Bag Fetish (Alcohol Makes Everything Work Better)

I have a bag fetish. You will hear lots about this as time goes on.

For now, suffice it to say that I enjoy having the right bag for the occasion and I like having it slung on my bicycle properly. I have been quite fixated as of late with English saddle bags, namely the Carradice transverse saddlebags. You know, the ones that conveniently match the nice English saddles like Brooks. I have the Nelson Longflap which is an excellent bag. As Peter White says, it can carry just about everything you would want on a bicycle outside of a tour. A touch spendy, but the reputation of Carradice bags is that they will outlive your bike and probably you. So I would rather spend a little extra dough up front.

I have a Selle Anatomica Titanico LD with the watershed coating. This is a perfect saddle. It is their permutation of a Brooks saddle with a more anatomical design (read: penile nerve cutout). Right out of the box, it fit incredibly and was comfortable for the long haul. The saddle needed retensioning after about 70 miles, but that was no big deal. They even use a standard allen bolt for their tension mechanism. If you are on the fence regarding one, stop hesitating. This saddle is perfect.

I stitched mine, following a hypothesis that a narrower nose and stiffer seat might enhance the perfection. The stitching did firm up the saddle a little and narrow up the nose, but the improvements were not worth the effort. The saddle was just fine as is. The folks over at Selle Anatomica simply knocked it out of the ballpark with this design.

Oh, and the watershed coating really lives up to its name. I have done one full year of riding in Northeast weather (rain, humidity, ice, snow, salt, sun: we have it all in spades). The leather has not been treated with anything other than abuse and crotch sweat. Even where I have torn up the saddle (damned brick walls), the leather is still holding up, albeit in scuffed fashion.

My one beef with the saddle, however, is how the saddle does not like to like to play with the Bagman QR saddlebag supports. The Selle Anatomica does have bag loops, but the rails are set in such a way that they interfere with the QR mechanism on the Bagman QR. I am sure that the normal Bagman support would work just fine. I run a lot of errands with my commuter bike and I like to be able to take the bag off when I lock up my bike in shadier areas.

I got it into my head today that I would attach the female portion of fastex buckles to the bag loops on the saddle and then run the bag straps through the male part of the fastex buckles. Instant quick-release design! I don't know if this is original, so I don't claim it for my own, but these are the odd ideas that occur to me when I am riding.

First and foremost: a drink. Along with the ability to have a lot more of them if necessary. Box wine kicks serious ass in the "lot more of them" department. There are decent box wines out there. And while they are not the best in terms of quality, the wines are palatable and they more than compensate in quantity. All DIY projects require alcohol to work properly. The amount of alcohol consumed on a DIY project is exponentially proportional to how much fun the project is.

From my math minor days, I believe the formula is:
"Fun = (Alcohol Consumed * Project Complexity)^3."

Of course the corollaries of that formula are:
"Project Success = 1/(Alcohol Consumed)^5"
and
"Probability of Injury = (Coeffiecient of Power Tools)(Alcohol Consumed * Project Complexity)^13."

Pretty daunting odds. But I know what I must do in order to make this project fly. Drink more.

Here are the key components:



Oh wait, here are the real parts for the project (.75" fastex buckles and .75" nylon webbing):


Then the alcohol starts serving its real purpose. Why the hell can't I fit that QR mechanism under the saddle?! I know, I'll just jam that shit in there! With a hammer, if need be. I'll make it work! And what do you know? It does work. I didn't even need a hammer. It was a challenge that resulted in much alcohol-fueled profanity, but that QR bracket fits in there.


Note that the top part, the QR portion, does not sit entirely flush with the rails. Maybe with a little grinding from a Dremel tool, it would fit. But my patience just wasn't there tonight. Also note that the mount is pushed almost completely to the seatpost clamp.


So, score another hit for the Selle Anatomica! And score a hit for red wine! You can indeed use these saddles with the Bagman QR supports, but they just require a little cajoling to fit in there. What's more, you can still use the QR mechanism easily enough. I will warn you, however, that if you have your saddle positioned way forward, the Bagman bracket won't fit on the rails anyway.

A Nearly Perfect Spring Day

Winters in Vermont suck. They have totally worn me out. The long winter here is soul-abrading and I don't think I am the only one. Burlington is suddenly alive again with hordes of people that came out of nowhere. The waterfront is packed, often with annoying people. But so what? It was a good day to be alive yesterday, and a great day to be outside.

As a result from a confluence of factors, I did not get in the ride I was planning. Given how beautiful it was outside, this was inconsequential. A book, a bike, a latte... the only thing missing was this person:


Good food tastes better with good company.

I was out of coffee at home so I decided to stop for an iced latte while I was out. Starbucks gets a bad rap, but I like them. A vente non-fat latte from Starbucks always hits the spot for me. Yes, the roast is a bit deep, but still palatable. Moreover, the atmosphere at Starbucks is almost always pleasant. Only when the place is packed to the rafters is when things get a little too noisy. And the staff always seem happy to be at work. I don't ever recall encountering a miserable Starbucks employee. The company must be doing something right.

I would prefer to buy local, but take these local folks for example: Speeder and Earl's. Almost invariably, the staff are snotty, surly, and act as if they are doing me a favor by even bothering to take my order. The atmosphere is pleasant at the main store, but the experience of dealing with their staff leaves me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I end up being pissed off about being in their store.

And another thing: it should not take four minutes to make my latte. The "baristas" (I use that term loosely for the S&E staff) are amazingly slow. I am not in any huge rush, but there is taking time to make a quality product and then there is just being glacial. I used to own an espresso stand, so I know. If you're going over 75 seconds per standard hot drink, something is wrong.

Until next time, enjoy your bike, enjoy your coffee, and enjoy your friends.

Rose's New Old Peugeot

My friend Rose bought an 80's vintage Peugeot Bordeaux. It is a steel frame, not lugged, and does not have Reynolds tubing. But it has soul and character that is just not available in most aluminum production bicycles. My Cannondale R1000 can't even touch this Peugeot with regards to soulfulness. The HLE tubing, despite being about on par with high-carbon steel, produces a ride that engenders love.

Because of this love, Rose has opted to put a whole bunch of work and upgrades in this frame. It was a decently operating bike prior, but now it is nicely (I daresay beautifully) modernized.

Among the upgrades are Tektro R730 long reach brakes, Cane Creek SCR-5C short-reach levers, gold Nokon brake and shift cables (crappy website alert), 9-speed 11-32 SRAM cassette, and Xero XR-4 wheels.

Yes the wheels are nothing special, but Rose is lightweight and not a hardcore rider. She can get away with a lesser wheelset in the interest of saving some money now. Later, she will probably upgrade to Mavic Aksium or Ksyrium Equipe wheels.

She still needs a new saddle, but has a Coda titanium rail saddle for now. There is probably a Brooks saddle in store for this bicycle. And the bike will need a new bottom bracket by the end of this cycling season. This works out well because Rose plans on painting her bicycle this coming winter. Rumor has it that a solid metal-flake brown is the goal. I'll keep you apprised.

Overall, this is an impressive and lovable bike with a supple, yet very responsive ride. The bicycle eats up crappy Vermont roads with aplomb. The ride far exceeds the cost of the bike and new parts. Why can't modern bike companies bike companies build a general bike like this anymore? It would seem that they have forgotten how to build a useful, comfortable bicycle.

This Peugeot was not even anything all that special in its day. But an "equivalent" bicycle made today will never be a classic. There is just no love that such a modern bicycle can engender beyond some personal sentimental value. And because of what conglomerate bike builders have forgotten, even the once-mundane has become a righteous classic. Hopefully more bicycle manufacturers will "discover" what they forgot. But I am not holding my breath.