Two (pedal) Wheels Good !

"doodon2whls" (doodon2whls) 08/12/2015 at 22:15 • Filed to: Two Wheels Good, Cannondale, bicycle

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What is up Opponauts ? It has been a while since I visited or contributed much to this little blogosphere... It has been an interesting few months...

Long story short - I left a job, went on vacation in the EU, returned and started a new job.

I recommend this four-step program for anyone in a high stress job.

1) Leave it.
2) Disappear for a while.
3) Return.
4) Be happy.

Anyway... I bought a new (to me) thing last month. I stumbled upon a old (but not olde - I think there is a difference) bicycle that was too good of a deal to pass up. A local bike shop had a (used - duh) 1996 Cannondale R400 in good shape for $200. The stars seemed to have aligned - the frame is a 63cm XL frame - a necessity for this tall & lanky cyclist. I did a little research, tried it out in their lot, and pulled the triggah.

The 3 x 8 drivetrain was a hot mess full of years of grease, dirt and neglect. I emptied a full can of chain cleaner on it through four wash cycles with the chain scrubber. The RSX components were in good working order but a little sticky - nothing a little silicone lube couldn’t fix. I ordered new tubes and tires (700x23mm Conti Gator Hardshells), pedals (Shimano PD-M540 SPD), brake pads, and handlebar tape (CF-look). I’m not gonna lie, it feels good to ride a classic Cannondale.

The finished product:

She’s a beauty and rides so much faster than my old CrMo hybrid bike. It only weighs 21-22 lbs compared to that 30+ lb hybrid on 42mm tires.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > doodon2whls 08/12/2015 at 22:28

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Nice cannondale! I have a R900 (or whatever the 90s triathlon one was called) lying in my garage (too big for me) and I remember it for the stiffness of the frame and oh so beautiful welds. Enjoy the bike?

Vimto > doodon2whls 08/12/2015 at 22:31

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That’s an awesome purchase! The proportions look a bit odd, I guess because its an XL frame.

I’m still on the Walmart side of the cycling hobby but I’m slowly working my way towards enthusiast gear, lol.

doodon2whls > Vimto 08/12/2015 at 22:46

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Keep your eyes peeled. I am a frugal shopper and have been eyeing a new-ish bike for a long long time. I had been riding a 1990 GIANT Farrago. I think I paid <$250 for it in 1991 to have cheap transport around town.

More recently, I outfitted it with just some basics for regular training rides (good tires, pedals, shoes). My aim wasn’t to go fast, it was to burn calories, so a heavy CrMo didn’t bother me. The only real problem was that the frame is too small for me.

Then, this Cannondale popped on my radar screen and checked all of the boxes.... BOOM. It was an $800 bike in it’s hayday... $200 was a steal becasue it is in good to great shape and has some nice upgrades (MAVIC wheels, for example)

George McNally > Vimto 08/12/2015 at 23:38

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No shame riding a Wal-Mart bike........you’re getting more exercise on your budget bike then 80% of Americans.

Vimto > George McNally 08/13/2015 at 01:06

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Yeah, better than no bike at all, right!? I cycle 80-100 miles a week. My biggest concern as far as upgrading to a better bike is that I rent a room and have to keep my bike outside, so its going to rust no matter how much money I spend on it.

pip bip - choose Corrour > doodon2whls 08/13/2015 at 04:52

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so what does your new job involve?

doodon2whls > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/13/2015 at 19:36

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It’s in the same line of work... I was a sysadmin and project manager for Initech and the BS from my V.P.got to be too much. I mean, sure we had issues with our Transaction Processing System reports, but what really put Michael, Samir, Peter and I over the edge was when they brought in some consultants to help us implement “Total Quality Management’. They started all of this BS process alignment and we had meetings to make plans for planning. It was fookin nuts. Long story short: I couldn’t take it anymore. Peter, Michael, and Samir were flaking out and I bailed before shit got nutty.

Anyway, I left Initech and joined a company nearby - Initrode. Almost the same job, with better pay and benefits. I signed the offer letter and negotiated a start date a month later so I could go on vacation. Apparently the Initech building burned down while I was in the EU! Interestingly, Samir and Michael left Initech and started before I even returned from the EU... Peter took some kind of construction job with his neighbor buddy, Lawrence. Weird.

Anyway, Initrode has a much better system for TPS report submission. We don’t have to fax them like at Initech. We give them to a secretary who scans them for us and then emails them to the internal auditors who prints them out and review them before they shred them. It’s much more efficient.

What line of work are you in ?