This area has just experienced what might have been one of the warmest January weekends in its history. Temperatures reached 21C (70F). Saturday I pedaled to Connecticut; yesterday I took a shorter trek through Queens and Brooklyn. I did both rides in shorts. I saw a few other similarly-attired cyclists.
There were, however signs that it is still winter.
Even so, other cyclists as well as runners, couples with strollers, single people walking their dogs and others simply walking ambled by.
Some were dressed for the weather, others for the season.
What can you do with an electric bike?
A while back, I got a '90's Cannondale mountain bike for not very much. I could have ridden it as-is, replacing only the shifter. But I decided to make it into a second city bike-commuter, sharing duties with my Fuji Allegro.
One thing I really didn't was the suspension fork that came with the bike. For my intended purposes, I don't need a suspension fork. Also, I didn't want to hunt down parts (like elastomers) for a fork that hasn't been made in about 20 years.
I know the steel fork that's on the bike now looks out of proportion to the oversized aluminum tubes of the frame. But it'll do the job and I'm not too worried about the looks of this bike. If anything, I'm hoping that its steampipe visuals will allow me to park it on the street without too many worries.
Some of the parts--like that seatpost and seat collar--I had lying around. (I'm not lying.) As was typical of mountain bikes of the time, the Cannondale came with a quick-release seat collar--which makes it easy for casual thieves to take your seat and seatpost!
I would have kept the wheels, which consisted mostly of no-name components. But I got a really good buy on a pair of Sun CR18 rims. They're a 26 inch version of the 700C rims on the Fuji, which have served me well.
Whatever this bike lacks in aesthetics, I think it more than compensates in simplicity and usefulness. Yes, that's a Velo Orange Porteur handlebar, in the 22.2 size.
On a bike like this, I don't expect a ride anything like that of any of my Mercians. For that matter, I didn't expect anything even as nimble as the Fuji--which isn't set up for that. But I have been pleasantly surprised. My commutes and errands don't seem any slower than they've been on the Fuji. An added bonus is that I can ride through just about any pothole or other obstacle without a second thought.
