Pintsized
journeyman
Reged: 02/27/05
Posts: 90
Loc: Corvallis OR
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I supppose this isn't entirely the spirit of peace on earth... which sure is in short supply these days. But I can't resist asking..what kinds of bike related goodies did you all give, and get, for the holidays?
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Insightdriver
captain
Reged: 03/07/04
Posts: 472
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You are aware, of course, my gift is coming, albeit a bit after Christmas, but close enough to count. There are threads on other bike forums on this very topic, as well. 
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 720
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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I gave my wife a Calfee pen/pencil holder (a very cool item BTW), a 'Speed Reader' platform for her bike when it's on the trainer and a pair of Pearl Izumi Amphib booties for her when she wants to ride in the cold. My Saluki is waiting for its pair of Honjo fenders. Together we are reading all the brochures and trying to figure out where we would like to take our bicycling vacation in 2006. Last year we went for two weeks in Germany and Austria.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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 Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Reasonable Bike Trips
Dave,
I ran across these folks last season. Their prices can't be beat.
A friend did their Cape Cod trip and was very pleased. The lodgings were nice and the food was good.
Their mileage might be less than you want but adding on a little more isn't that big of a deal. It was about right for him. They do go places that others do not. Romania isn't a trip you see that often.
I know a few others if you are interested. A couple are Canadian companies.
Merry Christmas!
Lon
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Pintsized
journeyman
Reged: 02/27/05
Posts: 90
Loc: Corvallis OR
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Yeah, I have been following the details. Very exciting and sounds like quite a nice bike ! I admire you all that ride rain or shine, and especially in the dark. Dark and wet....now that's tough conditions, tho plenty of folks in CA and OR commute in em regularly.
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Umlungu
contributor
Reged: 03/04/05
Posts: 189
Loc: Plano, TX
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My 2 daughters gave me some Polar insulated water bottles (never tried them before but considering I live in Texas they might be handy) along with some cool weather riding gear (thicker socks, arm and leg warmers).
Merry Christmas everyone! 
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 720
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
Umlungu wrote:
My 2 daughters gave me some Polar insulated water bottles (never tried them before but considering I live in Texas they might be handy) along with some cool weather riding gear (thicker socks, arm and leg warmers).
Merry Christmas everyone!
You'll find that the Polar bottles work very well!
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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Dave_Thompson
prophet
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 720
Loc: Spokane, Washington
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Quote:
Lon wrote:
Reasonable Bike Trips
Dave,
I ran across these folks last season. Their prices can't be beat.
A friend did their Cape Cod trip and was very pleased. The lodgings were nice and the food was good.
Their mileage might be less than you want but adding on a little more isn't that big of a deal. It was about right for him. They do go places that others do not. Romania isn't a trip you see that often.
I know a few others if you are interested. A couple are Canadian companies.
Merry Christmas!
Lon
Lon, thanks for the references. I have no desire for cycling trips in the U.S. Back in the 'days' when I was a motorcycle dealer, I did my travels around North America then. I really like the bike culture of the Europeans and the way they approach their two-wheel travels. We almost spent an extra couple of weeks there this year to ride beyond Austria into Hungary and the Czech Republic, but my wife has a real job and couldn't spare the time. Next year we're shooting for 3~4 weeks.
Best to you and yours for the Holidays.
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Steel lover, but then I like Ti with carbon too.
Licensed bike geek.
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Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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They do European trips more than the US. That is one reason why I mentioned them. They are reasonable for them as well.
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Insightdriver
captain
Reged: 03/07/04
Posts: 472
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Thank you for saying so. I'm excited now. Considering that I want to commute with my bike having it set up properly will be great. I was planning on commuting with my previous Calfee but being a minimalist road bike as it was I had a quandary on how to carry the stuff I needed to carry with me, such as lunch and clothes and such. I could not bear the idea of adding a rack to my old bike. I would only have been able to use one that clamps to the seatpost as it is.
I had clip-on fenders that made a big difference in the rain. I used them on an older bike I had. I am thinking of the concept now of a high-end bike set up as a commuter will be a conversation piece, I think. I'll certainly have plenty of pictures taken of my bike while I'm holding it, similar to the pics I took with my previous Calfee just to be able to compare.
It's an interesting process to go through ordering a full-custom bike. The frame dimensions are only one of the elements of the bike to consider. Choices, for me, at least, of drivetrain are simple because I'm just set on compact crank and Ultegra-level STI shifting. I had not envisioned a rack and fenders when I was first contemplating what I wanted. Now the die is cast and it's only a matter of time before I receive my new Calfee.
Cheers
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Montaque
new member
Reged: 09/14/04
Posts: 24
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A month would be good to duplicate my trip this past summer to Northern Italy and Slovenia:
Lecco (Lake Como)
Bolzano
Cortina Trentino-Alto Adige
Portoroz (Slovenia)
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Montaque wrote:
Lecco (Lake Como)
Ah, finally finished with finals, holiday shopping, and vacation. I can get back to the COG!!
When you were at Lake Como, did you get a chance to visit the Madonna del Ghisallo? That's the tiny church above Bellagio that's dedicated to cyclist and it's champions. The church has bikes, jerseys, memorabilia... adorning the interior. Definitely worth a visit if you're in that part of the country.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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flythebike
captain
Reged: 08/26/04
Posts: 272
Loc: N. Virginia, USA
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I bought a pair of wheels off of a teammate. They are Campy Record 10s hubs, dt spokes, brass fasteners, 32H F&R, on Mavic Open Pros. I used a bit of my Holiday Bonus to buy them, a steal at $250. They are for my Dragonfly. I put 90 miles into them on the first ride, a rolling jaunt around rural Northern Virginia on Christmas Eve, with six other teammates. I am really thrilled with the wheels, they feel very solid, quite responsive/stiff, but by no means harsh. They stayed true despite some rugged roads. Although he had those wheels built awhile ago, he ended up switching to Shimano and so they are like new, barely ridden, and the look/feel new. So, Merry Christmas to me from me (and my job)!
This means I put my other Campy 10s wheels onto my Time Trial bike, a KHS. So that bike is complete now, I'll probably ride it to work tomorrow. Nothing like having a bike that you can just take out the door, without fussing about changing things up. Also, this way I have redundancy in case a wheel goes down for any reason.
I know most of you guys are big into trick wheels for your Calfees, but you know me, I save the bomb for race day. When I'm out training I just want stuff to hold together and be responsive, and not too heavy. Lightweight aero stuff is nice to ride, but go and break a spoke 30 miles from home and then you have a big problem.
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Kevan
journeyman
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 70
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New helmets all around.
Introduced my 15 yr old son to his first true pair of riding shorts. Trying them on for the first time he declared, "This just isn't right!"
I think he's got the hang of it already. Now we need a sunny warm day to test'm.
Got myself some cheapie bib-knickers to try. Not too certain knickers are my bag so I figured to go inexpensive since they are a transitional wear getting only 2-4 weeks wear on either end of the Spring or Fall period.
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Montaque
new member
Reged: 09/14/04
Posts: 24
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Yes.
Stayed in Lecco - one of the day trips around the peninsula included:
Como-
Bellagio-
Magriglio - where Madonna del Ghisallo is located-
and back to Lecco!
World class riding!
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Riccardo
new member
Reged: 12/17/05
Posts: 14
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The Golden Age of Bicycles available at www.vintagebicyclepress.com
A beautiful book with good history and it helps make one better evaluate the current range of bike offerings.
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AndyTiedye
new member
Reged: 10/05/05
Posts: 7
Loc: Santa Cruz Mountains
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My new Stiletto arrived shortly before Xmas.
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Ride the Music and anything with pedals
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vandeda
new member
Reged: 12/17/04
Posts: 14
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it was pretty cool that when i returned from syracuse from my parents place, my new Vanilla was sitting in it's box in front of my garage. that was a very pleasant surprise.
and i was even able to get a 12 mile ride to the bank and back while the roads were fairly clear of salt ... the next day we got 4" of snow with more in the forcast, so riding season on the Vanilla is over already after only 12 miles :-(
Dan
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skuke
captain
Reged: 12/22/03
Posts: 323
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Quote:
Pintsized wrote:
I supppose this isn't entirely the spirit of peace on earth... which sure is in short supply these days. But I can't resist asking..what kinds of bike related goodies did you all give, and get, for the holidays?
I'm upgrading my bike from Campy Record 8 speed Ergo to Record 10 speed! Again, it's a mishmash of parts: Record 10 shifter/brake levers, front/rear deraileurs. Campy cables and housing. Shimano 12-25 DA cassette, DA 53/39 chainrings, DA chain. New bearings for the Erikson Ti bottom bracket. Other incidentals like gel tape, and Kool Stop pads.
I machined the big chainring to maintain the correct shifter spacing for Campy shifting and found an adaptor for the cassette.
Kinda silly of me to spend the money, time and energy on a bike I managed to ride a whopping 1000 miles this past year :-( But, I got most of the Campy stuff free (traded machining labor actually) and the DA stuff I got dirt cheap.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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