Reno Monument

I was able to take advantage of some nice weather and a lack of kids' sports activities to get out and ride. Once more I opted to explore some of the Middletown Valley, first heading south for a bit then northwest to climb South Mountain. I saw a couple of other riders out enjoying themselves and lots of motorcyclists taking advantage of temps into the fifties. I went up to the Reno Monument, and checked out all the civil war Battle of South Mountain info there.

Since I knew I'd be doing a hard (for me) climb, I took the geared bike. I'm trying some changes on this one.

I finally got a triple back on. Low gears. Yeah baby!

I removed the front rack and have the bar bag attached to a threadless stem below the regular stem. This allows me to bring the bag down and in, which seems to me to be a better location than stuck way out off the front, or down too low like it was on the rack. I can vary the exact location with length and drop of the 2nd stem. The stub bar in the stem shifted on the ride, but a quick tightening of the faceplate bolts fixed it fine. Placement of the light is now more problematic, but I'm playing with options.

To get that all to work, I put on a pair of sidepull brakes on the front. Ta Da! No more cable hanger needed, and now my front and rear brakes match.

I'm also trying flat pedals. For the type or riding I do on this bike, the minuscule efficiency advantage afforded by clipless is outweighed by the ease of use and walking advantages of regular shoes. I like it fine after a bit of playing around to keep the wider heel of my sneakers from hitting the crank. I'll have to ride a bit in all my shoe options to see which I like best. Still using clipless on the fixies for foot retention, but I've put flats on the singlespeed as well. A recent discussion on a local board about this stuff made me realize that people get pretty religious about rationalizing their equipment decisions, so let me add: Your Mileage May Vary.

Lastly, I added new yellow bar tape. I'm going to shellac it to try to match the color of the honey Brooks saddle, but haven't yet.