kgreene10
05-29-2008, 11:57 AM
I just got my commuter together -- a flat black Colnago Super mated to my old 1985 Allez parts. (The frame and the build kit quarreled for a while, but they worked it out with Esperanto.)
The ride is steely sublime or sublimely steely-- comforting anyway. I especially like staring at the fully chromed fork until I realize that I'm commuting in absolutely deathly traffic with giant beasty Hummers and blood thirsty drivers just aching to mount my head on their den wall. I sort of get into the bobbing and weaving around traffic like I did when I was a teenager, but of course, I was invincible then and not so much now.
Anyway, gearing is the main reason for this post. Classic gearing to be exact. The commuter has a 42/52 and an 11/23. In fact, if I remember correctly, this was wussy classic gearing back in the day. And I grew up at the base of a mountain. Somehow, we would ride up that mountain with this set-up and I never thought anything of it.
Now, on my way home, I manage to get in a short hill that might be 6% or so. I mean, it's big enough to make your average commuter cringe and make the fixie kids ride around, but it's also the kind of thing that I spin up and over without a moment's thought on my Fierte. OH MAN, what a pain it is on the commuter. Okay, the commuter is heavier by a long shot and I am carrying a 10-20 lb backpack depending on the day, but geez. I can't believe how hard it is for me to get over this thing with the classic gearing. How did we ever do it back then?
The ride is steely sublime or sublimely steely-- comforting anyway. I especially like staring at the fully chromed fork until I realize that I'm commuting in absolutely deathly traffic with giant beasty Hummers and blood thirsty drivers just aching to mount my head on their den wall. I sort of get into the bobbing and weaving around traffic like I did when I was a teenager, but of course, I was invincible then and not so much now.
Anyway, gearing is the main reason for this post. Classic gearing to be exact. The commuter has a 42/52 and an 11/23. In fact, if I remember correctly, this was wussy classic gearing back in the day. And I grew up at the base of a mountain. Somehow, we would ride up that mountain with this set-up and I never thought anything of it.
Now, on my way home, I manage to get in a short hill that might be 6% or so. I mean, it's big enough to make your average commuter cringe and make the fixie kids ride around, but it's also the kind of thing that I spin up and over without a moment's thought on my Fierte. OH MAN, what a pain it is on the commuter. Okay, the commuter is heavier by a long shot and I am carrying a 10-20 lb backpack depending on the day, but geez. I can't believe how hard it is for me to get over this thing with the classic gearing. How did we ever do it back then?