Last night I took the Xtracycle off of the Mongoose, stripped the brakes, wheel, and derailleur off of the Trek, ran new cables, and installed the Xtra on the Trek. It went quickly, especially because I now have a new repair stand that I built for $25. Then I picked up the rear wheel...and discovered that it was too big to fit into the Xtra's dropouts without bumping the front stay of the Xtra. Disbelief. I read the size marked on the tire: 700c x 35c. I read the size marked on the tire of the Mongoose: 700c x 38c. Do I not understand wheel sizes? How can the Trek's be bigger than the Mongoose's? Anyway. It was late, so I gave up and went to bed.
This morning I got the back wheel on by taking off the derailleur. In the future, I can probably get the wheel on and off if it's fully deflated. In any case, now I have a new ride! Comments:
- It is so, so, so much nicer to run a new derailleur cable through something that is not a grip shift.
- The Trek wheel is big enough that even my super adjustable V-brake rubs on the top of the tire when I pull the brake. Hmmm. Time to price a disc brake for the rear?
- The Trek geometry is much more comfortable than the Mongoose. Yay.
- The Trek's tires are only 3 years old, unlike the slightly crispy 13-year-old tires on the Mongoose.
- Unfortunately the cool reflective sidewall on the Trek's rear wheel is mostly hidden by the Xtra's side bags. Dang.
- I need some boots for wet weather riding (I thought tonight as I pedaled home after swing dancing at the North Star). Is it too ridiculous to put my calf-length stiletto boots into service as wet weather biking gear? I'm thinking I will try it. But it may require me to sew myself some superfabulous rain pants to go with the boots. It's a slippery slope.