09 Wednesday Nov 2011
Seattle Bike Commute in November, a set on Flickr.
I took a few photos on my early November bike commute to get a feel for what my ride looks like. It wasn’t too busy, but it gave me a sense of how hard it is to photo a ride in the city chaos. This was over 2 days riding two different bikes and routes. Enjoy!
03 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted in Cycling
Tags
basket, beer, donuts, Fremont Brewing, growler, Maple Leaf, rivendell, Seattle, Wald
Basket of Beer
I commute 4 days a week from North Seattle (Maple Leaf) into Downtown. I generally leave my work clothes in my office so I don’t need to carry much on the bike, and after a few years of this routine, I’ve been able to whittle down my normal load. That said, I often try to bring in donuts for the crew. I also occasionally enjoy a nice fresh growler of pub stew (Fremont Brewing Co. is the current favorite). Since I like to keep this stuff off my back, I have really found baskets to be a godsend. If you can get past the dorkiness, they are really versatile.
Donuts galore
I do prefer the basket on the front of the bike. I had a dual basket setup on my mountain bike commuter for a while, but I found that mounts/dismounts were sometimes causing painful dings when I swung my leg around and caught the corner of the basket. I also didn’t like the load hindered by the seat/light/toolbag. This stuff got in the vertical plane, and just made the basket less effective.
Baskets are Beautiful
02 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in Cycling
I’m a convert to front racks, baskets, and nice canvas bags. I currently use an Acorn Boxy Rando bag on my Riv, and a small Sackville Saddlesack for tools. On my “donut bike”, I have a medium sized Wald basket with a Riv Shopsack that I totally love.
Rivendell Front End
I was planning to try out the “low-trail” design, but I’m having trouble justifying getting a new bike just to test this. I recently rode a few low-trail bikes at my LBS. I tried a VO Polyvalent, and a Rawland rSogn, but they felt not too much different than my Hilsen in terms of stability with a front load. I think I just key into trail less than some.
Fall Foliage on the Bridge
I am currently using a Mark’s Rack on this bike. As I want a bit more platform for the Rando bag, as well as the basket I have been known to sport, I ordered a Nitto/Riv Platrack to add to this.
Rivendell Platrack
I’m probably going to experiment with the struts. They are supposed to run to the eyelets at the front axle, but I’m more interested in having the same supports from the mid-fork eyelets hold this guy in place. I think it would look cleaner. I’m also worried about having more reinforcement from the bottom of the fork, as it may stiffen up the fork in a bad way. It’s probably psychological, but I’ll see if I can get a quantifiable feel for this.
23 Thursday Jun 2011
Posted in Cycling
Tags
a. homer hilsen, albatross, Bombadil, Grant Peterson, Hunqapiller, Moustache, porteur, rivendell, SimpleOne, Wool
I was on a tech conference trip in Santa Clara last week, and decided to make the trek up to Rivendell headquarters since I was in the area. This was my second visit since getting my A. Homer Hilsen in 2009. A co-worker tagged along for the ride, and we had an enjoyable morning in Walnut Creek. After I found my way up to the garage that is HQ, we walked into the first bay, and true to the last time I visited, nobody was there. We were browsing around for only a short time, when who else but Grant Peterson himself came in and asked if anyone was helping us.
I asked him if I could take a couple bikes out for a spin, and he asked me my PBH. Within about 5 minutes, he had set up 4 different bikes for me to ride. They were all different in a big way:
23 Monday May 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
basket, bike, cypres, drop bars, grand bois, jack brown, rivendell, shop sack, Synergy
Goodbye Basket, My Old Friend...
I generally feel like it’s a bad idea to make changes when you’re trying to go above and beyond, but I’ve always been a tweaker. I felt it was time to try drops again, with the amazing May Seattle both-way wind. When I got them on, the basket became unwieldy. There is just not much leverage with drops, and the bag I use (Rivendell Shop Sack) is bumping the hoods, so I decided to go rando mode, again…
Since I was changing things, I also put some nice light tires on to see if I could feel a difference. I went with Grand Bois 700c x 30mm Cypres. They are definitely light, and measure in at about 31mm on my Synergy rims. I have them at 65psi rear, and 50 front. They definitely feel nice so far. The gravel road handling is just fine with these tires. They climb right up the short steep dirt part of my commute, and I didn’t have any slippage. So far, I love em. They look great, too. Not as unique as the Jack Browns, but great just the same.
I’m still unsure about the drops. Less control, but more aero position is definitely a tradeoff. My neck is feeling a bit tired at the end of the day, and I haven’t had that happen since the last time I was on drops. I’m hoping I get used to it. I did have a zen moment a few times on the ride home tonight while gripping right where the flats curve forward into the hoods. It felt right.
Cycle Seattle 