Recreational & Family - The passion of the bike

Don't feel obliged to comment on my predicament, but I thought you might like to know what happens when passion gets out of hand.

Prelude:Last summer I bought a Trek 7300 fx for $400 from an LBS. I intented to ride it for execise and recreation. I bought rack, lights, clips, carrier.

Downfall: Then, the bug hit. I spotted a fixed gear bike on a web site and I had to have one, A broken bike in the basement would serve my purpose. With the help of an excellent bike mechanic and a couple hundred bucks (hub, wheels, chain, tires, brakes, labor) he turned it into a fixie/single-speed machine.

But that wasn't enough of a fix (ouch). I wanted another one, just in case I found a ride partner (fat chance). I began plotting against the Trek, eventually tearing off the derailers and ordering more stuff for the conversion: hub, wheel, cog. I had already changed out the crank, which I salvaged despite bottom bracket issues. This time, to save money, I did most of the work save building the wheel.

Result:There's no end to the joy these bikes bring. To look at, that is. To ride ... well, that's another matter. They're now so lightweight I can't help but ride them fast, particularly the Trek, a bike I wanted to use to stop and smell the roses. When they do finally bloom, I'm not likely to notice.

Dave

Everyone should take a day off from training and riding hard every week or so. Those are the days you ride easy and smell the roses.

Fixies are sexy...and fun to ride. But I also enjoy riding my single-speed, my MTB, my road bike... My bikes overtook my side of the garage a long time ago. My wife told me I couldn't have another bike until I cleaned out the garage. So I told her to get her keys and park her car on the driveway. ;-)

Don't feel obliged to comment on my predicament, but I thought you might like to know what happens when passion gets out of hand.

Prelude:Last summer I bought a Trek 7300 fx for $400 from an LBS. I intented to ride it for execise and recreation. I bought rack, lights, clips, carrier.

Downfall: Then, the bug hit. I spotted a fixed gear bike on a web site and I had to have one, A broken bike in the basement would serve my purpose. With the help of an excellent bike mechanic and a couple hundred bucks (hub, wheels, chain, tires, brakes, labor) he turned it into a fixie/single-speed machine.

But that wasn't enough of a fix (ouch). I wanted another one, just in case I found a ride partner (fat chance). I began plotting against the Trek, eventually tearing off the derailers and ordering more stuff for the conversion: hub, wheel, cog. I had already changed out the crank, which I salvaged despite bottom bracket issues. This time, to save money, I did most of the work save building the wheel.

Result:There's no end to the joy these bikes bring. To look at, that is. To ride ... well, that's another matter. They're now so lightweight I can't help but ride them fast, particularly the Trek, a bike I wanted to use to stop and smell the roses. When they do finally bloom, I'm not likely to notice.

Dave

Cool, it's nice to see a guy show some of the same passion so prevalent in the golden age of bicycling, the 1890's. My lifelong interest in bicycling was also heavily augmented with the purchase of a 7300 trek about 3.5 yrs ago. In my case it led me all the way to establishing my own bike shop. Happy riding!

You have a fine site; love the vintage pics. If my travels ever take me to Santa Fe again I'll rent a bike from you -- fixed, of course. Meanwhile, thanks for your comment (and do forgive the bad grammar/misspellings of my original post -- it was late and I was sleepy.)