Pathetiques

Il y a beaucoup de choses que j'aime aux Etats Unis, mais il y a certaines choses qui sont toujours difficiles a avaler pourtant, apres huit ans de residence.

Voice quelques rencontres a ecrite avant d'oublier:
- cet homme plutot age qui me demande d'enlever mes oreillettes a la bibliotheque publique, pour me dire que ma musique est trop forte
- cette vieille dame en voiture qui me passe au raz des fesses sur le passage cloute, ne m'ayant evidemment pas vu juste devant d'elle
- les collegues hypocrites et mielleux (trop nombreux a nommer)
- le voisinage et les relations amicales, qui n'echangent surtout que des questions sur votre job, oubliant que les conversations peuvent couvrir un spectre beaucoup plus large
- etc.

Spinning with the Langster

My first comments after a couple of rides on my new Langster (been a week already):

- on downhills, this freewheel 48T/16T really makes me spin my heart off! Shall I change the chainring for a bigger one?
- sharp turns at slow speed (i.e. turning the handlebars) make me touch the front wheel (700 is a big wheel for a mountain biker) with my shoe sometimes. Anything I can do about it... [thinking]
- slightly tuned the seat height and pulled the saddle a bit backward, for a better comfort
- the bike is overall fast, it's a great purchase. When I rode my HardRock MTB the other day, it felt very heavy. But mountain bikes are fun, they move in 3 dimensions; besides one bunny hop with clips, the Langster doesn't. 
- the bike is overall very quiet 
- I got used to hold the drops when starting the bike, the bent ain't that bad.  
- the question "why a singlespeed?" IS annoying
- my commute dropped of a handful of minutes

The king of pain

So now I have that 2006 Langster, since a couple of days. I had read so many things about single speed bikes (both the hype and also the pain) that I was expecting the WORST! Like I'd be unable to move my legs at all, and likely bleed through all my openings.

It's not that bad at all, the 48T/16T combination is pretty forgiving in fact.... Of course since it's mounted as a freewheel that's okay, I still can coast a bit and breathe at the top of my hills. This will change when I'll add a fixed gear on that same hub (note it accepts both, you just flip the wheel - how convenient).

Overall feeling on this bike is great, light, good traction, fast . Great looks too. It's a really sexy bike, as simple and raw as it gets. "Why did you buy a single speed?" is the main question that I'll have to hear over and over again.

Brakes are definitely not the greatest, the handlebar is a bit too far for me (unless I slide the saddle a bit backwards, didn't try yet) and the braking from the bottom section of the handlebar is really low - a lot of bent. I am glad I could try that size (a 56) before purchase, which is definitly the way to go. I changed the pedals for some SPD 545 (paltform SPDs) which look great; never clipped in yet.

Langster upgrades? Besides the fixed gear that I'll add sometimes soon, I don't know yet. I read in the press that the handlebar, seatpost, saddle, rims needed to be changed. I'll see; nothing really seems bad. I don't know about that stock Sugino crankset. I think it's fine.

Oh - almost forgot: good news is, all components are bolted, so this beauty won't get a lot of attentions from bike robbers!

Singlespeed!!!

J'ai longtemps hesite puis enfin j'y suis. C'est comme une lente maturation, une evolution, une revolution, un tour de pneu qui vous elargit les mirettes. Mais de quoi parle-t-il?

Apres le Mountain Biking (velo tout terrain) je me tourne vers le macadam, mais le brutal, pas le pedalage de velours a pignons encephales. Non. Le "SingleSpeed", pas de derailleur, pas de levier de vitesse, rien qu'un petit pignon comme sure le velo de mon fils, avec une ENORME couronne pour le devant. Voila.

Ca fait peur, et aujourd'hui j'ai fait somme toute le plus facile, sortir la carte de credit, zebrer rapidement un recu a peine lu, voila tout. Maintenant je dois attendre le coup de fil, la prise en main, la douleur.

Le velo dont je parle ici est un Specialized Langster, un mono speed, un track bike pour les velodromes. Mais avec peinture Urban Squad. Un machin squelettique et rebelle. Un velo cruel qui transformera ma silhouette vaque en un bloc de chair anguleux et dur. Et mes joies de biker en cris rauques. Les collines obligees, les rues alentours, attendent deja mon approche.



Douloureuse affaire. A suivre.

Le mois de mai est favorable au velo ici aux States. L'initiative "Bike to work week" est pour bientot, alors RIDE!!! Ou que vous soyez!