an alternate view to the project bike

I tell my wife that I am going to have a mid-life crisis.

She rolls her eyes.


Being an avid cyclist (what a cliche that is), I am, like so many who ride a lot, somewhat of a bicycle collector.

N+1

Although, for me, it is in my head N+2.

Trouble is, we don't have room for N+2, or even the more modest N+1.

My mid-life crisis, I assure my wife, has nothing to do with trading her in on a pair of twenties...

She smacks me.

It has to do with the realisation of the ultimate N+1.

She rolls her eyes and stops listening at this point. I don't blame her. I do go on a lot. 

Being an avid cyclist, I am riding all of the time. When I am not riding, I am thinking about riding. When I am not thinking about riding, I am thinking about bicycles. When I am not thinking about bicycles, I am asleep.

Occasionally, this gets me smacked. But with love.

No really, I tell her, I have a modest mid-life crisis planned. I am planning it!

I am not like some in our youth obsessed culture who go for hair implants, younger women, fast cars, and other expensive things in an effort to recreate a youth that never existed for themselves in the first place!

I am enjoying getting old! And enjoying it with you, I tell her.

She knows I mean it. I am not just saying it. She is wonderful.

Lately, I have been thinking in a more focused manner about a project bicycle that I would like to build for my birthday. Not just any birthday, but my 50th one. I am not quite 45 now, and with the realities of modern life - a family, teenage daughter, and other things more important than bicycles - I have to save for a while to make this project come true.

What this all leads to is permission.

I am allowed my mid-life crisis.

It is going to be a project bicycle.

An evolution of a current theme in my riding.

I am going to build my project bicycle, and can do it with my wife's blessing.

I am lucky, and I know it.

The plan is to take my Kona Sutra and evolve it into another bicycle all together over the next five years. A dyno lighting system here, a Chris King bottom bracket there. Make changes as they are needed or desired. It would become a journey of a sort. Me and my bicycle. Going places and experiencing things together. Evolving together, if you will.

You see, for one in love with bicycles and riding them, the bicycle changes them as much as they change the bicycle. Cycling is a journey.

Is it possible that cycling can be a metaphor for a great marriage? 

I think I can hear eyes rolling...

A bicycle reborn: 1998 Specialized S-Works M2 HardBike

Dateline June, 1998.

A new bicycle enters the fleet.

The Specialized S-Works M2 Hardtail.

Since then, the bicycle has been ridden and ridden hard. It was showing signs of serious wear, but I could not bear to part with it. The fundamentals of the bicycle though, remained sound.

The most worn part was the suspension fork. After 16 years, the seals were mostly gone, and the fork was not functioning properly. To replace it, even as a bicycle store employee, was prohibitively expensive. Why? To do it, I would need the fork, a new front wheel, a front disk, calliper, and brake lever. Why? There are no good forks which work with my XTR v-brakes so I would have to switch to disk brakes on the front.  I could likely get a new bicycle for the price of all of that stuff, which I can not afford to do right now.

So enter the HardBike.

The HardBike in all of its glory.

The HardBike has no suspension.

The solution to the bicycle's suspension woes was to do away with the suspension.

One seriously stiff unsuspended fork.

The M2 frame designation.

S-Works and Chris King.

The bike is a mix of the new (and old new).

Matching Easton cockpit. The stem and bar are older, but fully serviceable and give a nicer riding position for me. Note the old school extra long stem.

Old school again - XTR Rapid Rise derailleur and SharkFin.

The original Specialized S-Works strong-arm crank with brand new Shimano XT pedals.

My old Mavic Cross-Ride wheel set with a new no longer made XT rear cassette.

So, enter the antics of the HardBike.

in the coffee shop

I like coffee.
Yes I do.

The sight.
The smell.
The taste.

The variety.
The warmth.
The cup.

The ponies.
The quirky.
The space.

The people.
The chair.
The table.

The food.
Oh yes, the food.
Some Yum.

And last.
The atmosphere.
Oh baby, the atmosphere.

Coffee.

The stuff of passion.

Quebec City by night, a photo essay

Quebec City by day, a photo essay

new stuff on the sutra files

What the title says.

Lookie here. There are pictures and stuff about mods.

mocking jay

the human cyclist

Worth a brief post of its own.

the human cyclist

Read. Enjoy.

You're welcome.