Probably the worst thing you can do for a bike habit is work in a shop, as you get used to the ready access to workstand, tools set up and the constant access to replacement bits. If one bike feels a little crunchy, you use that one to ride to work, then strip and clean it a bit on your lunch break, or stay a bit late to get it humming again. Without such an immediate setup at home, certain bikes get regular treatment, while others get bits poached off of them and rotated to the back of the rack and storage areas.
My Quickbeam is far and away the first bike I think of when it comes time to ride. The Hilsen next. Both have been through all kinds of iterations of race bike, commute bike, rando bike, bike bike... The Quickbeam just has something about it - the combo of saddle type, position and simplicity. One Gear Always Works. (Well, ok.... I did bust a chain once which made for a quick and not-quite-nasty moment of non-locomotion http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclofiend/4811477802/ ) The last couple rides on the Hilsen, the chain slipped a bit in the 6th or 7th position. When I got home and poked at the cogset, it turned out to be loose - the lockring had backed off just enough to let things shift under load. Now, I know those things happen. And I know that if I rode one bike exclusively, I'd be more directly attuned to the quirks and clicks and entropy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclofiend/3787167021/ And other than component wear, either of those bikes would work. Moods strike me and I typically end up favoring one bike for a few months at a time. The shifting system on the Hilsen is direct and positive and won't degrade over time. If the Hilsen were orange, it would probably be a tougher choice. But, as my father likes to say, it's a "high class problem". - Jim / cyclofiend.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
