ShadowPandas

Shadow Pandashot

As I was bicycling home today, I took particular note of my shadow-self, pedaling away in exaggerated perspective. As soon as I reached a particularly vacant section of cul-de-sac out came the camera.

Everything is 100% good with Zwartehond. The Ritchey liquid torque worked great, and the Brooks single rail seatpost clamp, flipped around and backwards allowed me to use the lovely sprung B.67 again. The classic style seatpost and clamp, allow for about a 40mm drop over the stock kalloy micro-adjust.  I spent Saturday morning going back and forth on the local crushed limestone trail, dialing everything in. I stayed off the big dutch-belgian beast until today, and when I climbed into the saddle this morning, it was like an old friend. Perfect fit, perfect reach.  As I commuted to work, the phrase
that came into my mind to describe my impression of the bike:  'The Big Easy'.

I rode the Felt Cafe3 quite a bit last week, and on Sunday as well, biking up the 12 miles from downtown in the 95F heat.  Not too bad.  This was the first time I had done this stretch of trail on the Felt, and it was suprising, just how swiftly the light Aluminum 3 speed took me. I stayed at least at 15mph. Zoom. Maybe I overdid it just a tad, as I had consumed a large lunch, as I ended up feeling slightly ill, even though I was hydrated. Ahwells.  Sometimes fast is good, sometimes it is good to take it easy.

Zwartehond saddle saga

I keep flailing with saddles for my WorkCycles Kruisframe, Zwartehond. The classic seatpost with B.72 works pretty well though. My only complaint is in how nightmarishly slick the B.72 was.  I hunted around on the internets for advice, then *gulp* lightly sanded the seat. Quite an improvement, and the lighter color of the abrasions all but disappeared with a little Obenauf's and some more riding.  My only complaint was that the seatpost and its shim was slightly shifting- twisting in the frame. It took a frightening amount of torque to stop it, and I backed off. I'm going to try some of that Ritchey Liquid Torque, and making sure the surfaces are reasonably burnished.

I also acquired a Brooks single rail classic saddle clamp, to experiment, maybe I can stick the B.67 back on, with a height comparable to the B.72s  I mean the -72 is great, but the 67's springs are so nice. Also the leathery texture is pleasant. I just flipped the post clamps around, so the clamp rides a bit above the rails, and keeps the overall height as low as possible.

Last Weekend Rides

Zwartehond and the wind turbine

I should probably get around to documenting these things when the weekend is still occuring.  Last weekend was enjoyable. My old-timey seatpost pillar and Brooks B.72 arrived, just in time to get Zwartehond out for a charity ride, most of the ways down to the end of the Cedar RiverHoover whatsit trail.  Zwartehond got quite a bit of attention, I also thought that the days of wine and roses were over, when the Nexus 8 hub started to act erratically. It just spun in third gear, and seemed to centrifugally clutch out of first into something like 6th.  At the turn-around control which happened to be a pub, I opened the chaincase and tried to remember anything relevant about the Nexus8 settings. Everything looked normal, but then, I had never read the service manual.  

As I departed, full of dread about having to bike with a failing gear system  20 something miles back to town and then home, I noticed the shifter-  the cable had bounced 3cm or so out of the adjusting barrel. I re-secured it, and everything started operating fine.  Seems like the shifter could be a little more durable. I should research if there are more austere metally ones- yes, that's right, I'm jealous of those old Sturmey Archer 3speed hub shifters.

Also, I really haven't been consuming alcohol much at all lately. So when I got to the control/Pub and had a pint and a half of Guiness, I expected to end up a little too buzzed to immediately return to bicycling. Nope. It bounced right off me.  I'm still not sure how that happened. Mind you, I'm still a neophyte when it comes to this cycling and drinking thing.  I'll confess, the fervent behavior of roadies and RAGBRAI clubs for alcohol is distressing to me.  I've had friends and family with drinking problems, and I guess I'm a little soured on it all. 

Lots and Lots of Bikes Actually!

I had a leisurely ride back to town, and had a little lunch at the Parlor City pub. Then a leisurely bike back north. I detoured to see if a biking enthusiast friend was at his house, but he was out. Ah well, just more miles. :)

Coming to an end of bike to work week, I was able to ride all five work days to my place of employment. I usually work something like 10 to 7, so I only rarely saw fellow bicycle commuters. Although I did meet one on Friday, since I left work early.  We were both waiting to use the cross-walk on a busy intersection that is absolutely abysmal- almost entirely untenable for bicycles. 

I also participated in the local Ride of Silence Wednesday evening. I was the only person there who was not in full tilt road-bicycle gear-  and probably the only person on a bike with less than 20 speeds. At least I was pretty silent. No clicking in or out, no derailuers clattering. Just soft clicks from the Nexus 3 hub. I still make freewheel noise, mind you.  :

I'm also currently caught playing saddle roulette with Zwartehond, the Azor / Workcycles Kruisframe.  Zwartehond is probably just a smidge too big for me. With the seatpost all the way down, I have a just a little too much over-the-top whip on my pedal stroke - with the Brooks B67 fitted.  When I fit the Selle An Atomica Titanico X,  which is about 3cm shorter, everything feels great- But the Titanico really isn't such a good sit up and beg saddle. The stock micro-adjust seatpost I've noticed has quite a bit of height taken up with the mechanism. The B67 has so much height taken up with the springs..

So I hypothesized that a classic seatpost, when coupled with a Brooks B72 and old style seat clamp ought to come out at the same height as the Titanico- and still afford me with some spring suspension.

I can save the B67 for... the Flying Pigeon PA-02 that I just ordered from Flying Pigeon LA.   Why did I order a Flying Pigeon?  I wanted a bike that would let me do some more mechanics on, and particularly old mechanics.  That and vintage Raleighs are all but impossible to find out my way.  So I'm sure that will be an adventure. But that's what we all want from cycling right?

Opinels

From Top to Bottom: Opinel Numbers  9, 6, and 5

I've seen Opinel knives starting to show up in lifestyle merchants, places like Archival Clothing, and the Kaufmann Merchantile - sometimes with little explanation about why these knives are good, or little in the way of reviews. Well I've had Opinels 20 years, so this is a long-term review and some thoughts.

The French version of the block-corner store is the Tabac, and when I was visiting that country in  1992,  I invariably remember that along with the newspapers, magazines, and tobacco, would be a display of these wood-handled pocket knives, set in a red velvet flocked tray.  This was my introduction to the Opinel knife. Seriously affordable, I think my No5. was 30 francs or a little more than $5.00 dollars.  I purchased it and a No6.

The Opinel brand starts in the 1890s, but similar pocket knives go back much, much further, to at least the late 1500s, chiefly seeming to be a product of various Arabian and Middle Eastern countries, migrating repeatedly into Europe through trade. By the 1600s  familiar pocketknives are regularly produced in cutlery centers, Toledo, Sheffield, Solingen, Aveyron, etc.  Most of these were of moderate to considerable quality, with numerous hand-operations required for production, and as a result carried something of a price.

In 1890 or so Joseph Opinel created a pocket knife suited for mass production - with techniques first pioneered in the United States - and largely automated handle shaping and finishing, resulting in knives of extremely low cost, but of quite reasonable quality. Distribution through peddlers and consignment in Tabacs- resulted in high sales, which further increased purchases and drove economics of scale - with sales growing to hundreds of thousands a year. The Opinel quickly eclipsed its more expensive Laguiole knife brother.

Opinel No6 with the Viroblock collar rotated to lock the blade

The classic opinel knife has a wooden handle of varnished beech, with no liners. The handle is capped by a ferule, through which the rivet that secures the blade is driven and peened. In Opinels #6 and up, a locking collar - the virobloc is clamped over the ferule. This twists so as to lock the blade into the open or closed position.  In the No5 and smaller opinels only the friction of the handle keeps the blade into open or closed position, and care must be taken to only apply force back and against the edge, or else the blade might just close onto your fingers. I tend clamp-grip the No.5 between my fingers and thumb, out of the way of the blade's travel. That said, even the locking models are not intended for excessively stout work, and care should be taken to keep forces applied to the handle to a minimum.  I will also hold the blade only, by the sides, for fine work.

The Opinel blade is thin -  a bit over 2mm thick, and while latest models can be had with a stainless - inox steel, the classic knives use a high carbon steel. While requiring some maintenance, this steel is both easier to sharpen and arguably cuts more effectively than stainless.  The Carbon or "Carbone" steel blades will take on a patina- (the so called 'stain' that stainless steels avoid) with use- especially when cutting acidic fruits or vegetables, this has no effect on the cutting power of the blade though. I lightly coat my blades with olive and/or vegetable oil, to keep them from rusting. My No5, is in my pocket every nearly day, and I use it frequently in peeling oranges. I'll keep the blade dressed in the orange-oil from the peel, which has some anti-rust properties.

The large No9. Makes a great light camp and cooking knife, perhaps the only one needed while out in the field. (Do the heavier cutting chores with a hatchet or camp-saw) All Opinels prepare vegetables with aplomb, their thin flat ground blades chop slice and peel, my No9. has seen weeks of use in this role. All opinels are very light, making them perfect for bike camping or hiking.
Sharpening. It took me forever to become good at sharpening, and my Opinel no5. holds a special place in my heart as it was the first knife that I was able to resharpen to a hair-shaving edge. I would always use stones, but never get a truly sharp edge. After much internet research, especially at youtube- I picked on the technique of drawing the knife along the stone- (I use a Smith's Tri-Hone-6) as opposed to pushing. I'll use the fine-stone to set the edge with alternating strokes to each side. Then to finish, I will use the scary-sharp method (again, learned on the wonderful internet) which involves using extremely fine grit sandpaper (I use 2000 grit) laid on a cheap mousepad. With light alternating circular draws over the paper, the blade will then become literally shaving sharp.   I've found that I can touch up the edge by stropping in a similar motion on the rough cardboard back of a legal pad.

When I recieved my Workcycles Kruisframe from the freight company, the only knife I used in the unpacking was my diminutive No5. I then cut the cardboard shipping container into quarters, to toss in the recycling stack. The blade literally cut through about 18 feet worth of corrugated, and with a stropping on the back of a notepad, is just below hair-shaving sharp.  When I get around to it, I can sharpen it back up fully. Not bad for a 20 year old, 30 franc knife.

Hopefully this review has given some background on Opinels, a little flavor, and an idea about the knives. You can pick them up for very little from various merchants on the internet. If you've never experienced a carbon steel knife, or want a economical but good knife to learn to sharpen on, it would be hard to go wrong with an Opinel.

Felt Cafe3 and Flowers

I had a nice riding day, just warm enough to get only the mildest of sweats going while biking, and cooling off quickly when stopped.  Lunch on a grassy hillside with the Felt. A coworker asked me where my new bike, the Azor was.  It was a Felt Cafe3 type of day. Hills that once left me breathless, were forgotten ten seconds after I crested them.

So I guess the Felt Cafe 3 was so down-market that it did not warrant the availability of a rack for it. However my bike shop was able to get the rack from the Felt Verza.  The only downside of this, was that it was paint matched to that model year of Verza, with a very yellow-ish cream color.  About a month and a half ago, I finally went nuts, and attacked the rack with sanding blocks, emery sticks, sand paper, and a wire-brush wheel chucked to a drill.  After about five hours of effort I was rewarded with a mostly paintless shiny aluminum rack. Definitely a better look.

Zwartehond Voyaguer

Zwartehond and I went a-travelling last Sunday. While my daily commute takes me to the west, and I have also gone east and north to a degree, I had not yet made a trip down the length of the Cedar River trail.  So I gathered my things, strapped my newly waxed pointer chore coat onto Zwartehond's Carradice bag, and struck out west-ward to get onto the trail.  The sky alternated between grey and threatening - with a few warning drops, and periods of soft sunlight.

Powerplant and Kruisframe

 I ended up not needing the chore-coat, but the trip was good, as it assisted with further airing and curing of the otter-wax applied the day before. It now has only the faintest of scent, before, it smelled strongly similar to pine-sol, like an entire bottle of pine-sol emptied onto the floor of a room. About like that.

I stopped at a Dairy Queen for a frozen confection, but the line inside was interminably long, and I grew nervous for Zwartehond- chained up outside and gathering a bit of a crowd- it seemed as one individual was ascertaining the resiliency of the fencing to which it was secured.  That had me return outside and huffily set forth onto the trail again.  Maybe I was just paranoid.

All was not lost, ice-cream wise- for a mile or so down the trail was a walk-up ice-cream place, one that had formerly been a Tastee-Freeze. So I did get my small chocolate dipped cone, feeling safe being 10 feet from Zwartehond with the cafe-lock deployed, and what seemed like a more amiable atmosphere.

Finishing my cone, I continued my sortie down the trail, listening to WIRE's Manscape, as the ugly industrial infrastructure side of Starch City sprawled wide across the flat stagnate waters of Cedar Lake. Eventually I rolled through the quiet weekend streets of downtown, and guided Zwartehond through alleys still familiar from my days of working in the city.  Lunch at a favorite cafe. I locked Zwartehond up outside- there was a squad of firefighters also dining at one of the outside tables. The big kruisframe gathered quite a few long glances from them as they left. An older couple stopped to look at the black beast as well, the gentleman particularly spending a minute or two looking it over.

Black Dog Big City

 There is not too much more to tell perhaps.  I took the same trail that I had ridden about a month before on the Felt Cafe3. Maybe going at a more leisurely pace, although the big bike gets going quite speedily.  Twenty miles down, Twenty miles and five back, as I stopped by a friend's house. Fourty-five miles even, in no great hurry and under six hours.  This is the equivalent to mileage to day seven of Ragbrai, which I hope to bike this summer. I probably won't do it on Zwartehond, but it is nice to know I can cover some distance on such a big bike.  Twenty more miles, or a hundred kilometers, with a morning start would've been no big challenge.

Kruisframe Impressions

Gracious, what a big enormous beast of a bike.  I feel like I’m perched on top of the world- because I pretty much am. I found myself at the same eye level as the drivers in  most pickup trucks and SUVs.  The steel frame combined with the big Schwalbe Marathon tyres, and the Brooks B67 minimizes road-discomfort, a good thing too, given the quality of the roads around here.

The Shimano Nexus 8 speed is interesting, it certainly has a lower bottom end than the Nexus 3, and that’s probably a good thing, given that hills are a bit more of a challenge.  It also has no freewheel noise.  I snuck up behind some of my coworkers who were on a stroll,  and gave them the bell at 3 feet.

There is a bit of plastic on it, in spots I dont like, and I’ll be working on replacing that with metal or leather, I’m trying to really make it more 1920s appropriate.
It feels like a comfortable assuredness, riding the bike. A certainty that as long as you keep leisurely spinning the pedals, it will take you to whatever destination you wish. I love it!  

I was skeptical about the Brooks B67, the first few rides were rough.  I spent several hours tweaking the positioning, and now it is pointed just right and pretty comfortable, even though the leather is as hard as a rock.  I ordered another Selle An Atomica Titanico -X anyways. I’ll see how it goes.  The bag on it is a Carradice College, ordered from VeloFred, I’ll do more of a review later perhaps. I can admit however that on Tuesday evening, I rode home with a rotissere chicken, cornbread muffins, a can of cranberry sauce, and a change of clothes.

I tossed a coin for which bike I would take to work today, and the Felt Cafe3 won. Getting back on it after 4 days of Kruisframing was an eye opener. How fast and agile and insubstantial it felt. How quickly I could accelerate. How bone-shakingly brutal the ride is. I went all over heck and back on it today, about 18 miles, and ended up having to tighten up the fenders- some of their bolts were loosening up from road vibration.  Need to get some blue loctite.  The Felt is a good bike, my gateway bike… and now I’m cyclo-addicted.

What next? well, one goal- if I manage to get back down to my ideal weight of sub 145lbs-  I’m going to reward myself with a Highwheel bike. Yes, just to be that obtuse.