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.

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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.

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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.

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