Bike update: reflectors and an expensive bell

[Antaresia]

And a new seat!



And beer on the rack, oooooh ya.
When I took my bike back for it's free tune up, I got the current seat swapped for a brooks. I still really dislike the owner, a lot. But whatever, it's done and over with now. The guy I dealt with for the tune up was a total doll though. We talked about getting winter-ready, his international bike adventures, and gear ratios. His shirt may have been covered in bike grease (apparently he rarely works the floor), but he was much more suitable for talking to people than the owner.

I also got a bell put on, at a DIFFERENT lbs. I've been having problems finding a bell that fits those massive bars. So I walked in, told the guy what I wanted, and he attached it to headset (I think?). Anyway, it's on there. Too bad I didn't look at the price before he put it on, that's a $25 bell. He already did all the work of getting it on, so I just sucked it up. It was $35 all together ;_;
To be fair, it sounds freaking awesome.

AND I just put on my LightWeights. They look sooo cool and I'm putting a set on my mixte sometime soon. I love riding after dark, I actually feel safer.



I want to put a bit of reflective material on the fork, where that ugly yellow logo is. I was thinking a heart shape, but I'd love some other suggestions.

And one last thought, I REALLY wish someone explained to me how different presta valves are compared to schrader. It was 6:00pm on Sunday when I decided to put more air in the soma - my CCM is schrader. I can't believe I didn't break anything. Then I couldn't figure out how to make my reversible pump work for presta. It was...an ordeal .

And because you ladies are great, here is a happy thought for the rest of the week. Enjoy.

[grey]

Oooh, I like those reflectors! Glad to see the bike is getting more and more personality. Have you named him/her yet?

[hebe]

I love the way that your bike is turning into your bike, if that makes sense. How are you getting on with riding it, after the various fixes? Are you still riding your lovely mixte, too?

That picture is so funny! Would you mind if I used it in my blog?

[Antaresia]

I love the way that your bike is turning into your bike, if that makes sense. How are you getting on with riding it, after the various fixes? Are you still riding your lovely mixte, too?

That picture is so funny! Would you mind if I used it in my blog?

Thanks!
I still have problems when I shift the front; shifting to a harder a gear sometimes causes total lost of traction, and I just have to frantically hit the shift up & down until something catches. I've learned to live with it by staying on the middle cog at all times, I don't' really to shift there anyway.

I still ride my mixte; the soma is my commuter and the mixte is everything else. I don't let the soma out of my sight (I keep my bike inside at work). I can lock the mixte to a random stop sign until 1:00am.

I can't even remember where I found that photo, so I guess you could put it up and wait to see if anyone want's a credit or for you to take it down.

And Grey, I do call the soma The Secretary. I was describing my bikes to an uptight friend of mine, I told him "I love my old bike, it's a total tank and so much fun! It's my wifey. The new bike is much newer, hotter, faster...twitchier too. It's like my hot secretary".

[laura*]

I still have problems when I shift the front; shifting to a harder a gear sometimes causes total lost of traction, and I just have to frantically hit the shift up & down until something catches. I've learned to live with it by staying on the middle cog at all times, I don't' really to shift there anyway.

When you up-shift the front, keep pushing on the shifter until the chain has mostly completed the shift. Don't just give it a quick tap.

The derailleur needs to be in a certain position while you aren't shifting gears. That position isn't necessarily where it needs to be when shifting into that same gear. You need to overshift a teensy bit to get the chain up onto a bigger gear. Also, there are only a few positions of the gears where a shift is possible: Four, three, or maybe only just two positions! This means you have to turn the cranks quite a ways before a shift will start. Consequently, the derailleur needs to be in the "overshifted" position for a while. Thus the need to keep the shifter pressed.

[soprano]

Did he mount the bell on a special headset spacer? It sounds to me like you got a good price. You'd spend $15 for the bell, $7 or so on the special spacer and then pay shipping just for the parts online. Then you'd still have to take off your handlebars to install the thing.

It'll be totally worth it the first time you need to pass a blind pedestrian.

[HillSlugger]

Nice bike!

I have that sticker on my car