Can we just talk bikes? It’s May in Michigan and I have never been so disappointed.
After enduring the toughest, iciest winter we have moved on to the chilliest, windiest spring. I have ridden through some of it anyway, but after maxing out my heart rate enough times on wide open roads in high winds, I cannot be prevailed upon to ride in this mess anymore. I will wait for Michigan to be reasonable.
I decided this was the time to overhaul my #1 Riv, my raspberry Platypus. It was the One Good Thing of 2020, and now it is 2026 and times have changed. Since the bike was built, Rivendell produced their Silver shifters and their OM-1 and their Silver 3 cranks. As much stuff as can be Riv on the bike, I want it on there. And while this bike is them it also has to be me. So, I decided to add some color.
This turned into a big project that I feel zero shame over. Let’s begin.
1. 38t/24t with whatever cassette is not high enough. I loved the 42/28 on Charlie, so I ordered those chain rings and a 11-36t cassette. I don’t know anything about cassettes, but Will said this one. The celebrated Ashley out of Colorado did a fancy ano job on the chain guard, the likes of which the world has never seen.
2. Wheels. My 2nd son has asked for a Platypus for his college bike. (He doesn’t even speak “bike.” He has a 52 Clem H and told me, “This bike isn’t good. Everything about it as not as good as that one [points to Platypus].” He is absolutely right - all the stuff and things on my Platy are superior to his stock, hand-me-down Clem H and knowing nothing, he knows.) We will sell that bike and get him that Platy.
So, he needs wheels, and I’ll give him mine, dyno hub and all. I took this opportunity to write my friends at Velocity and they said, “For your touring/camping bike? Cliffhangers.” So they are currently working on custom ano Cliffs with a Son hub that I expect to have soon.
3. Bags. Backabikes are simply not big enough. I got Dave at Waxwing to make me some Barbie Dreamhouse panniers. He’ll make me a matching handlebar bag when it’s my turn in the queue.
4. Silver2s! No more Microshift.
5. OM-1: I have RR on Charlie and I like it, so I can only imagine the OM-1 is going to be wonderful.
6. Stole the pedals from another bike because I needed pink.
7. Choco bars. The angle of the Billie is doing something to my right hand and wrist. I don’t know. Added bonus: Chocos give you more room when you like to junk up your bars.
8. Mount on the rack for a Varia radar
9. Silver3 cranks - Ashley got her hands on these, too.
That’s the list, as I remember it. I have one final big expense and that is the Schmidt Ladelux. I will give my Edelux II to my son. I love the Edelux but the reviews are excellent for the Ladelux and it really will charge your phone. Also, not having it flicker at slow speed will be fantastic. I still remember the Petosky campground when my son and I were rolling in late after dinner in pitch blackness through the woods. It was a cut-in through the woods on singletrack, and it saved us a lot of time on the road. There was a sand pit and a mud hole I knew were there from daylight, but I could not see them with my flickering Edelux. It was then that I understood why people bought Sinewave and Ladelux.
All the parts I removed will go on the College Platypus. I know he’s getting nice things, but I no longer fret about that. My older son has ridden the paint off his College Clem and has needed all that nice stuff. I had set him up with battery lights that he 1. Lost and 2. Never charged. I will not lay awake thinking about the boys coming home late at night in the dark without lights. Also, he drove that College Clem to the PNW for his summer internship and even though he’s got a vehicle, he’s riding the bike. Let the kids have nice bikes!
Did you make it this far? Too many words, I am sorry. Take pity; I’m dying to ride and this is all I have.
I’ll send pics of some of the pieces in a second post.
Leah
