Friday, I rode the Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle out the Minuteman to Battle Road Bikes, to take its turn getting its pedals swapped for something wider. Along the way, we stopped to talk to Sam, who was zany as usual. He was making eyes at the Bible Study ladies who were making their pitch in the park across the street.
One good sign deserves another. Perhaps I was too hasty jumping to conclusions about "For Rent"... Perhaps the Bike Stop will arise, phoenix-like, from the ashes. That'd be nice.
The Ebisu will have its MKS Lambda pedals swapped for larger MKS Gammas, which will be further extended with "Monarch wings", Rivendelian pixie talk for outriggers to extend the width of the pedals. Works well with my 13EEE shoes. I've been using the setup on the Sam Hillborne for the better part of the year, and decided it was time to take the plunge with the other bikes. This involves ferrying bikes to the shop for a simple procedure I should be performing myself, but I'm discovering that retirement has brought out a great capacity for laziness that I didn't know I had. And things get done fast this way... and done right, to boot.
So I dropped off the Ebisu, which I really, really enjoyed riding after half a year off it, at least, and picked up the Rawland Nordavinden, to ride home.
The Ebisu I built up myself, and it suffered for that, but I learned a lot, and eventually Pete at Battle Road Bikes rebuilt it and it's still smiling about that. The Nordavinden was built up to my specs by Tyler Oulton, and I think of him whenever I ride it. It has a lively frame, with a heat-treated top tube, a light steel tubeset, and a very low-trail geometry. I had to preload the needle-bearing headset to cure a fierce case of high-speed shimmy (which made descending High Street, Medford, ever so much more interesting...); but that was before I caught the lazies, and I managed the trick: shimmy begone! I took the Nordavinden's picture against the BRB mural, and then rode it out on the Minuteman.
The Nordavinden was a joy to ride. Always has been, ever since I fixed the shimmy. Stopped at Peepers Pond to pay my respects to the swans and the frogs, then rolled away home.
So, fun with supple 32mm tires... Spring is here!
rod