Why haven't I done this sooner?
My commute to work is 3-ish miles and I ride it unless there's really really bad snow out there. Last year, my bike got so encrusted with road grime/salt that shifting became troublesome. So, how bout I just take that part out of the equation? This was my commuter for a while that I had planned to sell. It was a 1x9 that I never got around to putting on Craigslist. Now I'm kinda glad I didn't. It has semi-horizontal dropouts so I have about 1-2cms to play with in chain tension. The main thing my last frankenbike commuter had going for it was a rear disc brake, which was quite nice with last years horrid conditions. I could've filled a sandbox with the amount of grime on my rims/wheels/seatstays/chainstays. I have forgotten how crappy my v-brakes are. Maybe I can scrounge up some old nicer V's that won't fail on me half way through winter.
I could go fixed though and not even have a rear brake....
In other news, Randell and I have done some weekend rides. No, that doesn't mean we're on a rampage to get back into racing. I need to ride more since I have the dreaded winter padding, even before winter. So hopefully we can continue the weekend rides and maybe I'll add a couple rides during the week. It would be nice to join some hammerhead group rides next year, but I need to buildup to even that in my current state.
Good luck to all you crazy crossers heading to Lincoln this weekend. Or where ever else you plan to run, jump, bunny hop, and generally beat up on yourself.
5 comments:
I can't promise any hammering, but if you'd like to get in an easy, level 120 miles, join me and my brother on a Wabash ride to Shenandoah for lunch and back this Sunday (barring rain). See my blog for details.
I'm eager to try the Trek Earl in the snow this year.
Also, there's a winter commuting clinic at Barley's on Thursday. Watch the bike blogs for info on that.
I'd love to join you and your bro, Scott, but my big bro is having his b-day dinner that day and I think I'd be dead and/or no fun after 120 miles. I will probably join the Ladies and Gentlemens ride though.
Hope you guys have fun!
And yes, doing the single speed/fixed thing in snow and crappy conditions this winter could have me singing a different tune about the whole thing. We'll see though.
mike,
cost has to be the best reason to run single speed. at most you will have to spend 100$ to replace whole drive train unless you spend money on WI stuff
Very true, Rafal. Now I just need to decide if I want to come up with a dedicated rear wheel with a flop hub. Those too are cheap, I know, but I'll probably just run what I have for now - a regular geared hub with a single speed cog and spacers.
Randell is back? !
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