Fat Fingers

and the third bicycle.

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A classmate said, "Why don’t you do a blog? It might be interesting." Not in those exact words lah, but close enough. It’s been pricking my brain all of two days.

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But it might not be interesting today unless you ride bicycles.

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I have a beef - why is it that when I say "bike", most people think I mean "motorcycle"? Is it that inconceivable that someone this old should not be playing with bicycles anymore? Well, here’s a fact - I play with not one, but three (3) bicycles. And I’m thinking of getting one more. So there.

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A motorcycle would be nice, but not right now. I’m thinking Honda Cub and Ducati Monster. But that’s a long way away lah. Maybe in five years, when I’m all grown up with more facial and leg hair too. Eeeeks.

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Now playing: Just be yourself, Mr. Beasley - Corrine May

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I just inherited my friend’s Bridgestone CB-1. Now CB (city bike) isn’t a very nice name for a bicycle, or just about anything for that matter. But CB it says on the seat tube, so CB it is. CB-1 in fact, which is the highest class of CB there is, save for the CB-0, which I have not seen nor heard much of.

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I thought Bridgestones were rare bikes. I know of an old friend who rides an MB-something; an old classmate who rides an MB-3; a togoparts (tgp) guy who has an MB-5; and another tgp guy who is selling his MB-0 frame, which I hope to buy. But I have not heard from anyone who has a CB-x frame. If you do, let me know.

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Bridgestone stopped making bicycles about ten years ago, and I heard from Ewan (a shop) that they still have a couple of RB-x (road bike) frames in the shop. “Black and Silver,” they said, so I think they might just be RB-1 frames. Correct me if I’m wrong there.

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The second bike I own is a 700c Motiv Motiv8r. You might ask "What in the heck is that?" I don’t know. I got it from a colleague in the United States after some split-arsed moo stole my Schwinn, to quote Willie Garvin from Modesty Blaise. It’s got old-school Exage parts and the infamous Biopace cranks, which are a novelty with their ovalised chainrings.

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If you want this classic thing-a-ma-jig, let me know because it’s for sale. Let me tell you how I brought it home. I packed the whole thing in a cardboard box taken from a furniture store in North Hollywood, thank God that Eva Air allowed sixty-four kilos of check-in luggage. Even then, I was over the limit and had to carry the beer crate sitting on my feet the whole flight back. Sucks. Talk about cramped flights – I enjoyed sitting in the loo more than on my own seat.

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The customs man at Changi was going to open my box, but luckily he thought the better of it and waved me through, much to my relief.

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The coolest bike I have - at least it seems to be cool to every other cyclist except me - is the ’97 Litespeed Ocoee. I finally gave up on the Judy SL (suspension fork) and replaced it with a one-hundred-and-ten dollar aluminium rigid fork.

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It is a fast bike, faster than I can take it. And on those speed bumps, you rattle every bone in your body. Now that I changed to slick tyres and a second-hand SLR XP saddle, the whole thing feels stiff like a piece of uh, I don’t know. If you like to ride a sofa, this bike is NOT for you. It rides dangerously. I happen not to like riding a sofa.

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Sofas are for lounging in with a whiskey and a fireplace and your wife, covered with a warm sheepskin or rug and sad love songs playing in the background. You ride a bicycle, not a sofa. You lounge in a sofa, not on a saddle.

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By the way, all my bikes were, uh, second-hand machines. Ironically, the only bikes I ever bought brand new, a Chinese Flying Pigeon and a Taiwan-welded Schwinn got stolen. I shall stick to my used machines. Cheaper some more!

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So anyway, I got some new parts for this Bridgestone: Kalloy Uno seatpost, Mavic X517 new "old" rims to fit the 36-hole Duraace 7700 hubs given to me by a friend, my ten-year-old CODA handlebar which I hope does not break, Avid SD 7 v-brake set (I’m too lazy to fiddle with cantilevers), and my old Specialized saddle, which I just realised is a leather piece mounted on a carbon fiber base, with titanium rails. It must have cost a bomb to whoever bought it. I shall care for it more now.

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Today, this bike looks nothing like the Bridgestone truck I rode home that night from Dover, three weeks ago. Oh yes, and I removed the black fenders too. Now I shall get sprayed with oily road water when I ride.

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I should really be doing my readings instead of polishing the frame and tinkering with this bike. I remember my neighbour’s look when he saw my all-black hands under the tap: “You painting your room ah?”

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Anyway, I hope to get hold of a classic, lugged, frame. Japanese if possible. Then I can install all-Japanese parts and create the ultimate Japanese classic bicycle. Tange headset, I-don’t-know-what leather saddle, Nitto parts, Suntour or old-school Shimano stuff, Araya rims and Wheelsmith spokes. I’m thinking MB-1. Anyone wants to sell one?

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So now I have a couple of rather confused bicycles, which are neither XC (cross country) nor road, nor hybrid. They are, confused. Confused bikes = confused owner? I hope not.

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Boys will be boys.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2005 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.