New commuter bicycle.

[herr_oberst]

So, a couple of months ago, I decided to retire my old Bridgestone MB2.
I've owned it since 1991 or so, and it has been my best all around bike for all that time; it just feels like an old pair of jeans, it's had thousands of miles put on it and since I've been pretty much riding it to work every day for more than a couple of years now, I felt like the old girl was getting a bit long in the tooth and deserved a break.


I decided I really wanted some of the modern accoutrements afforded by new bikes, specifically better brakes and trigger shifting.
Did some shopping, found this aluminum Sirrus Elite in a large frame size which, while not exactly equipped with the worlds best component selection, was priced right and felt very good to me on my test ride...



I knew the weak component selection was part of a price point and I figured I'd update it a little at a time and so, I brought it home and the first thing I tried to do was replace the steel, riveted crank with my old Ritchey Logic triple.
Since this isn't possible on a new bike with compact drive components, this one small attempt at a quick upgrade set me on a path that had me changing out all the greasy bits (except for the wheelset, and the headset - which I may still do), for new, better lighter stuff. And of course, since I can't stop myself, while I was in there I added better cockpit components.

I spent more than I initially meant too, at least this quickly, but, here's the thing; By carefully shopping around, I found pretty good deals on all new SLX and Avid components (9 speed, not 10)(BB5's, not BB7's) that have really transformed this bike into a smooth shifting, sure stopping around-towner that I have a lot more confidence to get me to work on those dark, rainy mornings than I did on the Bridgestone. The most expensive bit was the crank, but it's a really nice piece of equipment that shifts like it uses electric motors instead of cables. I'm still getting used to working on disc brakes, but man, do those things stop well on rainy Portland streets. (Fun-fact: the MB2 had an under the chainstay Ubrake. These disc brakes feel like the difference between a rotary phone and an iphone.)
The only reason I changed the tires is because I flatted the front on a Friday then flatted the rear the very next Monday. I had Schwalbe Marathons fitted by that Wednesday.

So, after a couple of months on the new bike, it just feels great. This is a much bigger frameset than the Bridgestone, and it has 700c wheels instead of the 26's. At first, I sort of wondered if I'd made a mistake, but now that I have a couple of hundred miles under my belt, I really like this bike. Its fast, it's agile, it's stable and I'm not ashamed of the way it looks.
It's funny, I thought I would just keep the MB2 going forever, but that's not really possible with all the improvements and obsolescence that comes with new bicycle components.

[jyl]

Nice looking bike.

I bet the 700Cs get you around more efficiently than the 26"s. My Bridgestone MB is noticeably slower on the street than just about any road bike I've ridden, and I put that down to the wheels.

What are you doing w/ the MB2? Hanging it up? Xtracycle conversion? Back to knobbies?