It's been a while since I posted on this blog. It's been pretty hectic lately with family life and work...and of course tinkering with the bikes. During warm weather season, I try to bike commute to work to exercise and save gas. And so last year, I built a hybrid bike.
It's basically a mountain bike with slick tires on it, so I can roll faster on the road. It was fun for a while, but then I realized, it's hurting me more on the longer rides, due to the fact that the bike was about 30 lbs. It was a killer doing long uphill. So, with my wife's permission, I decided that I should try a lighter road bike. Now a brand new one was not an option (basically I have no budget for it).
So, I searched around Craiglist and Ebay, hoping to find an aluminum road bike that would fit me. Luckily, I was able to find one on Craigslist, he wanted to swap his road bike for a mountain bike :) So I met with the guy to test the bike. It was a good fit and it was in good condition. So we did the trade. Bye Hybrid Bike...its been fun...hello Road bike.
On the first ride, I never thought that it would be this light, it was very easy to ride and fast on the road. The 10 lbs difference between the hybrid bike and the road bike was a world of difference. I think I will enjoy riding on the road as much as I enjoy riding on the trails. One thing I like about road bike is that, if you want to ride it, just bring it outside and roll...with Mountain Bike, you have to drive to the trails before you can ride it, thats not to say you can't ride it around your area :)
I upgraded some of the components, but I am selling the old parts to offset the price. I wanted a stiffer, more durable wheels, crankset, stem with higher angle, and a sport saddle. I read online that on longer rides, a seat with lesser cushion is better (the one that came with the bike is a wide saddle with lots of padding). Got some good deals on ebay and bikeisland.com...
Here's the finished product...
I'm so excited with this road bike...cant wait to try it on longer rides...maybe do a century?!? we'll see... ride safe!
It's basically a mountain bike with slick tires on it, so I can roll faster on the road. It was fun for a while, but then I realized, it's hurting me more on the longer rides, due to the fact that the bike was about 30 lbs. It was a killer doing long uphill. So, with my wife's permission, I decided that I should try a lighter road bike. Now a brand new one was not an option (basically I have no budget for it).
I upgraded some of the components, but I am selling the old parts to offset the price. I wanted a stiffer, more durable wheels, crankset, stem with higher angle, and a sport saddle. I read online that on longer rides, a seat with lesser cushion is better (the one that came with the bike is a wide saddle with lots of padding). Got some good deals on ebay and bikeisland.com...
Here's the finished product...
I'm so excited with this road bike...cant wait to try it on longer rides...maybe do a century?!? we'll see... ride safe!
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