Finally....The Steel Wool Tweed review

Hello Void....it's been a while.

Well the Daily Commuter has been busy lately preparing for this Christmas season. We (Hippy Mom and Boy) have tried our best to minimize our Chirstmas carbon foot print. We are making our gifts and not over indulging or getting caught up in commercial Christmas, and trying to pass these lessons along to Boy. For that reason, we have actually been busier than years past.

However, I did promise a detailed review of my latest project bike: The Steel Wool Tweed. I will go through the detailed parts of my build, but I'll only get into specifics about some of the cooler parts (come on...how many times can someone review Shimano Ultegra...)

Void...

Here it goes... The Steel Wool Tweed

Frame and Ride:

I have now had this bike for 4 months and have put quite a few Km's on it. I now use this bike primarily for riding around Victoria with Taxi Mum and Boy. This is the first steel road frame I have ever had. I quite enjoy the feel, and trust me, after riding Carbon and Aluminum....Steel is real! The frame does not flex (noticeably) when you put the pedals down and it is really smooth on all the roads around here.

The Geometry:

This bike is billed as the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. Like any frame billed as a one stop shop, it does everything well...but nothing great. The only major problem I have with the geometry is the hight of the headtube. This extra hight makes the bike feel really tall and compared to other bikes I have ridden, it adds a little wobbliness (that combined with the long rake on the front forks) to the bike. I have tried to rectify this by flipping my stem upside down (or to the negative angle) and it helps a bit. I think the way it is built....as a daily commuter fun bike...is probably the best use for it. Due to the hight of the head tube I don't think this would be a great cross bike and the weight obviously takes it out of the competitive race bike scene. This bike built up as a randoneur, commuter, single speed, or classic would handle, ride and look great.

Design:

The bike design is great. I like the fact that you can basically mount anything on this bike (although a rear rack requires modifications due to the disc brake mount...problem solved for the 2009 model) is great.

The eccentric BB is a good design, and I have thought many tims of building this as a Fixed Gear (or with an internal hub). I have not noticed any flex from the BB, but it did once slip on me (probably user error as it has not slipped again). A generous application of Anti-seize is recommended for the bolts on the BB as well as a bit around the outer ring (just so you don't have any problems with the Steel vs. Aluminum for your insert.

The Fun Stuff:

The build itself is not that spectacular. I will list the components here and go into detail on the parts not regularly found out in your commercial bike shop.

1. Components:

The bike is fit with full Shimano Ultegra (I know, I know...this bike calls for Campy, but I'm not that rich). I took all the components off my old Specialized Allez Comp.

2. Bar / Stem:

Again...a take off of the old Specialized. Bontrager XXX Lite carbon bars (overkill) with an Easton EC90 stem (again....overkill). The parts feel great on the steel bike, but they are kind of unnecessary as the steel takes care of most of the vibration dampening. Just for good measure though I threw in some Bontrager BUZZKILLERS.

3. Headset:

Chris King. Is there really any other choice for a bike like this?

4. Wheels:

Mavic Ksryums...just don't ask........

5. Tires

Specialized Armadillo tires (Great puncture resistance)

6. Seatpost:

Thompson Elite black post.

7. Saddle / Saddle Bag:

As I had never ridden Brooks before, I decided to give it a try on this bike with the Brooks B17 model (in Honey). I have probably spent over $1000 in the last 10 or so years trying to find a saddle that worked for me for all conditions. As I started building this bike, I started reading the Books website and talking to people

who rode these. I decided to take the plunge with the not so dramatic B17 saddle (probably their longest production saddle..and cheapest). I have no converted all my bikes to Brooks and will NEVER go back. The leather seat conforms so well for me that I don't ever have to ride with bike shorts on trips shorter than aboug 30 km. Because I decided I liked it so much I bought the saddle bag to match, and I bought Taxi Mum a great little saddle as well.

8. Brakes:

Avid Shorty 5's

9. Rack:

Axiom Disc compatable narrow rack (with some modifications).

10. Pannier Bags:

These are probably one of the items on my bike I am most pround of finding. A great guy to deal with, Jeff, makes these out of old recovered Military bags and as you can tell from his website , Jeff has a thousand uses for them. I have recieved more compliments about this $88.00 (SET!!!) of Panniers than on most of the bike, which, I guess, is Ok by me :).

11. Fenders:

Again, another great site to deal with was Woodys wood fenders. These are hand made, in house and look fantastic, not to mention there are about 100 different choices on wood colors and materials. They look great and complete the bike.

Well Void...thats about it. If you have any further questions about the good ol' Steel Wool Tweed, fire me an email.

Stay tuned to Taxi Mum's Blog for a great review of her Batavus and Boy's seat, the Bobike (with new windshield!).

Till then,

Happy Trails

D.C.

Art

Hello Void....

Every so often Taxi Mum and I walk along the streets of Victoria with boy, or sit at our local coffee shop and I see Art ( and I don't mean Arthur ).  I always try to understand where the artist is coming from, are they looking to share some of their thoughts, feelings, expressions and creativity with us or are we, as their target audience, influencing what they create (as we all live in a capitalist marketplace).  Although I can appreciate the work and thought that goes into something to make it aesthetically pleasing to some (not always me...and thats ok) I do not always like it...sorry....but it's the truth. 

Some Art, however, gets me every time.  I often go to my favorite link page (here) and pick a frame / bicycle builder. Now this is not an exhaustive list (and please...if you have more, let me know) but I cannot but be amazed at the beauty of these frames. I am a new school, old school guy (Steel is real...again....after my carbon and aluminum bikes) and I cannot say enough for the classic styling of a polished, lugged steel frame (Here goes the miscellaneous plug for a bike I cannot afford, and the bike I hope to show up on my Tattoo). 

Trust me folks, these craftsmen (and women) create truly amazing Art (and I certainly apreicate it as such) and I thank them for giving me beautiful pieces to behold every day.  Even bikes I would not personally ride, I think are beautiful. The time, talent and work that goes into each and every one of these is amazing.

Now...if I could only win the lottery....

Happy riding all

D.C.

Are These Better than a Car?

Another Shout into the Void...

Well, Taxi Mum and I are trying to decide what (if any) bike we should next purchase to transport Boy and possible siblings as well as Dog 1 and Dog2. Let me tell ya...there are lots of choices. My first thought (and still my favorite) is a Surly Big Dummy. I have to say, this is by far the nicest cargo bike out there...come on, what other type of bike can you put neon lights and a blender on! I've got great thoughts of putting a blender full of fruit and milk on the back en route to work and coming in 4 Km later with a nice smoothie! (I'll have to find a good way to strap it down though!) Taxi Mum will also get a break as I can carry both her and Boy on it.  If you put on the wide loaders you can even put on two dog crates to take them down for a run on the beach. I have a certain build in mind (as always...expensive) and I think it would be the cats arse. 

Taxi Mum has some other ideas however. She was looking at Rain City Cycles  in Vancouver and saw a Bakfiest cargo bike and some cargo trikes, although I already stated I would not be partaking in a Trike ride, although I like Elizabeth May (see campaign trail 2), I'll only go so far. The Bakfiest bikes do have some other benefits however. The long box can easily carry 3 + kids, dogs and groceries, this is definitely has its advantages, however, I would have to clear out the garage to fit it inside! I do wonder though, can I still fit the neon lights??

Alas, this decision is really one of how can we further decrease our dependence on our $300.00 a month lawn ornament (a.k.a. Toyota Matrix). I do believe that one of these bicycle will help Taxi Mum get past some of those days where the "elements" just seem to be too much, hey I can't blame her, who wants to be sick, or worse yet, be at home with a sick Boy!

Well... I should be getting out there to clean off my lawn gnomes and Matrix. 

Cheers All

D.C.

The Abyss

So, I finally did it....I threw my voice into the giant Terabyte abyss kown as the Internet. I placed my preverbial message in a bottle and set it adrift wondering if it shall every be answered. I hope everyone (or anyone) enjoys what I have to say, and I promise I will try not to waste the valuable moments of you life you have spent reading and enjoying this Blog....

I Love Mondays!

Well, to be completely honest, I love mondays that I don't work. Today was a slightly rainy, overcast day as usual for this time of year in Victoria. Lucky for the Fam. we got new rainproof suits and new fenders for the bikes! This means longs rainy months of fun! The Boy loves bike rides, and even more so now that he does not get wet or cold. He now goes out to the garage yelling, "Bikes!" and ALWAYS wants to go riding.

Today started off with dropping the family off for yoga while I went and did the typical Bike Shop tour to the usual suspects: Fairfield Bike Shop and North Park Bike Shop , by far the best and most friendly bike shops I have come across in Victoria.

After the tour it was back to pick up the fam at yoga to again head out to North Park for a little fix and install on my wife's Batavus. As always, spectacular service from the folks at North Park.

Although it was a little rainy today we decided to head out to our typical lunch spot at Macchiato (down on Broughton and Broad) and then toured over to Fernwood for another coffee (hey...you can't have too many of those!).

The Batavus is quickly becoming the best family transport vehicle. While the Boy rides up front, Taxi Mum is getting quite good at transporting him while he sleeps in his BoBike seat. All in all a great ride and everyone had fun.

Check back soon for great reviews on the Batavus, BoBike seat and the Steelwool.