The unhappy stem

I switched out the Bike Nashbar stem and went to a shorter necked, flatter angled Nitto stem to see what the difference would be.  As I mentioned in my previous post, the happier stem didn't feel right and I knew I needed something flatter.  I got everything put together, threw on my cold weather riding kit, and rode up to town to vote on a referendum on how best to use free money that was given to the town post the Sandy Hook Massacre.

Schwinn Paramount Single Speed makeover

I finally mounted up my new Serfas Seca 23mm tires on my old Mavic CXP 33 rims after a 3 week Online Shopping Fiasco with an Amazon.com retailer called OutdoorEquipped.  I love these wheels because the hubs are Shimano 105s and they roll for evah and I just knew they would look really hot on the Schwinn.

DIY: Front Rack Light Mount

After my first bike commute I had to come up with a different way of carrying all the crap I need to have with me on the bike in case of a breakdown, rain gear, spare tubes, cables and locks, and stuff needed for the office.  I decided to go with the handle bar bag my friend Cliff gave me last year however, that meant that I had to find a different way to mount my headlight.  If you want to see the steps to get this point, please click the (Read more >>) link.

A former work colleague and one time bike commuting buddy gave me this front rack from one of his bikes and I have had it on the Cross Check for a couple of years but never used it in the way it was intended to be used by putting a boxy, rando bag on it.  It has really just been an ornament.  

Garmin Fail

Woke up to a light rain Saturday morning and decided not to ride.  My riding buddies opted for their trainers but later in the day there was a break in the weather, and it was kind of warm, so I headed out to do a reverse loop of the Saugatuck Reservoir.  The rain started again when I hit Hopewell Road and was full on by the time I got to Newtown Turnpike.

Online shopping fiasco

I had some leftover credit on Amazon so I used it to buy another pair of Serfas Seca's, this time for the Schwinn Paramount because I was loving the tire on the Synapse.  I found an offer on Amazon for two tires for $50 and that looked like a steal, so I pulled the trigger.