Derailed

Below is a picture of my recently finished all weather commuter. I got some of the key parts for Christmas and have now had a week of commuting on it. This turned out better than I had hoped: it is fun and fast to ride, practical, and the generator-powered front light is fantastic. Click on the image for higher quality pictures.

• Surly Crosscheck frame
• Surly fixed/free rear hub: 16T cog (almost always using this side) / 17T freewheel
• Sugino cranks (off an old bike) with 42T chainring
• Non aero diacomp brake levers (off an old bike)
• Avid shorty 6 cantilever brakes front and rear
• Full SKS fenders front and rear
• Blackburn Expedition rack
• Carradice Bicycle Bureau
• Bontrager Select Invert 700x38c tires
• Cateye TL 1000 rear light on seatpost
• Shimano DH-3N70 dynamo hub with Lumotec Oval Plus headlight
• Unknown pedals- with clips and straps

bostontrevor

Love the non-aero brakes. Very classic.

d2create

Here's mine!

tg1896

Dude! sorry - your wife is right! The orange has to go!

Rogerinchrist

Now x2mars how many times have I told you, "Don't come cryin' to me if somebody backs up over that bike when ya leave it in the driveway like that!"

vrkelley

Good one RinChrist!

Uncle Phil

This bike has been my regular commuter and in fact my only bike for most of the past 15 years (since its beautiful predecessor was stolen in Cardiff (grrr)).
It started life as a Dawes Galaxy (the archetypal tourer in the UK), bought in 1988. The only original parts remaining are the frame (but not the paint - refinished last year by Bob Jackson in Leeds - it used to be blue), the front wheel, the chainset (but not the rings) and the rack. Oh yeah, and the brake cantilevers. ("I've had this broom for forty years; it's only had five new heads and four new handles...").

Right now it carries me 7 miles to work and 7 miles back most days I'm in the office with a pair of small panniers with a change of clothes.

I've put in some close-ups of my home-built "twin" headlamp arrangement. There's a 6V gel lead-acid battery in that grey box under the saddle, powering a 0.8 W rear light and a choice of the 2.4W front light (the big one) or the 6W front (the little one). I use the big one where there's street lights and the small bright one where there aren't.

Uncle Phil

OK here's another try with the pics...

Grasschopper

Well here is a bad pic of mine. How come I loose all of the PQ when I resize? This was taken on a 3.2 MP camera and the full size image is great...guess I have to get it uploaded to my web site huh?

2003 Marin Mill Valley that I bought off of eBay back in Oct. These wheels will have to go as...well not only are they heavy (2005 g est.) they aren't all that strong either. R440 shifters 52/42/30 triple with 12-25 on the back. Big ring never gets used and I am thinking of getting the Century Special (13-30) from Sheldon Brown to assist in towing. Fenders are coming soon.

Edit: New image, the seat was too low when this was taken and has been raised but other than that this is how it sits today. Although I am getting a new rear wheel today (Salsa Delgado Cross on a 105 hub, 32 spoke 3X should be a bit stronger than these pigs)

purple hayes

It's a KHS Flite2000 frame, but all the other parts are down-spec'd. Since taking that picture, I've added another Cateye 600 (?) and a Performance Flare on the rear. I tote all my goodies in a backpack, so no panniers for me.

bostontrevor

Two likely causes:

1. You're not reducing by an integer multiple (ie, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4). When you do that it's easy to "collapse" the pixels (like with a 1/3 reduction every 3 pixels becomes 1). When you picket a non-integer reduction some applications produce poor quality results with jagged artifacts.

2. When you go to save your JPEG quality is set too low. You're getting JPEGs off the camera but the quality is generally set to 1.0 (on a scale of 0 to 1) while when you go to save the default is usually around 0.7 (or 70 if your application talks about a 0 to 100 scale). Increasing the quality...well, increases the quality but at the expense of increasing file size.

clevernamehere

OK I finally got a digital pic of my bike (complete with a couple of weeks of winter road grime).
2004 Marin Larkspur
I've added:
- BLT LED front light
- Cateye LED tail light
- Rear rack
- Mini pump
- Cannondale Paniers (picked these up used for $15)
- Planet Bike Feddy Fenders
- Innova studded tires (after 2 mos the studs are pretty much level with the rubber)

I've put about 3000km on it since I got it at the end of June '04.

smurfy

Here are some pics of one of my commuter bikes:

Early '70s Flandria (not a real Belgium-made one, just a cheap bike-boom for the US market made in Portugal).
Updated with more modern components (again nothing to brag about here, just stuff that works).
Homegrown fenders made with 11g aluminum, fender stays are galvanized steel. Fenders were painted with semi-gloss black enamel (spray gun not a can job). Primer is acid-catalyzed vinyl epoxy.

Fenders look a little crude but they get the job done. Fromt and rear sections of each fender are actually seperate pieces. Someday I'll have to take them off and bend them a little better.

junioroverlord

Heres a better pic of what I tool around town in. Who needs a car when you got one of these?

jimhens714

Ok, here's my fall, winter, and early spring commuter. It's a 1984 Centurion Accordo.
Here's how it's set up:

Sugino VT crank, 52-40-28
sealed bottom bracket
Shimano 600 hubs with Sun CR18 700C rims
700-28 Hutchinson tires
Shimano 105 levers
Kool Stop salmon brake pads
Zefal fenders
Blackburn Lowrider pannier mount front
Burley Moose rack rear (for towing the Piccolo when not commuting)
VistaLite tail lights
VistaLite 400 series rechargeable headlights

Everything is sealed so no problems riding in the rain.

jimhens714

Nice ride Grasschopper! BTW what is that reflective stuff on your rims? It sure looks a lot more visible than the spoke mounted reflectors and probably doesn't cause any wheel wobble either eh?

rykoala

What a coincidence, I have that exact same frame (but larger, 59cm) with the exact same paint scheme built up as a single speed. Now at least I know what year mine is....

jimhens714

I bought this bike used about 10 years ago and contacted Diamondback customer service about it. Centurions were designed and distributed by the same company that designed Diamondback mountain bikes back then. The person I spoke with told me that there was a way to determine date by the serial number hence the year 1984. I'll have to see if I can find my notes on it...

rainedon

Here's mine.

Lugged steel frame that was painted over when I got it. (I think it might be an old Trek)
Single ring (42) 8 speed (12-25).
Old Ultegra STI shift/brake levers (only one shifter in use)
105 brakes
105 RD
Custom Crank
SPD pedals
Mavic CXP33 rims on Ultegra hubs
Continental Ultra Gatorskins (700x23)
SKS fenders
Rear rack/Ortlieb panniers
Cateye rear LED / Planet bike front LED
Light & Motion Solo 13watt headlamp





-Nate

Grasschopper

Thanks Jim,

It is 3M reflective tape. I have it on the rims and on the seat stays as well as my helmet. $3 if I remember correctly for the roll.

John

rykoala

That would be most excellent-- Thanks! Any info on the bike is helpful. Unfortunately I am still waiting on brake parts before I can ride this lovely bicycle. They should arrive at the LBS today though.

jimhens714

OOPS I guess it pays to have my facts straight before I state stats...actually my Centurion is a 1985.

The serial number is N5K0212 and according to Diamondback the first digit indicates the year built for the bikes produced in the '80s hence 1985.

I have a 1984 Bianchi and I had the years mixed up.

Does yours have the CroMoly frame and Hi-Tensile fork?

rykoala

Sweet info! I will look up the serial when I get home tonight and post my results. Mine is CroMoly Tange double butted tubing and it has the stock fork so it probably is the hi-tensile. I'll look that up too

jimhens714

Do you remember where you bought it?

rykoala

OK by using your dating method I found that my frame is a 1985. It has the CroMoly frame and Hi-Tensile fork blades. Sounds like we have the same bike, in different sizes! My bike will be finished tonight (gotta get the brakes routed) and I'll get a picture snapped but I won't have it until later this week. Still haven't bought a digital! Ours have the same color scheme too, which is cool.