I'm still trying to come up with an efficient way to get around town. This is my daughter's Cannondale. I swapped out the sidepull brakes for cantis, installed the rack and added fenders. This may be more practical than the Colnago, but the frame is way too small for me. I feel scrunched, but don't dare raise the seat more. I think some upright bars might help. The fenders were a hassle. I can dink around for a day getting a good fender line with clearance. The bike was set up for racks but not fenders - no holes in the bottom and brake stay, etc. So I futzed around and fashioned little widgets. I eventually strapped the fender to the rear rack with a little leather belt. I'm giving it all a thumbs up. The crankset gets a thumbs down. Even on snow and ice I need more inches. What's the point of a triple crank if they're all small and you have a big rear cog? This was originally an upright town bike (re-did the bars earlier). Somewhere in a cubicle someone got paid to spec this. I would wager they were not a bicyclist. Oh, I upgraded the rear derailleur too, because I had one. I'll deal with the tinkertoy front derailleur when I replace the crank.
After I posted this it was pointed out to me by a bicycle professional that my gear choice, big rear cog/big front ring, smacked of poor bikemanship. I can not deny this, but at the time was a reason for it and I hereby throw myself on the mercy of the court.
I'm still trying to come up with an efficient way to get around town. This is my daughter's Cannondale. I swapped out the sidepull brakes for cantis, installed the rack and added fenders. This may be more practical than the Colnago, but the frame is way too small for me. I feel scrunched, but don't dare raise the seat more. I think some upright bars might help. The fenders were a hassle. I can dink around for a day getting a good fender line with clearance. The bike was set up for racks but not fenders - no holes in the bottom and brake stay, etc. So I futzed around and fashioned little widgets. I eventually strapped the fender to the rear rack with a little leather belt. I'm giving it all a thumbs up. The crankset gets a thumbs down. Even on snow and ice I need more inches. What's the point of a triple crank if they're all small and you have a big rear cog? This was originally an upright town bike (re-did the bars earlier). Somewhere in a cubicle someone got paid to spec this. I would wager they were not a bicyclist. Oh, I upgraded the rear derailleur too, because I had one. I'll deal with the tinkertoy front derailleur when I replace the crank.
After I posted this it was pointed out to me by a bicycle professional that my gear choice, big rear cog/big front ring, smacked of poor bikemanship. I can not deny this, but at the time was a reason for it and I hereby throw myself on the mercy of the court.
2 comments:
The choice of gears is a bit different, I always was told that you don't use "Big-Big" or "Small - Small". In my riding hey-day, I used about 6 of the gears available on my 12 speed.
The front derailleur was out of adjustment.The only way I could shift was by moving the chain by hand. I needed the big cog coming up the hill to home before I took the picture. It has been dealt with.
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