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[OM] Re: [OT] Lightweight bikes

Subject: [OM] Re: [OT] Lightweight bikes
From: "Lex Jenkins" <lexjenkins@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 23:22:32
Ahh...I'll have to dig out and scan my pix from the days when I was healthy enough to ride long distance tours. During the '70s when I was in the Navy stationed at Balboa in San Diego our club ("Me Duelen Las Nalgas") rode the Tijuana-Ensenada and Tecate-San Felipe tours. Fond memories, wonderful beer and some great photos.

For those tours and daily commuting I rode a middle of the line Motobecane, metallic silver-blue. Those familiar with Tom Cuthbertson's "Anybody's Bike Book" will understand. In reality it was nothing special, just a chromoly frame and midrange Shimano parts totalling a relatively hefty 31 pounds in stock trim. I tarted it up a bit with toe clips, gearing of my preference (my San Diego commute was pretty hilly), replaced the handlebar mounted gearshift with a downtube shift, and ditched the chainwheel guard and extra brake levers. Managed to get the weight down to 29 pounds, which I promptly made up for by adding an Eclipse underseat pouch full of tools and one of those nifty fold-up tires - which came in very handy on a few occasions. Add heavy duty tires to handle gravel, a pump, couple of water bottles and the Kirtland handlebar bag (which now serves as a camera bag) full of stuff and the rig was pushing 40 lbs. I didn't know it at the time but I was building a mountain bike.

Took a lot of photos while riding, but don't think I have a single photo of the bike itself, which I finally sold a few years ago. Still was in great shape despite racking up - and I don't believe I'm exaggerating - more than 50,000 miles over the years. Did all my own maintenance - there's nothing quite like the feel of adjusting those hubs j-u-s-t right with a new squirt of thick green Phil bearing grease. (BTW, if you're curious about what happens when you substitute just WD-40 for bearing grease and proceed to zip downhill at 60 mph, let's just say I can't recommend it.)

Anybody wanna swap something for a pair of Detto Pietros, size 10? ;) Got some hub wrenches too.

Lex
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