The Helmet diaries and other things.....

Reenactment

For the past week I have been trying to ride more and do distances longer than the 5 blocks to the Farmers market, however due to my poor fitness I have been driving to a flat bike path along Elliot bay (cue shame and irony at driving somewhere to ride your bike).  On Wednesday I was loading up my bike, the de-panniered HD, on the rear rack and put my helmet and water bottle on the trunk while doing so, making a mental note not to forget they were there.  I forgot.  At the end of my alley I thought I heard a weird noise but dismissed it, and about 1/2 mile later I look over at the passenger seat and register there is something missing connect the weird noise and double back to find my helmet and water bottle.  Nothing, they are no where to be found.  Odd, but I press on and do a short ride on the bike path anyway (cue the slings and arrows of helmet-less riding).

Look Ma no panniers!

So this morning while out running errands I go to my local bike shop to get a new helmet, keep in mind I have about 4 LBS to chose from in my neighborhood.  I read somewhere a long time ago that all helmets pass the same safety rating and it occurred to me that the expensive multi vent super light helmet with the vaguely Italian name was no better at keeping me from cracking my noggin than the entry level Bell helmet at Kmart.  So I was just looking for something basic and settled on a nice modestly priced Specialized.

New lid

As the shop owner was coming up from the repair area to ring me up I am relating the story of how I stupidly lost the last helmet and he gets a slow smile and asks "was it red?" and I say yes and it was a Bell, and he goes back to the repair area and produces both my helmet and water bottle!   He explains that one of his customers was volunteering at a church, there is one near the end of my alley, and found them in the street and brought them into the shop.  How cool is that!? I wasn't too bummed at losing the helmet, at 5 years old it probably needed to be replaced anyway (styrofoam breaks down after a while) but the water bottle was a gift from my daughter so I was very happy to get it back.  Serendipity strikes again, thank you good samaritan!

Farmers Market bikes

I am always on the lookout for cool bikes at the Sunday farmers market and last week didn't disappoint.  First an 80's  Centurion Le Mans RS.

Its sporting a new SunRace rear derailleur, it doesn't take much to keep these old steel steeds going and I'm always glad when I see people making the effort.

New RD

And with lights, rack and leather saddle this vintage ride actually gets used.

Then I spotted a real prize, a Rivendell Clem Smith Jr.  I knew of them of course and they looked good on the web but in person it was absolutely stunning.  So clean and shiny it was as if it had just been wheeled out of the shop.

Clem Jr.

Fellow bike blogger Anniebikes just purchased a step thru model - the Clementine.

Dry Dock for the Passage

After three rides, with the front derailleur cable going completely slack on the last ride, I decided it was dry dock time for the Passage.  Issues with fit, frayed cable ends making adjustment difficult, brake lever position, need for brake adjustment etc I thought it was time to end the "just ride it" experiment and do an overhaul.  The new, wider, tires have already arrived and I have ordered enough new parts to equal what I paid for the bike lol.  In addition to the Nitto stem, different chain rings, MKS Sneaker pedals and bell I talked about in the previous post I added a few new items as well.

I found the stock mid 80's handlebars to be a bit narrow and since I already planned to replace the stem and brake levers I thought I would go the whole way and got some Velo Orange Chris' Rando bars in a 48cm width.

While I was there I took advantage of the 50% off sale on their sprung model 5 saddle rather than cannibalize the Brooks off my Motobecane.  I got brown as the other colors are sold out.

Lezyne HD Sport

Although I could get away with it on the short flat rides I was doing, I didn't like riding without a pump.  I really wanted to get a Zefal HD frame pump, the Passage has a brazed on pump peg for gosh sakes! but I went with the Lezyne for a couple reasons:

• It was on sale and half the price of the Zefal.
• I have used a Lezyne pump on the HD and really liked it;  small, light and gets enough pressure in a tire in about 30 strokes.  And it comes with a mount that fits under the water bottle cage.
• I like the flexible hose at the end of the Leyzne because with a frame pump like the Zefal the pump body and head are directly attached to the valve stem and I always worry I am going to break off the tubes valve while pumping.
• The Leyzne's hose has a Schrader end and a Presta end, easy peezy, the Zefal has a Chinese puzzle like head that needs to be disassembled to adjust for S vs P.

So there you go, enjoy the long weekend and Ride.Smile.Repeat.