Over the lengthy Giving of Thanks weekend temperatures right here dropped into the 20s on the American Freedom Levels™ scale, which is like minus 3,000 in Communist. Whereas I do know this isn’t significantly chilly to the Minnesota Humblebraggarts…
[“Even this isn’t really that cold, which is why I’m not wearing pants.”]
…it’s fairly chilly for New York in early December, and so it was time for me to transition into Winter Mode:
Today for a lot of riders “Winter Mode” means principally this:
[This is exactly what I look like when I’m blogging.]
Nevertheless, I insist on doing issues the old style approach and using exterior. For a few years, “Winter Mode” for me meant sporting lengthy tights and booties on a skinny-tired highway bike, or else driving to a path someplace and doing quick laps on a mountain bike, additionally whereas sporting tights. Now it normally means sporting mountaineering boots and sweaters and stuff and setting out on the Jones. Thusly outfitted, I made for one in every of my favourite Semi-Secret Trails:
By the best way, I used to be testing the Jones website and occurred to note they’re having fairly a sale:
[No, they did not ask me to mention this sale.]
At which level I needed to wrestle myself to the bottom to cease myself from ordering one in every of these:
As soon as I pinned myself I additionally reminded myself that my present Jones leaves me wanting for completely nothing, and that I’m nonetheless on the unique tires for chrissakes:
This isn’t for lack of using it, both. I imply sure, I unfold my using throughout fairly just a few velocipedes, however the Jones has seen loads of use, and I’m wondering if it’s simply actually, actually arduous to wear down a three-inch tire. In actual fact all I’ve needed to do previously 5 years has been to switch the chain and the brake pads, so $500 off a whole bike looks as if a reasonably whole lot for an totally uncomplicated all-terrain bicycle that may take you to the very ends of the earth (or in my case the Semi-Secret Trails of Suburbia):
Or simply get the newest articulating downcountry-upcountry-sidecountry-enduro-thingy, no matter works for you:
In the meantime, I’m now formally the biking world’s foremost authority on the Trek Y-Foil:
So I used to be amused to see this “spy shot” of Colnago’s upcoming aero bike:
Aside from the truth that it appears to be like prefer it’s melting, what I discover noteworthy about this bike is that the Y-Foil was deemed unlawful as a result of it didn’t have a seat tube, but apparently Colnago can produce a motorcycle with a completely non-functional “seat tube” that’s nowhere close to the seatpost and clearly exists solely to fulfill the UCI requirement that bikes have diamond-ish-shaped frames. By this logic all that must be essential to make a Y-Foil UCI authorized could be to wedge the cardboard cylinder from a roll of paper in between the seatpost and the brake and safe it with a little bit electrical tape.
A carrot can even do in a pinch:
Not solely is it laterally stiff but vertically compliant, however the colour is ideal.
In the meantime, in different seat tube-free information, there’s this factor:
Apparently the builder made it in his lounge:
He ought to have referred to as it the Rhombus-Foil.
