Wow. I only meant to gush about my new ride. I honestly don't know much about bikes, or frame types or geometry or anything. I just like to ride. Sorry to stir up a big debate.

But you have to admit, the dark green paint job is super-sexy. The same color as the old Schwinn I had as a kid. My Dad took off the training wheels and taught me to ride on two wheels with that old Schwinn.

The bike still needs lots of TLC. I'm using big junky plastic platform pedals until I can get in a set of Power Grips for the set of small rusty steel Wellgo's that came with the bike. I also have the quill stem raised a few inches above the minimum insertion line, so I have to find a longer stem. The cantilever brakes aren't causing me any headaches, but the Gripshifts may have to go. I keep accidentally shifting as I change hand position. The rack is kind of cobb-jobbed onto the frame right now. I need to pick up some p-camps to mount the rack properly.

People have mentioned tires, and the setup on this bike is quite new to me. I used the rear wheel that came with the bike, but the front wheel from an older aluminum Diamondback mountain bike on the scrap heap. The front wheel that came with the bike was taco city. I picked up new Bell tubes and Slime tire liners from Walmart. My LBS had 1.5" Serfas Drifter tires for me. Getting wide 26" tubes and slime liners into 1.5" tires was not an easy task. I pray that the puncture resistance of the tires and the liners negates the possibility of me having to ever do the job on the side of the road. The Serfas Drifters are a cool tire. Great traction for a non-slick, and very grippy cornering.

The chain is just really, really gross. One part chain and two parts black gunk. Tonight's job will be to clean the chain, the cassette, and the chainring.