aj's townie

The Electra Townie is certainly a better bike for my back and my wrists. Ergonomically, it couldn't be better. My main complaint about the bike is its weight, which I knew about when I bought it. When attaching a trail-a-bike to it, it is a very slow way to go. On the bright side, it is more of a workout to take my kids the 15 minutes or so to school, which from an exercise point of view, is a good thing in my book. When we are running late, though, I will often swap back to my Ancient Specialized hybrid bike, which is a much faster ride. While it is not particularly light, it is much lighter than the Townie. Though, I do notice after riding it a bit, that I have pain in my wrists again. Then I swap back to the Townie... Then the dorkiness factor is a whole other subject. I'm old enough now, that that isn't really much of an issue for me, just something I notice...


i'll add: i think my townie looks kinda dorky too, though stylishness is one of electra's main claims to fame. different strokes...

i don't know if she got the step-through (girl) style or the step-over (boy) style, but you can check them out via the link on the right.

and i think it's between 35 and 40lbs. quite a chunk of bike. my fusion is not-quite-30...

aj - let's go for a ride some time! i haven't gone for a recreational ride with you since we took the springwater corridor our to boring or wherever we were.

i'm back!

i haven't had much to say of late. i was just gearing up to post about some new components i found for the fusion. i also have some things to say about RANS in general. but i'll wait 'til the components are on my bike before talking about that. and i'll rant/mope about RANS a bit later. instead, i have a testimonial to share. a friend, after reading my preaching, decided to give a crank forward bike a try. i'll next post her thoughts about the bike.

love that speedy bike!

on the way to school with my littles yesterday, i got a flat. i had plenty of time to go home and patch it, but then managed to break off the presta valve-tip inside my pump. flat re-flattened.

so i had to leave my (spuose's) Rans Fusion* in the garage and ride my slow bike - a slightly upgraded/modified Electra Townie. the townie runs on wider lower-pressure tires and outweighs the fusion by almost 10lbs.

i'm often pleased with how quick the fusion feels, but it's been a while since i commuted on the townie. what is usually a 26-29 minute ride took me 36 minutes. dang. and the ride in today on the re-tubed fusion felt like flying. just wait 'til i get my Rans Zenetik Pro** (or come up with a design idea that isn't too ridiculous for Dave at Velvet to consider building).

and while i'm talking about speed, i have to confess that i've dropped closer to the middle of the pack. as the rain sets in and the more casual riders hang up the dubz for the season, i find i'm getting passed almost as often as i pass somene. maybe a ratio of two-to-three. humbling.


*27lbs
**19lbs

on craigslist - act now!

these bikes are freakin' RAD! they haven't been produced for years, so this is a rare opportunity that i thought i should share with my portland peeps. these are pretty heavy, but i have yet to ride a bike that felt more posture positive!

check 'em out.

kids and day6

here are some thoughts from the contact at day6:

"Day 6 bikes carry a high percentage of weight on the rear wheel. Adding more weight and in the case of a trail-a-bike , precious cargo, is asking for trouble in the way of a front wheel wash out. At slow speeds you probably won't notice the handling challenge but get the rig over 15 mph and try to stop or steer quickly and you may have a few troubles.

These are some of our thoughts. However, it has not yet been tested so we do not know how well it would handle.

Good luck with your blog and have a great day! If we come across other feedback I’ll pass it on"


maybe if you carry a front rack and/or front panniers, you might have enough front counterweight.

i was going to talk about feeling safe

i meant to write this post several weeks ago, but got sidetracked by the beautiful weather and ranting about track bikes.

i was going to talk about how riding upright makes me feel safer in traffic. i've already talked about how much upright riding improves your field of vision. you can look over your shoulders with ease. add a rear-view mirror and you have even more visual range than you do in your car (almost no blind spots).

and while we're on the topic of seeing cars, what about drivers seeing you? i don't have a scientific study to back this up, but i strongly suspect that a driver that can make eye contact with you is less likely to ignore or overlook you.

try standing in front your bathroom mirror. it's quite easy to make eye contact with your reflection. now, take a step or two back and put your hands on the counter. hoist your head up to a position where you have the same amount of eye contact. you can't really get the same level of direct visual contact. and even though you get close to it, how long can you hold your head at that angle before your neck protests?

finally, i feel safer when i'm upright because even if i do crash, i'm in a much better position to avoid serious injury. when your torso is laid low over your handle bars and you crash, the forward momentum takes you right over your bars and onto your face. when you're sitting upright, that's very unlikely. more likely, your feet will hit the ground and you'll skid. or you'll lay out to the side and take most of the impact on your hip or leg. and you're sitting lower to begin with, so you don't have as far to fall.

i don't know if it's just coincidence, but i was hit twice and crashed without any help several times before i started riding upright, but not once since.

can we please stop calling them fixies?

fixie. it makes them sound cute. charming. innocuous.

you've seen people riding them, right? barrelling through traffic, weaving in between cars, blowing stop lights. and you wonder, "why don't they stop?!"

it's because they can't. the lone gear on these bikes is fixed to the hub. so the wheel only goes forward or backward. this is not the single-speed coaster brake you remember from childhood. these bikes are literally constant motion. the only way to stop them is to slow very gradually or fight your own forward momentum by comically thrashing around while shredding your hips and knees.

this is how these riders willfully put their well-being and even lives in the hands of unwitting and unwilling drivers.

so, please join me in referring to them as track bikes. a closed race track is absolutely the only legitimate place to ride these things.