Sunday, November 23, 2008

Winterized Bike

I installed studded tires on the commuter bike today, because the crappy weather is here. The studs don't show any indication of wear from last year.


While I had the bike in the stand, I installed a "new" rear derailleur, cassette, chain, rear brake pads, and new brake hoods.



The right hood is purple and the left one is green. I bought them as pairs at the Hiawatha Cyclery sidewalk sale and mixed them together. No one has ever accused me of having good taste in colors. But the crazy colored hoods make the bike faster, really.

I also installed platform pedals. The only way I can keep my feet warm in the winter is to use heavily insulated boots and that requires platform pedals.
The winterized machine in its entirety.



10 comments:

2whls3spds said...

I would IGH and run thin oil...but that is just me ;-) I hate chipping ice, snow and crap out of the drivetrain in the winter. Hence the reason I live in a more moderate climate!

Aaron

rigtenzin said...

I've been down the internal hub route and it works great, but not on this frame. I need longer dropouts. These are short horizontal drop outs that don't allow enough adjustment for chain length AND I can't keep the hub from slipping in the dropouts. I posted something about this in the recent past. The real answer is that I need a Surly Crosscheck -- long, horiz. droupouts, lots of tire clearance, etc.

Snakebite said...

What are you running for studded tyres???

rigtenzin said...

Snakebite: Nokian Hakkapaliitta W106. Click on the first photo.

I bought them at Hiawatha, of course.

Cafn8 said...

With some gold colored handlebar tape to go with the purple and green hoods you'd be ready for Mardi Gras early.

Matt_J said...

Winter has hit us too. Changed over from 18 speed to 4 speed IGH. Ice and snow built up between tire and fender and brought me to a stop, once home fender was adjusted. Several snow tongues spotted en route. I have not put my Nokian on yet (one for the front), prefer to save weight, slip and slide for now.

Matt_J said...

BTW, great bike!!

rigtenzin said...

Matt_J: Slipping and sliding is fine until you fall, shatter your shoulder into 11 pieces, it won't heal, and you have a jelly arm for the rest of your life.

I always see the bright side of things.

amidnightrider said...

Good stuff. I am kind of looking forward to getting back to MA just so I can start commuting again.

Jim Thill said...

I have been riding knobbies on my fixed-gear, but on Monday I nearly wiped out twice. For some reason, I don't have the fearlessness I had a few years ago. I'll be studded on my next ride.

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