Catching Up

Hello again! it's been a while since I've made a post of substance, but I'll get back on track now. I've always got things that I can talk about cycling related somehow! I decided to put up a picture that Carolyn took of me and Bubba taking our neighbors trike out for a spin after doing a bit of maintenance. It really shows my serious side. Serious. No really, serious. Seriously, how many times do I have to say it? Serious!

I'll tell you what, those three wheelers aren't build to stop. With the freewheel, the only brake you have is the front drum, which is pretty much useless at anything above 3mph.

I've finally finished the Masi, and have managed to put about 300 miles on it in the past six weeks or so. It isn't a lot of miles, but it is enough to know that the Masi rides sweet! The responsiveness, and shock absorbing qualities is amazing! It soaks up impacts so nice, and weighs in full up under 16lbs. I can deal with that! I think if weight was a priority a sub 15lb bike built on this frame would be easily doable. Of course at that level it's probably somewhere around a hundred bucks an ounce to trim weight.

I'm really happy with the sensible build, giving thought to performance, cost, weight and by pure luck, comfort. My two favorite parts are the Easton EA90 SLX wheelset, and Sram Force shifting components. The Eastons, are very light weight, but strong and using good non exotic parts for easy servicing. Another thing is these wheels are straight as an arrow and hand built right here in the good old US of A! Very sensible wheelset. My race wheels are Older Lew racing wheels with deep carbon tubular rims and hidden nipples. I spent 700 bucks, used for those puppies, and maybe saved 300-400 grams over the Eastons. I picked up the Eastons new from Nashbar on clearance for $425.00 plus shipping! Smart use of discounts offered randomly netted me a 20% off on those puppies. As for the Sram Force shifters and deuraillers they work perfectly! I love the Carbon and magnesium construction on the shifters, and the carbon cage of the rear deurailler. The double tap shifting is very precise and intuitive. Plus weight compared to even Dura Ace is favorable, as is the price. I really would like to try Sram's next step up the Red Group, I really think they are giving some serious competition to Shimano. I would take the Force any day over Dura Ace!

I've got a million things to catch up on, but The Country Road Bob has racked up over 1100 miles since March, and 300 For the Masi. Including the Giant which went to "Chucky" a few months back, I'm easily at 1700 miles for the year. I plan on riding at least 400 miles a month from here on out though. I think I can make 5000 miles a year pretty easily. I've been tracking my rides on Mapmyride.com and have almost hit 400 miles last month without really trying. I'm working on getting a gadget working that will show everybody my daily ride and stats. I hope it works because that will be cool!!! That's enough for now I think sooooo Peace out Napoleon!