Bicycling

I like bikes. I spend a lot of time riding, but also enjoy working on bikes. Since I live in Indiana, I mostly just ride around on country roads. I ride a mountain bike for variety. I usually bike to work. I'll occasionally ride with 3 Rivers Velo Sport, the Delaware Cycling Club, or the guys from Kirk's Bike Shop.

Vitus bikes

My Vitus 979 page is fairly popular, so I created a page for information on Vitus and other people's Vitus bikes.

Skills

I wrote a short page on driving safely around bicyclists, including animations of safe and dangerous passing.

My bikes

I own two bikes. My main bike is a Cannondale CAAD8 road bike. I ride a Raleigh M-60 for commuting and off road.

Cannondale CAAD8 (2007)

Most of my bicycling is on a Cannondale CAAD8 with SRAM Rival components. I needed to replace some parts on my Vitus, and found this bike on model-end clearance for not much more than I would have spent on parts. The ‘Handmade in the USA’ aluminum Cannondales were by far the most bike for the money in recent years. The components were also a good deal. I'll take the usability and repairability of SRAM Rival over Ultegra any day, plus Rival is lighter, and less expensive. I think the CAAD8 is a very comfortable ride. My position on the bike is about the same as it was on the Vitus, but since I got the CAAD8, my definition of long ride has at least doubled.

Raleigh M-60 (1997)

The Raleigh M-60 is a good bike. It isn't too heavy for a steel mountain bike. The M-60 originally came with Shimano STX/STX-RC components and Dia-Compe brakes and levers. I recently (2007.3) upgraded to a Shimano Deore 9-speed derailer and a SRAM Centera rear shifter. I am on my second front wheel and third rear wheel. I trashed the original wheels after unexpected contact with a tree. The second rear wheel had bearing problems. After only a few hundred miles, one of the ball bearings disintegrated, ruining the hub. I then upgraded the rear wheel to a Mavic Crossride, and upgraded front wheel's ball bearings and cones.

I got bored with the few trails in the area, so I don't ride off road as much as I used to. I now mostly ride the M-60 as a commuter and in bad weather, though I have started playing on the local trails again. I'll probably change the handlebars and add fenders soon.

Torker Unistar AX 24

This isn't a bike, but since it is pedal and wheel based, I'll put it here. I recently (2010·4) learned to unicycle. I currently ride a 24 inch Torker Unistar AX. This is a mid-level unicycle with a light aluminum fork and a 24 inch wheel. It is similar to the Unistar LX, but with a better frame. The Torker LX and AX are good choices for learning to ride and for easy rides on the local bike trail. Now that I know how to ride, I'll probably sell this so I can buy a MUni.

Bikes I don't own anymore

Vitus 979 (1988)

This bike is a late 1980's (1988?) French aluminum road bike with a Shimano 600 group and Mavic tubular rims. This bike now has its own page.

Trek 330 (1990?)

The Trek 330 is an old light touring bike. This bike now has its own page.

Schwinn Traveler (198x?)

I had a Schwinn Traveler. It is an old twelve speed that I used for riding around campus. It is a bit small for me, but I rarely rode it more then a two-thirds of a mile, so that is OK. Unfortunately, some looser stole it. I found it after a month, but some of the parts were really messed up. I ended up replacing parts and rebuilding the bike. With the new parts, the drivetrain runs as smoothly as my Trek 330. I sold the Traveler to my brother. Because the Traveler has a long top tube compared to the seat tube, he was able to put a longer seatpost on it, making it into a decent compact frame bike.

Schwinn Passage (1986)

The Schwinn Passage was a touring bike made in 1986 of Columbus Tenax (slightly thicker Columbus SP?) tubing. This model was only made for one year. It was Schwinn's top touring bike, but with slightly heavier tubes. Even after years of abuse, the Tioga Expert CP headset was still in great condition. Immediately after getting this bike, most of the components were moved to a smaller frame to build a replacement for a roommates stolen bike. After reading Sheldon Brown's articles on fixed gear cycling, I was going to turn this into a fixed gear commuter, but could never justify the cost of decent components. After years of sitting in a closet, the great fixie fad happened, so I sold the frame.