This Space for Rent

Ready to ramble? (pt 4)

finishedproduct

A fully functional trekracycle.

I probably would have been better off just going out and buying a Kona Ute, but if I’d done that I wouldn’t have been able to puzzle out just how to radicalize a less than perfect bicycle.

The finished bicycle contains parts from Rivendell (a Nitto F15 handlebar rack, a Sheldon Brown memorial fender nut), Clever Cycles (the Free Radical kit and the additional embarrassingly named attachment plate I needed to clip the Free Radical to the chainstays), Mike @ Clever Cycles (the warranty-killing surgery on the Free Radical), Western Bike Works (the Planet Bike fenders and the pink handlebar tape), Team Estrogen (a blinky taillight and the silver reflective tape that’s plastered all over the Free Radical), my local bike shop (new SRAM chain, Salsa Delgado 36-spoke rear wheel, 7-speed (13-32) Shimano cassette, Jagwire rear brake cable, Shimano brake cable housing, the yellow reflective tape that’s plastered all over the Trek frame, and a few random bolts (two to replace the rear FreeLoader bolts, which vibrated themselves out of the Free Radical when I went out for a hour yesterday, and one to attach the front of the rear fender to the Free Radical)), and, finally, my local hardware store, which provided the zip-ties I’m using to keep the wiggly snake that is my rear brake cable from wiggling loose.

The magpie-style colo(u)r scheme is not deliberate, but I don’t regret it. I like bright colo(u)rs, and the only change I would be likely to do would involve a bright screaming pink powdercoat.

When fully loaded up with U-lock, grocery bags, camera, water, cookie bars, patchkit, a spare tube, tire irons, and me the total weight is about 230 pounds, or me and about 45 pounds of bicycle. The additional 10% is noticable, particularly on upgrades, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing me down as much as I thought it would be (at least on short (<35km) trips along the flat-flat-flat Portland Traction Trail – more steeply graded routes may suffer a bit more of a speed penalty,) and this means that if I decide to go out for really long rides, I can pop in at the Big Big Store and pick up ice cream as a bribe before I return home.