I warned you that I like details.
For most of my younger life I was an avid cyclist. I had quite a few bikes including my favorite, a custom made racing bike. In college, when I worked at a bike shop, I was able to purchase a Schwinn Voyageur. I LOVED that bike. Sadly, I had to sell it to pay the rent.
After college when I started working, I got out of cycling way too much. I won't blame that for the weight that I gained, but when I decided to lose weight, and start riding again, I wanted a touring bike again. I looked a long time for a Voyageur but couldn't find one in my size that was the same as the one I had in college.
Instead I found its kissin cousin, a 1984 Specialized Expedition. Many people describe riding this bike like riding on rails. Even though I still have my custom racing bike, I put on thousands of miles on the Expedition since I bought it 5 years ago.
One thing I didn't like about it was the color. For some reason bike manifacturers all think that touring bikes are supposed to be drab and devoid of any character. They like colors like brown, black, or maybe navy blue, if they are feeling a bit wild. The expedition was Like that. Any color you want, as long as it's (wait for it)...GREY. I wasn't going to have any of that. After about a year, I sent it out to get powder coated a nice Orange.
As you can see in the picture, I made a decision about the bags. I put the front racks back on so I can put the bags up front. I went out for ride this afternoon with the bags on and screamed down some hills. Solid as a rock. In fact, rock is a good way to describe how it was downhill,...as in sinking like a rock ;).
For most of my younger life I was an avid cyclist. I had quite a few bikes including my favorite, a custom made racing bike. In college, when I worked at a bike shop, I was able to purchase a Schwinn Voyageur. I LOVED that bike. Sadly, I had to sell it to pay the rent.
After college when I started working, I got out of cycling way too much. I won't blame that for the weight that I gained, but when I decided to lose weight, and start riding again, I wanted a touring bike again. I looked a long time for a Voyageur but couldn't find one in my size that was the same as the one I had in college.
Instead I found its kissin cousin, a 1984 Specialized Expedition. Many people describe riding this bike like riding on rails. Even though I still have my custom racing bike, I put on thousands of miles on the Expedition since I bought it 5 years ago.
One thing I didn't like about it was the color. For some reason bike manifacturers all think that touring bikes are supposed to be drab and devoid of any character. They like colors like brown, black, or maybe navy blue, if they are feeling a bit wild. The expedition was Like that. Any color you want, as long as it's (wait for it)...GREY. I wasn't going to have any of that. After about a year, I sent it out to get powder coated a nice Orange.
As you can see in the picture, I made a decision about the bags. I put the front racks back on so I can put the bags up front. I went out for ride this afternoon with the bags on and screamed down some hills. Solid as a rock. In fact, rock is a good way to describe how it was downhill,...as in sinking like a rock ;).
No comments:
Post a Comment