What do you ride?

[n6vfp]

I saw something like this over on LJ and thought I might try the same thing here...so goes the question... what are you riding nowadays?

My latest bike is a repurposed mountain bike, 27 speeds (3X9) with Shimano components. The wheel set is for disk brakes, sealed bearing Formula hubs, with 26X1.25 slicks. I use the same bike as I have an extra pair of wheels when I want to ride dirt. Brakes are Hayes hydraulic. This bike was made from parts found on sale or on Craigslist.





My other favorite bike is my Kona Ute.. my venture into the realm of cargo bikes.



Those are my primary bikes right now, but I have a few more...

A Scattante R330 road bike, 27 speed, (3X9) light and fast, with upgraded wheels and 700cX23 tires.

A K2 Zed 3.0 mountain bike, 24 speed, Manitou Minute fork, light and quick. Vintage 2001. Presently have a set on later wheels with Continental Town and Country tires on it.

A Schwinn Cruiser, vintage 1959, with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed rear hub. It is very much original, springer front fork, original 'Schwinn Approved' 3 speed shifter, brake lever, seat and handlebar grips. It is all there, rust and all. I need to give it some much needed attention someday.

I have a few more bikes, that right now I'm preparing to sell. Those include a Scattante Roma 7 speed, small frame (15") and an old Specialized HardRock Sport in an extra small frame (13.5").

Oh, I have a few more bikes in various states of repair, including a Specialized RockHopper comp (1989) and a Gary Fisher Montare (1990).

Comments

[sara]

Sadly, I am now hauling two kids around, day in and day out, so my primary bike is...a Toyota Prius.

My two-wheeled bikes are a Trek 520, which I would like to get a lot more time on than I have in the last couple of years, and a Bike Friday tandem that my daughter and I ride.

[n6vfp]

Depending on how old the children are, the Kona Ute can easily carry two kids (add kid seats or pad and buddy bar and foot pegs, I like the tandem idea. Another good choice would be a Yuba Mundo, another cargo bike.

[sara]

Yeah, not for six miles each way in Oregon in winter. There's masochism and then there's that....

I could probably get them both up on the tandem, but then I'd be hauling something like 140 lbs. of bike-and-kids.

[daedala]

My commuter is a 2001 or 2002 Terry Amelia mountain bike, with panniers and fenders added. I took it in to get fitted and the bike shop guy told me it already fit perfectly.

So I got a new-old-stock 2000 Terry Symmetry road bike, in purple (this is very important), because I wanted to try something faster. Because the season has just started, it's still on a trainer in my basement.

I've been biking for about a week now this season. I've got almost 50 miles so far!

[pinesandmaples]

The guilt over owning two bikes is abating, finally.

I have a Charcoal 2012 Globe Work at grad school with me in Indiana. Winter + being in a less bike-friendly city means I need a more sturdy ride, and the Work handles like a dream. It got me back on the road after a scary series of falls, too. Mods include fenders and a frame lock.

My beloved ride is a vintage roadie circa 1970. It's a small-time European brand that my dad bought as an import with 5 years of paper route money his freshman year of high school. The frame is slightly too big for me, but I ride it anyway. Nostalgia and the only connection I have to my father. It's light and fast and handles like a dream. It's been stuck in 10th for years, but I don't feel like fixing it. No fenders, but I recently put on a kelly green Origin 8 Aero saddle, and I've got some cushy pink grip tape. I ride the roadie in New Orleans, despite the pot holes, because it's easier and nicer to have a light bike down here. They city is pretty flat, and the drivers are much more aware of sharing the road so I can spend a little more time scouting ahead for problems my tires may run into on the streets.

[aedifica]

The guilt over owning two bikes is abating, finally.

Oh. Am I supposed to be feeling guilty? I have four. :-) The Trek 7200 hybrid is what I rode all winter, and what I ride when I plan to be carrying something that will fit on the rack but not in my backpack; the Trek 2.1 (I think) road bike just came out yesterday for the first time this year; and the John Deere (yes! really!) mostly sits in the garage but sometimes comes out when my mom wants to ride somewhere with me. There's also the crap Target mountain bike that I was thinking about using for a winter bike, but since the hybrid worked out so well for that this year, I may donate it somewhere.

Your bikes sound pretty cool too!

[pinesandmaples]

Oh. Am I supposed to be feeling guilty? I have four. :-)

I try to live a really low-stuff lifestyle, and I just don't know why I need two bikes when I can only ride one at a time. (Of course, when I'm having too many panic attacks and general freakouts about riding the roadie, I should probably have a bike I can actually ride.)

But I also live in a place that doesn't have a true winter so a roadie is actually practical year-round. (Well, my home in New Orleans is roadie-worthy...Indiana where the grad school is, not so much.) For other people in other regions, I can see how that isn't true. I also ride for transportation and fun, not fitness.

[onlysmallwings]

I haven't taken pictures of my new pretty yet. But I found a link! It's a 2011 (I think, I'll have to check for the model year) version of the GT Aerostream, just off the sales floor.

No modifications right now, but a friend of mine has modded his wife's bike a bit and more heavily modded both of his. I expect to hear how I can 'improve' my bike very soon.

[cpolk]

I'm still riding my Kona Dew Deluxe, but I'm getting very very close to the day where I get to buy a 3 speed, I'm just waiting for the order to come in. It'll be either a Linus Dutchie 3 or a Bobbin birdie. I'm really looking forward to that.

I'll leave the snow tires on my dew just in case (march is the heaviest snowfall month of the year, traditionally, but it keeps melting) and I think i'll be comfortable with changing back to slicks and taking it in for a seasonal tune-up, and then it will be ALL STEP THROUGH, ALL THE TIME. i can't wait.