Upgrade report - the beater gets some new bits.

Old: Cookie-cutter low-end CrMo 21-sp rigid with Biopace chainrings. 'Nuff said.

New: Cookie-cutter low end CrMo frame, all other bits replaced. The frame was in decent shape, and
once the cheesy stickers were removed, it looked pretty good. By buying sale bits, sticking w/8-sp
(lower cost close outs) and doing all my own wrenching (except for the headset installation), I kept
the cost down and entertained myself during winter weekends.

The beater bike that was left unchained everywhere for 10 years is now got a nice Marz Z2 BAM,
stripped of paint and looking lovely in it's polished aluminum. Front Avid mech disk, rear Avid Ti
V-brake (very cheap from a pal,) XT all around (XTR steel cassette) Gripshift (tough for you, JD -
LOL), Avid levers, 2.25 Motoraptors, Shimano SPD/Cage pedals. Almost everything got it's stickering
removed, and people are asking me what happened to my Frankenbike - "Hey, didja buy a new bike?" The
stealth look is good. "Badges, we don't need no..."

Just put it on the scale at the LBS. 29.1 pounds. I don't even want to know what it weighed before -
I took off a lot of steel bits and replaced them with aluminum. And some "ah, ah death-to-you
plastic" (that's spelled G-R-I-P-S-H-I-F-T, JD.) That's still kinda porky, but the frame itself was
pretty heavy. And the wheels are beefy as well - I coulda saved some weight there, but why? It's
lighter and pedals better than it did when new and in it's original form, and the fork is very nice
compared to my previous air-sprung job.

I've been rnning it around town to make sure all the cables get good and stretched. The weather
has made most of the real trails kinda soupy, and I want to stay off of them until it dries up a
bit. That's right, I've been RIDING ON THE ROAD (using gears, Wheeler.) No, I have not shaved my
legs yet. Yet.

Took it out at lunch today to ride a few of the very local short-cut trails. A few hundred yards
of really easy stuff, with some roots and rocks. Man, this is nice. In my tennis shoes and button
down shirt, I look the part of the weekend warrior. I don't care. I rode the bike in it's previous
form last year, and beat the hell out of myself. This set-up feels much better, but the full test
comes next weekend, when I go out and show myself how out-of-shape I really am. But my HS reunion
is upcoming, and I have to look better than I did last time. Gotta push hard this spring, or I
won't even be fit enough to pretend to ride along on the NW Epic (if one happens, and if I get
invited.)

Spider

 

"Spider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| Old: Cookie-cutter low-end CrMo 21-sp rigid with Biopace chainrings. 'Nuff said.
|
| New: Cookie-cutter low end CrMo frame, all other bits replaced.

<snip cool resurrection>

There's something immensely gratifying about sprucing up a beater bike. That's what I've done with
my Schwinn High Sierra and my Gary Fisher Big Sur.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest, just details. Nelson Binch =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 -
Release Date: 4/10/2003

 

Spider wrote:
> Gotta push hard this spring, or I won't even be fit enough to pretend to ride along on the NW Epic
> (if one happens, and if I get invited.)
>
> Spider

the bigger question is, how nice are you in real life and can you keep with even me?

penny

 

"Penny S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Spider wrote:
> > Gotta push hard this spring, or I won't even be fit enough to pretend to ride along on the NW
> > Epic (if one happens, and if I get invited.)
> >
> > Spider
>
> the bigger question is, how nice are you in real life and can you keep with even me?

Nice? Mostly I'm nice to everyone, and will drop whatever to give a hand. My wife actually hates
going biking with me, because I'm always stopping and helping with folks who have no clue as to why
their bike is "acting up." Like I have used my own spare tubes on my own bikes a grand total of
three times. I have no idea how many of my tubes are riding around in other peoples' tires. I once
went to my MTBing parking spot, and never got the bike off the car. I helped three people with their
bikes, and found that I had used most of my allotted riding time! My wife laughed at me. A lot.

Can I keep up with "even" you? I dunno. I'm not much more than a weekend warrior with good
intentions. Pete F. or JD would drop me in the first hundred feet, most likely. I love to ride, but
just don't have as much time to do it as I used to (before the kids came along.) That includes bike
maintenance tasks, etc. I'll give it my best, but you veterans will probably shake your heads and
laugh. (Much as I
do.)



Spider

 

Spider wrote:
> "Penny S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>
>> the bigger question is, how nice are you in real life and can you keep with even me?
>>
> Can I keep up with "even" you? I dunno. I'm not much more than a weekend warrior with good
> intentions. Pete F. or JD would drop me in the first hundred feet, most likely. I love to ride,
> but just don't have as much time to do it as I used to (before the kids came along.) That includes
> bike maintenance tasks, etc. I'll give it my best, but you veterans will probably shake your heads
> and laugh. (Much as I
> do.)
>
>

I'm not in charge of invitations anyway. I just showed up at the last
minute last year. I'm only in charge of improving the male/female ratio.

Penny

 

"Penny S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Spider wrote:
> > "Penny S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >>
> >> the bigger question is, how nice are you in real life and can you keep with even me?
> >>
> > Can I keep up with "even" you? I dunno. I'm not much more than a weekend warrior with good
> > intentions. Pete F. or JD would drop me in the first hundred feet, most likely. I love to ride,
> > but just don't have as much time to do it as I used to (before the kids came along.) That
> > includes bike maintenance tasks, etc. I'll give it my best, but you veterans will probably shake
> > your heads and laugh. (Much as I
> > do.)
> >
> >
>
> I'm not in charge of invitations anyway. I just showed up at the last
> minute last year. I'm only in charge of improving the male/female ratio.

Yeah, but what good is that? You're married.



Spider

 

Spider wrote:
>>>
>> I'm not in charge of invitations anyway. I just showed up at the last minute last year. I'm only
>> in charge of improving the male/female ratio.
>
> Yeah, but what good is that? You're married.
>
so are all my friends.

so what, it's a nice balance to have females along.

Penny

 

"Penny S." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Spider wrote:
> >>>
> >> I'm not in charge of invitations anyway. I just showed up at the last minute last year. I'm
> >> only in charge of improving the male/female ratio.
> >
> > Yeah, but what good is that? You're married.
> >
> so are all my friends.
>
> so what, it's a nice balance to have females along.

Just razzin' ya a little. USENET is crappy when it comes to smirking humor.

My apologies.

Spider