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bike bike bike...I have three bikes now.
Aug. 27th, 2009 04:34 pmBought the Miyata 210. It's from 1985, I looked at scans of catalogs. It's a beautiful bike, and fits me wonderfully. It's also light enough that I can pick it up one-handed (triple-butted chromoly, woot). When I put loaded panniers on it, it handles much better than the mixte does. It has smaller cranks than the mixte. Also, a tiny granny gear and down-tube ratcheting shifters. It feels so much different and wonderful to ride a bike that's actually designed for touring.
The only downside to this bike: the seat post is frozen. As in, I can't move the seat up and down because the part that holds it up is stuck in the bike frame. If A Better Cycle can't get it out, there's apparently a guy at the Bike Gallery on Sandy that can. With the current (incredibly shitty) saddle, the seat is almost high enough. If I put my recently-purchased kick-ass saddle on it, I'll be sitting an inch lower because it's not so padded. (Note to non-cyclists: On longer rides, really squishy seats hurt like hell. Your sit-bones sink so far into the seat that everything else gets pinched.) So I need to be able to move the seat post. When a mechanic at Bikeworks on Mississippi tried to get the seat post out, with a HUGE wrench, some "liquid wrench," and both Shawn and I holding the frame, I couldn't look, I was so terrified of the frame being damaged. It's clear we're not the first people to try, as the seat post is scraped up all over from wrenches/hammers/god only knows what. Apparently the dude at Bike Gallery takes hacksaws and drills to stubborn seat posts. Or torches, even; although there goes the paint.
One way or another, that seat post is coming out.
On a positive note: a friend who is a Miyata fanatic, and two different mechanics, have told me that I got a deal on the Miyata. "A used touring bike in a hard-to-find size, in fairly good shape? You struck it lucky." I do wish I'd known how frozen that seat post was, I could have talked her down more. I paid $265, she was asking $300.
I'm thinking of selling the mixte. It'll be a while before I can afford to turn into an awesome city bike. Meanwhile, I'd be riding the Miyata because it's easier and more comfortable. Our garage does not have room for so many bicycles. I'm not selling the Raleigh. When I'm ready, I can find a lighter mixte frame on craigslist.
So Shawn learned something new about me on Wednesday, which is that I don't handle frustration well. We spent a couple of hours getting a borrowed rack onto the Miyata, before biking to Battleground Lake in Washington to camp overnight. This involved two trips to Community Cycling Center and a lot of swearing, because the holes on the Miyata's braze-ons are a different size than the holes on the rack, and the rear wheel is bolted on (wtf?) among other issues. We put the panniers on and the fenders started rubbing on the tire, we fixed that and the tire was rubbing on a chainstay, and on and on. Once we got it all working to our mutual satisfaction, I wanted to rest for a few minutes before we left for Battleground Lake. Shawn and I walked downstairs, I lay down....and burst into tears. I sobbed for several minutes before I calmed down. This is why I'd make a terrible bike mechanic. Every time I had trouble with something, I'd either throw stuff, or start crying.
The only downside to this bike: the seat post is frozen. As in, I can't move the seat up and down because the part that holds it up is stuck in the bike frame. If A Better Cycle can't get it out, there's apparently a guy at the Bike Gallery on Sandy that can. With the current (incredibly shitty) saddle, the seat is almost high enough. If I put my recently-purchased kick-ass saddle on it, I'll be sitting an inch lower because it's not so padded. (Note to non-cyclists: On longer rides, really squishy seats hurt like hell. Your sit-bones sink so far into the seat that everything else gets pinched.) So I need to be able to move the seat post. When a mechanic at Bikeworks on Mississippi tried to get the seat post out, with a HUGE wrench, some "liquid wrench," and both Shawn and I holding the frame, I couldn't look, I was so terrified of the frame being damaged. It's clear we're not the first people to try, as the seat post is scraped up all over from wrenches/hammers/god only knows what. Apparently the dude at Bike Gallery takes hacksaws and drills to stubborn seat posts. Or torches, even; although there goes the paint.
One way or another, that seat post is coming out.
On a positive note: a friend who is a Miyata fanatic, and two different mechanics, have told me that I got a deal on the Miyata. "A used touring bike in a hard-to-find size, in fairly good shape? You struck it lucky." I do wish I'd known how frozen that seat post was, I could have talked her down more. I paid $265, she was asking $300.
I'm thinking of selling the mixte. It'll be a while before I can afford to turn into an awesome city bike. Meanwhile, I'd be riding the Miyata because it's easier and more comfortable. Our garage does not have room for so many bicycles. I'm not selling the Raleigh. When I'm ready, I can find a lighter mixte frame on craigslist.
So Shawn learned something new about me on Wednesday, which is that I don't handle frustration well. We spent a couple of hours getting a borrowed rack onto the Miyata, before biking to Battleground Lake in Washington to camp overnight. This involved two trips to Community Cycling Center and a lot of swearing, because the holes on the Miyata's braze-ons are a different size than the holes on the rack, and the rear wheel is bolted on (wtf?) among other issues. We put the panniers on and the fenders started rubbing on the tire, we fixed that and the tire was rubbing on a chainstay, and on and on. Once we got it all working to our mutual satisfaction, I wanted to rest for a few minutes before we left for Battleground Lake. Shawn and I walked downstairs, I lay down....and burst into tears. I sobbed for several minutes before I calmed down. This is why I'd make a terrible bike mechanic. Every time I had trouble with something, I'd either throw stuff, or start crying.
