1. Jones LWB
I haven't been riding my Jones too much lately. The trails are much too soggy this spring for any serious mountain biking, so it's just been the occasional jaunt around the neighborhood.
I am trying out my new Donut Sack bag that I picked up that Ohio swap meet back in March. It's locally sewn by a fellow in Westerville, and looks to be a nice size to carry my wallet, tools, etc and let me ditch the Camelback. My only issue so far is that I wish it had an internal pocket to protect my phone from the tools, etc. that are also in the bag. Maybe an old sock will do the trick.
2. Dahon Speed 7
This little guy has moved up my charts in a big way. I didn't like it all at first, but some new tires transformed it:
These Tioga PowerBlocks gave it a zippiness and cush that the old Kenda couldn't match. It's now a really enjoyable bike to ride, and it's my go-to bike when I want to grab something from the garage and just ride. I'm also making up ways to use its foldability; for instance, I'll ride to a family event and throw it in the car for the drive home.
I even invested in some new, matching brake levers, further breaking my pledge not to spend any money on this bike:
You can also see my new stem-post, which is adjustable. This is to let Henry ride it as well, since he also likes it.
My only grip is that the tires are too fat to allow fenders, so now I need to buy the next smaller size, and some fenders to go with them. And maybe a front rack, which might drive a new fork. So my "no spending" rule is quickly falling by the wayside.
3. Karate Monkey
I've been playing with using the KM as a city bike, with gears and slicks and a basket. I haven't ridden it much this way, but I'm already plotting to change it back to single speed. Maybe two speed, one for backup mtb duties, one for city riding.
4. Rivendell Quickbeam
I'm not really bonding with the Quickbeam like I thought I would. I changed out almost everything: the tires, drivetrain, brakes, cockpit, saddle, and seat post, and added fenders and a front rack. My typical setup, then. It's a nice riding bike, looks great, but I think one thing that bugs me about is its lack of versatility. I liked my old Cross Check or Black Mountain Monstercross because I could easily add gears to them, even if I rarely did. I'm planning on a post for a 3 way comparo between these bikes at some point in the future.
5. Rivendell Clem Smith
I was feeling kind of bored with the Clem, so I decided to get it ready for sale. I finally took a serious look at the rear seatstay mount that was dinged up when I bought it:
To highlight how crooked it is, I took this picture with a long bolt sticking out:
And when I looked closer... is it cracking at the dropout, or is this just the paint?
What the heck, the only way to really see is to file off the paint to look at the metal below:
This looks OK, but I still don't have the confidence to sell it to someone. I need to borrow some crack penetrating spray to see if there really is any crack here. Of course, by now I've already hurt the resale value, but a bike with bad paint is worth more than one that might be cracked.
6. Trek Fuel EX
This is on loan to new guy Jordan to see if he likes mountain biking. If he does, maybe we'll have a first bike lined up for him.
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