Hello from Lincoln
07-05-23, 01:28 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Hello from Lincoln
Hello,
Haven't posted in a while, but I need to get my post count up so that I can make full use of the forum haha.
I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska and I ride when the weather permits and when it doesn't. I moved back here after college (I do not qualify for the over 50 conversations), and I quickly bought a bike because I wanted to make use of the robust trail network out here and didn't want to be using my car to get around all the time. I had a couple of goals with moving back for a post-undergrad gap year, and one of them involved learning more about bicycles so that I could be more self-sufficient. I now work (really I'm just on the payroll these days, but I was working regularly) at a local bike shop, volunteer at our local bike coop, and I'm involved in some other bike-related things that have exposed me to the advocacy side of biking (Putting my degree in political science to good use).
In the fall I'll actually be moving to the UK for a master's program, and I've bought a bike box and am waiting to buy a nicer bike between now and when I fly out so that I can do some stuff with the cycling club at the school I'll be attending. I haven't purchased a bike made in the last 10 years yet so I imagine I will feel way different owning a new gravel bike. I do have a couple of bikes (and I would attach photos, but I can't yet because of forum requirements so I'll just describe them to you.
The first bike I got was actually the most expensive but it still wasn't what I would describe as extremely expensive and I feel like the money I spent, despite it being a really old bike, was recouped in its stylishness. It is a yellow1970s Peugeot road bike with red and black wrapped mustache bars. Since I use this a lot for just getting around I also spent some money on those hybrid Look pedals that have detachable, rechargeable lights. I used them a lot in the fall and the winter, but with the sun being out much later I haven't had much of a chance to make use of them.
I then purchased a purple and bronze 1992 Gary Fisher Wahoo that I have since converted into a mamacharri style of bike that I use for chores and camping. Instead of flat handlebars it now has black porteur handlebars from Velo Orange with their city bike brake levers and a set of friction shifters. In the back, I have outfitted it with an old Bontrager rear rack with adjustment bolt legs, a milk crate, and a Rambler Bags designed and produced milk crate basket bag. It also has a tan Brooks C17 recycled nylon saddle and a pair of black MKS XC-III Beartrap pedals.
The last bike I have was given to me for free by a friend who is currently building and maintaining 14ers in Colorado and will be moving to Germany in the fall. He couldn't keep much of his possessions because of all of this, but he didn't want to just throw away his bike so he gave it to me. It's a navy blue mid 2000s/early 2010s Cannondale road bike with vertical dropouts that has been converted into a single-speed. I'm still figuring out how I want to deal with the chain tensioner situation---I'm waffling between an eccentric bb like the kind sold by Velo Orange or a two pulley chain tensioner like the one Paul Components sells. Pretty sure I'm going to go with the latter though because I would have to go through all the hassle of figuring out bb measurements and compatibility and whatnot when I know I can just slap on the Melvin (what Paul calls their vertical dropout chain tensioner) and call it a day. Aside from that, the bike is also kinda set up weirdly. It has pursuit bars that are wrapped in pink with a single inverse brake lever, a wide front tire that necessitated the removal of the front brakes, and a thickslick in the rear. During our attempts to fix some chainline issues we also significantly reduced the length of the bb spindle so the pedals are now super tight with the frame.
That's me. I guess some side notes are that I now know a lot about how to organize to get city and metropolitan planners to pay more attention to making roads and infrastructure networks more bike friendly and I have a lot of amateur mechanic knowledge because of my bike coop volunteering experience.
Haven't posted in a while, but I need to get my post count up so that I can make full use of the forum haha.
I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska and I ride when the weather permits and when it doesn't. I moved back here after college (I do not qualify for the over 50 conversations), and I quickly bought a bike because I wanted to make use of the robust trail network out here and didn't want to be using my car to get around all the time. I had a couple of goals with moving back for a post-undergrad gap year, and one of them involved learning more about bicycles so that I could be more self-sufficient. I now work (really I'm just on the payroll these days, but I was working regularly) at a local bike shop, volunteer at our local bike coop, and I'm involved in some other bike-related things that have exposed me to the advocacy side of biking (Putting my degree in political science to good use).
In the fall I'll actually be moving to the UK for a master's program, and I've bought a bike box and am waiting to buy a nicer bike between now and when I fly out so that I can do some stuff with the cycling club at the school I'll be attending. I haven't purchased a bike made in the last 10 years yet so I imagine I will feel way different owning a new gravel bike. I do have a couple of bikes (and I would attach photos, but I can't yet because of forum requirements so I'll just describe them to you.
The first bike I got was actually the most expensive but it still wasn't what I would describe as extremely expensive and I feel like the money I spent, despite it being a really old bike, was recouped in its stylishness. It is a yellow1970s Peugeot road bike with red and black wrapped mustache bars. Since I use this a lot for just getting around I also spent some money on those hybrid Look pedals that have detachable, rechargeable lights. I used them a lot in the fall and the winter, but with the sun being out much later I haven't had much of a chance to make use of them.
I then purchased a purple and bronze 1992 Gary Fisher Wahoo that I have since converted into a mamacharri style of bike that I use for chores and camping. Instead of flat handlebars it now has black porteur handlebars from Velo Orange with their city bike brake levers and a set of friction shifters. In the back, I have outfitted it with an old Bontrager rear rack with adjustment bolt legs, a milk crate, and a Rambler Bags designed and produced milk crate basket bag. It also has a tan Brooks C17 recycled nylon saddle and a pair of black MKS XC-III Beartrap pedals.
The last bike I have was given to me for free by a friend who is currently building and maintaining 14ers in Colorado and will be moving to Germany in the fall. He couldn't keep much of his possessions because of all of this, but he didn't want to just throw away his bike so he gave it to me. It's a navy blue mid 2000s/early 2010s Cannondale road bike with vertical dropouts that has been converted into a single-speed. I'm still figuring out how I want to deal with the chain tensioner situation---I'm waffling between an eccentric bb like the kind sold by Velo Orange or a two pulley chain tensioner like the one Paul Components sells. Pretty sure I'm going to go with the latter though because I would have to go through all the hassle of figuring out bb measurements and compatibility and whatnot when I know I can just slap on the Melvin (what Paul calls their vertical dropout chain tensioner) and call it a day. Aside from that, the bike is also kinda set up weirdly. It has pursuit bars that are wrapped in pink with a single inverse brake lever, a wide front tire that necessitated the removal of the front brakes, and a thickslick in the rear. During our attempts to fix some chainline issues we also significantly reduced the length of the bb spindle so the pedals are now super tight with the frame.
That's me. I guess some side notes are that I now know a lot about how to organize to get city and metropolitan planners to pay more attention to making roads and infrastructure networks more bike friendly and I have a lot of amateur mechanic knowledge because of my bike coop volunteering experience.
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