Loopy Contemplations

As Justine remarked in the previous post, "There's no need to abandon your loop frame just because you get a nice road bike. Every kind of riding is different". I love loop frames and believe very strongly that the sort of bicycle described here is the best bike to ride for transportation in one's regular clothing - especially if you are a woman who wears skirts or business attire.

It is also best if you want to cycle at a leisurely pace and get the most out of the scenery - like the beautiful and fleeting spring blossoms.

These pictures were meant to have a "green on green" theme as a follow-up to the "blue on blue", but they were taken with a mobile phone and the green colour of the Pashley frame is completely invisible. But conceptually it is there: green grass, green sweater set, green Pashley. (Just imagine the bike looks green, okay?)

I long to have a "one and only," dependable, perfect loop-frame bicycle. Unfortunately, I think that the lovely Pashley might not be the one. For whatever reason, my vintage Raleigh DL-1 Lady's Tourist just works better with my anatomy. However, the DL-1 is not perfect either: lacking the Pashley's dependable brakes and all-weather capabilities. Over the past 9 months I have been agonising about how to resolve this and toying with different possibilities, but now I have finally taken action: I will be turning the Raleigh DL-1 into "superbike" by installing a secret coaster brake whilst leaving the rod brakes intact. And, assuming that this works out ...I will be selling the Pashley. Can't believe I just committed this to text, but there it is. I have not made it official yet or posted the bike for sale anywhere, but if you live in the area and think you might be interested, get in touch. Who knows - maybe you'll meet the loopy best friend of your dreams!

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The Road is Calling

Despite those innocent-looking cherry blossoms, Marianne is gradually turning into a lean, mean, cycling machine - albeit in the loveliest way possible.

My upside-down Albatross bars are considerably lower than my saddle, which I hope will gradually prepare me for the drop bars on my (soon to be ready!) Sam Hillborne. I want to make sure that by the time I get the drop bars, I am able to use them properly (with my hands either in the drops or on the hoods of the brake levers, but not on the straight top portion of the bars).

But I guess the big question here is "why?". Why the desire for speed and aggressive riding positions, why this sudden appearance of shorts? Well, because I like it - Not instead of relaxed cycling on a nice heavy loop frame - but in parallel to it. It's like someone enjoying both strolling and jogging - but not at the same time and not wearing the same clothes. I have discovered that I like pedaling fast and traveling far, I like learning how to maneuver a road-bike, and I like using those muscles in the back of the upper thighs that only get engaged when riding in this position. I am a remarkably un-athletic person with some long-standing health problems, and yet I can handle cycling. So I suppose I want to see how far I might go if I put my mind to it. Can someone as "frail" as me really hope to do century rides? Multi-day touring? Race at the velodrome? I guess we shall see!

Meanwhile, meet my latest addition to Marianne's fearsome accoutrements: these vintage Atom 700 French road pedals. Harris Cyclery had some used ones in the shop, and now they are mine!

To describe these pedals in an uneducated manner: The metal surface is toothy and grippy, more so than that of touring pedals I've tried. In addition, there is a raised notch on the side, that keeps your foot in place - At least I am guessing that this is what it is for, since that is the effect it has on my foot.

See the raised notch? Once the shoe is firmly placed on the pedal, the toothy surface and the outer notch make it feel glued in place. It is the closest thing to a foot retention system I have been able to handle so far. The benefit of feeling your foot "attached" to the pedal became clear to me once I switched Marianne's previous pedals to these, and returned to the rolling hills of Concord. I know that there are conflicting opinions regarding whether retention systems are useful, so I speak solely for myself: These pedals made a difference to me when cycling long-distance, especially on hills.

The downside, is that these are a pain to use in the city where one has to make frequent stops and starts. Unlike other pedals, there is a "right" and a "wrong" side to them: The correct side has the grippy surface and the outer notches. The wrong side is slippery and pretty much impossible to keep your foot on. The problem is that the pedals naturally want to hang wrong-side up when left alone, and so, when starting from a stop, you first plant your foot correctly onto the starting pedal, then push off and begin searching with your other foot (without looking at your toe! - remember, you're in traffic) for the correct side of the other pedal. Sounds horrifying, but actually it's not so bad once I got used to it. I've got the toe-searching down to only a few seconds now. For long sporty rides, it is worth it. I will keep cycling with these as they are for a while, and add "half-clips" when I feel ready... I need to get myself used to foot retention systems gradually if I plan to try cycling at the velodrome in the future!

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Springtime Transformations

Can you spot the differences between this picture and the Mercier in its initial state?

If you are thinking that the colour scheme looks a bit different, you are right. Originally, the Mercier had black lugwork and paneling - but to my eye, this created too harsh of a contrast with the cream frame. It also had the effect of stopping the eye at the frame's joints and making the bicycle look "choppy", whereas I like mixtes to have an elongated, fluid look to them. So after considering my options, I bought some enamel paint and hand-painted over the black lugwork and panels. The new colour is a light green-gray; very French and Spring-like. I have yet to redo the gold pinstriping around the edges, but from a distance it looks passable as is.

Another visible update to the Mercier is this fantastic Ideale saddle - acquired in a trade with a Lovely Bicycle reader (thank you!).

Ideale saddles are French, and described in this interesting article as "celebrated and enigmatic". This one is a Model 6, which is a short-nosed women's model from the 1970's.

It is comparable to a Brook's B72S and has two rear loop springs.

An extremely comfortable, elegant saddle. And the engraving is gorgeous. I have cycled a total of maybe 50 miles on it so far and it feels just perfect.

The last significant update has been replacing the tires. The shop where I found the bike fitted it with 20mm racing tires. To give you a point of reference, 20mm is narrower than the wheel rims. I think the fact that I was even able to ride on these tires at all - let alone 10 miles to Harris Cyclery to get new tires - is a testament to how stable and comfortable the Mercier is. The only problem I had, was with cracks in the road: 20mm tires are narrow enough to get stuck in the most innocent-looking cracks! After this happened to me once and I almost got knocked off the bike, I became hyper-vigilant.

Thankfully, now the bicycle is fitted with 32mm Panaracer Pasela Tourguards - a beautiful vintage-looking tire with tan walls and superb puncture protection (These are the same tires I have on Marianne, and I have been very happy with them over the past year).

In addition to these updates, there are other little things we've done, like remove the spoke protector and the reflectors from the wheels, remove the Pletscher rack (which did not look right on this bike), clean the handlebar grips, and replace the black tape used to patch up a crack in the white cable housing with white tape, making it less visible. Future updates will include a set of inexpensive fenders from Velo Orange, a vintage front rack, and switching the downtube shifters to a set of old stem-mounted ones. So far, the only new components or accessories I have bought for this bike have been the tires. Everything else has been vintage, and for the most part acquired in a trade. I think I will try to do the same with future updates. Will see where this goes!

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Notes After 40 Miles

Apparently I can go on a 40 mile ride just several days after having gone on a 36 mile ride, with shorter (12 mile) rides in between. This gives me hope that I may be able to handle consecutive longer-mile days soon.

If I pace myself, I never get out of breath and experience only anaerobic (leg muscle) strain. Oddly, cycling reminds me of yoga and pilates in this regard, which I used to do in my twenties. I had never made that connection before.

I am absolutely fine without padded cycling shorts for 40 miles. But next time I will remember to pack warmer clothes, even if it's hot when I set off.

This one was surprising: Cycling long distance is more tiring for me with a partner than alone. The Co-Habitant and I seem to have different cycling rhythms. He may disagree with this, but my impression is that he starts out going as fast as he can, then slows down when he grows tired. I am the opposite: I start slow, then gradually gain energy and speed up as the ride progresses. Still, cycling together is of course more interesting.

Cycling to a beautiful and meaningful destination is highly motivating; the feeling of exploring holds my interest. I think I am ready for 50 miles. But where to?

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About a Year

Looking through the pictures I took of a recent ride along the cherry-blossoming Charles River, I realised that it has been just about a year since I began Lovely Bicycle. I say "about a year", because I am not entirely sure when exactly I started writing vs. publishing the entries. But apparently it was right around this time, as in my first documented bike-ride the blossoms were in bloom as well.

It is customary to conduct some sort of self-assessment when a project like this reaches its 1-year anniversary. But when I think about why I started this website, I feel suddenly inarticulate and a little confused - because honestly I do not have a good reason. I am not an activist and do not seek to promote "a cycling lifestyle". Life has worked out for me in such a way, that personally I have not driven a car since 2007, and I love to ride my bicycle(s) for both transportation and recreation. However, if you happen to own a dozen SUVs and enjoy driving them, that is fine with me. If you collect bicycles solely for the purpose of photographing them in your garden and never actually ride them, that is fine as well. And if you are a die-hard Foresterite vehicular cyclist who hates bike infrastructure and loves 6-lane roads with 40mph+ speed limits, that's wonderful too. You are all welcome, if you feel that you can relate to some aspect of this website.

Neither is the motive of this weblog a diary-style documentation of my life. Those who know me in person are aware that my posts here create an amusingly incomplete and warped presentation of my actual life and personality. And finally, neither was it ever my intent (not that I am in any danger of this) to gain commercial success or recognition for this website.

When I first started Lovely Bicycle, the intent was to review the options that were out there for bicycles that were both practical and aesthetically pleasing for people with lifestyles and tastes similar to mine. This was driven by my own frantic search for a "lovely bicycle" in Spring of 2009. However, the weblog developed far beyond this premise and I am still no closer to explaining what motivates me to continue it - when frankly my life is quite hectic as it is and does not need extra projects.

I will be honest: This discrepancy of the blog getting larger and more time consuming (I now get over a dozen emails per week and it is becoming impossible to answer most of them) with my not having a good explanation for why I am doing this, has caused me some concern and I have considered discontinuing Lovely Bicycle on several occasions. An alternative option could be to start accepting selected sponsorships, and using any earnings from these to at least cut down on some of the consulting projects I do in order to stay financially afloat - thereby freeing up time to continue working on the blog. But I do not have a clear idea of how this could be done while still maintaining the home-made feel of this wesite.

In short, it remains to be determined in what direction Lovely Bicycle will meander next, if at all. But in the meantime, I can't seem to help continuing to take pictures of beautiful bicycles and writing all of this nonsense about them!

While taking the pictures shown in this post, I was approached by a couple who asked me whether their daughter could pose next to my bicycle for their home-made video of the girl reciting "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey. We moved the bicycle closer to the river, and the mother directed the daughter while the father videotaped. They did several takes of the recital and the child was adorable.

Of course I didn't have the heart to tell them that the "ducklings" in the river were in fact geese. Where better for me to share a story of such an encounter, than on Lovely Bicycle?...

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VO Mixte Improvements!

The Velo Orange mixte frame that was discussed here a few months back is finally finished and available for sale. I felt the need to announce this, because VO made the crucial change to the original prototype I was so hoping for: They made the seat-cluster as beautiful as the rest of the frame!

[image from Velo-Orange]

I was so excited when I saw the new frame on the VO website and noticed the change!

In case you have no idea what I am talking about: The seat cluster is the part of the bicycle frame where the top of the seat tube meets the two rear stays. On the final VO mixte frame, the seat cluster (image on the left) is beautifully, delicately lugged. Why do I care about that? Well, I just happen to have aesthetic preferences when it comes to seat clusters and fork crowns, so these little details are important to me. It has also been pointed out that the new design allows for greater fender clearance than the prototype.

The difference between the final design and the prototype (image on the right), is that in the prototype the rear stays were connected to the seat tube itself, underneath the lug. Since earlier I criticized the prototype seat cluster, I felt it is only fair that I inform readers of the change.

In my view, this is now hands-down the nicest non-custom mixte frame available for sale at the moment, especially if you prefer the classic "split top tube" (twin lateral stays) version of a mixte. Oh, and the price is $525 USD. I fear the gods of mixte gluttony will smite me if I covet this frame (oops, I just coveted it!), but who-ever gets one of these beauties will be one lucky lady. If you buy one, please send me pictures of it built up, so that at least I can love it vicariously.

I have no affiliation with Velo Orange other than being a paying customer; just genuinely happy that they made this frame available to the public. [Edited to add: Velo Orange became a sponsor of this blog in 2011, but was not at the time of this post.]

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Upside Down!

Fate has been kind to Marianne! Rather than being torn apart for donor components, she has been spared, and fitted with new handlebars.

What you see here are upside down Nitto Albatross Bars (Nitto's version of "North Roads").

Ever since seeing pictures of vintage path-racers, it has been a fantasy of mine to have this handlebar set-up on one of my bikes. My concern was that it would be too aggressive for me to handle. But since Marianne's Milan bars were becoming increasingly uncomfortable on longer rides, I thought it might be time to revisit the possibility.

Harris Cyclery had some Albatross bars in stock, and the nice mechanic Jim Ammirato talked to me about installing them upside down. It is so difficult to tell what will feel "too aggressive" to one person versus "comfortable" to another. But luckily one of Jim's own bikes - a gorgeous bordeaux A.N.T. path-racer that deserves its own feature - had this exact set-up. I tried the handlebar position on the A.N.T., and to my amazement it felt wonderful. And so the installation proceeded!

As you can see in the pictures here, installing North Road style handlebars upside down places the hand gripping areas considerably below the level of the stem, while at the same time bringing them closer towards the rider than drop bars. You can control just how far down the gripping areas are by tilting the bar. We made mine on the tamer side to start with, but when I feel ready for a more aggressive posture I will tilt them down further.

North Roads are famously comfortable, because their gripping areas place the rider's hands in a naturally-occurring position: parallel to the body with an ever so slight outward flare. This is in direct contrast to flat handlebar styles (which includes the flat upper part of the drop bars, where most cyclists really spend most of their time). They position they offer is not a naturally occurring and places stress on the wrists if maintained for long intervals.

So the cool thing about upside-down North Roads, is that the aggressiveness of the posture is dampened by the comfort of the hand position. If you own an English Roadster or a Dutch bicycle, imagine holding your hands just as you currently hold them, only lower. Not so scary at all.

Perhaps this explains how it is that with the upside-down Albatross bars I am both more leaned over and more comfortable than with my previous Milan bars. I have ridden 13 miles with the new set-up so far, and it's been exhilarating. Of course a longer trip will allow me to give the final verdict.

Since these pictures were taken, I have treated the cork grips with wood stain in an attempt to darken them without the slippery finish of shellac. I am still waiting for them to dry and will let you know how this project works out.

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