Mark B
Zen MBB Master
Since the tragic building/bicycle collision in which my Silvio was damaged, I have commuted to work by bicycle once (last Tuesday). Preparations for our annual 4th of July shindig at our house interfered on Thursday. Friday was ALL about preparations and Saturday was about sleeping it off/recuperating. Yesterday (Sunday) was the first club ride since the demise of my Silvio and while I was looking forward to riding, there was a certain amount of regret at missing my Silvio. It didn't help matters any that my friend has been teasing me mercilessley about riding my behemoth conversion bike. He doesn't mean much by it; he thinks he has jokes. I don't argue; preferring instead to shut him up on the road.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I ripped up the road on the ride because our Sunday morning breakfast ride isn't that kind of ride. I did stretch my legs a little and managed some pretty good speeds at times. This ride is generally more casual than that and the focus is keeping the group together as much as possible. The thing I realized more than anything is; the conversion bike is just plain fun to ride. It's not as comfortable, or fast, or sexy as my Silvio. Being honest, it looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption, complete with paint sanded off down to bare aluminum on the main frame, the swingarm in primer and hose clamps all over the place. What it lacks in the good looks department, it more than makes up for in the funcionality department. Even though it's a cheap mountain bike frame, the suspension soaks up all the abuse the road can hand out. My friend whines about bumpy roads; I laugh quietly to myself as I pick up the pace and plow right on through, leaving him in the dust with his complaining. Score 1 for the Rube Goldberg. The bike functions perfectly; it shifts well, and tracks just great, making it fun to ride. I don't suffer because it's heavy, I don't feel left out because my bike isn't pretty. In fact, I am proud of the fact I built this bike from the ground up. It's based on a frame that even it's designers probably never in their wildest dreams ever imagined this bike doing what it does now. Score 2 for the Rube Goldberg. For the day, we ended up with about 35 miles was all. My wife rode my youngest daugher's bike. It's the same size bike, just not hers and she felt beat up. My friend said he didn't feel like he had it going on during the ride (in other words, he was conceding with excuses that I outrode him). I felt none the worse for wear. In fact, I had a blast and would have ridden more. Score 3. By my count, that's 3-0. Rube Goldberg comes through in the end!
Mark
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I ripped up the road on the ride because our Sunday morning breakfast ride isn't that kind of ride. I did stretch my legs a little and managed some pretty good speeds at times. This ride is generally more casual than that and the focus is keeping the group together as much as possible. The thing I realized more than anything is; the conversion bike is just plain fun to ride. It's not as comfortable, or fast, or sexy as my Silvio. Being honest, it looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption, complete with paint sanded off down to bare aluminum on the main frame, the swingarm in primer and hose clamps all over the place. What it lacks in the good looks department, it more than makes up for in the funcionality department. Even though it's a cheap mountain bike frame, the suspension soaks up all the abuse the road can hand out. My friend whines about bumpy roads; I laugh quietly to myself as I pick up the pace and plow right on through, leaving him in the dust with his complaining. Score 1 for the Rube Goldberg. The bike functions perfectly; it shifts well, and tracks just great, making it fun to ride. I don't suffer because it's heavy, I don't feel left out because my bike isn't pretty. In fact, I am proud of the fact I built this bike from the ground up. It's based on a frame that even it's designers probably never in their wildest dreams ever imagined this bike doing what it does now. Score 2 for the Rube Goldberg. For the day, we ended up with about 35 miles was all. My wife rode my youngest daugher's bike. It's the same size bike, just not hers and she felt beat up. My friend said he didn't feel like he had it going on during the ride (in other words, he was conceding with excuses that I outrode him). I felt none the worse for wear. In fact, I had a blast and would have ridden more. Score 3. By my count, that's 3-0. Rube Goldberg comes through in the end!
Mark
