SimpleOne - Midnight Bliss...

[Montclair BobbyB]

I realize I should know better, but I'm sure we all do it... you've got a half-built bike with marginally-functioning components, and only the bare minimum to turn the pedals and power it, yet you insist on riding it out around your neighborhood in the middle of the night, just because you've gotten it to that critical stage.  I had just finished building my set of wheels, and I cobbled together enough components to form a SS drivetrain for my SimpleOne.  I added a brand new Brooks Champion Flyer seat, bare metal Riv/Nitto Bullmoose bars (150mm) with no grips or brakes and a set of platform pedals...  Then I spent a blissful (if not totally dangerous) 30 minutes (around midnight) just zipping around my cul-de-sac with no brakes, marveling at the speed and agility of this bike... At one point I was enjoying myself so much I almost headed out of my hood, but then remembered I have no brakes with a SS freewheel ... DOH!!!

I felt a little like Paul Newman riding that skinny bike in Butch Cassidy... (I still can't get that BJ Thomas song out of my head today)... Tonight, I add brakes!!!

[David Spranger]

I know the feeling. I love my SimpleOne. Still today, after 4 or so thousand miles on it, I have to force myself into some sort of bicycle rotation to get commute time on my other bikes.

David Spranger

Charlotte, NC

[lungimsam]

I know the feeling of midnight rides.

Once I breezed around with a new lighting sysem on. It was amazing to ride at night. So quiet and barely cars!! Only the whirring of the tires on pavement.

 

Single speed would be cool to have, but my knees would be destroyed in no time.

You guys must have knees of iron. I don't know how you do it.

[David Spranger]

Don't know about knees of steel. Mine is a two speed set up with a low gear of about 60 gear inches and a high of about 82. Good enough for most of the hills around here.

David

Charlotte, NC

[PATRICK MOORE]

John: beside basically sound knees to begin with, climbing hills in
relatively high gears is largely a matter of (1) habituation, (2)
position -- rearward saddle position promoting low cadence, high
torque pedaling, and (3) technique -- knowing when your knees require
you to stand, knowing how to pace yourself so that you have energy to
stand for a given length and incline of hill.

I've been amazed at how easy it is to climb longish (~1 mile) hills in
even a 75" gear when you keep your cadence very low. When I ride with
my brother on longish hills, he on a derailleur bike and I on a fixed
gear, I often have to keep backing off to avoid running into him. (I
let him set the pace since I am psychologically unable to set as slow
a pace as he can be comfortable with.)

(For the record: when my brother is in shape, as he is now, the pace
will pick up; but he still is far, far more sedate than I am.)

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--
"Believe nothing until it has been officially denied."
-- Claude Cockburn

-------------------------
Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA
For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW
http://resumespecialties.com/index.html
-------------------------

[Montclair BobbyB]

Here's a first photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16461051@N04/7854475750/in/photostream

This thing pedals SO quietly, I'm able to sneak up on deer...  I rode it for a few miles tonight on the crushed stone path along the Delaware River south of Lambertville/New Hope... I didn't want to stop, but ran out of light and had to turn back.  (Need to install those lights TONIGHT!!!!)

BB