I've been loving my new Felt Verza Fit 1! My one week old baby only has about 65 miles on it so far but I think I'm in love. I've added a seat bag to hold my multitool and spare tube, a bottle holder, a Blackburn Airstick pump (w/ mount), a Cateye Strada Wireless computer, a Topeak Explorer MTX rack, and one Ortlieb Downtown QL3 pannier to carry a change of clothes and some lunch.

I'll be using this fine piece of engineering for my daily commute of about 4.5 miles each way as well as riding around town on the weekends.

It is summer and it's hot and the roads are a mess... I built up a new whip for the light commute (backpack and sneakers) and fun on the trails.

Recently changed up a few things on the Straggler...



The traction pins on my old pedals were wearing down, so I picked up a new pair of Wellgos with replaceable pins, now I can replace the pins instead of the entire pedal. Mounted a trailer hitch on the rack for a Burley Travoy (sweet trailer, btw, which has replaced my truck for Costco and recycling runs). Flipped the stem. Ditched the Avid BB7 Roads for some TRP Spyres:



Soooo much nicer than the Avids. Better modulation, nicer feel, and the stopping power that you'd expect from a disc brake. Plus, they look cooler. Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, I got t-boned by some left turning ****head who's excuse was that I was in his blind spot. IMO, when you drive with your head up your ***, the entire world's in your blind spot. ******* car threw me about 10 feet, clear into the crosswalk.





Gonna drop the bike off at the shop today to have the frame inspected, which is conveniently on the way to the clinic where I will be having my wrist inspected. Got ****head's insurance info and an accident report was filed, so this should all be covered, and if I end up walking away from this with nothing more than a sprained/broken wrist (please just be sprained), some bruises, a little road rash, and a new bike, I will consider myself incredibly lucky.

In the meantime, the dog walking bike (because its upright riding position facilitates one handed riding, leaving one hand free for leashes) will be stepping in for the Straggler.



My Windsor Oxford. One hand, three speeds, it's gonna be a slow roll for a while. Which is fine, as the brakes on this thing suck.

Oh man, glad you're ok. Hope your wrist isn't worse than you think.

If the frame/fork is straight I'll be shocked. Wow.

Even if you come away with a broken wrist, I'd consider you lucky.

Apart from damage, the straggler looks hot! I wish Surly had introduced it two years earlier, I would have gotten a straggler instead of a crosscheck!

I'd like to hear/see more about the trailer/hitch setup. Is there something on your rack I'm supposed to be seeing?

Other than missing my water bottles and the phone mounted to the stem (which I was using to the take the pic) here is my commute setup.

Hello All! I'm new to this community, and have used this 2008 Trek 7.2 FX as my main commuter for the last few years. Aluminum frame, steel fork, but surprisingly quick and nimble for such a heavy bike. Also very strong, and it hasn't met a load yet that it can't carry. Besides rack and bags, it has a cargo trailer hitch, RAM GPS mount, lights, and a few other things that make it versatile.

My eye has been wondering lately to the new Jamis Nova Race and Kona's 2013 Jake the Snake, but whatever happens this one has earned it's place in the stable.

This is my other bike, a 2001 Raleigh C200, which I happened across last year. It had apparently been purchased and then forgotten in a garage, as it looked completely new! With a little bit of work I helped this awkward teenager find it's inner cool, adding a sportier seat, Bontrager removable fenders, and a rack for the saddle bags. I'm thinking about selling it, since I really don't ride it myself, but it's just so darn pretty to look at... :-)

Yikes. Glad you're ok.

That was a sweet bike.

I hate that your bike got twisted up like that. But as you said, it can be replaced. Hopefully you'll come out of this without any permanent injury, which is really all that matters.

BTW, what's with the guy balancing on the rope?

Thanks for the condolences, y'all. Got the wrist x-rayed this afternoon, and there's no break. Bike shop is pretty backed up, couldn't inspect the frame today, but at a glance the shop tech was really pessimistic about whether the frame and fork are salvageable. The wheels are obviously toast, which saddens me, because Velocity doesn't make that rim any more, and I can't find a non-machine walled 29er/wide 700c rim in yellow to replace them.
[MENTION=197350]Rude[/MENTION]Rad There's a cross bar mounted to the top front of the rack with a seatpost trailer hitch mounted to it. Trailer is a Burley Travoy, which normally connects to the seatpost. I don't have room for a seatpost mount, between the saddlebag and taillight, so I opted for the rack mount adaptor. The Travoy is a sweet little trailer for light loads, and it folds down quickly and easily so it takes up barely any space in the garage when I'm not using it.
[MENTION=131325]the_tool_man[/MENTION] Dude in the background is Slacklining, an increasingly popular summertime park activity around here.

Thanks for the condolences, y'all. Got the wrist x-rayed this afternoon, and there's no break. Bike shop is pretty backed up, couldn't inspect the frame today, but at a glance the shop tech was really pessimistic about whether the frame and fork are salvageable. The wheels are obviously toast, which saddens me, because Velocity doesn't make that rim any more, and I can't find a non-machine walled 29er/wide 700c rim in yellow to replace them.

@RubeRad There's a cross bar mounted to the top front of the rack with a seatpost trailer hitch mounted to it. Trailer is a Burley Travoy, which normally connects to the seatpost. I don't have room for a seatpost mount, between the saddlebag and taillight, so I opted for the rack mount adaptor. The Travoy is a sweet little trailer for light loads, and it folds down quickly and easily so it takes up barely any space in the garage when I'm not using it.

@the_tool_man Dude in the background is Slacklining, an increasingly popular summertime park activity around here.

Slacker

I used to see that around Stanford all the time. Only once have I seen it since I moved east.

Ah, now I see it; I was looking at the back of the rack. Pretty cool.

And sux about the rims! I've never seen yellow rims before, and your bumblebee color scheme was really working!

[MENTION=186813]GriddleCakes[/MENTION] I am glad you are okay! wow that put a hurting on your bike too. what is the big differences between a straggler and disc trucker?

Straggler is very close to cross-check in geometry, not quite so touring-oriented as dLHT, but still with wide flexibility for fixed/single/1x/2x/3x gearing, plus rack/fender mounts etc. Strangely, even though Straggler is kind of a "disk-check", it doesn't have the usual CX top-of-top-tube brake cable routing for shouldering.

I'm back to bike commuting now, and I'm very happy about it. I decided to make my McLean my every-day bike, even though it's special and valuable. I might as well enjoy it. We use antique plates for dinner. If we didn't use them, what would we do with them?

1982 McLean racing frame
repainted by Weigle in 1991, with braze-ons added, too
Campagnolo Record brakes
Campagnolo Super Record cranks
Cinelli stem and handlebar
Gran Compe brake levers
Simplex Retrofriction shifters
Sugino bottom bracket
Shimano 600 headset
Ambrosio Elite rims
Campagnolo Record 6-speed hubs
Shimano 7-speed freewheel
KMC chain
Wellgo SPD pedals
headset-mounted bell
B&M USB-chargeable headlight
Cygolite tail light
RHM saddle
Sugino seatpost
Campagnolo front and rear derailleurs
Velo-Orange rack
new tires to be determined

noglider: RHM saddle; that's pretty cool. I have a vintage Ideale that I'm riding right now even though there is a tear in the middle of the left skirt, and I have no idea if/when it will ever simply tear in half (on kind of the same philosophy; even though it's possibly delicate, if I never ride it, then I'll never get to ride it!). I will PM him to inquire about re-leathering, in the event of inevitable eventual assplosion.

Purrrdy, love that paintjob!

[MENTION=252435]RubeRad[/MENTION], [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] does perform this service. It's just a hobby of his, so it's low volume. I've seen his saddles. They're not as perfect as Brooks saddles, and that's a good thing. It's clear that they are hand made, each one different and distinctive. They are works of art.

[MENTION=348670]awfulwaffle[/MENTION] that is gorgeous. I'm surprised at how good the brown saddle and bar tape look with the blue, but it looks great. May I ask what Charge saddle that is?

Thank you! I was kind of hesitant to do it, but I think it ended up looking pretty darn good. The saddle is the Charge Spoon. I had read a lot of good reviews, and decided to give it a shot when choosing a replacement for the Dassault Mirage-shaped Selle Royal saddle that came with the bike. I have to say, those reviews were spot on. Even though it has minimal padding, the shape is just right for me and it's comfy as can be. I could ride all day on it with a chamois, and I do my 20 mile round trip commute on it in regular shorts/pants without any soreness. Then again, my butt has some built in padding so YMMV

Born as a 1984 Connondale touring she has been with me 30 years. Transform many times thru time it's now a mean commuting machine. Frame is large for me, but the customer service I got in 1984 was the best! The store owner fit me well and it's comfortable as an aluminum frame can be.

Fully loaded





Cockpit! Simple! With air horn! BLAAAAAA! LOUD!