Bicycle Preferences

I've ridden a mix of bikes again over the last several days. The Quickbeam is in the stand awaiting some basic maintenance. Friday and yesterday I rode my Rivendell All-Rounder. What pure delight it is to ride that bike. If ever I understood what Jan Heine and Mark Vande Kamp write about when they reference a bicycle "planing" this bike does it.

Today, I rode the old Trek 520. At one point, this was my bike by which others were measured. What a joke! I wondered to myself this morning what it would be like to go around town "shopping" for a bike. Act like the naive enthusiast who shows up on his old Trek looking for something new.... Just to see what the sales people have to say or suggest.

At any rate, the Trek has such a high bottom bracket that it feels strange cornering. In order to get the saddle at the correct height for extension in conjunction with the high bottom bracket, I can barely put a foot down when stopped in traffic. Also, even with a Nitto Technomic stem, it's hard to get the bars in a comfortable position. Clearly, based on what my preferences are now, the bike is too small. (Though there is no way I would be able to comfortably straddle a larger size frame in this model.)

I suspect until I can address maintenance needs on the Quickbeam, I will unfortunately be riding the Trek. It's still set up from RAGBRAI


Okay, so I am riding with a little less stuff, no basket, no cooler.