Why? Do you know how much I love talking about bike gear? Do you really know?
This post will be dedicated to me writing about what bike gear I want to buy and why I want to buy it. For the vast majority of the population, this will be as fun as stale bread. If you smile when someone calls you a Bike Geek or if you get whiplash everytime you turn to see that bike that just passed by, you might actually enjoy this.
Gimli
Gimli is my main bike. It is the bike I will do all of my Big Rides on for the near future. Because of this, it does tend to get the most attention. Recently, I realized I had replaced every component on the bike except for the handlebars, headset and brakes. Everything else is different (the wheels have actually been replaced twice).
The big projects for this year involve fenders and a new set of handlebars/handlebar tape/stem/stem spacers.
- The more I ride, the more I see the value of good fenders. Sam the Singlespeed has decent fenders and they really do a remarkable job of keeping water from spashing off the road and onto myself and the bike. My desires are fluctuating between a pair of fenders from SKS (plastic with an aluminum core) and a pair of shiny, aluminum fenders from Velo Orange. The SKS RaceBlade Fenders would certainly fit and appear to have good coverage. The aluminum fenders from Velo Orange would look better and possibly be more durable. There is some question as to whether they would fit on my bike. I need to take some accurate measurements of the frame and brake calipers to know. There is also the question of wheel size. I want to be able to run the largest tire I can. The RaceBlades might not allow more than a 23mm tire whereas the Velo Orange fenders might accomadate a 25-27mm tire. Lots to think about.
- When it comes to the handlebars and stem, the question = Why Change? The way things are set up right now, I feel fairly comfortable. If anything, I would like a set-up that would bring the handlebars up and back just a little bit. My current handlebars have a fairly short reach and my current stem is only 70mm long (stems don't come shorter than that; I've checked). Any change would likely lengthen me out or lower me down. Yuck. Why change then? Aesthetics, purely aesthetics. Gimli has grey paint with black highlights. The cranks, seatpost, and derailluers are all a nice and shiny, silvery chrome (or a decent replication of chrome). Most of this was done purely by accident but I have come to like the idea. What I would really love is a chrome stem, with chrome headset spacers and shiny aluminum handlebars with red or blue handlebar tape (red or blue just for that little "pop" of color). Also, I would order a new stem cap from a company called Purely Custom. You can get just about any color you want and have any message you want engraved on it. I'm thinking of You Are The Motor.
- Oh, I almost forgot...brakes!!! Why replace the brakes? Why not? Gimli's current brakes do work, but not great. Plus, once again, I could replace them with nice, silvery/shiny aluminum ones to match the overall aesthetic. The question becomes, which brakes and what size? Brakes with a larger space between the calipers would make fitting fenders easier. Would larger calipers work on Gimli? I don't know. This is something I would need help with.
Sam the Singlespeed
Sam has become my commuter bike. Recently, I put the fenders back on (which was quite a process) and put a rear rack on. Over the winter, my plan is to take some rectangular buckets and make DIY panniers. The idea came from an article in Bicycle Times that used kitty litter buckets. Long story short, you use some nuts, bolts, hooks and bungee straps to make what amounts to cheap, waterproof panniers for a rear rack.
As of now, I have one bucket that I got from our church. I had tried to find someone with empty kitty litter buckets, without success. One Wednesday morning, I was at my Bible study when I noticed that our church uses ice-melt salt that comes in a white, rectangular buckets (I'm guessing about 3.5 gallons, or so). Perfect! I asked if there were any extras and sure enough, there was! I'm not sure when I will get to this, but it will be fun to work on it.
The only other thing I would seriously consider doing to Sam is new brakes. Honestly, Sam can't break worth a crap. The brake pads were recently replaced and it really didn't seem to help a whole lot. There is one major problem with new brakes. Sam has 27 x 1 1/4 wheels. This is an older style that isn't used by anybody anymore, as far as I can tell. Brakes meant for 26" wheels or 700c wheels likely won't work (the caliper arms would be the wrong length). If I was to do this, I would have to get some help from one of the local bike shops.
That is all I can think of for right now. There will be more in the future. Maybe Sam could use a new saddle?
