Spare Parts Build

I've had my Cross Check and various other parts halfheartedly for sale for a bit now. That is, up until a few days ago, when I was browsing this thread over on mtbr.com and saw this CC build, courtesy of fellow CC owner phsycle:

I just love the looks of a flat bar CC, and I immediately had to get me one. Good thing I had a garage full of parts with everything on hand for this:

Still Here, and Meet the Plastic Fantastic

It's been a while since my last post. Since I took the kids camping two weeks ago, my schedule has been: sick - sick - work travel work travel - family weekend - work travel work travel work travel. After putting many miles on my TSX, it was nice to come home to my (sleeping) kids and lovely wife, and of course a frame box.

Which contained this:

Yep, my first carbon frame. After researching all the direct order Chinese frames, I wasn't ready to commit even that much money on something that far outside my steely comfort zone. However, when this Sette Razzo SC popped up on ebay in an XL, I took the chance (and ended up being the only bidder, so I got it reasonably cheap).

I rarely involve Jodi in my bike stuff, but I had to hand this frame to her so she could feel how light it was. "Wow!" was her reaction. I'd like to wow you with the actual frame weight, but my fish scale has decided to take a dive now. I figure I'm dropping 2.5~3 pounds over my typical steel frame, which likely makes no difference at all on the trail, but sure feels impressive when you heft the bare frame with a pinky finger.

It'll be a while before the Sette hits the dirt, though, since I need to order an adapter base plate to fit my non-tapered fork. If I actually like the how the carbon rides, I have visions of a tapered carbon fork and a Knard up front. We'll see how it plays out.

S24O to Homestead Park

This is something of a record for me: three S24O trips in four weeks. This weekend, our local township had their yearly family campout at Homestead Park in Hilliard. We were ready to hit the road on Friday after dinner:

It was about nine miles to the park: I knew Henry could do that kind of distance on his own bike, which is what allowed me to take all three kids... no way I could pull all three with all our camping gear!

Farewell Party at Ballantrae Spray Park

One of Sam and Kate's pre-school classmates is moving to Colorado this summer, so there was a going away party for him at the Ballantrae spray park. I'm not sure why we don't go to this park more often, it's only a few miles away and the kids absolutely love it:

Sam's S24O

I was riding a bike with wheels the wrong size, on tires that were pretty much worn out, towing Sam to a "non-designated" camping spot, and hadn't checked the weather forecast.

What could possibly go wrong?

Everything was all smiles at the start:

 

Well, that's not exactly true. There was some frustration even before the start.

Two Bikes, Three Strikes

I spent a bottle of hard cider working in the garage while the boys played with army men in the dirt just outside. Kind of puttering with the Trek, but also getting the Breezer ready for a camping trip I'd promised Sam tomorrow night.

I tried to fit my SKS Longboard fenders from my Cross Check onto the Trek, but of course they wouldn't clear under the caliper brake with the 32mm (actual, 35 advertised) Forte tire.

I tried to mount my Picolo rack on the Breezer using P clamps (which Burley does not recommend), but the clamps I had were slightly too big, and the whole thing turned out to be a wobbly mess. I'll probably just pick up some smaller P clamps tomorrow, but the whole episode reminded me how much I hate mounting things with P clams instead of braze ons--of which the Breezer has none.

(Incidentally, the S24O spot I have in mind is too rugged to bring the trailer, so I really need the rack and panniers for extra carrying capacity, even if I use the Giant trail-a-bike instead of the Picolo)

Last night, I took the Breezer around my park loop, unencumbered by child or child towing device. After spending $57/tire on my high end Compass tires, I was completely underwhelmed by their performance. They didn't feel any faster, and not quite as plush, as the 35mm Paselas I love so much on my CC (at ~$25 each)

Sometimes I daydream about selling the whole fleet and starting over.

Weekend Riding Adventures, New City Bike Trial

Another beautiful weekend here in Dublin, so I took advantage of it and spent quite a bit of time on the bike. Saturday morning, I was out just after 6:00 for an early ride on Ye Olde Trek:

The Memorial Golf tournament is this weekend, and one my small traditions is to ride through the area before it gets crazy busy. It's nice to think that I'm quietly cruising through what will be a frustrating traffic jam in a few hours time.

I wanted to investigate another location idea I had for a stealth S24O spot, so I headed north. I stopped for a quick breather: