Well I finished building my cyclocross bike. I started with a 2000 model Trek 700 hybrid bike that I bought for $50. It had a bent rear wheel and bent forks (I didn’t realize the forks were bent when I bought it). I bought another hybrid bike, a Specialized Crossroads. That bike was junk, but at least the wheels were good. I also manage to use the cantilever brakes from the Specialized.
I completely overhauled the bike. I changed out the bottom bracket for a sealed unit. I changed the crankset for a Shimano crankset with Biopace rings. I will play with the Biopace rings, and see if I like them. If not, I will go with normal round rings. I replaced the rusty chain. I bought a new, better quality freewheel. The tires are 700×32 knobbies. They were on the Trek 1000 bike I bought. They were too fat for that bike, but were perfect for my cyclocross bike.
I replaced the mountbike style handlebars with dropbars. I debated about shifters. I was torn between barcons (bar end shifters), and downtube shifters. I ended up going with the barcons. I can also change that later.
I just installed the shifters today. I took the bike up and down the road, and it seemed to work great. I went ahead and wrapped the handlebars with black cork tape. I removed the Cateye bike computer from my mountain bike, and installed it on the cyclocross bike. I also bought a bottle cage for it, and installed it.
Tomorrow my wife and I are planning on going for a bike ride. I will take my new Trek 700 cyclocross bike for a test ride along the canal path.
Here is a BEFORE picture:
Here are the AFTER pictures:
It was in the 50’s last night, so I called my wife from work, and asked if she wanted to go for a bike ride. She said that sounded like fun. So when I got home about 5:30pm, I quickly changed clothes, loaded the bike rack on my car, and then loaded the bikes.
We drove down to the canal, and were surprised to see the canal path closed in the direction we were planning on riding. Oh well. We rode off in the other direction.
This was only her second bike ride in close to 30 years. So she was bit slow at first. She was wearing my bike helmet, and I wore a baseball type cap. At first, she take one stroke of the peddles, then coast, take one stroke then coast. Slowly she began to peddle. I had shifted her bike into a lower gear. After a while I told her how to shift the bike, and she shifted up a gear and started going just a little faster. We rode a little over mile, and turned around. We passed a few other cyclists, roller bladers, and dog walkers.
A one point her pant leg started to get caught in the chain. She back peddled and got it out. Then she tucked she pant leg into her sock. Maybe I will buy her one of those straps that go around the pant leg. Her shoe lace also started to get wrapped around the peddle, but she survived that too.
We rode back to the car. The distance on the my bike computer was 2.33 miles, but I backtracked a couple times when I rode ahead a little ways, then came back too her. But I think she did a little over two miles. It was fun.
She wanted to go riding tonight, but I have karate classes tonight. So we will probably go riding on Sunday.
I got a postcard for a free training DVD at the local bike shop. The post card says:
“Getting Started-a cycling workout for everyone. Train with legendary cycling coach Chris Carmichael. Sign up to receive your copy of our Getting Started DVD. You’ll find an easy-to-follow plan for ramping up your fitness-a 40 minute, indoor cycling workout developed by Chris Carmichael and the coaches at Carmichael Training Systes.”
That sounded great! The card said go to trainright.com/promos and enter code DRMFBH3AP. So I did that back on December 25th (yeah, Christmas day). The screen came up and said please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. So I waited. I started getting canned emails with training advice from Carmichael Training Systems. But 8 weeks came and went. No DVD. After a while I started getting a little ticked off. I understood that the free DVD offer was to get my email address so they could email me offers, and try to upsell me. No problem. But when they were emailing all the offers without actually giving me the free DVD, it upset me a little. I sent them an email and told them that if they weren’t going to send me the free DVD, then pull me off the mailing list. Well lo and behold, the DVD showed up in yesterday’s mail. I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. The indoor cycling stuff would have been great during the winter. But now it is spring, and I will probably be riding outside. But who knows. I will watch the video when I get a chance.