Identity Crisis

It's no surprise to me that my Salsa Casseroll is having an identity crisis. It's not a lightweight speed demon. It's not quite a touring bike. I guess you could pretty well peg it as a do-it-all commuter. Anyhow, there are a lot of things that factor in to what kind of bike it is.

I decided that I wanted to try some bigger rubber, so I swapped the Krylion Carbon tires for a set of Panaracer T-Servs (700x32). So far I'm quite pleased with them. They run at 95 psi and they don't seem to be slowing me down at all. They roll over broken glass with no worries and they take the bumps better than the Michelins. Unfortunately they don't specify a pressure range, so running them with less air seems to be a bad idea. I'm looking forward to taking it down the Greenway to see how they do offroad. I like knowing that I can tackle some dirt if I feel like it.

As an experiment I put an old Pletscher rack on it that I had picked up at a garage sale for one U.S dollar. I dig the old Swiss rack, even though it appears to be a bit lightweight for any kind of touring. It turns out that I haven't even had an occasion to use it, so I think it's going to come back off for now. I think I'm going to have to invest in a nice Tubus rack if I want to do any touring. Those Tubus racks look really nice and it seems like they would go great with my Ortlieb panniers.

I finally picked up a nice set of silver SKS fenders the other day. Then I realized that I had to mailorder a Problem Solvers brake nut set in order to install them properly. If you have brakes that have a recessed nut then you run the risk of not being able to install the fenders properly. I was glad that Harris Cyclery had what I needed, but I ended up paying almost $20 with the shipping. That turned my $40 fenders into $60 fenders. I hope I end up riding in the rain a lot! I haven't mounted them yet, but I trust they are going to look like they belong on the bike. Just testing them out it looks like there is going to be very little room between the tire and the fender, which will look nice. I just hope I don't have all kinds of crap getting jammed up in between.

The New Bike

Here are the specs:

Salsa Casseroll frame
Mavic Open Pro rims
Campagnolo Centaur hubs
Salsa Road Pro bars
Ritchey something-or-other seatpost
Fi'zi:k Arione saddle
Michelin Krylion Carbon tires
Campagnolo Centaur cranks, cassette, shifters, etc.
Ultegra long-reach brakes
Salsa waterbottle cages
Cane Creek S8 Headset
Cinelli bartape
the Felt stem is temporary until I decide what size I want

Casseroll in the oven

I picked up all the pieces parts to create the new bike. I started assembling it last night and resumed bright and early this morning. Things were going okay until I stripped the front derailleur clamp. I have to see if they have another one at the bike shop tomorrow. Failing that I'll have to order one. I was having a terrible time trying to set up and adjust the front derailleur. I guess I must have moved and retightened it one too many times. The only other problem I'm having is trying to figure out how to position the bars and the control levers. I think I have them pretty well sorted out but I want to check again in the daylight before I wrap the bar. I don't know why I'm stressing out about it. I guess the worst case scenario would be having to remove the tape, move the control levers and replace the bar tape. Even if I need new tape it's only $20. Anyhow, once I have things together I'll post a photo. I would have taken photos during the assembly but the resident digital camera is on vacation in Las Vegas (hope you're having fun out there Jenn).

Science and the Akashic Field

I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble after reading mention of it in the latest issue of Namarupa. It was recommended in an article written by Robert Svoboda. I haven't gotten very far with it yet but I'm really happy to be reading it. It makes me wonder how I've gone so many years without thinking much about physics and astronomy. It's fascinating stuff, especially since we're having trouble figuring out how to explain so many of these strange phenomena that are showing up in scientific research. I expect that this book is going to give me a lot to think about.

A new bike is in the works

I spent a crapload of money on a new bike today. And that was just the down payment. Anyhow, I'm building up a Salsa Casseroll. Component highlights include a Campagnolo Centaur drivetrain, and... well that's really the only highlight. Everything else is pretty standard. This photo is from Salsa's website. I guess mine will look more or less like this except I'll be using a Fi'zi:k Arione saddle instead of the Brooks they have pictured here. This will be my first real road bike, at least my first with more than one gear.

Lunchtime memory

A highlight of 2006 for me was a trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I wanted to share this funny picture of me taking a snack break on the bike path. The scenery here was incredible and weather was perfect. I look like a hamster.

If money were no object...

... I would buy one of these lights. But at $953 I think I'll have to find another lighting solution. Maybe I'll just stick with my homebrew Malibu yard light with the sealed lead acid battery. Sure it's heavy, but it's also very bright and I could build another one for about $40.

Anyhow, if you have that kind of money and you're looking for a nice bike light, check out peterwhitecycles. It's a Busch & Müller Big Bang.