianchi got built up into an interesting hybrid for my spouse, based on a Schwinn World Sport frame that was given to me by a friend. And still other parts are going onto a tiny older Panasonic frame for Kate. Jesse rides his own Diamonback Wildwood, and Isaac is currently riding a "Ladybug Luck", soon to be replaced by Jesse's old red Murray 1000. When 'Bram gets a little older, he'll ride in a childseat on the back of the World Sport, but he's not there quite yet.
Late, sad news: The Bianchi bought the farm on Friday, August 13th, 1999, after only about 1500 miles. I was on my way to work when a driver made an illegal left in front of me. I was going 28 mph downhill, and I could have gone in front of him--right into a brick wall. I could have gone straight and T-boned him. Or I could have used my momentum to go behind him.
That's what I did, and it would have worked, if he hadn't looked right at the last possible moment and hit the brakes. I hit the car in the right rear quarter, went up and over, and landed rolling in the street. Broke one rib and that's all, killed the bike. I'm absolutely convinced that those SPD pedals saved me. I used to cinch down the straps on my pedals pretty tight--what would have happened if I had stayed with the bike?
A day or two later, while I was recuperating from the rib fracture (ouch!) I got a call from Firstlogic in La Crosse, Wisconsin, offering me a job as an installation engineer. I moved, sans bike, at the end of September, and worked (and built up bikes) until my family joined me at the beginning of December, and we moved into our new house.
After several false starts, I aquired a newer Bianchi CDI frame, and I spent my evenings building it up. As soon as it was finished,right around Halloween, about the time my rib was completely healed) I took it into the parking lot of the motel where I was staying (and building bikes), clipped in, and promptly fell over (I had forgotten how clipless pedals work). Embarrasing, but I lived. I then proceeded to use the new bike, christened Shadowfax to commute to work as much as possible, putting 500 miles on it before it got too cold.
The elemental bike appears below:
The frame is a somewhat smaller (57 cm), 1996 or 1997 CDI. The cogs, saddle, brakeset, and bottlecages are carryovers from last time, the pump is a replacement (but otherwise unchanged). New: Scott anatomic handlebars, Icon Graphite stem and seatpost, Shimano 105sc DT shifters, 105sc crankset with DA 53 and 600/Ultegra 42 rings (weird, yes). Cateye computer. Sachs PC51 chain. 600/Ultegra front and rear derailers, Ultegra SPD pedals. UN72 cartridge bottom bracket. The wheels shown are a set of unsatisfactory Nashbar wheels. The front is actually a very nice Ritchey, but Nashbar killed the rear in shipping (apparently). The rear is a 105sc/MA2 built by Nashbar that came with unacceptable tensioning. These wheels are being replaced by a "new" 105/Sun Me14a wheelset, built locally by Smith's.
Boy, I'm hard on bikes!
Shadowfax is no more. On a lovely early March day I rode down to the bank with Jesse. The parking lot was empty, so I started "horsing" the bike around--you know, jinking it to gain speed--when what should appear in front of me but a curb? I hit it, went over it, and down.I check my wheels and they were nice and straight and true, so I figured it was a life lesson and that was that--until that afternoon, when I noticed paint flaking off the bike. Around the two headtube lugs. In perfect little rings. I had ruined the frame! I now had a slanted top tube a la Pantani! What to do??
I checked the internet and frames looked $400+ish. I then decided to canvas the LBS's to see what was available used, so with Kate in tow, we drove to each of the locals. At one, I found a lovely repainted Cannondale with STI and carbon fork, but when the salesdroid checked the price, he found it was not "about $350," but well over $500. Nice but no.
Finally, we arrived at the only LBS that handles Bianchi (I've got a thing for celeste, OK?). We looked at a few used bikes, but nothing appealed. Then, while we were down in the basement, Kate wandered off into a dark corner and saw something. "What about this?" she said.
What Kate had found was a filthy, dirty, smallish (55 cm), old (c. 1989) Bianchi CDI/Quattro, with Suntour 7-speed indexing and flat tires. The salesthing asked me what I thought it was worth, and I said, "Oh, $100." Sold. Since my daughter found it, she had the honor of naming the bike--Zipper!
SO--I took it home, built it up, and this is what I have. A 55cm Bianchi CdI frame with: Profile BRA fork (really makes the bike more comfortable without losing anything in the way of handling, looks good, too!), Bianchi celeste Cinelli tape on a 40 cm Icon Onyx 40cm anatomic bar, 130mm 90 degree Icon Graphite stem, Ultegra 6500 headset. Icon Graphite seatpost with Profile Forte Pro SL saddle (as comfortable as a Brooks!). Wheels are 23mm Michelin rubber on Sun Me14a silver rims laced 32-spoke to Shimano 'new' 105 hubs (taste just like Ultegra). 13/26 8-speed Ultegra cassette (There be hills around here). Sachs PC-51 chain connects via Ultegra "6400" front and rear derailers to a "6400" crankset (175mm arms) with a 39t Vuelta ring and a 53t DA ring (looks nicer) mounted on a UN72 70x115 BB. 6500 Ultegra clipless pedals. Shifting is 6400 8-speed index/friction downtube shifters, braking is via 6403 Ultegra (gray) brakes and levers. Black Ciussi Aluminum bottle cages, Zefal Pump, Jandd seat pack.
The rear rack is a fiberglass and alloy construction that on my daily commute supports a wonderful carrier called the n'Aero Pack, a sort of one-piece combination of a rack trunk and small panniers. The rack is very light, though I wish the top were alloy, instead of 'glass--but that's more of an aesthetic concern than it is a functional one.
Interestingly, Zipper's frame, which is made of Columbus CroMor, is considerably heavier (maybe a whole half-pound?) than Shadowfax's Daedecacci (sp) frame, which was larger. It also feels much stronger, though that may be due to its smaller size. It's steady as a rock, and it rides like a dream!
*I recently had Zipper repainted (powdercoated, actually) by Spectrum Powderworks. They did a very nice job--for a closer look, here's the headtube (they also applied the decals, but I opted not to have them clearcoated). In this picture You can almost but not quite see the hint of metalflake in the paint:
I highly recommend Spectrum. I know they didn't do anything to make my bike any faster, but it feels faster, and it was certainly a lot less expensive than a new bike. For someone like me, it's a thing of beauty and a joy to behold.
Of course, a thing of beauty must be protected, so here's the rain bike,
Rust is a 57cm Tange frame of undetermined heritage that her pervious owner painted in flat black spraypaint. Now she's a melange of parts, including the original stem and handlebars from Zephyr, various parts off the interenet, and single-speed drivetrain, currently 42/19, but soon to be 42/17. The 'panniers' in back are vintage WWII. I decided on single-speed rather than fixed gear because I like to coast...
I've recently made a change to both Rust and Zephyr. I switch between these bikes fairly regularly (depending on the weather), and having different carrying arrangements on these was a bit of a pain. Since a second N'Aero Pack rack is quite expensive, I tried using a regular Rhode Gear rack on Rust and switching the bag, but it just didn't work out well, and also pointed out some problems with the N'Aero Pack design. I still like it, but I think I've found something better. On Rust, below, you can see my solution. It's a Carradice Carradura bag--essentially, a very large transverse saddle bag made from nylon, so it's light as well as large. More importantly, it's mounted using a Carradice SQR quick release system. When I remove the bag (which takes exactly two seconds) all that remains on the bike is the black and red block sitting just above the seatpost binder bolt. I have one of these blocks on Zephyr as well, so it's a quick swap and I'm set for commuting no matter what the weather.
I was on my regular route to work, 7:30 in the morning, full visibility mode (acid green jacket, headlight, reflective tape) when a moderately big van (think UPS truck) popped out of a driveway and broadsided me. Fortunately the van was just starting up, but I was thrown from the bike and ended up on my back in the middle of the road, back of my helmet (Specialized Allez) cracked up pretty good.
Rust wasn't obviously damaged beyond some rashed parts, but that solid steel, welded Carradice bag mount was badly bent up (interstingly, there were only minor scrapes on the bag itself!), and I didn't trust the bike for the possibility of hidden damage. You don't want a frame to crack under power or while descending at 50 MPH. I was particularly frustrated since only a couple of weeks before I had installed some very good full fenders on the the bike.
Insurance money is replacing Rust, but it will never replace the wonderful ride that bike had, and I will miss her.
Rust's replacement (see below) is based on a 1992 Bridgestone RB2 frame and fork, tentatively named Prince. (Why "Prince" you ask? Think "Purple Rain.").
My own injuries consisted of massive brusing around my hip and pelvis and shoulder, all on the right side where the truck hit me. I also have a back sprain and associated pain from hitting the ground. Thank God for my helmet! I doubt that it saved my life, though it's possible...it certainly saved me from some pain and having a very weird haircut!
Given how far I slid on the pavement, what's amazing is that none of my clothing was damaged, save for my helmet, and that I recieved no road rash at all on my person. Now, if I could just get my glasses fixed properly and my back to stop hurting, I'd be a happy camper...
Here's a first photo of my new Bridgestone RB2. This is phase I, and the only changes I have made are the subsitution of Shimano RX100 dual-pivot brakes. I have also added some "donuts" to the brake cable running over the top tube, to limit damage from slapping, two planet bike bottle cages, a Zefal frame pump, and the usual Jandd bag ("Jandd--don't leave home without it.").
Lots of changes to come, and I'll try to document them here.
Prince turned out to be a really nice bike, and so didn't retain rainbike status for long! Before you could say "WOW!" it began to look like this:
...Which of course necessitated a new rain bike, which also turned out to be an excellent touring ride (shown here on the Sparta-Elroy trail in western Wisconsin. It always reminds me of a long black limo:
