My faithful steeds are being passed on. My Trek 1500, which has served me well for the last year and a half (an estimated 2,000-3,000 miles) was given to my brother on Sunday.
My single speed Apollo, which has provided many harsh commuting miles in all the weather conditions, is also soon to be retired/sold.
This is because my new custom Curtlo has finally arrived! Cody and I drove to Winthrop on Saturday to get it, an epic trip that included two snowy mountain passes, 16 hours of driving, the 2A high school basketball state championship, and several near death experiences.
While the trip itself could provide enough info for multiple blog posts, let me tell you about my new bike. It was made by Doug Curtiss of Curtlo Cycles in Winthrop, WA. I ordered from him because he is a pretty tall guy, so I figured he would have insight to building a frame specifically for a taller guy. He also had a really good price point; a much better price for the frame then most of the folks out there. His relatively local location was the final key.
The first thing Doug reccomended was that I get longer cranks then are generally available. Most cranks range between 170mm and 175mm in length. I had some 180mm cranks on my Trek that I definitely liked. Doug suggested 200mm cranks for me, he has the same length on his bike and loves them. He said this was going by the conservative crank length calculator, and while the number didn't seem very conservative to me, I decided to trust him on it.
So far, I really like the cranks. It is definitely a big change, and I can feel my knees start to strain when my cadence dips down to 60 or 70. The good thing is that I can spin at the same cadence comfortably on these cranks, but in a slightly more difficult gear.
Otherwise, it's just your general road bike with Ultegra SL, with a few adjustments:
- Extra long top tube to adapt for my giant torso
- Carbon Fork with clearance for fenders and a mount for fenders
- Long reach Ultegra breaks for fender clearance
- Mounts for a rear rack
- Mounts for 4 (yes 4!) water bottle cages
- I even added tires with reflective striping on the edges!
I've only been able to take it out a couple times, and not more than 25 miles, so Saturday's 200k is going to be a serious trial by fire! I plan to get by painfully: adjusting my seat and handlebars as I limp along getting used to the bike. In the rain.
