In a message dated 8/24/02 8:09:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, e-RICHIE writes:
> this is an anal list made up of anal people.
> i count myself as one among them.
> if not, please explain why people are on
> their computers on a saturday afternoon
>
e-RICHIE,
Funny you should mention...I spent this afternoon on one of your late '70s
creations (and this was definitely a classic!). Last month I wrote how this
bike languished while I rode the newer Sachs. Chuck Schmidt shamed me
off-list, so after I got back from a week of bicycling in the Canadian
Rockies, I spent a couple of days laying down thin films of glue on wheels
and tires, letting them set up, mounting them, inflating them, deflating
them, fiddling with fit, reinflating them, and generally having too much fun
in the shop. Last Sunday I took it out for a 17-mile shakedown cruise.
After a few tweaks during the week, I did a quick fifty miler this afternoon
(in the east-central Florida heat and humidity) and it was great fun! The
seat tube is a little more upright and the bottom bracket is a little higher,
so the ride is different, somewhat stiffer. The new Sachs is "cushier" even
with stiff, 12-spoke Shamals. But the old one invited me to keep pedaling,
pedaling, pedaling, without beating me up, leaning into turns, accelerating
uphill. Also, this old one is very stealthy; no one gave it the long stare.
When I am on the new one, people stop what they are doing to look!
Thunderstorms are threatening tomorrow, but if they hold off, I will try an
even longer ride on this old classic!
Tom Donahue
Melbourne, FL