OMG, I have fallen in love with my 22-year-old Nishiki Blazer mountain bike!
And I just put secondary brake levers on it myself!
Last week I replaced the straight bar with drops, due to hand issues.
I rode the bike the next day. And then Tuesday and Wednesday to work (and back). Thursday I rode my 4-year-old semi-touring roadbike-commuter. While the 2015 Charge Plug was lighter, more composed and less fussy, it was missing the new playfulness of the '97 Nishiki Blazer. So I rode the Nishiki Blazer again Friday.
Although the new drop bars are about 5 pounds lighter than the old "arrangement", the bike feels very light and maneuverable, even uphill! The actual road position puts the center of gravity in such a sweet spot! And although we're really talking just a few inches difference from the previous inboard bar-ends, the l75 or 178mm cranks I had put on it 20 years ago no longer bother my hips, as they had more and more over the last 5 years.
Encouraged by my success at wrenching the conversion myself (thanks to knowledge gained on bikeforums) I decided to add secondary brake levers on the uppers, as I have on my two other drop-bar roadbikes.
I commute in traffic, and having brake levers at fingers reach is an absolute must. So even though the inbord bar ends and aero bars gave me multiple hand positions, in traffic I had to ride with my hands on the straightbar grips, which, as I and my hands approach 60, has become untennable.
So I ordered inline brake levers (or "cross brakes" or "interupters"). Three years ago I had my Local Bike Shop replace the original cantilever brakes with V-Brakes which are freakin' awesome. I can lock up the wheels at any speed (not that I'd want to), and I find them easy to modulate, which may have to do with the crazy heaviness of the bike, ~256lbs total rolling weight with me and my commute bag and clothes in the summer...even more weight in winter!
And while the new main drop bar brake levers are long-pull, proper inline/cross/interrupter brake levers start at around $80, the theme of this conversion has been keep it cheap, because the bike is not worth that much. So I ordered a pair of short-pull levers. I posed a question on bikeforums about it (thanks again, bf!) and read up on the experience of others on the web and it seems that as long as the brake shoe to rim gap is kept to a minumum, short-pull interrupters should work, and I keep a very small gap.
Well, this morning I successfully installed the secondary brake levers on the uppers, and with a little adjusting of the new levers' barrel adjusters I am able to lock the front wheel, and the rear wheel locks after the bike slows a little...again, not that locking the brakes is optimal.
I also moved the blinkie down to the fork where the light can dances off the spokes at night for better side visibility, and I managed to modify my bar-end mirror to mount on the bar, since the bike gained bar-end shifters in the conversion. Well, thumb shifters mounted near the bar ends. (Brifters would have been nice, but again...cost.)
When I added Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy 26x1.85 slicks two years ago the bike became a fast, fun, smooth ride, despite its weight. (~49.5lbs with water bottle, tools, fenders, rack, folding baskets etc.)
But now, for the first time in 22 years...
...I am in LOVE with this bike!!!!!