lbear

If think you have "the" PNW bike please post a picture and tell us why your baby is "it".
Is it a straight up road bike, a SS, a C&V, cyclocross or something that would feel at home in Amsterdam.

This is an excuse for you to post a pic of your bike and for me to shop for that "n+1". Maybe the one to rule them all.

PdxGecko

I love my Soma DoubleCross SS for a Daily commuter in the PNW. Great geometry gives a stable ride with the long chain stays. but fast handleing with the steeper headtube and good ground clearance with a higher BB. Comfortable Steel and large tires. Ive added a rack for panniers and fenders for the rain.
My daily commute is 14.5 miles each way with 1250 ft elevation gain over the west hills NE PDX to Beaverton. The 42 x 17 allows me to get up the hills, but keep a reasonable speed on th flats. No gears, no derrailures no hassels!

lbear

PDX to Beaverton commute on a SS, way to go! What road do you do you take over the West Hills Burnside?

lbear

What does your SS Double Cross weigh? Did you have any trouble setting up the Soma as a single speed? I didn't think it could be set up as a single speed.

lonesomesteve

That Soma looks great. Personally I think cyclocross bikes in general were made for the PNW. They have good fender clearance and can handle the occasional dirt road adventure. I ride a Surly Cross Check as my long ride/brevet bike.

And my daily commuter is a Bianchi Volpe that has been converted to a single speed (42 x 18).

PdxGecko

I use an ENO eccentric hub from White Industries. It allows you to turn any bike into a SS. I have a matching front White Ind. hub front and rear Velocity Deep rims.

Tourmalet

A perfect PNW bike would have sipped tires, fenders, mud flaps, and it shouldn't cost a whole lot because it will eventually crash on some wet leaves.

My bike is a race-ready Cervelo Soloist. Currently sitting on a Cycleops trainer.

PdxGecko

The routes will vary depending on traffic and weather. I start across from the Bike Gallery on Hall. Most of the time take Center, across Walker and work my way to the bike path along Sunset Hwy. Up Skyline to Fairview and then down through the Rose Garden. If there is traffic I'll go down to the Zoo and up to Fairview. Sometimes I'll go across to Hewitt andtake that to Patton / Montgomery down the hill.
When bad weather strikes I'll go Watson to 5th to Jamison. Jamison to Willowmere to Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy. BH Hwy to Bertha to Barbur into Dwntwn.

PdxGecko

I just returned from the Handmade bicycle show in NW PDX. Found the PERFECT PNW bike! The English Winter Project https://www.englishcycles.com/bikepics/rob/winter.htm Disc brakes, Alfine Hub, Belt drive, Eccentric BB with outboard BB, built in rear pannier rack, drop bars with the new brifters that work with the Alfine hub. NICE and only about $3500.

zacster

Here's my perfect PNW bike:



29 year old Davidson, a mix of old and new components.

lbear

What type of steel is the Davidson?

lbear

What fork do you has on the Soma?

zacster

It is Columbus SL. There are no stickers however. I'm the original owner and that's what I ordered.

kenl666

I no longer have it but I always thought this was perfect:



(the picture was taken during the summer so I didn't have the fenders on...)

BengeBoy 

I just took delivery of this 8 days ago. I wanted an all-weather Seattle commuter / rain bike / light touring bike.

It's a Boedie, built by Chris Boedeker.











Build details...

From my parts bin, or taken from my current commuter:
- XTR rear derailleur
- Brooks saddle
- XTR spd pedals
- Honjo hammered fenders
- XT 11/34 rear cassette

New parts:
- Shimano 105 triple crankset
- (used) Shimano 105 9 speed STI shifters
- Chris King headset
- Tektro cantilever brakes
- XT hubs, Mavic 319 rims; 36 spokes on rear wheel, 32 spokes in front
- Handlebra leather bar tape
- Ritchey seat post, stem and handlebars
- Marathon Supreme 32c tires
- Tubus Tara rear rack
- Busch & Muller tail light

I'd highly recommend giving Chris a shout if you're interested in a custom steel frame. Nice guy to work with, short lead time, reasonable price for a custom frame. He also did a great job with the final build - a number of nice touches I wouldn't have thought of.

Chris is at:

https://boediecycles.com/

Many more pictures of the build

https://www.flickr.com/photos/boedeke...7622152129839/

zacster

Very nice.

lbear

Looks super! I really like the bottom bracket shell.

Wildwood 

The perfect PNW bike should be PNW manufactured.

BGrayvy

Great subject! I've been trying to figure out what that would be for awhile now. For me, it's still my early 90s Trek 2100 although I'm on a path toward something steel that can take full fenders...

BengeBoy, that's a beautiful new ride you have there. I thought you would have named your Davidson. Curious why you went with the Bodie instead of Davidson for your latest ride?

CliftonGK1

If only we all had the cash to drop on a handcrafted frame.
Someday, I will own a locally manufactured frame. (I'd love to own a Dan Boxer frame/fork). For now, I'll have to settle with a bunch of FSA parts. They're headquartered in Woodinville, down the street from my office. That sorta counts, right?

Andy_K 

I love excuses to post pictures of my bikes.

In the spirit of n+1, here is my picture of the perfect PNW bike:




I don't think anything can even remotely claim to be the perfect PNW bike if you can't use it in a muddy cyclocross race. Obviously, it also has to be a tank ready to roll in eight months of constant rain. And it has to be a good bike for long distance rides in our beautiful summers. Neither of the above really fits all of those requirements, but together....

It's also nice to have a fixed/singlespeed, so I've got n+0.5 in the works. I'm pretty sure this one will be the perfect PNW bike when it's done.

Bekologist

perfect PNW bike? Heck, I own several

TruckerMike

Simply put: a locally made, ti cross bike that is custom fit. Here's why:

- PNW is hilly: hence lighter frame will help cyclists because they need less watts to move them uphill than heavier steel frames, all other things being equal.Similarly, IGH's have a weight penalty that, for some, outweighs the lesser maintenance aspect.

- PNW is wet: steel can rust but aluminum and ti generally don't.

- 700 wheels can get you to your destination sooner than 26"

- Canti's allow fenders/larger tires better than road brakes. CX bikes have more frame clearance hence better accomodate fenders and larger tires than road bikes.

- If you need to brake faster than a well set-up canti w/decent pads, you run the risk of putting the tire into a skid, hence disc's don't necessarily get the nod.

- Ti can be done by local builders, but aluminum is typically off-shore. Easier to get custom geometry for ti than aluminum. The bike that fits you best will be more comfortable and you'll get more go for your watts.


The merits for going steel in the PNW always comes back to price, but if you drop that (because we're talking about perfect bikes, not compromise bikes), it's hard to see why you'd pick any frame over locally built ti cross frame as an ideal solution in the PNW. Everything else has nothing to do with the PNW, right?

smurf hunter

Regarding arguments against steel - it depends.

My all-weather bike happens to be aluminum, but it is considerably heavier than my fair weather steel road bike.

If you are rough with a bike, locking it to light poles and such, the chances or scratching the paint and developing rust are legitimate, and steel might not win there. However I'd hope anyone who owns an "ultimate" bike would take more care of it in the first place.

I'm confident I could build up a sensible steel road bike with fenders, lights and other critical commuting parts for ~20lbs. The only reason I'd go with ti for a given bike is if I preferred the ride of it.

TruckerMike

The rust usually happens from the inside out (ie nothing to do with paint chips). So you'd notice corrosion inside your headtube or bb shell etc.. You can try some stop-gap treatments, but they're really a compromise compared to ti.