my bitchin ride

Finally: Pictures!

I haven’t posted anything in a while because there hasn’t been anything new worth mentioning. I’ve ridden to work every day, stopped at the grocery store several times, and things are generally going pretty well. Last weekend I took my bike in for its complimentary 30-day tune-up at the bike shop where I bought it, so it’s nice and clean and running great. It shifts smoothly, no extra noises… all’s good.

Yesterday my fenders arrived so I got them attached last night after Beatrix went to bed. Since I think I’m finished attaching extra crap to the bike, I thought I’d bust out the camera and show some of the things I’ve been talking about. First, here’s the finished product:

Sorry about the white-balance. I took the picture at night in my living room in low light and I hate using the flash. I corrected the white balance for all the other photos.

Unfortunately, it seems I’m suffering from Too Much Crap On My Bike syndrome. Check out this closer view of the rear wheel.

At the hub of the wheel, the Solobug trailer mount points to the rear. Just above it is the mountpoint where both the rack and the rear fender attach to the frame. At the top of the rack, notice the arms that reach to the mountpoint below the seat. I’m having trouble with that arrangement because the brakes on the bike are the newfangled kind that pull from one side, instead of the old center-pull version I was used to. Consequently, the brake cable has a stiff tube where it feeds into the brake itself, and that tube wants to be in the same spot as the rack mount. I don’t think any other kind of rack would be any better, and it makes it really tough to disengage the brake when removing the rear wheel. I may end up switching to a center-pull brake for the rear at some point just to clear up that problem.

Here’s a detail view of the rear hub so you can see how crowded it is. The tail end of the rack prong just barely fits past the bulky trailer mount. The first time I tried attaching both to the bike at once, there wasn’t room. I later realized the hole in the rack prong is an oblong one that allows the rack to move a couple of millimeters up and down – just barely enough to get clearance for the trailer mount, as it turned out. The bolt holding the rack and fender in place is just long enough to grab the threads in the frame hole, so I may try and find a slightly longer bolt at some point, especially if I plan to carry anything heavy on the rack.

This is the rear of the bike with a grocery pannier attached. I don’t know about other brands, but this one (by Sunlite) collapses flat against the side when not carrying any big cargo. This low-profile mode is just fine for most of my trips to work since a spare shirt and a U-lock fit without any trouble. The bag is tall, nearly as tall as a standard paper grocery bag, so the bungee cord and hook at the bottom won’t hook to the usual spot in the fork of the rear rack. Instead, it needs to stretch down to the rear hub and hook somewhere there. On this side of the bike, the quick-release handle makes a perfect hook mount.

When the pannier is opened out, it’s pretty roomy, and does hang out to the sides quite a bit. With one on each side, I take up a fair amount of horizontal space on the road. At least, it feels that way. Two bags opened out like this also catch a lot of wind, which is why they’re made to collapse flat when not needed.

If you’ve been reading along, you know I’ve been having trouble finding a good place to hook a bag on the right. Everywhere I tried, the hook threatened to interfere with the gears, which made me very nervous. Luckily, the Solobug trailer mount provided the solution. The mount comes with an extra skewer with a longer rod. The longer skewer is provided to account for the extra bulk added by the mount on the left side of the bike, and provides plenty of extra room. In my case, it was a lot of extra room. So much that the nut end of the skewer stuck out about half an inch more than it needed to. Suddenly, I had my pannier hook mount. I added a little nut to the tip of the skewer which accomplishes two things: it blunts the tip so I won’t accidentally rip a gouge in my leg; and it keeps the hook from sliding off the end. Now it nestles in the gap between the little nut and the skewer’s acorn nut. Here’s a closeup:

So that’s the bike. I’ll try and get some shots of the trailer sometime soon and throw those pictures up here, too.