Interests Astronomy Bicycling Books Coins & Currency Computers Humour Photography Stamps Travel

Bicycling

Life is like riding a bicycle. You don't fall off unless, you plan to stop pedaling.

-- Claude Pepper

My Bikes

From old to new, road to mountain ... This is my current active bike list. I've actually got a few additional beater bikes that still (just barely) work. Still not enough bikes yet to open a bike shop but I'm working on it ...

'93 Specialized Epic Comp

My first real road racing bike (and it's still going strong after nearly 20 years of riding) ...

1993 Specialized Epic Comp

Frame	carbon fiber with aluminum lugs
Fork	DirectDrive aluminum fork
Groupset	2001 Shimano Ultegra 9-speed STI group, 11-23T cogset, 53/42T chainrings (I replaced all of the original Ultegra 600 parts myself)
Pedals	Shimano Ultegra 6402 (Look Cleat Compatible)
Wheels	Rolf Vector Comp Shimano Ultegra WH-6700 Specialized Ultralight Trispoke
Tires	700x20c Michelin Axial Super Comp 700x23c Continental GatorSkin
Saddle	Selle Italia SLR
Computer/GPS	Garmin Edge 800

'96 Rocky Mountain Hammer Race

My first front suspension mountain bike ... Also still going strong. This is the bike I typically use when doing overnight tours or if I need to carry panniers.

1996 Rocky Mountain Hammer Race

Frame	Tange triple-butted CrMo Scott USA aluminum barends
Fork	Rock Shox Quadra 21R Elastomer
Groupset	1995 Shimano XT 24-speed RapidFire Plus
Pedals	Shimano M747 SPD
Wheels	Front: Mavic 230 SBP (built the wheel myself) Rear: Bontrager Mustang ASYM 32-spoke rims (built the wheels myself)
Tires	Kenda K831 26 x 1.95
Saddle	Planet Bike A.R.S. Standard
Computer/GPS	Garmin Edge 800

'00 Specialized Rockhopper Pro A1

My second front suspension mountain bike. This is currently my back up bike whenever my Hammer Race needs some repairs/upgrades.

2000 Specialized Rockhopper Pro A1

Frame	Specialized A1 Aluminum
Fork	Manitou SX Suspension
Groupset	2000 Shimano LX/XT 27-speed
Pedals	Shimano M535 SPD
Wheels	Front: Ritchey Rock Comp Rear: Ritchey OCR Comp 32-spoke
Tires	Specialized Hemisphere EX 26x1.95
Saddle	Specialized Body Geometry

Other Bicycles That I Have Owned

The first bicycle that I purchased was a used Canadian Tire Supercycle. It was just your basic steel frame clunker and it was too small for me but still that was the bike that really got me going.

My second bicycle was another Canadian Tire Supercycle but this one was branded by Steve Bauer. It was another steel frame bicycle that cost just a little over a hundred dollars. But I doubt that Steve Bauer actually rode this model of bike in any of his races because it weighed a ton!

My next bike purchase was my first "real" bicycle. After a bit of research, and a timely sale at a local bike shop (Brown's Sports and Cycle here in Toronto), I managed to pick up an '88 Raleigh USA Technium Heat mountain bike. That bike served me very well for many years and many trips but was unfortunately damaged beyond repair in a silly accident in 1996 (sigh). But would you believe that even though the frame snapped and the headset was a little pitted, the fork and front tire were undamaged after the crash?!?! So at least, I was able to salvage almost all of the parts and swap them onto another bike (kind of like an organ transplant!). I bought the Rocky Mountain Hammer Race as a replacement for this bike.

Repairs and Maintenance

I also do all of the mechanical maintenance and parts upgrade work on my bicycles using a collection of tools made by Park Tool. The Park website also contains a lot of good information on how to use the tools and how to perform a variety of repairs.

Raleigh Technium Heat Mountain Bike (Before and After ...)