PHASE-shift.net

shifting the way you think

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Cycling:

Before I started driving and modifying my cars, I was interested in one thing: cycling.  In the 8th grade, my uncle gave me his old racing bike - the red Torpado Beta you see here.  At the time, it was much too tall for me to ride, even with the saddle in the lowest position.

Soon however, I was able to ride the beast and I rode it everywhere.  Then I started down the path of modifying it to better suit my tastes.  Being a poor 9th grader, I could only afford the things on the clearance rack at the bike shops so at one point this red bike had bright green handlebar tape!

On of the first things I did was replace the old brakes for new Shimano 105 brakes.  Other than the improved braking, I was able to take advantage of the hand position on top of the brake levers.  The old brakes had cables coming out of the tops of the levers that both got in the way and looked ugly.

Next to go was the 5-gear rear cogs.  The frame is an old 126mm rear hub width design so with some research, I found out that I could use a modern 130mm hub.  That information in hand, I bought a set of wheels and hubs with a 7-gear cog in the back.  It was a huge improvement over the old setup.  The new wheels were lighter, stronger, and more aerodynamic. =)  The gear set I picked was pretty aggressive - 12-19.  At the time, this was a good idea because I was pretty strong.  Now it's almost impossible to ride.  With the 7-speed read end came an indexed rear derailleur, new shifters, and a new front derailleur to match.

At one point, this bike had a Profile aero bar and clipless pedals.  I got rid of the Sampson pedals because I lost the shoes along with the cleats.  I'm waiting for a set of Look clipless pedals to arrive. (EDIT: The LOOK pedals arrived and work wonderfully.)

Shown in the picture above is my new Night Hawk lighting system with the battery is mounted where a water bottle would normally go.  This is the best system I've used - far better than the old Cat-Eye system I had.  The tires are new Vittoria Rubino Pro 700x23.  I'm not as comfortable on these tires as I was on my old 700x19 Michelin Pro's.  Then again, I'm not fully comfortable on a bike anymore.

Modifications to come:

Carbon fiber fork

thread-less headset

12cm stem (thread-less)

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