Last year, I put some upgrades onto my Cross-Check which among others included different handlebars. While they felt better than the original drops by a long shot, I noticed one big disadvantage: They offered really only one hand position. Riding in the hoods no longer was an option due to the angle of the brake levers, the top section was too narrow to accommodate for my big hands. Back in the fall, I was starting to look for a replacement. Here’s what I ended up with:

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I’ll admit it, I am a sucker for bike bags and backpacks. Seeing the first prototype pics of the Vandal late last summer I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one; as soon as they became available I ordered me one as a Christmas present to myself.  After ordering the bag I found out that the masterminds behind the Mission Workshop are the guys that founded Chrome, so my expectations were raised quite a bit. Almost five months of daily use have passed, so here are my findings:

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First of all I must admit that riding wise 2009 was not exactly a stellar year for me. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was not able to do any of the touring trips I had sort of planned for the summer. That being said, it still was a very good year to be riding in Denver.

While I was not able to go away for longer trips I did manage to go on a few SO24s (What’s this you ask? Read more here). I had a blast doing them and also met a bunch of pretty cool folks, so overall I am pretty happy

So what were my riding favorites in 2009?

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I was lucky enough to receive a pretty much brand-new Burley Nomad in the late summer of 2008.
Since then I used it for grocery runs, camping and pretty much any other situation where I needed more capacity than my various bags and the rear rack provide.

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After using my Chrome Bags Sultan for quite some time I was ready to try a somewhat smaller alternative. While I like the huge capacity of the Sultan, it literally gets in the way some time when I’m out only on an errand.

Considering how much I like the Sultan I decided to give one of their smaller shoulder bags a try. After several months of almost daily use, here’s my impression:

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Since quite some time, I was looking for a stand for my bike to hold it up if there’s nothing to lean it against. I was contemplating the two-legged kickstand from Pletscher but never really warmed up to its looks. Then I found out about this amazing product through one of the cycling mailing lists I subscribe to. So what is it? It’s a portable bike stand. It’s one of those things that are so brilliantly executed, I just had to have it. How does it, ahem, hold up? Read on to find out Read more »

I took three days off from work for some much needed rest. Wednesday the weather was rather crappy, so I treated Mean Betsy to some maintenance and myself to some Paulaner Original Munich Lager. Thursday I rode 30km on some errands and shopping and so forth, but Friday I decided to go on a “real” ride.

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After riding my Cannondale Capo for almost a year I decided I wanted a more “all-around” bike that would be better suited to purposes such as shopping, touring, bike-camping, basically the kinds of rides a trackbike is really not designed to handle

I had a few criteria:

• Steel frame
• eyelets for fenders and a rack
• more relaxed frame angles
• ability to run wider tires
• good value

Before I started looking for such an animal, I hadn’t even heard about Surly, but all the reviews I read online as well as the opinion of a few cyclist friends of mine advised me that Surly in general offers great value for the money and the Cross-Check in particular would be well-suited for what I wanted. I checked out some other offerings and while the fit some of my criteria, none did fulfill all.

I purchased the bike at Campus Cycles sight unseen, as I had not been able to find a bike shop locally that had one in my size, but given all the very good reviews i figured I be safe. The idea was to ride it stock and the perhaps upgrade to something “better” maybe in a year or two. How did that all workout? Read on to find out

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It is perhaps a bit “unusual” to put a review of a fixed-gear bike into the more travel/commuting oriented bikesite; alas this is the bike I bought to get back into cycling after a nearly 10-year hiatus.
When looking for a bike to start cycling I got immediately intrigued with the simplicity and also the relative low pricepoint of a fixed-gear or singlespeed bike. No expensive parts besides the frame, no shifting gear to maintain all sounded like a winning recipe to me. I did a bit of research and found a number of “prebuilt” fixies from a variety of manufacturers, but almost immediately picked the Cannondale once I found out they were offering it. My only reason was: I have been riding Cannondales since 1990, all hand-made frames and had nothing but good experiences with them. I read a few reviews online and proceeded to order a bike from a local Cannondale dealer.

I rode the bike as my main ride for a year and still ride it at least twice a week when I feel the need for some shenanigans on the street (“I swear that was not me hanging off the spare tire of a Jeep”)

I expected a ride that was simple, quick and enjoyable; somewhat akin to a Mazda Miata. If you’re not into cars that may not mean much to you but what I got was the equivalent to a Lotus Elise SC. Read on to see what I mean by that Read more »

While the long silence on this blog may indicate that I am not riding anymore this is actually not the case. It’s just that most of my rides are of a utilitarian nature, i.e going shopping etc. I did a few rides on my favorite trails as well, especially the Platte River Trail. I also visited my friend Jessica in her new digs, which is just the perfect distance for a little stroll.
I am taking next week off and have a few bigger rides planned and will certainly update with pics and such