free again

[sam]

My Litespeed has finally been unshackled from the turbo, where it's been killing time for a few years because my Genesis 02 can do everything it does, only better. I'm the sort of person who wears clothes or a favourite pair of shoes until they fall apart. In the spirit of adding a little variety to life, prompted by my recent impulse purchase of a Specialized Langster, I made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning off the (corrosive?!?) dried sweat and took it out for a real spin. And you know what? It rides just fine.

As part of the process of getting to know it again, I added some nice bar ends which have been gathering dust, and installed a bar bag. If you look at the picture you'll see I didn't put it in the conventional place. As I was sifting through odds and ends up in the loft I came across the bracket and bag (a very old one, it was retired some years ago when such bags lost favour with me) and an idea formed. I have a Carradice, but it sits too close to the saddle, so I've never really got on with it.

[sam]

a little later...


The patient, with new bag. Black circular patches on downtube cover wounds where gear levers were removed.


Before. After picture to follow.


My impulse bike has infected this one, which is in transition, having already had the necessary operation but awaiting the largely cosmetic surgery of a transplanted ENO hub.


That's 'one' spelled backwords. Amazing how long before I noticed.

While grinding gears up some hills I made the decision to turn the Litespeed into a simpler machine. As part of our courtship I took it for a spin from acf HQ deep down in East Sussex up to the smoke. It's a mildly corrugated stretch with a big wakeup call just south of Biggin Hill. I can't honestly say that it was a better ride than it would've been multigeared, but I did feel more of a sense of accomplishment. It was only when I was injected into the urban bloodstream that that I felt really at home on 63" (the Langster is currently a little over 70), as London is a place of fast starts.

It's possible to fixit, but it ain't broken.

Singlespeed has been slightly mis-sold. One of the chief lures of this way of cycling is its simplicity, yet you still must decide on the most appropriate gear - and aren't there discussions to be had about what that might be.

I've been in a cycling rut which this alteration has helped me escape. At the very least it's made my bike lighter. As each organ was removed and set down on the bikeshop floor, I picked it up again marveling at the weight, and felt a buoyancy in my heart.

still later...

This bike eventually settled into a magic gear: 44x17. The ENO is gathering dust, though I'm sure it will find another home one day. Most of my rides are now done on this and the Langster.