yeah!

Our entire family are Green Bay Packers fans, so we are celebrating today!!! Julie and I grew up in Berea, Ohio, which since the 1980's has been the home of the Cleveland Browns Training Facility. I remember as a teenager seeing Ozzy Newsome running through the streets, the players and the coaches eating in local restaurants, and later when I worked at a sporting goods store in town, selling Browns paraphernalia to Browns fans world wide. I grew up with the Browns in my town, and I still love them - even with their problems.

But I've also been a humongous Packers fan! Their history, the great teams of the past, and now this year the Super Bowl Champions! Thanks guys for a great season.

Next year lets hope the Browns do a lot better, see you in Training Camp next year (around the corner from my house).

back end

The next contact point is my buttocks, being supported by a Brooks Professional saddle. A little more aggressive than the B17, I think that it will work better with the sitting position on the Chester, and with thicker leather, it will last longer than my other stand by saddle, the Selle An Atomica. I like the Brooks saddles for the simple fact of the comfortableness over the years, and that they really become part of you.



Holding up the seat, a Thomson Elite Setback post. What else would I trust my precious backside to? The easy adjustability and strength makes this a favorite throughout the years.

Interesting that I trust my ass to the same thing year after year after year.

More soon...

rest of the front end

The continuing parts list for the Matt Chester...



The fork spins in the frame with a Chris King 1 1/8 NoThreadSet. As your eyes can see, it is black with a Mango top bearing cap in the Sotto Voce finish. When I first saw the color on color finish, I didn't know if I really liked it, I mean Chris King headsets have always had white letters on the color headsets, but the understatedness is growing on me. Now I find it kind of weird looking to see the older style.



My hands are going to rest on a pair of 42cm Salsa Woodchipper bars, with a 25.4 clamp diameter. Why? I had a Thompson Elite stem laying around, and Matt designed the frame around its extension length and rise. Might as well use it instead of it just sitting there. Also from this picture, you can see that I have my brake levers installed - although probably not in the correct position. Both are from Cane Creek, and I have one SCR-5C lever and one stoker lever. This gives me an extra hand position while sitting up or cruising, and gives me a sense of equalness on the bars. I'm probably going to wrap the bars in white tape, just because I like the way it looks.

More to come tomorrow!

pic and tires

Tires can make or break a ride. Too heavy, flat prone, too stiff of a sidewall can make a great ride miserable. I've tried different company's tires, and my three favorites are Schwalbe, Specialized, and Continentals, but so far, I just have two pairs of the Schwalbes, so here they are.



Here is a picture of the clearance of my Paul Components Racer M with a Schwalbe Durano HS 700x28 tire. On the rims they measure 26mm, so I don't know if they will be my do everything tire, but for faster road rides, they weigh nothing, have good flat protection, and should be pretty durable. Wish they made a folding version in 700x32, I'd get them in a heartbeat. I might try the non-folding ones in the 32s just to see.

Also have a pair of the Marathon Plus HS34s. On the DTSwiss 465's they run true to their 700x28 size, but they are HEAVY, 740g - compared to 290g for the Duranos. Upsides are extremely durable and flat resistant, so except for the weight, they would be perfect. The downsides are the weight, and the fact that the sidewalls are so thick, I actually have to snap on one bead, and take toe clip straps to attach the other bead so I can the tires set in the rim. Good thing they are so damn flat resistant. I'll have to see how they ride, usually something with this thick of a sidewall ride like bricks. So these might be for the early spring and rides where I know that flats might happen more, like long gravel rides and off-road.

I'd like to find a lighter 700x30ish (measured - I don't know why companies [except Kenda] don't make that width) tire with good flat protection, and mid 500g weight, I'll have to look at some more Contis - oooooooooo like a 4 Season in a true 700x30 width with some more stiping....

More to come, I think I'll do the handlebars, headset, and brake levers next, and the stuff my ass sits on.

rip

Three years ago, we had to put our dog Marley to sleep. I miss her very very much. She was the best dog, except for her hate of bikes.