Vélolution

I didn't know what I was doing when I bought my Bianchi Strada in May except that I wanted to start biking and I needed a bike to do it. In hindsight, I might have bought something different, and someday I'd like a throughbred road bike for fun rides. For commuting, however, my hybrid bicycle has mutated into something that meets all my needs and some of my wants. Hey, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with!

When I bought the Batavus Monte Carlo, the first thing I did was to remove the rear rack it had on and transfer it to my Bianchi. Then Tom at the Sibley Bike Depot gave me an extra water bottle cage he wasn't using. With two water bottles, full fenders, and a rack, it's a great commuter/tourer that I could ride almost anywhere.

Along the way I added a blinky light in back and little headlight in the front, and a saddlebag to hold my emergency toolkit. After my fortuitous acquisition of cheap cycling shoes, I eventually got around down to County Cycles and picked up a new pair of Shimano M-520 clipless pedals. Lastly, I used my Sibley member's discount to order Salsa bar ends for extra hand positions. And that's where I'm stopping. I swear.

Categories: bicycles