I started this post several months ago now. It is hard to pick up a project you set down for a time. But I am committed to capturing the bits and pieces, which is the real reason I started this blog.
Sometimes I think I am being pretty shallow blogging about bikes. I have three wonderful children. That is what most folks with kids blog about. It is compulsory. (does this thing have a spell check...apparently not). I also have a wonderful wife I could write about. Why am I not using my "journal" to discuss those most important to me?
O.K., next topic: finishing the Super Mirage story.
I rebuilt this blog from notes, so I used my outline for topic headings:
Project done, beautiful: Seriously. The word beautiful doesn't really describe it. (that is why I took a ton of photos). For my first bike project since I was a kid Frankenbiking jalopied scavenged BMX bikes, this bike was a wonderous thing to behold. It is kind of funny what a bunch of cleaning products will do. I had originally intended to paint the Moto, but it really didn't need it. (I needed a much rougher specimen to test this theory). So, I settled for the modest modifications and upgrades I made and a ton of cleaning.
Nature of Beauty?: (O.K., now I am getting a bit uneasy about deciding to go with the headings I used for my outline....) "Easily recognized." I guess I was waxing... Anyway. This topic is about how my Moto tapped into the Nature of Beauty - in the sense of shadows on the cave walls and all.. To prove it, I have an allegory about the "Ride to my orthopedic surgeon, and a group of joggers." On the way to my last checkup for my ACL reconstruction, I rode the Moto. While passing a cross country team, one jogger called out, "Nice bike". This was not an uncommon occurrence. People don't fawn over other people's possessions without prompting unless those things are a part of the Nature of Beauty.
Bottoms ride: Short.. Realized early in the ride that the bars were not adjusted well. In fact, I can safely say from my brief experience with the Moto, for all its beauty, it was designed in a time when not a lot was known about the human body. or my body is weird compared to the standard adult in'77. The geometry of the frame was fine. But a wider bar would have been better.
I recently put a set of Salsa durt drop bars on my '05 Marin San Anselmo to great pleasure. I can confidently say they were the nicest drop bars I've ever ridden. Just sold that bike for a fair price.
My read on bar adjustment. I kept tweeking the bars. I couldn't get the bars ergonomic for all riding positions. I think the new bar shapes, especially the ergo bars, handle this well. Even the dirt drops had liimits. Whereas the ergo bars are pretty good all around. The oldschool bars on my Motowere either up on the hods or down. This seems odd because the bike originally came with suicide brakes, which you'd presumably ride the flats to use effectively, but the bars were too short for comfortably riding on top. The drops were comphy, but to reach the brake levers, the levers had to be so low, you couldn't comfortably ride the hoods. up, down, up, down. I settles on down, to also reach the bar end shifters. End result..vioala.
..
