The bikes' titanium frames are custom ones made for us by the folks at Seven Cycles. We've ridden them in some pretty great places over the years. We now live a tiny studio condominium in Miami. Moving into our tiny condo from a more traditional large house meant we could keep only 4 of the 8 bikes we used to own. (Our only table is outside on our balcony, but we have two Thule free-standing double-deck bike stands inside. You have to decide what is really important to you.) We chose to keep road bikes and these old 90s era vintage mountain bikes. While they are beautiful bikes, we didn't use them much because they were heavy and had gearing that was brilliant off-road in actual mountains, but was just a royal pain anywhere else. While they are slow, their strength is that they are lovely, nimble, stable, and really comfortable to ride.
The bike shop called last weekend. One last part they'd been waiting for had finally arrived. The bikes were ready for us to pick up. A couple of the things we wanted didn't work out, mainly because of the bikes having the old style 26 inch wheels and issues with the custom frames. The big changes all got done, so now each bike has:
- A single chainring up front (AKA 1x, so no more front derailleur);
- Shimano Di2 (electronic rear derailleur); and
- A rigid carbon fiber front fork
We took them out for a nice Sunday ride, about 50 miles or so. The shifting is a delight. The new gearing works well. They rolled along at a reasonable speed (16-18 mph) quite comfortably and without undue effort. And the bikes are lighter, much lighter. Gone are the old suspension forks. Even dialed down for pavement use, the suspension forks made steering "mushy." Now the steering feels crisp and responsive.
Yep, the rebuilt bikes are really comfortable and fun to ride. They're going to get a lot of use.
Anniversary presents don't get any better than this.
Yep, the rebuilt bikes are really comfortable and fun to ride. They're going to get a lot of use.
Anniversary presents don't get any better than this.
