Monday, August 24, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
1,000 Mile Update
I hit 1,000 miles on the ol' bike computer last week, so it seems a How's-It-Going update is in order.
In this post, back in April, I listed three objectives for this bike: 1) Durable 2) Reliable 3) Low Maintenance. Let's see how that turned out so far ...
Durable: A+ Okay, its only been a thousand miles. I would hope the mean time between failure on any quality bike part should exceed that. Good news, that's been the case for me so far. No failures ... knocking on wood.
Reliable: A I've had three flat tires already. I say "already" because I had hoped the Marathon Supremes would stand up better against goat head thorns. To be fair to Schwalbe, only two of flats were puncture wounds, and only one of those punctures was a direct hit by one of those pesky thorns. The other thorn somehow managed to jump up and stab itself into the sidewall. Now they can jump?!?! I never expected zero flats, so I can't complain, but also can't give a perfect A+ rating.
Low Maintenance: A+ Two chain lubes and one scheduled hub oil change ... period. No adjustments, no repairs, no anything so far. Again, not many miles, but "no anything" has been really nice. Well, I've had to air the tires a few times ... does that count?
Other stuff ...
The Vaude bags have proven to be exactly what I needed. One serves as my gym bag. My clothes, towel, etc., fill the bag but I've never lacked for space. The other bag carries my lunch, lock and flat repair kit. There's lots of room left over in case I have anything else to carry. They are waterproof, which I've had to trust several times, so nothing has gotten wet ... still knocking on that wood.
I'm convinced when the earth gets close to the sun, millions of years from now, and exterminates all life on the planet, there will be nothing left but rocks and old Rohloffs. A mechanical marvel ... a marvel, I say!
A scientist could measure the indentations on my Brooks saddle and confirm beyond reasonable doubt they were formed by my hind parts ... ya know, like analyzing shark bites. It took more than 200 miles to break in, as some suggest, but it has come to fit like a customized glove. I don't even think about that contact point any more.
The only complaint I have is the bike doesn't clean itself ... and ... pffft ... I'm not going to do it. Maybe someone will invent a bike wash I can ride through at 20 mph.
In this post, back in April, I listed three objectives for this bike: 1) Durable 2) Reliable 3) Low Maintenance. Let's see how that turned out so far ...
Durable: A+ Okay, its only been a thousand miles. I would hope the mean time between failure on any quality bike part should exceed that. Good news, that's been the case for me so far. No failures ... knocking on wood.
Reliable: A I've had three flat tires already. I say "already" because I had hoped the Marathon Supremes would stand up better against goat head thorns. To be fair to Schwalbe, only two of flats were puncture wounds, and only one of those punctures was a direct hit by one of those pesky thorns. The other thorn somehow managed to jump up and stab itself into the sidewall. Now they can jump?!?! I never expected zero flats, so I can't complain, but also can't give a perfect A+ rating.
Low Maintenance: A+ Two chain lubes and one scheduled hub oil change ... period. No adjustments, no repairs, no anything so far. Again, not many miles, but "no anything" has been really nice. Well, I've had to air the tires a few times ... does that count?
Other stuff ...
The Vaude bags have proven to be exactly what I needed. One serves as my gym bag. My clothes, towel, etc., fill the bag but I've never lacked for space. The other bag carries my lunch, lock and flat repair kit. There's lots of room left over in case I have anything else to carry. They are waterproof, which I've had to trust several times, so nothing has gotten wet ... still knocking on that wood.
I'm convinced when the earth gets close to the sun, millions of years from now, and exterminates all life on the planet, there will be nothing left but rocks and old Rohloffs. A mechanical marvel ... a marvel, I say!
A scientist could measure the indentations on my Brooks saddle and confirm beyond reasonable doubt they were formed by my hind parts ... ya know, like analyzing shark bites. It took more than 200 miles to break in, as some suggest, but it has come to fit like a customized glove. I don't even think about that contact point any more.
The only complaint I have is the bike doesn't clean itself ... and ... pffft ... I'm not going to do it. Maybe someone will invent a bike wash I can ride through at 20 mph.
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