When the Rivs are sold out and you need a bike for daily commuting...

[Stephanie A.]

You might head to your LBS and pick up this guy:

I bought a Bianchi Torino Dama, in the late spring to commute around a college town (Princeton) and prepare to go car-free in my next stop (Boston). It's taken a couple of months to turn this into something that better suits my needs--mostly because of stock issues and uncertainty about what I actually needed. Grab some coffee, tea, and a snack, because it's been a journey.

[Ezri Rose]

That looks like it could be a good around-town bicycle. What did you change on it? Will it take a front and/or rear rack?

I've been car-free since 2020, most of that time was in Denver. Now I'm in Florida, but if you need any winter commuting advice, I've learned a thing or two. Good luck on your car-free journey!

Ezri

[Marc Irwin]

Back a few years, I mistimed my chance at a Wilbury and ended up with a Soma Buena Vista.  It was a great city bike for years before it was stolen.  So, I bought another, built it a little racier and love it even more.

.

[Roberta]

Nice!  I think mixte/ step thru frames are terrific for commuting, especially if there’s a lot of stop and go. There’s something calming about riding mine after a day at work. 

Roberta

On Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 3:24:56 PM UTC-5 Stephanie A. wrote:

[lucky...@gmail.com]

One of my favorite step thru bikes I gaze at online is Chucky Berl’s (Marygold Cyclery) Specialized Hard Rock built up as a upright touring/all-rounder bike. It reminds me of the Bosco Platy and makes me want to build one. 

On Nov 13, 2022, at 08:23, Roberta <rcha...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Stephanie A.]

She’s been great so far!

The first order of business was new pedals (VO Sabot) because the stock pedals were awful. Why do companies include sad plastic pedals that just add unnecessary plastic to the world? I mean, I know why. But can we make it stop?

Then I realized a backpack left me arriving places with sweat marked shirts. I ride in my normal clothes, so that wasn't going to work. The best option that I found in stock at the time was a front rack (VO Constructeur) with a basket (Wald half 137) and cargo net. The placement of the dropouts on my bike means I had to do a fair amount of bending to get the rack mostly out of the way of my fork. I definitely lost some paint during the install, but the rack has done the job.

[Stephanie A.]

That bike is a beaut.

On Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 1:14:10 PM UTC-6 Lucky wrote:

[Stephanie A.]

I love your story about Byron! I was wanting a Platypus, but they were all gone in my size at the time. Of course now they have some! But I’ve also grown fond of the 700c-sized wheels on my Torino and may not want to go down to 650. Maybe Riv will dream up something similar with 700c wheels in my size, or maybe I’ll try to get a custom in a few years, or maybe some other perfect bike will emerge. Who knows.

[Robb]

Before I bought my Atlantis I had a Grant designed Soma Monte Carlo, so while waiting for the Gus Boots I went back to Soma for a Double Cross Disk for off-ride riding. When Gus Boots arrived the Double Cross became the commuter. Just before I retired it was replace by a Clem L.

[Stephanie A.]

Handlebar and basket bags: As great as the basket is, I sometimes carry more or oddly sized items that took forever to lash down securely in the basket. I went for a saddle bag that could also be used as a handlebar bag: Road Runner Bags' Jammer Bag. The water resistance is A+. The bag looks cool as heck. But it took too long for me to get on and off and it can get in the way of my headlight. The Wizard Works WizViz Alakazam bag has solved all of my problems.

Saddle: I'm used to a racing saddle. Against all of my knowledge and experience, I thought the stock saddle might be okay. It was not. My bones were tender even after short rides. I felt uncomfortable and a little scared mounting and dismounting frequently at lights and stop signs. Once I got the B17s, I immediately found it easier to mount and dismount and felt no tenderness even after my first ride. I can't imagine ever riding on anything else. Extra bonus: I could raise the seat post much higher, which meant I now had room for...

Saddlebag: A SlimSucker saddle bag! I'm kind of wishing I had purchased the HappiSack for extra room:

Rear rack: A NittoxSimworks on-the-road rear rack. It's been impossible to find in US shops, but I tracked one down in Canada at Dismount! The green struts came from Analog. Now to decide on pannier bags...

[Stephanie A.]

Sorry, apparently my posts are too long.

Here's what I'm still looking to change:

1. Handlebars! Maybe Chocos or Albatross for more hand positions and real estate, but I think that'll also need a different stem.

2. Dynamoooo

3. I have really small hands, so trigger shifters for the rear have been a nice change from the brifters I had that were a reach for me on old bikes. I wonder if any other shifters or brake levers would work even better?

4. I'll get studded schwalbes for snow, but are there any recs for 700cx38 that are good for road that sometimes becomes mud or sand when going around people on the greenway? My stock tires are Kenda. 

5. Paul Motolites

6. Generally adding more chaotic color throughout

7. Longer fenders

Anywhooooo. We'll see how this goes! This group has been such a great place to look up options and read your reflections on biking and gear and life. I had wanted a Platypus, but I'm having a lot of fun playing around with this bike to make it my own.

[Shoji Takahashi]

Looks great, and welcome to Boston! 

My hands and wrists don't do well with straight bars-- I have albatross bars on my Homer, which agree with my wrists. (I also use and enjoy Bosco and Jones bars alongside another bike with drop bars.)

It looks like your stem has a front plate, which would make handlebar changes straightforward. The hardest part is probably getting the grips off. 

Tailwinds,

shoji

Arlington MA

[Roberta]

Love the look of your bike. It’s even so much better when it’s “just perfect”. Dyno-  yes, absolutely the best. Enjoy the ride!

I’m sending you a PM about tires. I have a barely ridden pair that you might be interested in. Check your spam folder if not in your inbox by midnight. 

Roberta

[Stephanie A.]

@Robb: that's one stout looking front  bag!

@Shoji: for me it's my torso--I need to be able to move forward and stretch out or sit more upright with my hands farther back. Straight bars aren't giving me the versatility I want. I've tried to get the grips off and think I may end up taking an exacto knife to them and peeling them off.

@Roberta: thank you! I don't know if I'm pushing what she's meant to carry, weight wise. I haven't had any trouble yet, except for maneuvering her fully loaded when I'm off the bike!

Here she is, fully loaded today with ballet stuff in the front and the too-warm jacket I started with stuffed into the slimsucker.

[R. Alexis]

The grips should come off fine. Just stick a slim, long flat screwdriver under it, then spray some alcohol in under it to loosen it. Should slide off fine. Can use the same solution or hairspray to slide on new bars. 

Thanks,

Reginald Alexis

[Stephanie A.]

Mr. Ray, I almost bought one of the VO polyvalents, but no LBS carried one to try and I was clueless on how to build up a bike.

Reginald, thank you for that tip.

Y'all. I took Rubia (hey, look at that, my bike has a name now) out for a rainy commute and it was incredibly empowering. Back in ye olde car days, I'd have 100% opted to drive. And before I figured out what tools would help make me feel comfortable riding in the rain, I'd have called a rideshare for trips that didn't have efficient public transit options. Both me--except for my shoes--and my stuff (including pointe shoes, which are extremely sensitive to moisture) arrived home bone dry. Most importantly, I felt comfortable and safe. 

Besides my previously mentioned bags from Wizard Works and RBW and the lights and many reflective touches I keep on my bike, here's what made it comfortable for me.

1. Bike poncho (in yellow), but you can see it on a bike in the black color: https://store.moma.org/products/kiu-reflective-bike-poncho. I had the back under my rear end since my saddle had a (quite soaked) cover on. I'm sure any poncho or garbage bag would truly be fine, this just had a lot of features that were v functional for me. I felt like I was in a little cocoon of reflectivity and water-repellent safety.

2. Randi Jo Fabrications saddle cover on my leather saddle kept it d r y despite being locked up in the rain for over an hour. I'm pretty sure I found out about RJF from you fine folx, so many hat tips to you.

[Patrick Moore]

Stephanie: I also find riding in the rain, occasionally, rather fun; since this is high desert NM and I work at home and choose my own schedule, I don't do this a lot, but I used to regularly ride home on rainy days (rains usually come up in the afternoon during our summer "monsoon" season) and tried various capes, ending up with a $20 lightweight yellow nylon cycling cape from Campor. 

Tip for the rear of the cape, if you want to keep it down in back: the Campmor cape had leg loops which were very awkward; I removed those and sewed on a small stack of large metal washers; works like a charm: keeps it down even in wind, and takes up so little space I can easily stuff the cape back into its very small carrying bag. Note: Keeping it down in back makes the cape cover a small saddlebag, mostly.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Stephanie A.]

I was cleaning my bike a few weeks ago and noticed that I was living past the minimum insertion height of my seatpost. Oops.

.

Simworks had their Thanksgiving sale a week or two later, so I picked up a longer seatpost.

[Stephanie A.]

For the winter (and potential unexpected/unavoidable icy patches--especially on the bridges) I've thrown on some Schwalbe studded tires. For my peace of mind, I've also installed pitlocks wherever they work on Rubia. 

I'm pretty sure the next change will be adding HTA Albatross bars, which should work with my current shifters and brakes while I save up for changing to bar ends and dialing in a gearing range that will work best for me. I'm using so few of my gears and am often topping out. We'll see. First, I have to literally count teeth because Bianchi Torinos usually come with 8x3, but some pandemic-era units (including mine) were sent out with 8x2, presumably due to parts shortages. I haven't found any spec sheet that lists the 8x2 setup, so I'm left counting teeth.

[Stephanie A.]

Some early spring changes:

1. Rubia now friction shifts, front and rear! I changed it myself (!). I was worried I'd do something wrong that would end in catastrophic failure, so only swapped the front shifter and cable at first. Once I felt comfortable with my handiwork and friction shifting, I changed out the rear shifter, cable, and decided I could probably handle measuring and installing new housing, too. I cut the blue housing a little longer to leave room for potential handlebar changes. Many thanks to those of you who suggested the PT videos--they got me through it. 

2. Studded tires are off and the original tires are back on. I'm hoping to change them eventually, but crankset changes are coming first.

3. My spouse tried to help me remove one handlebar grip when I said I was going to need to take it off to change the shifters. He got it off, but he did so with a dremel. He was a bit sheepish when I got the second grip off easily with some rubbing alcohol. Enter Ergon grips to replace the similarly styled original grips.

4. I decided to free up room on my handlebars by mounting my primary front light to the front rack. Someone at my LBS made a little mount for it with spare metal.

[Stephanie A.]

New changes: 

-koma light with nitto holder (headlights in fun colors seem to be in short supply in the US)

-albatross bars + faceplater 135 stem

-freak accident sheared off part of my right IRD shifter, replaced with a silver 2 I mounted to the stem

-finished simworks x Nissen housing--left quite long for reasons

-chain was dead; installed a new one (it's actually not too hard!)

Rubia got some time on packed dirt around the emerald necklace; it was fun.

Next up:

-ta carmina crankset (I've got the cranks and spider, but not the chainrings or some of the tools I'll need to change it; may need a new fd)

-king cage side loader, hoping it'll work with my lock mount

-

[R. Alexis]

Bike is looking good! Nice seeing the progress. You noted:

" -freak accident sheared off part of my right IRD shifter,"

What was broken? Shifter lever? Clamp? 

Are you keeping the parts that came off the bike? If you get a different frame you can move all the nice parts from this one and remount the old ones back on this bike. 

Thanks,

Reginald Alexis

[Stephanie A.]

Reginald--it was the hollow fastener and barrel adjuster. I think it might have been salvageable, but I hastily threw out the mount (kept the lever and assembly). The bike was in the living room and it took a half tumble into some cabinets. The shifter was mounted above the handlebar and in prime position for damage.

I have been keeping all of the original parts for just that situation. All of my family members who visit are shorter than I am, so it'll be the perfect spare bike for them!