Well, it was tough spending the last 24 hours without an exquisite vintage bicycle, but this morning the FedEx guy brought this and restored balance to the universe:
While I did fully assemble it I have not yet had a chance to ride it, so I cannot offer much insight as of yet, though I do look forward to pitting it against my Litespeed in a no-holds-barred “Vintage Titanium Shoot-Out”–and yes, I realize “no-holds-barred” and “shoot-out” is a mixed metaphor, but so what?
Speaking of untested bicycles, while I was running around the basement with tools I also cyclocross-ified the Milwaukee for my son:
I have no idea whether it will work out for him or not, though it did seem as though he could just about straddle it the other day, so I’m hopeful. Also, let’s take a moment to appreciate long-reach (or, technically, medium-reach) road brake calipers, which provide ample tire clearance:
Those are 32mm tires, and as you can see there’s plenty of room for still more knobs and/or volume:
I suppose what I’m saying is that I’ve got your disc brakes right here:
Finally, further to my recent mention of “flip chips” in particular, the what’s-old-is-new-again phenomenon in cycling in general, and my sense that flip chips will probably fall by the wayside like so many other integrated adjustment features of the past, behold…the Montaneus from American Bicycle Manufacturing:
It’s got your flip chips right here. [Points obscenely to its head tube.]