Cold, lonely, heavy — 2365 Km
by Steve ~ September 15th, 2007. Filed under: Riding the Bike.The weather has been getting colder. The morning commute this week was bloody chilly, down to 1 degree Celsius one morning. I wore gloves every day, the first time since March or April, and bundled up in three top layers including a long-sleeved jersey and wind jacket. Still wearing shorts, though. Knobby knees turning red by the time I get to work. Rained a bit, too, this week. One morning I could have sworn it was sleet. I guess I should get used to it with winter just around the corner.
I’ve also noticed far fewer cyclists on the road since the beginning of September. In the middle of summer there was a bike line-up at some red lights; now, some mornings, I’m lucky to see a cyclist or two. Part of that is school starting. There were a lot of students with summer jobs, cycling there during the summer. Now they’re back in class, presumably walking.
Because I haven’t been able to locate tires for the Jamis, the BOD is the only bike I’ve ridden in the past two weeks. It’s the end of cycling season here in the freakingly cold North, and stock is low. No problems to report, but I swear the bike is getting heavier. And it’s heavy enough as it is. I haven’t weighed it myself but The Dude at Maple Leaf Test Rides says it’s about 48 lbs. That’s loaded with lock, etc. Throw on a pannier and water bottles and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the thing top out over 50 lbs.
The damned experiment continues.
Related posts:
Bike of Doom reacts to extreme cold: breaks — 3342 Km
September 15th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Don’t feel bad. My Bianchi San Remo, a bike that cost 10 times more than your Bike Of Doom, weighed in at 45 pounds with fenders, rack, baggage and lights. Gravity finds us very attractive.
On a related note, have you seen Fritz’ post at Cycle-licious about the bargain bin fixed gear conversion?
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2007/09/mass-market-fixed-gear-bike.html
I went to Target to look at one today. They’re on sale for $79.95 (USD). Could one of them withstand Ed’ 220 pound Vertical Crush Test?
September 15th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
The excessive weight of the BOD makes it a real pleasure to jump on the featherlight Jamis. It’s not like I’m climbing mountains on the thing, I guess.
Interesting post by Fritz. Looks similar to the SuperCycle Medallion road bike that can often be had for under $200 CAD. The photograph of the bicycle commuters on the trolley was cool. A whole carfull of them.
That reminds me. The fellow who sent in the picture of his SuperCycle Medallion sent in pictures after the conversion… flat handlebars, etc. I should post those. He says its functioning well as a commuter bike. I certainly envy him its lightness and skinny tires.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Interesting post by Fritz. And a nice looking conversion to single speed. These department store bikes are mostly good looking and they seem to have a comfortable, old-fashioned geometry. In any conversion I would want at least a back brake and a free-wheel. I think a brake-less bike belongs on a track, not on the road.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:14 am
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