It's been a long, long time....

It's been a while since I posted anything, integrating Google blogger into facebook/instagram posts automatically is not seamless. That and aside from commuting a bunch and riding the same trails it was starting to just be the same pictures over and over again. Which was getting boring even for me.

Some new things though, finally finished the 1973 Continental. Cleaned and re-packed all the bearings, new cables and brake pads, and threw on the Saturne HC19 rims I had laying around with the Panaracer Gravelking SK 700x35cm wheels.

This has turned out to a pleasantly fun bike set-up, stripped off the kickstand, aluminum rims, no water bottle cage, or rear rack keeps the weight down. It's a size smaller than the 1975 Continental I commute on, so it's feels a little "tighter" and like a race bike to me.

I am super impressed so far with the Gravelking SK tires, for a semi-knobbed (that's the SK...) they're still pretty quiet on the road or pavement, can feel the resistance compared to the slicks I run on my other bikes, but off road is where they really shine. Transition from trail to grass or gravel you don't notice a loss in traction, just a slight additional effort. The current set up is with some Bontrager tubes pumped to 55psi in front and 60psi in back.  I found a 3.75 gravel trail near my house that has lots of turns and when I first took this bike out to ride it was relatively wet from rain, so it made for a fun and technical ride. Looking forward to exploring more with this bike in the future. For any older or retro bike build I can only recommend the tan walls, I was leaning towards solid black but Jimmy at Oswego Cyclery convinced me otherwise, glad I listened.

I had decided to build this bike up in anticipation of riding the Rough Road 100 next April. Why use a 40 year old steel antique?
1) I'm crazy and a glutton for punishment
2) Bragging rights, sure you can do a 65 mile gravel ride on a modern Aluminum frame, with tubeless tires, and modern shift system and drive train. But lets face it, I'm not going to place in the top 100 regardless of what I ride so to just finish on this bike would be sweet and a testament to perseverance.
3) It's a sweet blue color.

We'll see what the future brings if I have a chance to get some major miles on this or any bike for that matter. I also recently picked up a 1984 Fuji Touring Series V that needs some work but which has the prospect of being an excellent replacement for a both Schwinns. The '75 was really always supposed to be a short term bike to see if I actually enjoyed it cycling before investing in something else.