With the crispness of fall pervading the early morning commutes, it's time to reconfigure the Rodriguez ss/fixie to its winter setup. Off come the carbon seatpost with attached San Marco Regal saddle, on goes the Easton aluminum post with the Nashbar "Vintage" Regal knockoff saddle, expendable for those times when I crash on black ice.

Off go the carbon handlebars/stem with Campag carbon fiber brake levers and attached Chorus brakes and on go the aluminum bars/stem with Tektro levers (same shape as Campag) and winter brakes (my own version of the Campagnolo "differential brake" setup - a dual pivot Centaur in front and an old (1980's vintage) single-pivot Record caliper in back). When I had the frame built, I specified split cable stops, so all I need to do is squeeze the rear brake calipers and slide out the cable housing from the two split stops underneath the top tube. The whole handlebar/brake replacement takes about 5 or 10 minutes and involves loosening and tightening five allen bolts and centering the brakes and stem.

Running a single-speed or fixed gear, there are no derailleur cables to mess with. This winter, I'll be experimenting with a Sturmey-Archer S3X 3-speed hub (120mm spacing, so it will fit the dropouts) in preparation for possibly using it at next year's Paris-Brest-Paris. I'm thinking that at my stage in life, it's time to go minimalist. I've already used all the 10-speed shifting and plastic bikes; now it's time to pare down to what is practical, reliable, and easy to pack. No more need to show off the latest equipment.

When the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi reached a certain point in his life, where he knew he was invincible, he started using a wooden sword. I'm not invincible against long 20% climbs, but going up on a 3-speed will be more of a challenge than on a granny with a big cassette. I guess in the long term, I'm setting up for the "winter of my life" configuration...

Luis

While not nearly as poetic, I just switch to my Tricross for the winter months. I am still far enough in denial to accept the "winter of my life" idea yet!

"Winter of my life" - isn't that called ski season.


Winter bike, rain bike, off-road bike, errand getter, cruiser, tandem, vintage - variety is nice.

Winter configuration?

>Home bikes go into storage. Too cold and icy to ride; although some much more hardy than me do.
>Southern bike will get two week long intense uses.
>SCUBA gear comes out for some trips to the reefs and wrecks.
>Swim and beach stuff comes out of storage for sun and sand in the southern climes.
>This winter, might as well be for the first time since the last time I was on skis was over 30 years ago, I'm going to respond to an invite to Nordic Ski with the guys I have been riding with.

Love having different seasons!

Break out the cyclocross bike

For me, the summer bikes head to the basement for tuneups, the Fuji Supreme that does permanent trainer duty goes back in front of the basement TV, and the winter bikes head out to the garage.

The winter bikes are ready and have been all summer. That will be Boreas and the TCR. Only thing is that the Mountain bike will be ready for the Ice and Snow. Need a couple of hours Tuning to get that ready from the few Outings it had last winter.

So my Winter bikes are the same as the Summer bikes and the only preparation will be a change to The chain oil. Wet lube instead of the Dry stuff I have been using all summer.

What is this winter you speak of? Summer is still in full effect in this part of the world.

But the Tricross build is coming a long well. It will be my all around bike and I can't wait.

Mark

What is winter he asks....

Here is an example of what winter can be. This is the result of two days of snow back in 1966. My house where I grew up in Rochester N.Y. We actually got a day off from school for this little flurry!!







Sorry about the picture quality.

Lenny, was that a falcon sitting in the driveway? Wouldn't still have that around would you?

Oh and why on earth would you post a dreadful picture of that horrible stuff? We had our share this past winter and it was the pits! I hate it I tell you.

That is when Floridians become French.

Nah, that was our neighbor's Falcon. I was 14 1/2 years old then.

I did buy this for $50 a few years later and drove it as my 'Winter Beater' for two years.



.....saving my real car from the road salt and other nasty winter thingies...



The old Falcon is long gone....took it to the salvage yard myself, but the MGB is safely nestled away in my garage.

That's a nice reconfiguration setup. No need for such drastic solutions here. I'll ride the Casseroll with its wider tires and fenders on the messy days (wet and trashy, snow is rare here).

A 3 speed SA!

When I was in the sixth grade I had one of those!

Maybe if I ever move back to hills I'll see about setting up the Langster.

I have two "winter configuration" projects underway now. Winter in Seattle means constant rain and cool temperatures (typical winter day is the high 30's). I ride a lot in the rain, but I don't ride on the 3 or 4 snowy days we have each year.

1. My commuter bike is getting a Shimano dyno hub front wheel and dyno powered lights. Never owned one of these before (except the little bottle generators we all had as kids). Eager to see how it goes, and how it is to set-up. I will post a thread once all the parts arrive.

2. My Davidson long-distance bike -- which was built to accommodate fenders, but has never had them -- is getting permanent fenders. I've ridden it with Race Blades the last 3 winters; this year it's time to go all out.

I just swap out the Continental Gatorskins for the Nokkian Hakkapeliitta studded tires on my Cannondale T800 commuter. Winter conversion done.