daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
The sun came out today to signal that things are getting better in Texas. The snow and ice started melting and I took advantage of the warmer afternoon to ride my bicycle a bit. I’ve missed the sun so much.
If you’re not able to go out, please come with me for a virtual ride around the neighborhood:
I hope you had a good Friday!
おやすみ！
With plenty of layers on, I rode my bicycle to the Little Free Library at one of our neighborhood elementary schools. I didn’t find anything interesting, but it was a fun bicycle ride. I liked how the ice froze on the library’s “porthole”. We don’t see that often!
If you have some time to kill, please check out the bicycle ride video I made, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. 🙏
I hope you had a nice day!
It was a little chilly, but I had a few minutes to extend my mail-run bicycle ride. It was fun to ride with my new handlebars. Come along!
I fitted my bike (Mango) with some new handlebars today. The UPANBIKE “Urban Road Bike Retro Handlebar Moustache Shape Extra Wide Dutch M Shape” (Wow, what a nice SEO name) handlebars were very easy to install with my shifters and brake levers sliding right on with no problem. I was worried that I might have to replace my cables with longer ones, but it turns out that the original length works fine.
I also put some SAPLIZE ergonomic grips on, and they are very comfy. These use collars to tighten them to the bars so it will be easy to remove them when I want to switch back to the butterfly bars.
I was only able to go for a short ride this afternoon with the new setup, but it felt great! I also love the look of these handlebars. They have a classic, simple, and attractive shape. And having a bike that you think looks nice makes you want to ride it even more.
In the photos, you can see the extension bar for adding accessories. I actually use it to keep my phone in position. But I think I’ll remove it to keep the handlebars looking a little cleaner. It would be a shame to ruin the sweet lines of the new bars, right? 😄 I can always keep my phone in the trunk bag to record the rides with Strava. Having the phone up front is nice when I need to look at the map like when I went on my gravel ride a few months ago, but it’s not necessary for riding around the neighborhood.
In other cycling news, I’ve made a few more videos lately. Please check out my YouTube channel when you have a chance, or you can watch my latest video below:
I hope you had a nice day!
A while back, I found a pair of dirt-cheap handlebars and decided to give them a try on my bike. My current shifters and brake levers fit, but the cables are too short and just barely work. However, I was able to go for a ride and the new bars felt really good! The swept-back style is kind of retro-looking and fun, and puts the wrists in a comfortable position. I can see using these handlebars with friction shifters on a more classic bicycle that has more chrome. It would match nicely!
Because this type of handlebar is so easy to swap out, I’ve ordered another similar model, which is also swept back, but the curve is a little different, and I’m hoping the levers be positioned closer-in so that the cables will have more slack. If not, I can just replace the cables with longer ones, which seems like an easy DIY project. It’s also black, which will match my bicycle.
I still love my butterfly bars, but I want to switch it up a bit. Plus, the more conventional bars will allow me to use a handlebar bag more easily. At least I hope! At any rate, swapping out the bars only takes about 15 minutes, so it’s not like it’s a huge endeavor. And it’s fun!
By the way, here’s my latest cycling video that I took during my lunchbreak:
