Ride 16 - Time for the new (old) bike
The Tank
After what seems weeks (it was) I was actually able to take my old bike out for a spin today. It felt like new but it was my trusty Cannondale R-300 that I bought way back in 1994 when I was stationed in Connecticut. I had originally bought it for a trip I did from Connecticut to Ohio and have lugged the bike around ever since. I don’t know how many miles I have on it but it’s a few. Over the last couple of weeks I went over it with a fine tooth comb and only needed to replace the rear rim to get it rolling again. I’ll write up another article that covered the whole process. So, for today’s ride I traded in the Tank (pictured left) and headed out with my long-time friend. I met my brother-in-law at his neighborhood entrance and he says, “Oh…you’re on the crotch rocket.” Indeed I was and now it has a nickname-Crotch Rocket.
When I left the house I was skeptical of the wind. It was gusting pretty good but I didn’t want to lose a ride day so I headed out into it. The wind left me alone except for one stretch that headed North West and another that headed West.
Crotch Rocket
Riding good ‘ole Crotch Rocket was like a dream. It transferred pedal power so much better than The Tank and rolled effortlessly. Without even realizing it I was cruising along at 15+ mph and had to keep holding back or I would drop my brother-in-law who was on a mountain bike. The thing pedaled and rode so much better than I remembered. It’s not state-of-the-art by any stretch of the imagination but I love it. It’s an older Shimano 7-speed with shifters on the down tube. For laughs I weighed The Tank and Crotch Rocket to see how they compared. It wasn’t even close. The Tank came in at 33 pounds while Crotch Rocket floated in at an even 20 pounds. A 13 pound drop in weight. Amazing. Someday I hope to move up to something nicer but for now it’ll do just fine.
My numbers for today’s ride don’t look too great because I did a lot of holding up. I was able to kick it in for the last two miles home (I gave my brother-in-law heads up that I was going to push it) and it felt great.
Here are the numbers for today: 11.51 miles, 53:35, 18.2 mph max, and 12.8 mph avg.
Also, I went over 200 miles today since starting Biking To Live.
daveydave on Wed, 21st May 2008 10:56 pm
The Crotch Rocket - LOL! 20lbs by today’s standards is better than average for a true roadie. Nice pics of the bikes! Heck, I’d ride the CR to my hearts content and then upgrade only the shifters if I really cared to make shifting easier.
jaxgtr on Wed, 21st May 2008 11:08 pm
Very nice. Doesn’t it feel nice to not have to lug around 33 lbs. I did the same when I moved from my Trek 7300 to my road bike. My Trek actually weighed in at 37 lbs and I got it down to 28 by changing a lot of stuff. My CAAD9 weighs in at 19 pounds so your 14 year old bike is still very competitive on weight. You just can not go wrong with a Cannondale.
Well I just wasn’t up for the wind beating this morning so I put in an hour on the trainer and will probably do the same in the morning. Thumbs up for going out.
I like the new format by the way.
thePig on Thu, 22nd May 2008 5:36 am
The ‘Crotch Rocket’ - if there wasn’t the pictures of the bikes I would wonder what you are talking about!
I find that on the flat the weight doesn’t make that much difference. It is more when you start going up-hill.
For my upcoming six week tour I will be on my mountain bike which with gear & bags included will weigh about 68 pounds. I can only imagine how great it is going to feel to get back on my light road bike after this.
Bryan on Thu, 22nd May 2008 7:11 am
@Dave: I laughed too when he said it. I was actually surprised that it weighed only 20 pounds. I plan on riding it for a while before doing any upgrading. I had looked at upgrading it a while back (several years ago) to the brake/shifter combo but it’s not as easy as you would think since it’s a 7-speed.
@Jaxgtr: Thanks. It does feel good to not have to lug around the extra weight. You’re right about Cannondales I think. This was the first true road bike I’d ever bought and it’s served me good so far. Yeah, the wind was a bit iffy but I didn’t want to not ride. I can’t afford not to.
I’m glad you like the new format. I’ve been tweaking it over the last few days (with The Pigs help) and am now ready to leave it up for good. I’ll be doing a post today about why I changed it as well as some new features it has.
@thePig: Yeah, if it wasn’t for the pics you guys might think I was having some kind of sexual fantasy or something. What I noticed on the flats was a big difference in the gearing and the rolling resistance. They are just so much better on the Cannondale. 68 pounds! Dude, you are going to have some tree trunks for legs (if you don’t already) when you’re done.
jaxgtr on Thu, 22nd May 2008 4:56 pm
Don’t forget that Cannondale has a trade up policy. You can trade in your old frame and get a reduced price on the new one. Although, your bike really look good when I saw it. Might just turn it into a weather bike when you do do a new one.
Bryan on Thu, 22nd May 2008 8:06 pm
@Jaxgtr: I didn’t know about that trade up policy. I do think I would keep it though, as you said, for a weather bike.