Nice setup there Chemist. Only thing I dislike about Sora brifters is the cables coming straight out the sides instead of running back under the bar tape. But other than that it looks pretty sweet.

Nice tires, same ones I was running on my KHS for awhile. Is there no way to get the cables from sticking out ahead so far?

Not with those brake lever. But I'll be replacing as soon as I can. I really like those tires also. No flats for the past year. Knock on wood.

double duty - you can use them for fly fishing too

new lht commuter/tourer. don't have the front rack attached and i'm waiting for a new set of fenders because my old ones got mangled

That's what Frankenbikes are all about, using what you have and I like this one. As for the levers, have you tried reversing them so that the cable's point towards the rear of the bike? That's what I usually do when mounting MTB levers onto bullhorns because it shortens the cable length and cleans up the cable routing. Reversed levers may take some getting used to but they feel pretty natural after a short period of time.

**UPDATE**

Wait a sec... I just realized that those levers look a lot like in-line levers. If so you should be able to leave them mounted the way you have them but feed the cable in the opposite direction.

Isn't the front QR on the wrong side?

i've never really given much care to the orientation of the qr on the front wheel as i don't think it makes a technical difference (does it? i dunno)... the tread on the tire is facing the right way, though

It makes no difference.

Reason for it being on the non drive side is that most of us are right handed and when you are changing a wheel this puts the lever on your right.

Not doing much commuting right now but when I do...

Sixty Fiver, what brand of panniers are those? IIRC from your other photos they have loops to hang a U-lock from.

Didn't mean to make you think it was technically wrong to have the qr on the right, I do bike assemby in LBS and was always told to put them on the left. Most people mount the bike from the left and it gives you an opportunity to do a quick scan at them before you start to ride. I usually have mine in a certain position so I can see if they have been messed with by doing a quick look.

Had some kids loosen mine once when I went into a sub shop to get a sub, I guess they thought it was funny. So now I just give a quick scan before I ride if I left it parked unattended somewhere. Guess I'm a little paranoid after that experience.

beat-mobile

$14 total.

The seatpost mud guard is whimsically incongruous.

I'm going to find a situation where I can use that sometime today.

I finally racked and pannified the winter bike. Looking forward to ditching the backpack as the weather gets warmer.

Please don't take his comment out of context. What he means is that 'normal' (intelligent i.e. right-handed people) mount the bikes from the left side where it's easier to flick up the kickstand which, of course, every intelligent cyclist uses.

Not a smart move... everyone knows that a lighter bike means faster commute times so if you normally carried 30lbs of weight in panniers and instead transfer that weight to a backpack, your bike would be 30 lbs lighter and would therefore be quicker.

Note that I don't have a kickstand... so it should all even out

I always put the front QR lever on the left side, because the rear one is also on the left side. I like to be consistent.

the only thing ive paid any money for on this thing is the bars
fender i got for free from a coworker this week and im testing it out


goes well with the "ugly janky pos bike that noone wants to steal" motif

They are a model from MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) that is no longer made as of last year... they have lots of loops up top which is where my U-lock rides and have seen tens of thousands of miles and hard use and have never failed me once.

They are at a point where I should think of replacing the clips.

New wheels for the commuter!




Fixie!

Turns out, I was able to find the rims I wanted, Velocity Chukkers, as a fixie wheelset cheaper than to buy the rims separately and lace them to my current hubs. I figured I would take the opportunity to try a fixie for a bit, then lace in my old internal hub once I got tired of the fixie. It may have happened faster than anticipated. I dont like the fixie as much as I thought I might. I enjoy it on the mechanical simplicity level, but, the riding experience is totally different and not really my cup of tea (yet). I'll probably have the old Nexus 7 internal laced to that rear wheel within the week or so. But, its going to be hard to cut-up the rear wheel now that I have it. It is such high quality, I hate to wreck it.

nice. That is how you dooz it. What is the handelbar tape? Brooks? Is there a dynamo hub for the headlight?