I'll start out with a little about myself. Graphic Designer (print, not web) by day, bedroom rock star by night. I play guitar, enjoy writing, love to sail, study typography and other types of design (see what I did there?), been geocaching for about a year now, and have been into photography since getting my first SLR in the early 80's. Married to my first wife, 15 years now. Two boys, 5 & 10, and the mrs wants to try for girl. Born in Tulsa, moved to Chicago, back to Tulsa, moved to a tiny town in Alabama, back to Tulsa, moved to Colorado Springs, back to Tulsa. Other than the convenience of a square mile street grid system, I really couldn't tell you why or how I keep ending up back in Tulsa. We've been toying with the idea of moving to Austin for some time now and visit often, but the homes in the area we would want to live (SoCo) are insanely pricey.
Well, like many of you, I have a long history with biking. And, like many of you, I've gotten older and no longer wish to be quite as aggressive in my biking style. I haven't had many bikes, but the ones I had got used extensively. I never tweaked them or modified them other than sticking a baseball card in the spokes, putting dice stem caps on, or tying some type of toy or explosive to drag down the street behind me. It all began in the 70's on my "Ketchup & Mustard" Schwinn Sting-Ray. I rode that bike every day, all day, for miles and miles. That got me around in the late 70's and very early 80's. Since I showed a dedication to biking, I was rewarded with the best gift ever for a kid my age. In 1983, before "mountain bikes" gained any kind of popularity, I was surprised with a Takara Highlander. It was expensive at the time, would end up being one of the biggest presents I would ever get in my youth. I would ride it all over south Tulsa, no distance too great, no terrain too tough. I was the envy of all my friends. I actually still have that bike, never could seem to let it go. I ride it on rare occasion still and it fits like a broken in glove. No other bike handles like it does, which I suspect is the unique width of the bar and stem that places it almost directly over the headset. I can't remember what keeps me from riding it more often, I think it's the tires...and the rim size is unusual as is the hub size so it was a challenge I never resolved. But, maybe now that I am back into it, getting it fixed up may not be such a difficult task. Anyway, back to my bike history. So the Takara took me all the way through grade-school and high-school. I wanted a new bike for college, so a green and purple Trek Antelope 830 became my 3rd bike. That bike got used and abused. I didn't have any sort of attachment to it like I did my first two bikes, so if it got banged up or mistreated, I didn't really care. It did get LOTS of use though, particularly in Colorado. It also gave me the worst wipe out in my biking history (aside from running into and taking out a mailbox on the Takara...dang those wide bars). I was on "the trails" with my full-suspension buddies while they mocked me for my stiff bike. I could hang with them on any trail, any day...my legs were so in shape I could have drop kicked a full-body punching bag 50 yards. Anyway, I misjudged a large root at the top of a set of doubles and, well....next thing I knew I was face down in the dirt with a blood everywhere and pain all over...even managed to break my saddle rails with my back.
So, that brings me up to now, age 36. I went from the Sting-Ray, to the Takara, to the Trek. Never had a road bike or a cruiser, always rode very aggressively. I stopped riding the Trek after finally wearing it out about 8 years ago and have missed riding ever since. Now that I have put on about 30 lbs too much, my wife is hounding me to exercise and get back into shape...which I want to do anyway. So, with a very limited budget, I began watching craigslist for another bike. I wasn't sure what I wanted, all I knew was mountain bikes. I did know that I was not planning to hit the trails like I used to and wanted something a bit more laid back and fun. The Electra's were cool but again, very limited budget. I wanted simple, the joys my Sting-Ray used to give me. That's when I stumbled upon a Kona A'Ha for sale about 2 hours away from me. It was a single-speed/fixed gear flip flop hub mountain bike. This got my attention. The price was right, I didn't hesitate or think it over, I pounced. I got the bike. The paint job is what Kona calls "Stars and Bars" and what I call "gaudy." The freewheel was worn out and slipping so I replaced that immediately with a nice Shimano freewheel. There is no fixed gear currently on the other side of the hub....yet. The saddle is oozing gel and sticking to my shorts. The riding position is uncomfortably aggressive. But, even so, I'm loving the single speed and the Cook Bros. looking frame. Oh, I got this like 2 weeks ago.
So, my plan for the Kona. It will be a slow and cheap rebuild as I am currently unemployed. There is a local powder coater that will blast and coat the bike for $75. I want to do that, toss some Fat Franks on, get a more comfortable saddle (but not some goofy gel thing, I still have style!), and some new bars to get me in a more moderate position. The pedals are basically shin shredders, so those need to go too. Eventually I expect everything but the frame to be be replaced. I had an idea in my mind for which direction I wanted to go, but that was before my mind exploded last week after stumbling upon the world of Rat Rod Bikes and the like. Holy cow guys, I dig so many styles I don't know which way to go! There are some absolutely stunning pieces of art on here. My most current "idea" for the bike is to get brown Fat Franks and paint the bike black, with leather saddle and grips.
I will post pics of all my bikes soon. I still have the Takara like I said, the Trek is in the yard under some vines, the Kona is in the garage, and sadly...the Sting-Ray is long gone.
Well, like many of you, I have a long history with biking. And, like many of you, I've gotten older and no longer wish to be quite as aggressive in my biking style. I haven't had many bikes, but the ones I had got used extensively. I never tweaked them or modified them other than sticking a baseball card in the spokes, putting dice stem caps on, or tying some type of toy or explosive to drag down the street behind me. It all began in the 70's on my "Ketchup & Mustard" Schwinn Sting-Ray. I rode that bike every day, all day, for miles and miles. That got me around in the late 70's and very early 80's. Since I showed a dedication to biking, I was rewarded with the best gift ever for a kid my age. In 1983, before "mountain bikes" gained any kind of popularity, I was surprised with a Takara Highlander. It was expensive at the time, would end up being one of the biggest presents I would ever get in my youth. I would ride it all over south Tulsa, no distance too great, no terrain too tough. I was the envy of all my friends. I actually still have that bike, never could seem to let it go. I ride it on rare occasion still and it fits like a broken in glove. No other bike handles like it does, which I suspect is the unique width of the bar and stem that places it almost directly over the headset. I can't remember what keeps me from riding it more often, I think it's the tires...and the rim size is unusual as is the hub size so it was a challenge I never resolved. But, maybe now that I am back into it, getting it fixed up may not be such a difficult task. Anyway, back to my bike history. So the Takara took me all the way through grade-school and high-school. I wanted a new bike for college, so a green and purple Trek Antelope 830 became my 3rd bike. That bike got used and abused. I didn't have any sort of attachment to it like I did my first two bikes, so if it got banged up or mistreated, I didn't really care. It did get LOTS of use though, particularly in Colorado. It also gave me the worst wipe out in my biking history (aside from running into and taking out a mailbox on the Takara...dang those wide bars). I was on "the trails" with my full-suspension buddies while they mocked me for my stiff bike. I could hang with them on any trail, any day...my legs were so in shape I could have drop kicked a full-body punching bag 50 yards. Anyway, I misjudged a large root at the top of a set of doubles and, well....next thing I knew I was face down in the dirt with a blood everywhere and pain all over...even managed to break my saddle rails with my back.
So, that brings me up to now, age 36. I went from the Sting-Ray, to the Takara, to the Trek. Never had a road bike or a cruiser, always rode very aggressively. I stopped riding the Trek after finally wearing it out about 8 years ago and have missed riding ever since. Now that I have put on about 30 lbs too much, my wife is hounding me to exercise and get back into shape...which I want to do anyway. So, with a very limited budget, I began watching craigslist for another bike. I wasn't sure what I wanted, all I knew was mountain bikes. I did know that I was not planning to hit the trails like I used to and wanted something a bit more laid back and fun. The Electra's were cool but again, very limited budget. I wanted simple, the joys my Sting-Ray used to give me. That's when I stumbled upon a Kona A'Ha for sale about 2 hours away from me. It was a single-speed/fixed gear flip flop hub mountain bike. This got my attention. The price was right, I didn't hesitate or think it over, I pounced. I got the bike. The paint job is what Kona calls "Stars and Bars" and what I call "gaudy." The freewheel was worn out and slipping so I replaced that immediately with a nice Shimano freewheel. There is no fixed gear currently on the other side of the hub....yet. The saddle is oozing gel and sticking to my shorts. The riding position is uncomfortably aggressive. But, even so, I'm loving the single speed and the Cook Bros. looking frame. Oh, I got this like 2 weeks ago.
So, my plan for the Kona. It will be a slow and cheap rebuild as I am currently unemployed. There is a local powder coater that will blast and coat the bike for $75. I want to do that, toss some Fat Franks on, get a more comfortable saddle (but not some goofy gel thing, I still have style!), and some new bars to get me in a more moderate position. The pedals are basically shin shredders, so those need to go too. Eventually I expect everything but the frame to be be replaced. I had an idea in my mind for which direction I wanted to go, but that was before my mind exploded last week after stumbling upon the world of Rat Rod Bikes and the like. Holy cow guys, I dig so many styles I don't know which way to go! There are some absolutely stunning pieces of art on here. My most current "idea" for the bike is to get brown Fat Franks and paint the bike black, with leather saddle and grips.
I will post pics of all my bikes soon. I still have the Takara like I said, the Trek is in the yard under some vines, the Kona is in the garage, and sadly...the Sting-Ray is long gone.
