March, 2010

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More gear, circumnavigating Manhattan

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Since my nice 20+ mile ride that I shared a couple posts back, I haven’t slowed down.  I’m doing everything I can to rack up as many miles as possible on this bike and, more importantly, that Brooks saddle.  After that ride, I quickly realized that I desperately needed a nice cyclo-computer to tell me exactly how fast and far I was riding.  Some riders claim they don’t care about mileage but I personally think that’s half the fun of riding; looking down and seeing exactly how much you accomplished that day.  So, with that goal in mind, I went looking for the best all around computer.

I quickly determined that the Cat Eye brand are some of the most trusted, the easiest to use, and they offer quite a variety of options.  I debated for a while whether or not I should go wireless or wired and cadence of no cadence.   Wireless has a cleaner look and easier assembly but has batteries that need to be replaced more often and sometimes gets interference from traffic lights and cell towers.  Cadence, or pedal revolutions/minute, is great for training and developing your rhythm.  I thought that could be beneficial with keeping myself going and motivated on the road.  What I finally chose was the Cat Eye Stada Wireless.    I figured if I ever change handle bars, stem, or heaven-forbid, the fork, at least I don’t have to screw around with re-wiring everything.  I also decided to forgo the cadence meter.  I realized I’m not racing across country and didn’t want to be stressing my RPM’s every time I got a little winded

So, that all being decided and on order from Amazon, I couldn’t wait to take the bike out again so I set off to circumnavigate the entire island of Manhattan.  I have no idea how far the actual ride is but I can tell you it took me over 4 hours and I was very, very tired afterwards.  This was my first time riding up-up town through Harlem and beyond.  Other than failing miserably to determine a good route and having to back track a lot, it was a great ride.  I’m always amazed at how much this small island can change from one neighborhood to the next.  Here are a couple quick pics from the ride.

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First long ride on the Trek

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

First long ride on the Trek from Andrew Frasz on Vimeo.

Here’s a brief excerpt from my first 20+ mile ride around Manhattan on my new Trek 520.

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Puddles and rain be damned

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

No more soggy racing stripes up my back anymore.  My new Planet Bike Cascadia Hybrid/Touring fenders just came in!  I got them in the ever fashionable, NYC-favorite color: black.  I actually had to order these online because, apparently, out of all the hundreds of bikes shops in this city, no one carries them.  Ridiculous.  It seems like every bike shop, big or small, caters to 3 different types of bikers: the average joe commuter and general joy rider, the super-rich, carbon fiber, spandex-clad triathletes, or the hipster fixie messenger type riders.  Now, I’m mocking any of these types of riders (I actually fit into two of those categories and probably all three eventually) but it can get fairly frustrating when you realize that these are the only types of people the shops cater to.  Of course, they can all special order any part you want but what’s the point of that when I can do it myself online just as easily?

Sorry for the rant.  Anyway, back to fenders because I know that’s what you really want to hear about.  I’m a pretty particular and somewhat frustrating shopper, especially for gear, technology, big purchases, clothes, tools, whatever.  I like to do my research and read every review, ask questions, learn the ups and downs about everything I want to buy, and then make an impulsive purchase.  It drives my friends nuts.

So, why the Cascadia fenders you ask?  Here’s why:

With fenders (and some other things in life), the longer the better.  Pretty self explanatory but I’ll spell it out for you.  Basically, more coverage means less spray.  This keeps not only the gunk off you but also off the gears, chain and other important moving parts.  If you’re riding in groups, it also keeps your friend dry too.  The Cascadias are some off the longest off-the-shelf fenders you can get.  They beat out the MKS fenders which all the NYC shops seam to carry.  I also liked them for that fact; you can buy them off the shelf and install them yourself without any fuss.  Velo Orange sells some great fenders that people swear by but most of those require some form of assembly and/or drilling.

I also liked that they are not metal.  Planet Bike calls them a polycarbonate that is virtually indestructable.  Sounds good to me.  But really, with metal I’d be worried that if I ever got in a crash, they could easy get bent up and put out of commission.  Plus, all the hardware is stainless steel so no worries when it comes to rust.

I also asked the experts over at BikeForums.net in the touring section what they thought.  Lot of endorsements there.  Easy.

And last but not least, they were available in black.  Very few other brands offered such a well reviewed product in black.  The closest thing again was the MKS brand but they aren’t even all black.  I know it sounds silly but I really like my bike and I want it to look good.  The black keeps a pretty low profile visually and kind of diminishes the bike dork look.  I’ve gotten a lot of exclamations from passers by saying how nice the bike is too.

UPDATE:  With all the  wet weather we’ve had lately in New York, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to give these guys a good run through.  I gotta say, they’re pretty damn good.  I haven’t seen a single muddy splash hit my shoes.  They definitely add a lot of new noises to the ride, though.  Every bump and pothole can make them rattle and when a stone flies up through them, it sounds pretty garish.  But when you realize that that’s just the fenders doing what they’re meant to, you tend to start anticipating the next scratching, spitting proclamation.

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Maiden Voyage

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The 520 on its maiden voyage

It took a few days to wait out the bad weather but I finally got out and rode the new steed.  Before doing anything though, I had to make my first custom tweak.  I immediately ripped off the standard Trek seat and replaced it with a beautiful Brooks b17 Special green saddle.  This was my Christmas present from my Mom that I’ve been holding on to for months now just waiting to try out.  I was initially skeptical of how good the green seat would look on the root beer paint but my fears were quickly put to rest as soon as I put the two side by side.  The “Special” tag that Brooks gives to this line means that not only is the leather colored green but, more importantly, all the metal is a bright, shiny copper.  When I got it mounted, that copped just pops right out and really compliments the bike.  Awesome.

So, on to the ride.  I had to run a couple errands in the city so that meant a quick ride through Greenpoint and Williamsburg, over the Williamsburg bridge, and over to the West Village.  Once there, I stopped by Industria Superstudio to say hello and the obligatory “check out my new ride!”   Oooohh!  Ahhh!  Other errands complete, I hoped over to the west side highway bike path and rolled down around Battery Park and the ferry terminals, on back up the east side and back over the billy-burg bridge.  Not exactly a killer training ride but for a maiden voyage, you really can’t beat any ride that showcases the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the World Trade Center site, or all the other great New York landmarks.

So, initial reactions:

  • Even though the Trek looks a lot like my Specialized Allez that I’ve been riding for a number or years, the geometry is completely different.  This is going to take some getting used to.  It’s definitely not as quick and agile but it does have twice the stopping power.
  • Maybe it’s the weight issue but it also feels like it’s working a very different set of muscles that are not really used to this pedaling thing just yet.
  • I definitely need to tighten some bolts down now that I’m home.  It’s very annoying having to stop every 5 minutes to realign the steering.  Also, need to keep adjusting the saddle till I get it right.
  • Speaking of saddles, that’s definitely going to take some getting used to.  I’ve got some Proofide on the way but I think its going to take a lot more than that to break it in.  Also, it’s much harder to ride no-hands while in this saddle.  That is an essential skill I need to work on.
  • Bar end shifters are supposed to be the best for touring in terms of reliability and all that jazz, and they look cool, but they seem to get in the way a lot.  When I ride in the city, especially on a brand new bike, there is a lot of stop and go.  This means I’m out of the saddle a lot and much closer to the handlebars so I keep hitting the shifters.  I’m really banking on conventional wisdom and trying to be happy with them because I really do miss my STI shifters.
  • I haven’t decided on what kind of footwear I want to take with me yet but I definitely miss my toe cages.  The bike came with platform/SPD clipless pedals but I just don’t see those staying on the bike all that long.
  • Big tires are great for big bumps and they roll just as fast once you get them going.

Overall, I’m very happy and excited to finally get riding.  Most of the adjustments so far are with myself and not the bike so those are all easy fixes (hopefully).  I’m hoping this weather holds up so I can start racking up the miles and get that seat into shape.

Next goal: 20+ miles

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New Bike!

Friday, March 5th, 2010

I finally made my biggest decision/purchase towards my goal of cycling across the United States.  I bought my bike!  It’s a brand new 2009 Trek 520 painted Metallic Root Beer.  I’m so stoked.  I debated for a long time between the Surly Long Haul Trucker and the Trek.  Both are very well reviewed and respected in the bike touring world; the Trek being the perennial cult classic and the Surly being the latest and greatest.  In comparison, though, they are almost exactly the same bike at very similar price points with only minor component differences.  So how the hell was I supposed to decide?!  Turns out, it ended up being a lot easier than I thought; I got a deal on Trek.  My good friend, Chad Marn, a total bike nut and aspiring tourer himself, works at a bike shop out in San Diego and completely hooked my up.  Even with shipping to NYC, he was still able to save me over $400 on my new baby.

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