Gripes and Grunts

Yes, a month has passed since I last posted to this poor open-book digital diary. I'm sure both my readers are fuming.

I mentioned recently (oops, see previous sentence) that I was falling out of love with my bike, or at least the frame. Well, I write now to say that this is very much the case, and I spent a week or so wavering between this:

http://www.bikemania.biz/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Merry_SomaDoubleCrossFrame_DC

and this:

http://www.swobo.com/catalog/product_info_b.php?cPath=2448_2451

My main points of heated (and wasteful) internal debate were 1) material: smooth, hip steel (the Soma) or lightweight, never rusting aluminum (the Swobo), and 2) appearance: neato indie-type graphics and chameleonic silver-with-purple-and-green-flashes without the nerdy tube shapes (the Soma), or modern yet coolly non-descript hip (the Swobo). Did any of that make sense?

I was also wondering which might be better suited for towing the ol' Schwinn kid trailer, because I am a proud suburban father who likes to prove both how much crap he can pack into something and how fit he is by towing said crap if it happens to be packed into a Scnwinn trailer. Based on the set-up of the towing hitch and how it fits into the left-side seat stay/chain stay angle, the Swobo Cosby won this category hands down.


Are you in there, Talia?

The trailer issue, however, did not prevent me from eventually perseverating (I am a Bovard, after all) over the Soma Double Cross DC. I really like it: a comfortable steel frame that can still perform and looks good. I don't know, it might also have something to do with San Francisco, which is home to Soma as well as being a city that I've been fascinated with recently. Anyway, a good few weeks have been spent pining for a size 56 DCDC, despite the unsure trailer hitch arrangment (I figured I'd make it work). Then I come to find out that Soma changed the frame up a bit recently:

 

http://www.somafab.com/dcdc.html

Same color, but different fonts, a head badge (with, ok, a cool image on it), and no more funky sun logo graphics!



The disc tabs were moved to the chain stay from the seat stay so that the frame will accomodate more racks, but even this is unwelcome to me, as I speculate that it will make my trailer jury-rigging even more difficult. So I'm kind of bummed, though the DCDC is still at the top of the list, even if I can't find an older version. Keith at Soma offered to save an old one for me, but this was ostensibly for an order that I would place through their web store, which charges about $70 more than other places, and I'll do anything to save a buck. Shoot, I didn't have the funding in place yet anyway.

Well, the new frame will happen eventually. I like the Jake the Snake, but I am still really coveting some disc brakes and something . I will say the JtS was not quite as spandex-y as most other bigger name frames.

Anyhoo, weather is getting warmer which is nice, but it's also getting wetter. I think I like riding through a snow shower more than a rain shower, at least more than a rain shower with a temp in the upper 30s or the 40s. Nervous about getting occasionally soaked, I purchased a cheap plastic rain shell from Performance. I think I sweat enough in it that it doesn't matter if I wear it or not, I guess it would be nice in a complete deluge.

Losing an hour to Daylight Savings means I'm back to leaving the house just as the sun comes up. I was a bit put out by this at first, but I didn't realize it would allow me to witness some beautiful sunrises. It's also great to have the extra hour of daylight in the evening. Spring is here, Summer is coming...

Today is supposed to be sunny and 60, can't wait to ride home.