Saturday, September 15, 2007

Quadcycle



'Spent the week restoring Michelle, my 1991 Bridgestone MB-3, to operating condition. What's left: repacking the headset bearings; inspecting the cartridge bottom bracket; replacing cables and housing; lubricating thumbshifters (!!!), and servicing / replacing the ancient Shimano DX skipping freehub. Set up for touring, Michelle is a veritable workhorse. E.g. she has a lowest gearing of 24 x 34.



The first job Michelle found herself saddled with: hauling a pair of Shimano XT IS disc brake wheels from Upper East Coast to Upper Bukit Timah. This set up is the brain child of Peter. In this configuration, Michelle weighs at a hefty 39.8 lbs (18.1 kg).





Front view.





In this unique case, panniers actually improved handling by lowering the center of gravity. The green bungee cord was originally in place of the red cord, but it snapped as I negotiated Newton Circus.





The red bungee cord snapped just as I pulled into Dairy Farm. Note to self: you can never have too many bungee cords (or, for that matter, duct tape and cable ties).





Ahmad set up the rear light.

Riding with this load was interesting: sudden movements or changes in direction would cause the tires on the rack to yaw.





Nothing compared to this fella's skill (and strength) of course!

 :-P

No comments: