Well, I got in with a bike club here in Linton. The main guy's name is Chad, and nearly everyone in the club is carbon-fiber guy, but they all wear shorts and a t-shirt. What? Anyway. So I've been riding my steel bikes Tuesday and Thursday, and it's been freaking these guys out, since they can't imagine that a 30 year old bike can keep up. That said, here's a post I just put on bikeforums.net.

So I've been commuting since January or so on a Univega hybrid. Started out with flat bars, but they made my hands numb after 10 miles (one way to the old school). Then I put North Roads bars on it. Much better, and more hand positions. Helped me out, but it was still 700X38 with upright bars.

So I recently got in with a bike club. The Raleigh Pro has a dented rim (i.e. a BIG rock at 36 mph) and I'm rather broke. The Peugeot is a fixed gear with 42X13 gearing (i.e. not fast enough). I just got a Bridgestone kabuki that, with 700X32's can kinda keep up, but since the thing weighs 30 lbs, I'm dying. I figured, the Uni is relatively light, the chainrings are 28, 38, 48, and there's a local co-op that, the last time I was there had a 17-11 6 speed freewheel...

Here's the updates - aero brake levers, bar end shifters, drop bars, and the 17-11 gears. Figuring 100 rpm being the max (which it rather isn't), ideally I'd be hitting 30ish mph. Good enough for these guys, and it would still be gear-y enough for it to be a daily commuter.

Frickin' sweet. The way I see it, the uni is light enough to keep up, it's steel, I already have it, and it's tough enough. Besides all that, it has canti brakes, 700X28 tires (now, at least), and fenders. Rains on a ride? So what? hee hee...

Anyway, if you've made it this far in the post, the basic thing is that I'm taking my commuter and making it a quick-as-heck bike that is built in the Rivendell style and can motor with the best. Sweet.