Them's the Brakes

I've mentioned earlier (and repeatedly) that I wasn't happy with the rear brake on my Rawland Nordavinden. After today's ride, I started thinking about all the flex I was feeling in the lever. What, I wondered, would happen if I put on a lever with less flex? My current road levers are typical run of the mill Shimano aero levers. Shimano usually makes good stuff, so I'm not sure how much better other road bike levers would be. But I did have some Dia Compe flat bar levers in the parts bin.

Here is my super elegant test mode:

The result was significantly improved brake performance (if not appearance). I could now skid the rear tire, at least.

At this point, a more rational bikie would start thinking about upgrading brake levers. But that's not my way. I'm still in my downsizing mode. Them's the brakes!

Rawland Nordavinden to Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park

It's been slow on the blogging front lately--too much work has been interfering with my life! But, we have to keep the lights on and the 529 plans growing, so such is life.

Earlier, I broke from my blog theme and drove the kids to a playground. Today, I broke from my theme in a different way: I biked to a park without the kids. In this case, it was #48 Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park, which is a relatively new park for Dublin. It's--boring!--playgroundless, so I knew the kids wouldn't be that excited by it. And, it gave me an excuse to ride my Rawland, which I can't do when pulling a trailer.

I got up to Shawnee Hills before the rain hit:

Rainy Cross Check Ride

It's been a very wet spring in Central Ohio, making it tough to find trail time or dry playgrounds. We had a baby sitter for Saturday morning, so I figured I might as well use that time for a longish road ride. I had planned to take my Rawland Nordavinden, but it didn't have fenders--not a good thing with wet streets and drizzle still coming down. So the Cross Check it would be.

The CC is in kind of a weird state right now. I started setting it up to be my child puller, but only got about half way done before this ride. So it has the (heavy) Burley rack and the (heavy) dyno hub, but it's still set up as a fixed gear. Good enough.

My basic route was north to Bellepont, the west along Mills road to Ostrander road. Mill creek was running pretty high:

I was looking forward to a junk food snack at the store in Ostrander, but I got there 45 minutes before they opened. Disappointed, I turned south for home. Into a headwind. And road construction:

At least the drizzle kept me cool. But it was a long grind home.

I wasn't really feeling the love for my CC on this ride. The slight vibration from the dyno hub bothered me after a while. On my bars, there was a big step between the end of my grip and the bar end, which I didn't like either. And I swear I could feel the weight of the rack dragging me down every time I stood to climb a hill. I'd really like to find a magical bike that combines the best attributes of the CC and the Rawland:

- fat tire clearance, V brakes, and single speed-ability from the CC

- low trail, light tubing, and a low bottom bracket from the Rawland.

But I can't think of anything that fits this, short of a custom. Any ideas?