Thursday, May 29, 2008

'Nice winter bike'

The last time I rode the event formerly known as the Pack'n'Pedal 100k, an English gent in our bunch described my 1995 Benson as a 'nice winter bike', which made me somewhat unreasonably defensive. I pointed out that Auckland is a rainy town, and that I thought it sensiblefor a non-racing person to ride year-round with mudguards. Then I blurted out that I had lighter, shinier bikes for more meteorologically auspicious days, which pretty much proved his point.

This year, I've stopped trying to deny it.
The Benson is back, in trad winter bike guise, with new Bluemels mudguards and the Schmidt dynamo and Bisy light.

Headset________________Ritchey WCS threaded
Bottom bracket__________Shimano UN72 107mm
Crankset_______________Ritchey Logic 175 mm 110bcd 34/50
Brakes_________________Cane Creek SCR-3L
Brake levers____________Cane Creek SCR-5
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record bar end
Front derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce CT
Rear derailler____________Campagnolo Veloce
Hub (front)_____________Schmidt SON28 hub dynamo
Hub (rear)______________Campagnolo Veloce
Cassette_______________Campagnolo Veloce 9s 13-26
Saddle_________________Brooks Swift Ti (Swallow pictured)
Seatpost_______________Nitto Jaguar
Stem__________________Nitto Pearl 12cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 176, 42cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Eggbeater (with short Ti spindle)

7 comments:

Oli said...

Oooh, I wish you'd build frames for us plebs...that looks like a lovely ride.

Rob said...

I hope you jammed your bike pump in his front spokes at that point!

David Benson said...

Rob- there's enough bad behaviour on those 'fun' rides without me going round starting fights.
You have to remember that the guy is a pom, from where they have real winters and put salt on the roads. He is culturally incapable of seeing the difference between a winter bike and a road bike with mudguards.

David Benson said...

Oli- These days I'm so crap I can't even get around to building the 4 or 5 bicycles that 'need' for myself, let alone the pressing requirements of my friends. When the missus gets a real job...

Oli said...

I understand entirely - life is pretty busy! :D

Anonymous said...

Nice mudguards, I'm on the lookout for some wider full guards - where do you get them?

David Benson said...

Those are Bluemels guards. Imported by Marleen wholesalers.
You can also get SKS (also imported by Marleen) or Phillips, which are similar, but IMO not as well designed and brittle.
Any bikeshop in NZ can order a set for you.