Cool! I pass this guy's house on my commute every day, and met him once coming out of his garage with his velo. Looks like a lot of fun

That looks odd, impractical, hard to store.....AND I WANT IT IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY!!!!!

Upgrading from Claris group to Shimano 105 R7000 group.

Sorry for the strange non-question, but how did they end up giving an non-electric bike a name like "Charge Plug 2"?

We want ride reports! Super cool!

Pretty much stock. Larger rear cog for more realistic gearing. Cork handgrips, modern brake blocks and Panaracer Col de la Vie tires. Until last autumn the pedals were original too but one of those snapped so new MKS rubber blocks. Original everything else, seen today in NYC's Central Park on a rainy ride home from Midtown.

The Urban Warrior
1997 Klein Pulse Comp set up for street riding. This was my commuter bike from 2009 until 2014 when I retired. The bike did not come with rack bosses, so I improvised with pipe strap and zip ties as shown. 8-speed XT drive components with first generation XTR cranks, Vuelta wheels, Vittoria Adventure 1.75 street tires, Satori shock absorbing seatpost, Forte SL Pro saddle. Squeak toy alligator lashed to the handlebar stem serves as an audible warning device.

My commute was 35 miles round trip each day, and I rode 3-4 times per week, late March through early October. I had a wardrobe closet in my cube, where I kept my work clothes, so all I carried was my lunch bag and some personal items in a fanny pack.

Now that I'm retired, it's my knockaround bike, and I still ride it quite a bit since I can ride it anywhere.

[MENTION=94771]ascherer[/MENTION], sorry to be the one to ask, what’s goin on there with your seatpost? I’ve wanted a Raleigh Sports for a long time.

A lot of people ask...it's a BMX layback post. I use it because I'm 6' 3" and wanted to get the saddle back a bit since these frames have a fairly short top tube length. Looks funky but works like a charm. I got it about 8 years ago, I had a similar bike when I was a kid and I wanted to have a casual bike I could just throw a leg over and ride without changing clothes, etc. I moved to Manhattan 5 years ago and have been commuting and running errands/shopping with this bike for the last 4 seasons. It's smooth, solid, low maintenance and I love it.

[MENTION=94771]ascherer[/MENTION] thanks! It noticeable sure but I think it looks fine. I’d never thought about using a post like that for more setback. Gears in my head are turning.

I got the idea from someone else, pass it on...

I really like how you didn't compromise on anything you wanted there. a no compromise build. I like that. you put money where you wanted/needed and just built it!
Cred to u my friend. who wants to ride on sh1t really? No one.

I did a similar build in august 2018 (in this thread). No real money compromises, just durability ones. And I dont like to "follow the rules" either. I built whats good/durable. No compromises though

Mint condition! Lovely bike

Beautiful bike, lovely setting.

I'm also using a BMX post for the large offset. I'm 6-2 and needed the room with my current frame.

I spent about a year looking, searching with the terms setback and offset and not finding anything moving me back enough. Eventually I searched on the term layback, and a whole new world opened up.

Thanks for the kind words. Indeed, the ambition is to attain the highest performance factor reasonably possible for my daily driver. I'm still looking to upgrade the saddle, stem and barends. There are plenty of bikes on the streets here with (roughly) similar appearance/profiles - but nowhere near the acceleration this beast provides.

I'll be sure to trek back through the thread and have a look

Have been commuting a couple of years now, my rig evolves. Living in Florida I accept I will always be sweating. I commute 4-5 days per week, not to mention store trips and recreational road cycling. Depending on your job, if there is a way to clean up after the ride it helps. You have a nice looking bike and setup, keep at it!

Sometimes, I ride one of these. Today, my wife brought home some groceries on one.

Nice! How did you make that decision (i.e. how much is the upgrade, and what kind of performance difference do you expect?)

Electra Townie 21D


Sixthreezero EvryJourney 7 Speed

My Commuters

I did not like the wide variation in the claris 8 speed cassette. I probably could have just changed the cassette from the 11-34, but I plan to keep the bike for a long time so I wanted to upgrade to a more modern group. The 105 r7000 group is also about 2 lbs lighter than the old Claris group. I was also "forced" to upgrade the wheels as the 11 speed cassette would not fit on the stock rim. Altogether, (Shimano group, DT Swiss wheels, ancillary parts and pieces, and labor), it is going to cost me about $1300.00. I am having the work done by an LBS as I do not have the tools necessary and I probably would not have done as good a job. I am expecting to get the bike back tomorrow or Thursday. Can't wait!

Early spring commutes were all done on Pepper. She’s rock solid reliable, and pretty much indestructible.

i really, really hate flats when it’s damp and 40 degrees out, and the Marathon Mondials mean never dealing with flats. I don’t think I’ve ever flatted out once on them in over 7,000 miles.

The weather forecast is predicting that my recently purchased "wet weather bike" is going to be seeing some action for the next week. I'll try for a splashier photo next time, but there it is parked in my cubicle.

You've got a photo of your bike in the exact same position in your photo of your bike.

That's some Inception stuff right there.

Also...what's the baseball bat for at work? Lunchtime pick up game....or cubicle neighbor that talks too loud?

Haha, the photo is of my other bike. I should keep reprinting the photo to deepen the "Inception" affect.

I use the baseball bat as a clothes hanger. I found it left behind in another building. It's an autographed broken bat from the SF Giants backup catcher or something...

Hang a small monitor where that photo is, and behind the scenes, wire it to the external output of your camera, and then take the pic. Instant infinite Inception effect.