NYC Journal

Update: IBIS SS Avion delivery expected tomorrow by UPS.

The grandson’s mother will be meeting us in Yorktown Heights early-early in the morning to hike with us.

”Maggie” has this condition where she gets these skin rashes that are due to heat and humidity. Pretty much the limit is about 10 miles of walking before the rashes begin, unless it is cool or low humidity.

Yesterday’s trekking around Madhattan was around 9 1/2 miles (I-Watch). She was right on the verge…

So I will likely get the duty to push a carriage. This boy is very-very advanced. Almost walking at 10 months, probably weighs nearly 25 pounds.

I might take a beating pushing him for 5-6 miles at our hiking pace. Almost a jog… It is either an incline or decline because of it being a railroad grade. No rolling hills.

Looking forward to meeting the new IBIS. I looked at the pictures and Phil’s observations seem to be spot on. I looked over the spec sheet that included all the options available that kinda made these production bikes made in the USA custom bikes by ordering because so many options were available.

The Peterson brakes were an option and 32 spoke WTB hubs with grease guard was another. There were also added costs for a second color, and an up charge for non-base color selection.

I’ll find out sometime tomorrow the full forensics. Now I’m hyped.

It seems beyond a lucky find or a garage find. Kinda like finding a 67 Camaro SS in original condition with low miles as a garage find.

Today in the Wall Street Journal I learned that rich folks are holding onto their fine art. Like houses the is a supply shortage. Money has to get “parked” somewhere as a store of value. On my level it is this new/old IBIS and my 1966 C-10, as well as my other bikes, guitars and amps.

Buy and hold seems to be the trend in hard assets.

Cal
 
Cal, it reminds me of when I was offered the Breezer for a song, then when I got it home and on the stand, I saw that it was not only a Lightning, but probably a Lightning XTR, from the early bleeding edge of Shimano XTR production. I was sold on it when I checked the size of the seatpost, 26.8mm. Back story is that I have been riding this Shimano XTR seatpost on my Miyata for a decade, simply it's because it's the post I had that fits. Once I saw the Breezer matched that post, it was meant to be. My friend took the XTR cantis and I got the rest. The bike was quite a bit of a mish mash of parts, so I set about to building the period-correct bike that I wanted. It really took on a path of its own when I found a set of NOS early XT hubs (M730) and then a NOS Uniglide cassette and a bunch of individual UG cogs, all new. After that, I knew where I was going with it and stuck on the XTII thumb shifters, Magura HS33 hydraulics and built it up over the course of a month or so.
When the wheels came together and I got it shifting in the stand, I just knew it was right. That UG drivetrain is perfect.
Now that I've noticed the handling from the Judy fork suffers, I'm waiting on a Breezer fork (it's out in Fort Collins, Colorado) to complete the restoration.
Let me know if you want/need a Judy XC with a short threadless 1" steer tube. It's a tricked out fork with a White Bros damper and blue lightweight speed springs, no more elastomers. the only issue is that one of the spring adjusters is cracked inside and will no longer adjust spring tension without taking the whole thing out.
Anyway, it's the vicarious hunt and restoration on a bike from my early days of wrenching that has me excited about the Ibis and to see how it goes.

Phil
 
Phil,

The new/old IBIS is in Yorktown Heights at a UPS depot. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, even though I’m a bad boy. LOL.

I have a Judy SL and a Judy XC. Both are early versions with screws on the crown. In the SL I have green original Speed Springs which is their lightest version. I believe the blue versions are made for a 150-160 pound rider and are heavier.

The Judy XC is 1 1/8th and has blue Steed Springs and are firmer than the green Speed Springs. I use these on the Mutton Chop IBIS’s and they have the geometry for a suspension.

I’m not sure by the condition of the Avion if it ever was used off road. I imagine this bike could be like my Audi it was bought for a guy’s wife and went unloved and unused. Did you see the swing set in the pictures. Perhaps I’m not so delusional? LOL.

Of course I could use the Judy being offered, but it would be as a spare. Best you hold onto it because you are a bit crazier than me with building. If I have an extra fork laying around it would be a reason to build yet another bike. You know the deal.

Cal
 
Cal,

As you know I have some custom bikes, and one of those frame builders made a comment that some of his clients, Wallstreet types, would not ride the bikes he built because they were too nice. You can imagine how frustration that is for some one who is really into his craft. Sound like the IBIS could be one of those bikes. Or on the other side of the coin, it could be mechanically totally trashed by some one who rode the shit out of it but kept it clean.

Joe
 
I’ll show y’all a few photos of the Raleigh Edge when I get it done. This bike came to me in awful condition, with a bent steer tube and squished rear triangle. As long as the frame is good, a bike can be fully restored. It’s just like old mechanical cameras; they need to he used or else they suffer from sitting around, lubricants pile up and polymerize, springs take on new shapes, mold grows in the dark parts and etches glass. My M4 barely survived my last deployment and looks like hell but it works great after an overhaul. My F2 looks heavily used but works fantastically. All my bikes look used, some more than others, and this latest Raleigh is going to be a sleeper, looking like a total trash bike but look closer and one would see a lot of attention to detail and some crazy ideas implemented with the components. Total rat bike. Not unlike a 70s Chevy Vega with a 502 shoehorned into the engine compartment.

Phil
 
My hope is that the New/old IBIS is like a parallel story that resembles my Audi A4. Bought as for some affluent guy’s wife and sat in a garage for 33 years unused. I speculate the options and upgrades and customization went unnoticed by the wife, but guys like Phil and me are going nuts over the build.

Someone spent a lot of money to try and make a woman happy. I doubt this bike was ever used or was owned by a kid. Also this mountain bike with its 14 inch frame is kinda tiny and is built for a 5 foot woman or perhaps 5’2” like “Maggie.”

I figure a guy bought the bike because of the build, he had deep pockets, and the woman parked it in the garage for 33 years.

We were out hiking when the delivery happened. I had to sign for it, so tomorrow we will have to hang around for the delivery. Oh-well.

I’ll go back to the IBIS spec sheet and price out all the probable options that Phil’s filtering figured out. Let’s see how crazy this guy got in trying to make a woman happy.

My 2015 Audi A4 I bought 2 1/2 years ago with 16K miles on it from a Audi dealership in Madhattan. The care now has 33K miles on it, and with a car wash and detailing it could be mistaken for new. Evidently was stored in a garage.

My narrative is this was a car bought by a bankster who bought it for his wife and was possibly parked in a garage at the beach house out in the Hamptons. The media is only 2G, the wife complained that she needed 5G, so to make his wife happy he drove it into Madhattan and traded it in for a brand new Audi with 5G.

Realize I missed out on a similar bankster car that was an Audi A8L limo. Although it was a 2012 it had 47K miles on it. I dug into the Car Facts and it was pretty easy to see that this car was dealer maintained at Storm Motors in the Hamptons, another dealer in Greenwich Connecticut, or Madhattan Audi. Every year it was detailed by the dealer. How crazy was that?

I figured this loaded limo was used to drive to either the beach house on Dune Road, or the country home in Greenwich. Because the A8L was old the price was no money, something like $12K. How crazy is that?

Anyways I could not get the A8L because I was closing on the Baby-Victorian. I lost out.

Part of me is clever, but know that having a boring day job allowed me to really dig into the Internet to do research and pass the time. That is how I found the Ti IBIS Mountain Trials. I was bored so I figured what is the most obscure thing I could think of and I did a search on IBIS Titanium Mountain Trials thinking here’s something that never was made.

Boy was I surprised to find one on EBAY that had 24 hours left on the auction with zero bids but with many following. I placed my bid and hoped for the best. The next day I learned that I lost out and was kinda crushed, but the high bidder was a deadbeat, and I got a “second-chance offer” and got the bike.

I contacted Scot Nicol about the bike. ”Chuck” is his persona, and he is a funny guy. In his response he says more or less that he kinda lost track of all the bikes he built, and maybe he might of built a handful of the Mountain Trials in Titanium, but in fact I might have the only one.

Wow… How did I end up with a probable or possible prototype? Seemed like divine intervention to me. Pretty much beyond luck and a miracle of sorts, and at least for me a dream come true.

Snarky Joe and Devil Christian know this bike when I had it built out as an urban single speed with a 63.59 inch gear. I had the front and rear brakes controlled by a single brake lever made by Paul Components that was designed for Bike Polo. They joked that it was pretty much a bit crazy and very unconventional, but they both agreed that I never really do anything conventionally, and pretty much that is my style.

Presently this bike is set up as a 2x11 full blown 11-speed XTR bike with a tricked out overhauled Rock Shox XC suspension fork. Pretty much set up for a nice fall ride up at New Palz at Lake Minnow-Wask-A During peak foliage. I built it out as a trail bike.

Cal
 
From the 1990 IBIS Spec Sheet:

$1150.00 base price.

+$50.00 additional color.

+$55.00 color other than three standard offerings.

+$300.00 Suntour XC-9000 drivetrain upgrade, includes XC-Comp pedals.

+$235.00 WTB Grease Guard 32-hole hubs.

+$57.00 Peterson SE brakes.

+$21.00 Specialized “Blob” saddle.

Total of $718.00 of options and upgrades. Addition of base price $1150.00 is a total of $1868.00 in 1990.

Wow a significant amount of upgrades to make a truly custom ordered bike. Don’t think I was delusional thinking someone with deep pockets.

Mystery question is why did it go unused? Hmmm… “Woman-Factor…”

Is this not like my 2015 Audi?

Cal
 
Meanwhile during the morning rain storm I used the new 3/32 bungee cord to replace the “shock cord” in the tent poles for a model Half-Dome Plus 2 person backpacking tent I bought REI used as a returned item that perhaps might of been used once that cost me $39.84.

The 100 foot roll of 3/32 bungee cost about $14.00 plus shipping which was close to $10.00.

So now I have a tent that is as if new that costs about $369.00 if purchased new.

Know that I likely only used about a third to maybe a quarter of the 100 foot roll. I’m sure I can use the surplus to build a cargo net for a Hobie kayak or some other things to annoy people which is what I do as a hobby it seems.

Don’t worry, I have many ideas to annoy people.

Also I want to explain the physics involved why Snarky Joe and Devil Christian think my single brake control is odd, funny, dumb, and why no other person would do such a thing.

Under deceleration there is a weight transfer from back to front, and pretty much a dangerous twitch-E short wheelbase bike becomes more unstable and pretty much without care will flip into an endo and cartwheel the bike and rider (me).

Because I have done so many endo’s on my IBIS mountain trials (the steel bike, I have not flipped the Ti bike yet) I compensate as a reflex to keep the rear wheel weighted. It was an acquired skill. Basically I have equal engagement front and rear, and this skill is a different kind of balance that is heavily involved in physics.

Crazy for some and very-very counter intuitive, but know that this was when my Ti IBIS was a single speed with a freewheel, and I would not do this on an off-road bike because that would be taking things too far.

The backstory is that my Ti IBIS, the likely one-off, was a show bike, and it was secured by an owner of a bike and skie shop in Lancaster Pennsylvania. When I bought it off EBAY it was set up as a single speed bike set up for Bike Polo.

You really can’t make all this up.

”Chuck,” Scot Nicol, does some crazy stuff too. The cable holder for the rear brake is an investment cast hand made by a local jeweler, pre V-brakes, to hold the rear brake cable. Scot riffs off this and calls this “the Hand-Job.” Who would engage a jeweler to make/creat a crazy cable hanger.

IBIS was instrumental in developing internally butted Titanium tubing. IBIS (Scot) branded this tubing as “Moron Tubing” because there is more tubing on the ends for strength. My Ti IBIS has Moron tubing.

Then somehow he poached Gary Helfrick, the cofounder of Merlin Cycles who developed titanium bicycles. Gary is kinda The Godfather of titanium bikes, and here is a guy who had a full scholarship from MIT, but he lived down the block from Steve Tyler, and was asked if he wanted to go on tour with Aerosmith as their roadie.

What would you do? Anyways Gary of course made the right choice: sex, drugs, and rock and roll…

So if I ever set up a website there certainly will be a bike section. Now there are three IBIS bikes in the stable.

Cal
 
“Maggie” got a solicitation from a brand that also does menswear. They love her Instagram, and of course lately I have a good amount of visibility there also. It was forwarded to our agent for review and engagement. This is the good of having an agent, and a good agent makes sure you get your due and don’t get hosed. Our agent is a very good one.

The Casting agency interview and Go-See is not likely to go anywhere. The brands are too low a tier for where we are at, yet the practice of interesting engagement and presenting yourself was a good dress rehearsal for future endeavors. I also learned that my background in communication arts, the news and journalism, and my performance art background provide a very strong leg up even though I have no real model experience.

In short I am a person you will remember…

I also know who I want to be. There is always a local legend of an old man who is fit and strong. You hear of them and about them. Pretty much their secret is they ride almost every day. They don’t fade out or fade away. I want to be one of those old men.

I met a man at a funeral and we talked about our fitness. His routine was pushups and this exercise called burpees. Burpees are a squat thrust combined with a pushup. At one point he did 900 push ups in a day throughout a day. This guy was a monster of sorts still working for the MTA. He was not a really huge man, about my size 5’10” but he outweighed me perhaps by 25-30 pounds all muscle, no fat and he was only a few years younger than me.

At his job at the MTA he single handedly carried this rubber carpet to cover the third rail inside a Hudson River tunnel for then Governor Coumo. No rest, by himself, just to do it for the exercise. He caught Covid though and lost much of his strength when sick. He was in the process of rebuilding.

So I have started that journey: every day I’m doing something to be that man who remains strong.

I’m finding retirement very healing and peaceful. I have never felt as happy, perhaps for short times, but this seems durable and sustaining. There is a real sense of accomplishment knowing that decades of work are behind me and that I have a long future of my own recreation and recreation.

If I get any modeling gigs this will fast forward getting the Hobie Oasis dual peddle tandem and for the build up of the C-10 into a new/old truck. Meanwhile the small Baby-Victorian is looking mighty cute and it resembles a micro mansion style of sorts because of the decorative nature of the grounds.

I can’t list all the possibilities that are emerging. A thought is to get back into my writing. Right now fitness and the house are first. Art takes time, and in my life time is my friend so no rushing for me.

Cal
 
Cal, I don't think that bike has much of the build sheet left on it. The hubs, cantilevers, and extra color look to be it. The build sheet doesn't show XC Pro cranksets or brake levers. The headset has been changed to a Ritchey as well. I know you have stars in your eyes, but don't be quick to call it a perfect barn find or a bike that some guy built for his girl. Could have been a short racer. Heck, if it were Lawrence's bike from my old shop in Albuquerque, it would have hundreds of races under its belt. I tell you, that bike has been RIDDEN. The brake tracks prove it, especially with the chatter pattern. There is some evidence of repeated chain suck on the stay. Those levers have a hockey puck rubber coating which isn't easily damaged, and the ends look to have been chunked up a bit. The stem has wear through the paint, it appears, from something like a computer or bag or whatever. The front derailleur is also mis-adjusted, sitting way too low to reach the large ring. That is a very new chain design and those are new tires. Can't tell from the photos if the cogs are shark finned or stretched, but you'll find out soon enough. We can do more forensics on it, but you're just going to have to see. Take that seatpost out and shine a light in there. Take out the bottom bracket and look into the shell, and also look into the tubes to see about rust. If that bike spent its life in Virginia, it's going to have some internal rust unless it was frame-savered 30 years ago, even then it's still likely. 30 years of in and out will allow enough condensation to cause rust. It's a nice bike, but still be prepared for a user jewel in the rough.

Phil
 
Phil,

The hub upgrade available from IBIS does show WTB 32-hole availability. The same for the Peterson SE brakes. The build sheet shows a XC-9000, but I guess you are saying that’s not XC Pro. I agree with the new chain and tires.

I see what you say about the brake tracks. Sand and mud…

At this point all I can do is imagine. 33 years old is a long time. The seat also has a downward tilt that is odd.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to dig in and find out the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Have to wait around for delivery. We will have the grandson tomorrow, but there is an Italian Festival in Verplank. Will likely walk there for our hike. I’ll be pushing a stroller.

My steel Ibis is kinda ratty looking in comparision. I had it sand blasted and powder coated, but now it looks like a splatter finish that IBIS did back in the day due to rust blisters. That bike I figure dates back to 1987-1988.

I guess it looks mighty unused compared to my steel IBIS. Also know that IBIS did some odd things back in the day. I had Shimano 6-speed rear freewheel, with Shimano thumbshifters, but the front derailleur was a Suntour.

When I got the steel IBIS powder coated I called them to ask if I could get decals. The dude asked me for my address and told me to send them $5.00 when I get a chance. How cool is that? Of course the decals are not period correct and are not close to the originals.

The steel IBIS is a fluorescent orange. Could not be louder looking. The idea was not to get shot by deer hunters as we rode on narrow deer trails in the pine barrens. The blistering spots of rust are very much like the spatter paint jobs IBIS was known for back in the day.

Anyways… tomorrow.

Cal
 
Cal,
The Raleigh Edge Mtn Trials was spec’d similarly. When I got it, the only things not original were the tires, grips and saddle.
This bike had 6 speed Shimano Deore DX shifters and derailleurs, a Shimano 600 freewheel, Suntour XC9000 hubs, Araya RM25 rims, Suntour Rollercam rear brake and DiaCompe NGC 982 front cantis. I just received a NOS pair of black cantis to replace the corroded brushed aluminum ones it came with. It still has the bright pink Nitto stem and Nitto trials bar. Seatpost was a Strong which broke as soon as I got the bike in the stand. Headset was the workhorse Tange Levin. Cranks are Sakae FX, not sure about the BB I’ll find out when I get to working on the bike soon. The Raleigh Edge and early Ibis Mt Trials were made at the same time, and John Olsen knew Scot Nichol, supposedly trading some design recommendations since the geometry of both bikes is nearly identical. If Raleigh hadn’t had the difficulty it did in the late 80s, the Edge may have lasted longer like the Ibis did. Raleigh only made these bikes for a maximum of 2 years, but realistically more like 16-18 months. There was no custom build sheet options for the Raleigh and they only offered it in the wicked bright salmon color. Part of me wants to strip it and paint it, but I’m also looking forward to just patching the missing paint bits, installing an obvious replacement fork with the wrong logo, and putting bleeding edge awesome components on this thing. It will look like an 80s bike I got out of the trash to the untrained eye. I love sleepers like this.
Another popped up on ebay for a stupid high price from a seller with ZERO feedback, so I’m just going to watch it. Over on MTBR forum is a thread about the Raleigh Edge, John Olsen chimed in a lot, and many of the current and past owners have stopped in there. Not many were made between 1987 and end of production in 1989.
Cant wait to get on the trail with this thing.

Phil
 
Phil,

If a rider has really good bike skills this is a very exciting bike to ride. Hyper responsive, but for many too much.

You should know that I don’t have those skills, but somehow love the agility of the bike.

Interesting the history and cross breeding. My steel IBIS has a stout build and pretty much used oversized tubing for rigidity. Good tires for the rear (24 inch) is a difficulty of the past. I like Schwable Rocket Rons for lightweight off road, and the Schwable Billy Bonkers for a kinda gravel tire for urban.

The geometry is great for standing, climbing, and sprinting. The geometry is designed for acceleration and quick handling.

My steel IBIS was great for the really narrow trails we rode on where your shoulders would get scabby because of “bark-burn” rubbing trees. We cut our handlebars really narrow to have clearance on what I would call real single track. Riding was more like in skiing and weaving a dual solemn course.

All I can say is when in doubt always keep your weight back over the rear wheel. Too far forward and wheel traps will flip you, and also moving forward aggravates twitchy steering.

Cal
 
Cal, I was just thinking about handling and looked up some Ibis history. The Avion then Avion SS were really aggressive mountain bikes, so you may want to think about that for your build. Pairing Pedersen SE cantilevers front and rear with a low trail fork, high angle head tube would be like driving a twitchy WRC rally car, or maybe a formula 1 car. I know youd replace those cantis but I’m just thinking, that is a crazy bike for a crazy rider, as-built. That head angle and that stem look like flat-back racing aggressive. One more thing to think about for future safety.

Phil
 
Phil,

IBIS surely built aggressive bikes. They also I believe were one of the first builders to use oversized tubing for stiffness. They are kinda overbuilt. Eventually they were the first to develop internally butted titanium tubing. My Ti IBIS likely one-off has “Moron” tubing.

The usage for ”Maggie” would be on paved paths like the Empire State Trail, or at least the paved parts. This will somewhat tame things. I don’t see Maggie doing any log hopping. Frame size is very important for balance and handling as you know.

I will have to see if this works out. It is kinda counter intuitive but I have ridden very light bikes with front suspensions off road that were sub 22 pounds. These bikes caught a lot of air and did not really stay on the ground. At a point a heavy bike is more stable. IBIS frame tend to be heavy, that is why I wished for a Ti version of the Mountain Trials.

Another thing to consider is that our speeds will be more recreational. I just want long times in the saddle to pump blood and burn more calories than walking. In effect I am modding my training to “tow” Maggie who is 5 years older than me at the age of 70.

If anything I will burden myself with carrying the water for us and any camping equipment. The Empire Trail also has access to camping. Yesterday we saw a young family towing young kids and camping gear in Yorktown.

Also an open invite if you and “B” want to come up and explore parts of downstate New York to target I can take you around. There is the good, the bad, and the ugly here too, but I have found peace, stability, and a comfortable sustainable life. You would likely have to live north of Beacon though at this point.

BTW I don’t miss the city. I was alarmed on how I had to keep my guard up and pretty much could not really relax like I can in Peekskill. You might reconsider not living in an urban city. Also in Montrose close to me is a V.A. Hospital that you should look into for opportunities.

In Verplanck, and Montrose are many tiny homes that are affordable that were once summer cottages. If I were you I would take a look. Indian Point kept prices low, but that is unwinding currently with the shutdown of Indian point.

I will also tell you that the commute to NYC is a long day and no bargain. I would say over time it would kill me, but many people do it.

Cal
 
Last edited:
Cal, We’re always considering a smaller town, but we need a decent sized population with some higher learning institutions as well as a hospital in order for us to be able to work in our field and have employment availability. The NYC exurbs with schools like New Paltz have piqued our interest but that is a tiny town compared to where we’ve lived and we still need some public transport infrastructure as well. Poughkeepsie is intriguing but it’s the biggest town between NYC and Albany, and it’s not conveniently located near either city, so it’s kind of like an insular community, which have a tendency to underpay professionals for the available jobs. I’m not saying we need a big city like Philly or NYC, but with our work, we need to have job availability in our fields and competitive salaries. Right now, Providence is promising. There’s a few other towns in New England that may work out as well.
And then there’s the possibility of moving to Canada, specifically St. John’s Newfoundland where the collapse of the fishing industry caused a population loss and the city is still trying to regrow itself. All conjecture at this point, but things we’re constantly thinking about.
Summer is always the time when I get stir crazy and want to move someplace cold because two months of 90 plus degrees with low temperature above 70 is not sustainable. It’s not August yet and I am keeping my fingers crossed that our frail power grid can handle it here.

Phil
 
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly with the new/old IBIS SS Avion:

It has Grease Guard Hubs and Bottom Bracket. Awesome. The drivetrain is 7-speed Suntour XC Pro. Awesome again. The rear brake is a Suntour SE XC which is a licensed Pedersen SE, but the front brake is a plain Suntour XC that does not have the self energizing. I think the brakes can stay and there is no danger of doing endo’s. The brake levers are Suntour Mutimount, and the shifters are XC Pro Multimount shifters.

The chain rings are Suntour 48/38/24; and the rear looks to be a 12-28 freewheel. I’d say they look fresh enough to just ride them as is.

The saddle is a Specialized Body Geometry saddle that weighs a pound on my digital luggage scale.

The wheels have a “Wheelsmith” sticker on them. I think the 32 hole rims were laced with straight 16 gauge spokes and brass nipples. Evidently the wheels were re-rimmed and rebuilt.

The freewheel on this bike kinda looks fresh, the chainrings show some wear but still have plenty of life left. The chain is a new KMC. The headset is a Ritchy Logic, and it does not feel like it is indexed. Know that I have a spare Chris King headset when needed.

The seat post was set at it’s lowest, so I pulled it. There was only a trace of rust. I replaced the seatpost with a 29.4 mm Ti seatpost I had as a spare. Lost a half pound in weight. If I install the Chrome Molly IBIS seat that is not a gel saddle I could loose another half pound.

The tires were some form of a cross tire, basically a slick with side knobs. These were cheap Kenda brand and wire bead. I replaced these tires with some skinny Rene Herse gravel tires that are 1 1/4 inch wide and UBER light. The bike weighed 26 2/3 pounds as was, but now with the Ti seatpost and new skinny lighter tires the bike weighs 23 pounds.

So the ugly is that it is actually a 17 inch frame from center of the bottom bracket to center of top tube. The top tube is 21 1/2 inches center to center, so actually the bike is a closer fit to me than “Maggie.” I’m still happy because push come to shove I would love this bike for myself.

It seems the bike overall is in remarkable condition for a 33 year old bike. Who knows if it was upgraded to XC Pro by IBIS or later, but it seems consistent that someone went all the way.

The Rene Herse tires have a diameter of 24 1/2 inches so this effectively makes the bike about 1 1/2 inches smaller. It is no longer really a mountain bike with such skinny tires and perhaps is more like a road bike with smaller wheels.

Upon inspecting the bike I say it needs a Grease Guard gun to lube up the hubs and the bottom bracket. The new chain needs to be oiled.

If this bike does not work out for Maggie, I’m cool with keeping it for myself. It is in really nice condition and is a pretty bike. For me it would be slightly small, but that also was a trend at a time.

Oh-well. Still happy-happy.

Cal
 
Phil,

Here in Peekskill the local hospital is actually a branch of Columbia Presbyterian. In Montrose not far away is a rather big VA hospital. One of the reasons I wanted to live in Peekskill was to have access to great healthcare. Also Peekskill has a Community College. Pretty much no reason to go to Madhattan for healthcare because that same level of care extends into the burbs up here.

Cal
 
The SS Avion was advertised as a 14 inch bike, so I am not delusional or confused. In fact it is a 17 inch frame and closer to my size.

Anyways tomorrow I’ll see if my conversion to skinny tires which in effect makes the bike smaller is enough for “Maggie.”

If I have yet another bike, I’m cool with that because I really like this bike already.

Don’t tell Maggie.

Cal
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Thread viewers

Number of users viewing the thread: 2

Similar threads

C
New York Annual NYC Camera Beauty Contest 2026 (early 2026)
Replies
14
Views
528
Calzone
C
A
Your unexplained experiences
Replies
1
Views
280
valdas
V
A
Testprinter for a 10,5 f4 Nikon RF lenshood wanted
Replies
3
Views
145
Alpsman
A
nightlight
Arles 2025
Replies
6
Views
970
luuca
luuca
W
Road Trip Kit: Leica body, Nikon glass
Replies
12
Views
323
agentlossing
agentlossing
Back
Top Bottom