Once more but with feeling!

Early this summer I bought a 1x1 frame set off craigslist. Specifically I bought a Race Face crankset with a Surly 1x1 frame set attached to it. The plan being, upgrade the crankset on my 1x1, and sell the frame set for what I had into it back on cl.

oh the plans of mice and men.

I brought the parts home and commented on the nearly new condition and my loving wife says "I would like a 1x1 too." Which is the truth. She's always borrowing my bike. rides it everywhere. 

So with a heavy heart I said goodbye to the crankset and we started collecting parts.

I had a gordo rim built around a schimano hub, but not disc. It came with the Instigator, which I switched to disc last summer, but had just picked up a new wheel for. SOOO, this dust collecting double walled beast of a rim made the cut for a new bike. So I tore that apart and rebuilt it around an sram x9 cassette hub. I built a second gordo rim onto a shimano disc hub with a three leading three trailing spoke pattern.

We went with bb7 brakes, partly because I am familiar with them and partly because the older 1x1 frames don't have brazons that play nice with hydraulic brakes. Mostly the familiar bit. I didn't think of the compatibility bit until I was actually running the cables. My fear of change seems to have saved me headache for a change. I called it a win.

Geared at about 2.15x1 the bike is a little high for riding single track in Lebanon Hills, but great for ambling around the city. No stalling on those crappy hills St. Paul has every four blocks. We had some 2.25in Kenda tires handy.  I'd like to put something a little nicer on like nevegals or minions, but that'll be later. 

The bike is light and zippy. The wheels feel great. She really likes the new bike, and now we have black and white 1x1s. And they are pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.

All you haters...

I have managed to sell the Murray. Slightly below asking, but not so I was hurting.

You'll notice that like all my bikes, I expect the instigator to carry its weight in luggage.

Today I discovered the importance of deflation.  I rode home with the tires partially deflated and though there was increased drag, when I got going I didn't feel the bumps.

Last fall at work we got an engraving machine. basically if I can connect two points on an object it can be engraved.  So my "new" bash guard tells haters what they can do in their free time.

a recap of recent happenings

So the last post was about replacing the oil breather hose on our 2001 VW jetta 1.8T.  The very next morning after fixing this hose I had the car in the shop for 1. oil change 2. tires.  My brother had been over seas studyign and having just returned home to the states I was going to take him out to lunch.  So we piled into the Jetta and I took him into the city.  

In the middle lane on Marion on a sunny day at 11:30am, an early 2000s silverado pickup heading the opposite direction cut in front of us to enter I94 East bound.  Thus clipping the corner of the jetta, and continuing onto the Highway.

So the police come by and we fill out a report, and we tried to match the plate I read to the truck that hit us.  Not so much luck.

So we took the car to Superior Collision in Eagan and they did a great job replacing the fender, the hood, bumper, and rehanging the passenger door. The paint is perfect.

And then AAA sent the check to the wrong address. dammit.

Memorial day weekend was a blast, as we went out to Maryland to see the new nephew and my sister's other kids (and obviously my sister and her husband), and some old friends that live outside Charlotte who drove all the way up so we could hang out. 

We went to Annapolis, we went into DC, we drank in a micro brewery.  We had an awesome time. pictures to follow.

Then this past Saturday we went to see Gogol Bordello at the Cabooze.  Which was awesome.  And then we played Settlers of Catan till 1am. And when we got home finally, I hopped onto Craigslist.  And some guy was listing his Surly Instigator for less than the cost of buying the frame. 

So, after sleeping on it, today I bought another bike.

Anyone want to buy a Murray three speed?

Triple Rock and Midwest Mountaineering.

So yesterday we biked to the Triple Rock Social Club with our friend April.  I had Bertha's Big Ass Breakfast Burrito with sausage, April had a huge pancake and a plate of cheesy potatoes, and Shannon had the Rock Star Eggs and Toast.  I would like to go there after a night of hard drinking, the breakfast menu and the drinks it offers looks like a great way to fight a hangover.  I hear they make a wicked Bloody Mary, but a dog has to bite me first.

We were looking for fall and winter weather gear.  I was looking for a balaclava and Shannon is in the market for a new winter coat.  April had never been to Midwest Mountaineering.  We looked at everything.  We combed through Thrifty Outfitters, tried on half the coats, and didn't get followed around like a bunch of shoplifters.  

Shannon found a long sleeve shirt and I found a silk balaclava, and I had a crazy awesome idea for how to deter people from stealing bike seats. If anyone is looking to spend pile more than necessary on a Big Dummy, the Hub had one for just over two grand with a separate price tag for the basic basic kick stand holding it up.  Shannon's theory is: "Maybe it was put together with wuv, and that's what made it so expensive."

A look to the future

We went biking today.  The trail was still snowy on the Minneapolis side of the river, so it was slow going.  Which is to say, the bikes had minds of their own.  1 3/8 inch tires with mountain treads don't slip around as much as the slicks we used last year.  But a narrow tire on rotten snow cuts through (and goes side to side) pretty much no matter what.  

We've biked on ice and hard snow without any trouble.  But when it gets warm like it has been the snow crumbles underneath.  

I've been saving for a very short amount of time, for my next bike.  And the second new bike I'll have bought.  Its going to set me back more than all the others combined, and at this rate take most of the year to save for.  BUT!  The Pugsley is a wicked cool bike.  

I took one for a spin at Hiawatha Cyclery last summer, and I was giggling.  I'll be the first to admit I giggle easily.  The Pugsley just seems to be a mountain bike to end all mountain bikes.