[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

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/tP...8=w906-h677-no

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...o/IMG_0326.JPG

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.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2...pscfca6d39.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ps7caa6e98.jpg

[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 :D

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.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389596
Fully loaded
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389709

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389710

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389708
Cockpit! Simple! With air horn! BLAAAAAA! LOUD!
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=389711

Finally borrowed a camera. Shot these this afternoon. Sorry for the lack of an interesting background. (And apartment dwellers don't get garage doors either.)


2006 Trek Portland
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
Purchased NOS in September 2007, and the upgrades began almost immediately. Currently equipped with 105 (5600) triple, 12-23 in back, Avid BB-7 brakes, handbuilt wheels (Velocity VXC hoops, Shimano Alfine dynamo hub in front, Velocity Road Disc in back), Continental Grand-Prix 4-Seaasons tires in 28mm, SKS-P-35 Longboards fenders, Thomson seatpost, Selle Italia SLK Gel-Flow saddle, Tubus Cosmo rack, Ortleib Sport Packer Plus panniers, B&M Luxos-U dynamo headlight, B&M Toplight Line Plus Brake dynamo taillight, Dinotte 200L-AA blinky front, Dinotte 300R blinkie back, Topeak Road Morph-G pump, Blackburn Neuro 6.0 cyclometer, Blackburn stainless bottle cages and Nalgene On-The-Go bottle.

In the winter this bike gets the 45mm version of the same fenders and Nokian Hakkpeliitta W106 studded snow tires. (And no, I won't be hoisting the bike on to my living room credenza when it's wearing those tires, thanks for asking.)


2013 Ribble Winter/Audax
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
Purchased frame, Deda Black Rain carbon fork with fender eyelets and headset (Cane Creek integrated) in January 2013, and initially moved over components from the old frame it replaced. Liked it so much, I've spent the past year upgrading it. Currently equipped with 105 triple (5600 levers and 5700 everything else), 12-23 in back, Shimano BR-R651 long-reach brakes, handbuilt wheels (Velocity A23 and A23 O/C hoops, Shimano Alfine dynamo hub front, Velocity Road rear), Continental Grand-Prix 4-Seaasons tires in 28mm, SKS-P-35 Longboards fenders (with Reacharounds Fender Brackets in back), Thomson seatpost, Selle Italia SLK Gel-Flow saddle, Bontrager Backrack Deluxe L, Ortleib Sport Packer Plus panniers, Schmidt eDelux dynamo headlight, B&M D'toplight XS Plus taillight, Dinotte 200L-AA blinky front, Dinotte 300R blinkie back, Topeak Road Morph-G pump, Blackburn Neuro 6.0 cyclometer, Blackburn stainless bottle cages and Nalgene On-The-Go bottle.


In nice weather, I bracket the workweek with those bikes, then mid-week (weather permitting) I go light, packing only a sandwich, glasses and keys in my jersey pockets. That's when I commute on the roadie.


1996 Litespeed Classic
http://www.brucew.com/images/portrai...ommute-800.jpg
Purchased as a frameset-only from another member of my club in June 2010. Currently equipped with full Dura-Ace 7800 groupset, standard 53/39 double in front with the 12-23 in back, Velocity A23 PRO wheelset, Continental Grand-Prix 4000S tires in 25mm, near the back brake you'll see the quick-release for the seldom-used beavertail-style rear fender, Thomson seatpost, Selle Italia SLK Gel-Flow saddle, Dinotte 200L-AA blinky front, Dinotte 300R blinkie back, Topeak Road Morph-G pump, Blackburn Neuro 6.0 cyclometer, Blackburn stainless bottle cages and Nalgene On-The-Go bottle.

Goodness, tsl, what class acts!

The Ribble and the Trek are extremely similar. Is that so you can have a spare bike to jump on when one has a problem? I've done that. Do they ride similarly?

Tell me what you like about the GP4 tires. I'm in the market for tires.

Nice! I envy your metal top tube cable guides, I've had to reglue the center plastic one on mine twice now.

Thanks, Tom.

Over the years I've experimented and found stuff that works for me and that I like, so these days I tend to stick with what I like across all my bikes. You'll note that I use the older 5600 and 7800 series levers, for instance, and the Blackburn stainless bottle cages and other accessories.

As you'll recall, I'm car-free, so I rely upon my bikes for basic transportation. It varies a bit, but statistically, between 65% and 75% of my annual cycling (measured by miles, rides, or saddle time) is commuting and errands. So it makes sense that two out of three bikes in the fleet are pretty much ready for anything. I also don't want to be left in a lurch due to a mechanical or something.


While the Portland and the Ribble are equipped similarly, and they both ride well (verging on excellent), they are worlds apart in geometry and thus, handling. The Portland is best described as a cyclocross front end spliced together with a light touring rear end. Its high-trail in front and long chainstays make for stable, if slightly sluggish handling. It excels at descending and carves corners like it has a rudder sunk five feet into the asphalt. It also doesn't mind 60 pounds or more on the back. Almost seems to handle better the more I load it.

As its name suggests, the Ribble Winter/Audax is an audax/brevet/rando bike through and through. The front end is low-trail, intended to compensate for the pendulum effect on steering by a front rack or handlebar bag, neither of which I use. Without the extra weight, it has to be held down in corners. It wants to pop up like a cork to resume straight ahead tracking. It doesn't care for more than 35 or 40 pounds on the back. It's not quite the tail wagging the dog effect I had with the bike it replaced, but it does feel mildly unstable.


What I like best about the 4-Seasons tires is the wet-weather grip. Like the ads for London Fog coats, they let me laugh at the weather, (and at wet pavement markings and manhole covers). I also like that they're lightweight, (especially come spring after pushing around the Nokians) and that they have reasonable puncture resistance. Most of the time.

Around here flat season is March and April before the street sweepers have swept up the little slivers of stone broken off the road surface by the snow plows. (Or before other bikes have collected them in their tires on the MUP.) Those slivers/flakes stick in the rubber and slowly work their way through to the tube, then put tiny pinhole leaks in them. This spring was particularly frustrating. I went several weeks averaging two flats a week. Every time while parked at work. Rode in just fine, flat by closing time. And of course at home, finding those little holes to patch the tubes is a real pain.

More typical stuff--broken glass, nails, staples, bits of wire and metal--don't bother the tires at all. Just those damned little flakes of stone.


What I've found is that the GP 4000S tires on the Litespeed are just as grippy in the wet, but are immune to the little stone slivers. Something about the tread compound makes it harder for them to stick in and stay in the tread. They too seem to be impervious to glass and all the usual road hazards, although I did put a drywall screw through the tread of one and out the sidewall. Booted it and rode it for thousands more miles. The 4000S is notorious for sidewall flats, but in almost 40,000 of total miles, and 8,000 miles on the 4000Ss, I've never had one.

Now that the GP 4000S II comes (or allegedly will come) in 28 mm, I'm thinking of switching when the 4-Seasons wear out. Probably by next spring.

EDIT: Are your wheels 27" or 700C?

Waiting on some Paul Components Mini-motos and a VO bottom bracket. But other than that, it's done for a little bit.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...ps67b23c90.jpg[/URL]

When I commute through the roads:

http://s23.postimg.org/ccme3nw9n/WP_20140622_004.jpg

When I commute through the trails:

http://s23.postimg.org/cbcga8ufv/WP_20140612_003.jpg

Take the long way to work through the river valley.

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...ps72137860.jpg

Wow. Absolutely loving that shade of purple.

Just out for a ride today, checking out some trains at the BNSF Intermodal Facility near me.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...32274905_o.jpg

Thank you. I don't think I've really captured the color in any picture I've taken. I'm not a very good photographer.

@tsl, thanks for all that. The wheels on my McLean are 700c. I have 27" wheels on my Super Course, which is now out on longterm loan.

what kind of rack is that?

Pretty bike, Tom. That would sell for a lot here in Viking land. If, that is, you could find a cross between a vintage cyclist and football fanatic.

Sorry about the collision, but great ****ing write up.

I don't get it.

Minnesota Vikings. Purple and gold. You wouldn't believe how many purple cars I see.