Things I ride on

Couple of people have asked what gear I ride on and why. So here's some totally unbiased opinion.

Bikes:

1) Giant Iguana Mountain Bike - I've had this bike since shortly after Rachel and I started dating. I beat the living snot out of this thing and it just works. When the Pugsley gets built up, this is the bike it's going to have to content with for riding. What's on it? Basically everything is stock. I've had to change stuff like grips, rear casette and chain over the years but nothing else. If we had more trails here in Illinois (fat chance I know) I'd ride this more during the summer. In the past I've put street tires on this and ridden it all summer long, but now that I'm more used to riding the Cross Check, it's mainly setup for trails.

2) Surly Cross Check - First road bike (yeah, it's s cross bike, cut me some slack). I can't rave enough about this thing. It's versatile, comfy (yes a road bike can be comfy) and goes about anywhere I want it to. This is my workhorse bike during the warmer months. If I start riding with the Slender Fungus guys, maybe this thing will get some miles this winter. Oh and for what you get in a complete bike, the parts are decent quality and really inexpensive (sub $1000 range). This is the bike that I train on, did the MS Ride, and will be doing the New Glarus Eleventy and probably everything in between.

3) Cannondale R600 - I got this for doing some tech work for a friend and I'm not too sold on it yet. It's a great race bike, full Campy setup, and light as a feather. I'm just not sure if the light, fast, stiff Cannondale frame is for me. I may wind up selling this to put some $$ toward the Pugsley build. I will say that it's a blast to pedal, it takes a little work to get it going (race gearing and shorter cranks) but maintaining speed is really easy. And it's so much faster than the Cross Check. I just wish it was more comfortable for longer rides.

So that's the bikes now onto the bits and pieces.

Cycle computer: Cateye Micro Wireless - one word...simple. This takes about 5 minutes to install, has a basic set of features (ride time, odometer, trip odometer, clock, average speed, max speed and mph) and is bombproof. During the MS Ride, we got stuck in a HUGE thunderstorm. SItting in a field in a torrential downpour, this thing started right back up and worked flawlessly for the remainder of the ride. No drying it out or having to mess with it. Most of the time I forget it's even on the bike until I look for it. That's how reliable it is.

Tires:

1) Schwalbe Advancers 700x35 for training and daily riding. The Schwalbe's are the shit. They are comfy tires, they ride well, have some traction for the Dekalb County section of the GWT (basically two ruts in the road) and aren't so balloon-y that a big guy like me doesn't flatten them out. I put these on last season and have had no complaints whatsoever. Well worth the money. Oh and they weren't 80 bucks a tire either.

2) Continental Gatorskins 700x25 for long distance stuff like the MS Ride. While the Schwalbe's are great all around tires, the gatorskins are durable, low resistance, fast tires. I was able to maintain much faster speeds with these on than I was with the others. I did feel a lot more bumps in the road but that's the price you pay.

Bar Tape: Lizardskins - best tape ever made. It's a bit more of a headache to install, but it's the most comfortable stuff out there that I've used. I really like this. When I was working on cleaning up the Cannondale, it was suggested that I use this instead of lesser stuff. I don't think I'll ever go to anything else. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that on the Surly, I could ride without gloves on, it's that comfortable.

Taillight: Planet Bike Superflash - Awesome little blinding flashy thingy. On 2 AAA batteries, this thing has ran on every commute to and from work since November of last year. That's almost 8 months. It's bright and annoyingly flashy. Just what I want to make people notice me and not run me off the road.

Bags: I don't have a bike with racks or panniers yet but I do commute every day with a Timbuk2 Outawack Daypack. I have owned 2 Timbuk2 bags, the first one I sold to a coworker after getting this one. I wholeheartedly support this company, they don't make crap. Yes the bags will cost you a little more but here's the skinny, I've wrecked once, fallen off more times that I can remember and generally abused that bag as much as possible and it looks like it's new and the Macbook Pro that it protects doesn't have any damage from any of my adventures. I have carried a ton of junk in this thing and it has never failed me.

Clothing - I have some Hincapie thermal tights, and neoprene shoe covers, Louis Garneau dual layer gloves, and this funny thing that can be a hat, neckwarmer, over the head thingy that my LBS recommended, all for winter. It keeps me warm and dry, that's all I need. For shorts, I can't remember the manufacturer but they work well. My jersey is a Dos Equis one that I've had for years. Too bad I don't really drink anymore. May have to replace that this winter. All I can say about clothing, is try it out, if it doesn't work for you, find something that does. There is no shame in saying something doesn't fit right but it sucks riding in uncomfortable stuff.

As for other stuff like saddles, headlights, etc. I really don't have an opinion yet. I'm still trying stuff out to see if I like it and won't really comment until I have made a decision. Usually it's pretty obvious. If I like something, you'll see it on either me or the bike.