Bikes

Some of you might already know, I was building up my old mountain bike frame to be my commuter. I had made it into a single speed since I used my derailleurs for my new mountain bike frame. I got some used parts cheap on craigslist and from a shop cleverly called "Re-cycle" which buys and sells used parts. I had a old set of handlebars from a friend.

With this mish-mash of parts and pieces, I made my franken-bike, and it worked, but it was far from nice. Granted, "nice" wasn't really high on my list of priorities, I just wanted it to ride to work and back in the city. But the system just wasn't cooperating. The chain was too fat, the tensioner was mediocre, the bottom bracket was rough, the fork was heavy, and I could go on.

All together it just left me wanting more. There's loads of bikes to choose from nowadays. More than I had ever imagined. But I didn't want to spend any more money on top of the parts I had already bought. So I sold some wheels and other parts and ended up buying The Hounder from Nashbar on a deep discount for a great price.

I stayed with a single speed because in my opinion, the city is pretty flat. I think I may have an elevation change of 80 ft over 3 miles. I don't feel like gears are necessary. Plus it's simpler and less prone to breaking or needing adjustment. I do enough of that with the mountain bike.

I replaced the pedals with some big flat ones I had from the previous build and the bike in general has been really good so far. Bigger tires make for faster riding, as well as a better gear ratio with the front chainring being bigger.

I've ridden it for a week now and things are great. A little grease on the bottom bracket and minor brake adjustments is all that was needed. Now I just need to get back on the mountain bike since the Buttermilk trails are so close. Here's a couple more pictures for Peter and Kirk and anyone else interested. But probably just Peter and Kirk. Ha!

And one which I thought was kind of funny, as the minimalist commuter bike makes my burly mountain bike look small...