Tour de Cookie Number

I altered mine to accurately reflect the bike set-up for the ride. Just couldn't find the right marker color.

1997 Raleigh M20

This is the better half's college bicycle that she got a supposedly reputable dealer in Delaware (that's just fun to say). First of all, this is a dude's bike frame, not that women can't ride one, it would have been nice if she had been offered the women's specific design which has something to do with seat to handlebar distance (amongst other things). Also, at 14.5", the frame is way too small for someone about 5'6". Finally, and this was an all around problem in the nineties, this is a mountain bike when she has never been mountain bike riding in her life. Even though Hybrid bikes hadn't really appeared at this point, she would have been better off with something else (whatever that may have been). Nonetheless, at least they sold her a decent brand since Raleigh is reputable.

Trek Navigator 200 (2001 model)

A craigslist bicycle find for the better half. It must have been sitting in someone's back yard, partially covered, for the better part of a decade based on the tires and scattered rust. After watching a video on what to look for in a used bike, I gave the frame and wheelset a once over before forking over 3 Jacksons. Another 3 Jacksons later for new tires, tubes, cables and handles, the bike is riding very smooth and strong. Now for the rant part after perusing CL for the last month: people do not know how to sell bikes on CL. The most important thing is to list the frame size, and the year and make of the bike. If the seller doesn't know, he or she should use this thing called the "internet" to find out! The seller has a much better chance of figuring out this information instead of the prospective buyer using one or two shoddy pictures of the bike to ascertain. End rant.

  

Trail-a-Bike on Trek District

Sweet ride. Got the Adams folding Trail-a-Bike off of Craiglist for $30. 

Duathlon Bicycle Rack

I don't fancy myself a bicycle racer, but I did have fun doing a duathlon relay with the spouse doing the running (2 miles then 4 miles) and me doing the cycling (26 miles in between runs). Had to rent a cheap road bike after riding the course on my single-speed looked impractical. My favorite non-athletic part was looking at all the sweet, sweet bikes people had brought (much to my chagrin, someone did have a single-speed not pictured here).

Trek District Chain Conversion

Bye-bye belt. Let me set the record straight. I loved the Gates Carbon Belt Drive. When I originally saw the Trek District during a Tour de France commercial back when Lance was clean as a whistle, it wasn't the belt that drew me to it. Yes, the belt was an added bonus, and as a person who studied MatSci in college, the polyurethane component represented the cutting edge in bicycle technology. If the original Carbon Belt Drive is aligned correctly and the tension is between 55 to 85 lbs, the drive train is whisper quite and supremely strong. However, and that is a big however, any misalignment or tension problems and you are in for a world of hurt. I personally shredded the splines on my rear cog, a piece that runs $80. And when they say the belt doesn't require much maintenance, they really mean that you will spend hours perfecting the belt and $40 on the tool to assist in that endeavor. Not to mention not many LBS have the know-how when it comes to belts. To make a long story short, I don't want to splurge on the upgrade to the new centertrack system that apparently resolves the alignment and tension issues with the first generation. For the parts I need, even getting them through a obscure store online would be $200. On the other hand, I converted the drive train to a chain for less that $50 (rear 16t cog and spacers from Wheels manufacturing [$22], front 46t chainring from Mojo [$17], and a 112 link orange chain from KMC [$8]). Note that the chain had to be 1/8" to fit the ring from Mojo. Here is the end result. Still quite, still pretty strong, still very matchy matchy. Someday I will go back to the belt drive, and the Gates folks did respond to my email about trade-ins for upgrades (no dice).   

Dude on Bicycle

My first time on SPD pedals. Well, second if you count the day before where I practiced on this fancy clipless technology. Only fell one time. And it was this car for a girls that caused it. Not that they cut me off: I was approaching a stop light and they yelled "hey, biker guy!" It through me off my game, and I forgot I was locked into the pedals as I came to a complete stop...and fell sideways on my ass onto the curb. The girls were not impressed. I just lay there and pretended I was dead.

Bicycle Computer on Spinning Bike

Everything I read about spinning bikes was that your rode for time, more than distance or speed ( I know, two different measurements, tell that to Han Solo who did the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs). Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind knowing what is the what, so I retrofitted a cheap bicycle computer to the wheel and frame of a Sunny Health spinning bike. The piece (just a magnet) that goes on the spoke is attached with velcro, and some zip ties were long enough to attach the detector to the frame by the wheel. The wheel is only 18 inch diameter, giving a circumference of 1436 mm. Entered that in the computer and seems pretty accurate.

Bicycle Computer Store Display

Neat demo display of bicycle computers at the LBS. Just spin the wheel and see the readings. After the fact I realized you can get speeds of 80+ mph; now that would have made a good picture.

Bottecchia Bicycle

Simple and beautiful.

Bicycle EL Wire Lights

Was never really a fan of riding at night. People are bad enough drivers during the day as to convince me not to temp fate at night. I still use active lighting during the day on the read (Super Flash), and on the front during dawn or dusk (Blaze Super Flash). Those lights are great, but give you no side visibility. Then I saw one of those electroluminescent wires on TV or somewhere else, and thought, that may be the answer. Less than $10 on Amazon and few days later, I had my matchy matchy orange EL wire that could be wrapped around the frame and provide some sweet looking glow on most of the frame. I taped it down in a couple of spots with some athletic tape because chain rings and wires do not mix well. Oh, and that's my pump behind the bike, not some sort of attachment.

Automoto Bicycle

I think this is an Automoto Porteur, circa 1955. According to Sheldon Brown, these were "high-end bicycles rarely seen in the US." Well, if I was into restoring bikes, I would have headed back to the thrift store where this Automoto was locked up with many other inferior bikes and bought it for the bargain basement price of $40. It still had the wheel generator and front light. The bag on the back caught my attention as I thought it might have been leather, but it turned out to be plastic.

Bicycle Rack Fail

After locking my bicycle to this particular rack one day, I came to realize that there is nothing securing the rack to the ground. Thus, anybody with a pick-up truck could drive right up and throw the entire rack into the back and drive away to remove any pesky bicycle locks in the comfort of their own home. It is almost like going crabbing where instead of using cages to catch crabs, you use unsecured bicycle racks to catch bicycles. The hose is a nice feature, however.

Bike Lane Ends Sign

Bike lanes are like baby pigeons around where I live: essentially non-existent. Nothing beats when a bike lane just simply comes to an end. They should erect a big old wall to drive the point home. Point being that the road may be unsafe for cyclists, having horizontal grates, little or no shoulder, aggressive drivers and an unsustainable speed limit for someone riding single gear. So I get on the sidewalk and slow down to a crawl. Better to look like a fool than risk serious bodily harm.

Bicycle Rear Derailleur Gaurd

Nice pie plate. Now what is the metal "U" piece attached the rear drop out? Perhaps it is there for protection, as I have snapped one or two derailleurs with a stick coming around the wheel. Google, don't fail me now, or I will be stuck on Sheldon Brown for the next couple of hours...a ha, I was right, it is a guard!

Gary Fisher Tyro

A friend was foolish enough to let me try and fix up this bike that someone gave to his child. By all accounts, it is a solid bike in need of some TLC. The front wheel is true while the back is just off. The brake and shifting cables are in good condition, but some of the cable covers where out of position. The rear derailleur seems to the biggest problem as I can tell if it or the shifter is broken. Worst comes to worst, it could be converted to a single gear.

Panasonic Bicycle

Back in the 80s, when you bought a Panasonic bicycle, you got a free VCR. They also apparently had some pretty bizarre advertisements.

High-Wheel Bike Rack

I get trying to be artsy, but this is just silly. Now a bicycle rack that looks like a tandem bicycle, now there's a good idea.

Broken Bicycle Spoke

Because it is the only spoke I've ever broken. I don't understand what I did wrong, or if it was just by chance. I was going up a slight incline and not pedaling overly hard when I heard a horrible noise. I thought I ran over something. I hopped off, took a look, and was incredulous to see yon spoke sticking out like a white flag. I walked the mile home, the whole time hearing the nipple (hehe) rolling around the wheel. I just hope the wheel is OK and while I could repair this myself, will have the LBS check it out. It didn't help to hit Google and find out that spoke breaks are pretty rare. Que sweat. UPDATE: Got beater bike out of moth balls, braved 100ºF temperatures find out LBS will not repair while-u-wait, so buy new spoke/nipple (hehe) for $2 (plus a Power Bar) and proceed to repair myself. I do have the special tool for truing wheels but 1) I didn't know what it was for, 2) I would be crazy to try and true a wheel. One spoke, no big deal. Got it on OK. My only advice if you have deep rims like me is to thread the nipple (hehe) on the spoke one or two threads and then insert into the hole from the tire side, removing the nipple (hehe) from the spoke and letting it hang. Now for the test ride...therefore...this blog may not hear from me again if the repair does not pass muster. Oh crap, I have to get the tire back on first.

Bike in Bed

It doesn't steal the covers, or toss and turn. And since it has a belt drive; no grease either!