new bike

Last summer, my supervisor told me that I could keep my job for another year.  Since this was my first successful attempt to work somewhere longer than 2 years, celebration ensued.  Why not celebrate by buying a new bike?  New is this case means new frame and fork.  And I mean new-new, like no one else has owned, touched, ridden, or blessed.  The last new bike I bought was when Jill was working at the bike shop in Los Alamos (read: employee pricing).

So I started emailing with Mike Kone of Boulder Bicycles and worked out a deal.  He had a frameset in stock that would fit me.  If I liked it, I would get a great price.  Otherwise, I could return it and get just what I wanted.  I didn't like the first enough to buy, so we hammered out the details on version 2.  It recently arrived.

What does one get for 5 times the price of a used frameset?  Desired tubing diameter and wall thickness (standard diameter with top tube wall thickness 8-5-8 and downtube 9-6-9 mm).  The right clearances around the tires and correct brazeons for fenders.  Enough water bottle cage brazeons (3!).  Vertical dropouts with correct spacing.  Pump peg.  Nice wiring capabilities (not using this yet).  Shiny new paint.  

Is it worth it?  Yes, as long as I still have a job...

It's a lighter shade of baby blue than Jill's.  No plans to change the blog name to account for the plurality.

I also got a new seatpost and binder bolt for the race bike.  It's surprising how such small parts can render a bike useless when broken.