I’ve been riding my Masi CX stock (well, except for the pedals) since I bought it back in November. Its strange for me, since I usually upgrade parts out of curiosity instead of necessity. I’ve been considering swapping out all the Shimano Ultegra parts on my old gold Bianchi that I built up for commuting, but, well, its been in use as a road bike as of late, and now I’m looking for a steel road frame to upgrade.

It seems that I am jonesing to work on a bike. The new road frame is going to have to wait and I honestly can’t think of anything on my CX to replace (its really perfect the way it is, amazing!). I’ve been poking about online looking at all the fancy new gear that’s been coming out lately and came across a few badass bike bags that I would have seriously considered had they been around a year ago when I was in the bike bag buying mood.

Commuting by bike means that you will eventually get caught in the pouring rain. Waterproof bags and panniers are common, although they cost a bit more that their non-waterproof counterparts, they are really the best way to go. The waterproof fabric tends to be more durable and easy to clean and, well, it really sucks to step out of your office only to see its raining and not be prepared. With all of my little water sensitive i-gizmos, I literally can’t afford to get caught out in the rain.

Ortlieb Vario

Why I think its cool:

Unlike my Ortlieb Bike Packer Panniers (plus carrying system thing), this actually looks like it might make a comfortable daypack. The bag is waterproof in the roll-top compartment, there is at least one open top stretchy looking side pocket and the helmet holder is a bonus.

Ortlieb Saddle-Bag Micro

Why I think its cool:

Its has a roll-top closure that is easy to open and close so, not only is it totally waterproof, its easy to open. No yanking on the zipper this way and that, this thing opens with elastic bands and rolling!

Topeak MTX Trunk Drybag

Why I think its cool:

I have a Topeak rear rack with no trunk bag to attach to its neat quick-release system. Sometimes, instead of weighing down one side of the bike, I wish I had a handy dandy little trunk bag to stash a camera into. This bag, being waterproof and compatible with my rack, fit the requirements I’ve been building up slowly in my mind for such a product.

After having sold my beloved Bianchi Reparto Corsa Veloce to a friend that I knew would appreciate it, I had space in my heart (although, not in my LES apartment) for a new bike. The road bike was a bit on the bumpy side on the roads around my old NYC Lower East Side apartment, so, a bike that could handle fatter tires and a rack and fenders seemed to be a good match for the terrain. After having lectured my old roommate on the virtues of cyclocross bikes (super sturdy, tour-able, an everything bike), I had my eyes set on a few steel steads: Surly Cross-check, Bianchi Volpe, and the Masi Speciale CX.

After having ridden the Cross-check, I wasn’t too sure about the friction shifters being that I was used to STI (AKA, brifters). It was about the same price as the other two, a bit heavy when purchased as a complete, I didn’t like the way the handlebars flared out at the bottom, and I couldn’t figure out which one fit me best since neither size in my range felt quite right “out of the box”. I really love the frame, though. Its very flexible in that you can choose to use it as a single speed or a fixed gear or whatever, it comes in a great beef gravy brown color or black, and its Surly, which is cool all on its own. Overall, I decided against it because I would have had to spend more money adjusting things when I could find the things I wanted in other bikes for about the same price. If I was looking to have built up a bike from scratch, though, I would have picked either this frame or, if I had the cash, the Surly Traveler’s Check.

I had swung by Panther City Bikes fully ready to shell over the cash to buy a Surly, but, after some discussion, I came to the conclusion for the aforementioned reasons that I should go with the Masi. They didn’t have one in stock, so, I though that, while in Austin, I could test ride on at Mellow Johnny’s when I stopped by to pick up a wool cycling jersey. They didn’t have a jersey in my size but they did have a Masi Speciale CX that fit. I test rode it back and forth on the Lance Armstrong Bikeway for about 30 minutes before setting out across some dirt on my way back to the shop. I loved it. After looking over everything and doing some math in my head, I figured that getting the bike from MJ’s would be about $100 cheaper than Panther City after shipping it up to NYC and getting it assembled and tuned at the shop there. (It was a good deal for me, but I really like to give PCB my business when I can.)

I didn’t get a chance to test ride the Bianchi Volpe because I couldn’t find on in my size in any of the NYC bike shops I came across. I was really just considering it because it fit the bill to what I was looking for and it was a Bianchi, the brand of roadbike I historically tend to favor.

So, now that I’m back in Austin and living downtown (above is the view of Lady Bird Lake from my balcony), I’m pretty happy with a 7 minute commute on a bike that has literally been all over the country with me. I’ve had my Masi Speciale CX for a few months now, and I’m loving it more than I expected. The transmission has been sturdy and smooth through all the jaunts on dirt and through rain. The stock tires hold their grip through the 4 levels slick parking garage to rainy downtown streets and mud. The seat has even proven to be comfortable throughout a 30 mile ride on the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. My only complaint is that the brakes took a while to get sticky out of the box, but, now that the pads have gotten some wear, they are grabbing the wheels nice and tightly to ensure a timely stop.

As far as future upgrades go, I’m considering taking the Ultegra parts off of my commuter bike and swapping them with the Tiagra parts on the fancy new bike. As for addons, I installed my old Cateye trip computer, a waterproof under seat bag made by Ortlieb, and a pair of Wellgo DH Shimano SPD compatible platform pedals.

I’m back in Austin after a 6 month “working vacation” in New York… and I really miss the smelly air, the deafening subway sounds, the crowded sidewalks, and the feeling of living and walking through a living and breathing brick, metal and asphalt monster. I miss doing things like visiting every museum possible, eating at every kind of restaurant desired, exploring different neighborhoods, moving my car to avoid parking tickets, riding subways, getting lost in central park, looking for restaurants, trying to find the stores i always wanted to visit that happened to just be a couple blocks from the Manhattan apartment.

I’m also sad to have missed on this:

Austin is extremely relaxing and laid back, and I must say that I appreciate that more now than ever. My new place is downtown right by the Amtrak station, a half mile from work, across from Whole Foods, and 5 times larger than its Manhattan counterpart. I have yet to really move in – my current wardrobe can fit in a duffel and my furniture is made up of shelves and a futon that I had given away at the last minute before leaving for New York in June.

Its funny that my new place is so close to Whole Foods since my New York place was closer to the Houston Whole Foods than my last apartment in Austin was to the 6th St. Whole Foods that i’m not even a block away from now. Since its my historic hangout and has been dubbed to obviously be my “most favorite store in the whole world” since i’m always either there or suggesting that people meet me there or whatever. single beer is less than $2, lots of rooftop seating, fresh food that i don’t have to cook, pastries, chocolate milk… really, why doesn’t everyone spend their free time reading and eating there?

Now that I’m back in Austin I should have time to work on updating the design and content of my personal websites and ride my bike and rock climb and such. I’m hoping to find the time to put some real thought and love and design into the my sites like i do for other sites. Every new project i take on has an aspect to it that i want to add to my own site that i haven’t had a chance to create.

One of the criteria for a city that I wanted to move to was that it have ferries. I fell in love with ferries when I was in Sydney and was delighted that New York also has ferries. I have an overwhelming urgeto ride them back and forth all day.

Back in the saddle again… I’m going to Texas for a couple weeks.

In other news, I also made a quick video of the view from my office balcony complete with city sounds:

One can call me non-committal, but I won’t let go of my car just yet. Although I take the subway or walk or ride my bike everywhere, there are too many interesting things to drive to on a long weekend to get rid of my car. I haven’t been in one place for a full 3 weeks since I graduated from high school; leaving town on the weekends is my way of live.

Being from Fort Worth and Austin, I’m not used to thinking “oh, well, there is a beach close by” so, now that i’m on the east coast this thought occurred to me: “there is a beach close by and we should totally try to get to it”. Initially, we set out for Coney Island, taking advice that it would be easier to drive. When we got there, we couldn’t find a place to park. We drove around and around the same blocks weaving through pedestrians and around and under bridges being ever so cautious to not turn right on red and keep the one way street signs in sight. It was hopeless, so, when we ended up at the highway entrance we decided to just head out to Rockaway Beach.

To our pleasant surprise, parking was free that day, so, after finding a gap in the umbrellas and towels in which to settle, we ate cheeseburgers, put our toes into the water, decided it was too cold, and fell asleep in the sun.

Barton Springs was also too cold for me, but this was even chillier.

After an evening of beer and conversation, a friend and I stumbled upon the High Line and decided to walk the length of it as the sun set. I fell in love. I wouldn’t call it a get away spot, but it would be a great place to sit and read in the sun on a day off that isn’t Central Park. Its rather dreamy, but lately there has been some buzz about exhibitionists in a hotel that overlooks the park.

So, the other weekend, I grabbed the girl with the big smile and headed out into the Catskills for a weekend of camping. My very good friend Jessica grew up in New Paltz and has been suggesting we explore her hometown.

Somehow, between Texas and New York, I lost my ability to read a map. We made our way up to New Paltz just fine, but once we left the town, I had no idea where to go. We weaved our way through the Catskills, expecting to find a camp site by following signs, but the signs were lacking. The map seemed to say we were in the middle of a large park, but there was no outside indication of this. Were we in the park? Is my map out of date? Are we somewhere else?

After pulling over in frustration to figure out a better plan than driving about aimlessly, we spotted a bulletin board across the highway from us with park information. It was the only indication that a park was anywhere close to us that we could find, and weeds were growing up around it. After taking a photo of directions to a nearby campground, we headed out with confidence.

The campground was exactly what we wanted. It had a nice canopy of tall trees, fire pit, and level ground for the tent in addition to the family reunion in the sites next door that provided free live musical entertainment via an 8 year old violinist.

After waking to “Its not fair! They took our firewood!” the next morning, I wondered if I was the culprit. We decided to go for a hike. I got lost again on the way to the trail, which I didn’t realize until we read the name of the trailhead we had found. Its in the same spot… kind of. We followed the turns, everything looked right, it just wasn’t where we thought we should be. It was a trail nonetheless, so, we set out uphill to find a great view from the top of an old fire watch tower.

I decided to replace the Texas Hill Country with the Catskills as a weekend getaway destination. There are more hikes to go on, and more campsites and towns to explore. We’re bringing the GPS next time, though.

I took the “Do you belong in NYC?”:

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
Yes, but sometimes you wish there were a better option.
You do love New York, and you fit in here better than you have anywhere else. You’re committed to the city, and you take advantage of all of its amazing food, culture, nightlife and arts. But you have nagging doubts about this relationship. Spend your whole life here? Not sure about that. Sometimes you wonder about that farm in your fantasies or even just a smaller city. But in reality, you know there’s nowhere better. Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC.

Do you belong in New York City?

Goodbye texas! Goodbye! 4:22 PM Jun 20th from TwitterBerry

I just turned my alarm off. That means I’m on vacation! 1:10 AM Jun 21st from TwitterBerry

Safely in little rock, ordering pizza at vino’s 7:45 PM Jun 20th from TwitterBerry

Leaving little rock going to graceland 12:34 PM Jun 21st from TwitterBerry

Can’t seem to find a clean bathroom. On my way to nashville then to the smoky mtns in the morning! 6:17 PM Jun 21st from TwitterBerry

Leaving nashville for the smokys! Thanks for everything Tiff! 11:51 AM Jun 22nd from TwitterBerry

Stuck in traffic, now in eastern time 4:58 PM Jun 22nd from TwitterBerry

The next burger place on the rught is my lunch destination. 4:07 PM Jun 22nd from TwitterBerry

Leaving the smokies. Going to chapel hill to see tim! 1:46 PM Jun 23rd from TwitterBerry

Knoxville, I think I could fall for you. 3:32 PM Jun 22nd from TwitterBerry

Laeving chapel hill, going to washington dc! Staying for a bit, so, no more driving until I leave for nyc. 1:35 PM Jun 24th from TwitterBerry

Richmond gridlock insanity! 5:33 PM Jun 24th from TwitterBerry

I can see our nations capitol from here! 7:37 PM Jun 24th from TwitterBerry

Working on web whatnot in DC! Great weather compared the 100’s in Austin. Missing the road, though. Strange to not be driving for hours. 10:10 AM Jun 26th from web

Crazy guy on cell at sbux “we don’t have a clear history of our planet. 400 years to total monachy of the solar system.” What? 10:51 AM Jun 27th from TwitterBerry

Drinking shiner on the marina in dc. Yum. 8:22 PM Jun 27th from TwitterBerry

We rode 30 miles on the trails in the parks around dc. Beautiful ride! 10:27 PM Jun 28th from Twitterrific

Watching the planes take off from behind the jefferson memorial. 5:01 PM Jun 29th from TwitterBerry

I just drove under baltimore 12:22 PM Jul 1st from TwitterBerry

I’m in brooklyn, safely infront of the apartment. What a crazy drive from DC! 5:05 PM Jul 1st from TwitterBerry

Recently, a good friend came to me with a question:

Dude, we went to the bike shops in ftw and it totally made me want another bike. I love this fixed gear Trek I saw but I’m not thrilled about Trek and really unsure about no gears. I kinda want to build one, too, but I’ve never done that so it makes me nervous, too. what do you think?

The ratio of Cost, Time, Overall Quality

Overall when trying to choose between building or buying a bike, it depends on how much you want to spend, how nice of a bike you want, how long you want to work on it, and if you want it to be new or used.

When buying a new bike that is complete and built in the shop you are essentially paying for the components (wheels, derailleurs, shifters, brakes, cranks, etc.) and getting the frame for free. Its really the best value. Building your own from new parts of the same group set will always cost more. On top of the cost of the frame and parts, you would have to buy tools (unless you have a community bike shop with tools free for everyone to use like yellow bike here in austin). If you take your time and buy used parts off of craigslist, waiting for that next part you need to pop up for a good price, you can build up a bike fairly cheaply, but it really takes some time.

Building

For new frames to build a bike on, I would choose either the Surly Crosscheck, the Masi CXR (nice black color), or the Surly Travelers Check (my dream bike).

Being able to build and work on your bike is really handy for obvious reasons. You can find all you need to know about building, maintaining, and repairing your bike at the Park Tool website.

My commuter bike came about as follows:

A friend heard of a bianchi that some guy was trying to get rid of. It needed some work and was no ride-able. I met with the guy, checked the bike out to make sure it fit me, and paid $60 for the frame, fork, wheels, seatpost, seat, front ultegra derailleur, handbars, brakes and levers, and crankset. It was missing the rear cassette, rear derailleur, and chain. I went home and put on a singlespeed tensioner i had lying around, a cog, chain, and suddenly, I had a working bike and road it to the bar that night. Over time, I found replacement parts for it, such as a new crankset and handlebars, but when my roommate found 9 speed ultegra “brifters” for $80 (they are usually 3x that amount) I knew the bike was going to gears. We soon found an old xt rear derailleur and i bought a 9 speed mountain cassette to make a great commuter bike.

It took 2 years to get to that point, though. A really long time.

In the meantime, though, I had a other bikes to ride, like my 2001 Bianchi Veloce that I bought off of Craiglist for $500 and a fixed gear I put together with a frame i found for $40. Both of these bikes came about over a long period of time as well. I had to keep a really close eye on craigslist everyday until I found the right size bike at the right price.

Building a fixed gear or single speed is how I got into this whole bike building thing in the first place. Its cheaper and easier than building a geared bike, so, if you really just want to build a bike, starting singlespeed / fixed is a good way to introduce yourself to the process. Gears and being able to coast are great things, although I love my fixed gear and used it solely for a while, I am glad that I have other bikes to choose from. It really depends on how you want to use the bike. If you want a geared bike and want to build it, its really not that much harder, but it will end up costing you more if you use new parts because groupsets are pretty expensive.

For example, the Bianchi D2 Crono Tri Alum / Ultegra costs $3199. If we were to build it from scratch with the same parts it would look like this:

Bianchi 2009 Crono Alu Frameset – $2300

Shimano Ultegra SL 6600-G Groupset – $1095

Mavic Cosmic Elite Wheelset 09 – $499

The above parts already cost $695 more than the complete bike and that is without the cables, tires, tubes, seat post, seat, handlebars, bar tape, and headset that one would need to complete it.

Buy

Here are a few bikes I would suggest to someone that is looking for that one do everything bike that would be ridden everyday (and can also be ridden across the country):

• Masi Speciale CX – $1150
• Surly Crosscheck – $1050
• Bianchi Axis – $13xx

These are all cyclo-cross bikes that can be ridden on road and on some mountain bike trails. They have rack mounts so you could attach panniers if you so desired and have space for fenders if you are riding through the rain.

If you are going to buy a complete bike, you need to test ride them at least a mile. Test ride a bunch of them including bikes that are out of your price range so you can feel the differences and have better feel for value. Figure out what size you need, and test ride some more. oh, and remember, you can always get a new seat, so don’t let that ruin an otherwise great bike.

Good luck! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to get a hold of me.

This Hal fellow drills the idea of two locks into your head, so, it seems that, since he’s in NYC and I’m going to be in NYC, I should take his advice.

Two and a half bikes have been stolen from me in two different cities over the past five years (.5 bikes per year average… which might be really good considering how much I use my bike to get around). These bikes were only stolen when left in the same place for a considerable amount of time, so, after getting a new bike and lock in 2003, I began change up my bike locking locations and keep my bike indoors when possible. So far, this has been working, but I’ve been living in Austin and Fort Worth. I’m moving to New York City, a place whose name is used to market some really expensive and really heavy bike locks.

I have a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboutit (which I picked up because of this article) that weighs 6 pounds and considered getting a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain with Disc Lock to as my second lock. Then I found this at bikeforums.net:

Now if your going to go the DIY route, look for the following chains:

Medium Security: Grade 70, 3/8″ link, yellow dichromate coated transport chain.

http://www.bareco.com.au/pics/genrlpic/g37a.jpg

High security: Grade 70, 1/2″ or 5/8″ link, yellow dichromate coated transport chain

Extreme high security: Grade 100 proof tested , 5/8″ links overhead lifting chain ,25% stronger than grade 80, and extremely difficult to get a bolt cutter head around the links.

if i can carry around 4 feet of 1/2″ chain, with a 3lb shrouded padlock, anyone can carry the standard 3/8″ link chain around….

Hmm… Do it myself? I had already spent $90 on a nice Kryptonite New York Lock, so did I really need to spend $120 more to supplement it? If no bike lock is theft proof and the two locks are really just a deterrent and some people suggest using a cable lock then maybe if I just made my own and used it with the Fahgettaboudit mini u-lock it would be just as good, if not better, than a measly cable? I hit the hardware store, spent $38, and got this:

Its 4 feet of super thick chain graded for towing wrapped in an old mountain bike tube and a solid steel Master Lock. It seems that some people on the bike forums think that square or hexagonal links are harder to cut. The chain cutter guy at the store had to cut the chain link twice to get it apart, so this chain seemed sufficiently difficult to break.. that is until I found this video of people stealing bikes in London that shows a guy with HUGE bolt cutters breaking a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain:

and this Bike biz article concerning above video.

However, ITV London showed how, with big cutting tools, pro thieves can cut almost any lock.

And then there is this video showing guys stealing bikes in the middle of busy NYC without anyone caring. The guy even plugs in a grinder and dons protective gear to tear through a chain and no one seems to notice:

Since my bike will probably get stolen no matter what I do, i’ve already found a replacement lock: the Mul-T-Lock 4′ Security Chain and C10 Padlock with Protector. After perusing the Mul-T-Lock website I am beginning to think this is the best chain with lock combo on the market, although I have no idea how heavy it is.