Sorry for the nasty cellphone pic in the nasty garage. Here's the noble steed.

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7252866_n.jpg

Love it!

A pic taken during the commute yesterday:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...5091804-00.jpg

Surly Cross Check
 

Just got my Sweetskinz mounted.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...e/101_0750.jpg

Love the new shoes..where'd ya get'em?

Off ebay, but the shipping was as much as the tires themselves.

You forgot the rest of the url!

My jack-of-all-trades, Bianchi Volpe.
Attachment 109322

Just spent the last few weeks on this 1974 Varisty. It had touring bars and seat. In case it goes in the basement for a long time, I wanted to give it some props.

awesome! i baught it used off of craigslist.org and the original owner said it was an '04. thing is, i haven't been able to find any specs on it. would you happen to have them?

when I get back to it - this will be my ride

rumrunn6, how is your rear wheel holding up? Did you ever solve your problem?

My wife used to have a bike that looked exactly like that, but in green. Same brakes, same bars, same frame... It was a mid-90's bike.

Hi noglider, Thanks for asking. This is the bike with the 24 spoke aero wheels that popped 2 spokes this spring. if you recall I brought it to my LBS for spoke and true twice. after the 2nd time I didn't commute on it but did ride it 50 miles on a paved bike path. That original wheel is off and in the basement for safe keeping.

While this bike was off the commuter task I rode two old ten speeds, a LeTour and a Varsity. After about 500 miles the LeTour started to creak so I switched to the Varsity. The Varsity needed a rear wheel so I visited a new bike shop near my new oddice and bought two wheels. One for the Varsity and one for the hybrid pictured above. both were cheap wheels with 36 spokes. The Varsity wheel was good for about 100 miles before it needed trueing, and then I finished up my 1000 miles for the season. I feel good about that wheel even though it's cheap. I wouldn't "tour" on it but it's good so far for I'm doing with it.

The hybrid, got it's new wheel this weekend. I suspect I'll do the same thing - ride it 100 miles then get it trued again. the LBS seller checked all spokes on both wheels before I left with them and I think it's expected that using the wheel will require "maintenance" after a 100 miles, especially if that 100 miles is commuting.

I'd be surprised if I get more than another 300 miles commuting this season due to work and vacation plans, so I'm hoping the hybrid finishes the season on it's own.

I will be riding tons more with all my bikes (and kids) this summer - even cleaned my MTB yesterday

so the short answer is - the new wheel is on and I'll be testing it soon, maybe over the holiday weekend on a paved bike path or maybe commuting next week. you know me, if I see a dead frog I'll be posting about so stayed tuned for more wheels news ...

THANKS FOR ASKING!

BTW: It was a little sad wiping down the Varsity and putting it in the back of the basement ... it served me really really well

great sale price on my 2009 Specialized CrossTrail Sport at my LBS to make room for the 2010 models,so support yor local bike shops!.check out their sales!:thumb:

rumrunn6, glad to hear all that. But something doesn't sound right when you say maintenance after 100 miles. Are you sure the spokes are tight enough?

What kind of wheel did the Varsity get? I imagine the new rim isn't steel nor nearly as heavy as the original one. The original rim was about as strong as a rim you'd see on a delivery bike!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/...1f7310b333.jpg

More Pics Here http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=556649

My commuter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/DSC03305.jpg

noglider - someone once said after buying a bike you should bring it in for a 30 day checkup - to check tightness of stuff including spokes. sound familiar? so since the wheels are new I expect that after 100 miles they should be checked. also I had hit a hard bump in a pothole one morning and the wheel was a bit out of sorts and less than perfect.

when I bought the wheel he checked and adjusted the spokes on his rack. I was impressed to get this attention on a new wheel. when I brought it back he did the same and I've been happy with it ever since. I put about another 150-200 commuting miles on it.

so that's why I'm expecting the same routine with the next wheel, meaning ride it a bit, then check it, or if it goes out then have it trued right away.

I've been known to ride wheels that were not perfectly true for some time - and I'm kinda trying to be better about that.

yes, the old steel wheels will last forever!
yes the new wheels are not steel

This has to be one of my favourite threads... there are just too many nice bikes posted in here to comment on them all.

I am just getting ready for today's commute and since I have to carry a bunch of stuff down to my shop I'll take the longbike and since I did some upgrades will need to take a few pics.

Yeah... this one and Catch of the Day/Saved from the Dump over in C&V.

I really like this thread, too. There's no right or wrong! :)


At least, now I understand why you didn't comment on how beautiful my bike is. ;)

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...mber_8/012.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...er_8/008-1.jpg

Nothing fancy, I just wanted a nice clean Commuter bike. I bought the bike before I decided I wanted to commute to work with it. I think it will be fine, It is fairly
new & has everything I need on it. It is what I have

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...er_8/009-1.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...er_8/007-1.jpg