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…with my bike, Windy!

A while ago I wrote about how buying a bike reminded me of falling in love. I’ve spent some quality time with Windy now, and she’s not perfect, but she’s been a good pal.

I had a little trouble with some of the Simcoe‘s features. For a very scary month it even seemed there could be  intermittent problems with clicking and skipping in the Shimano Nexus gear hub. Intermittent problems are the worst kind of problems because they never occur when at the mechanic’s. But since the first of two free tune-ups, included in the purchase, recommended a month into ownership and again after the first year, the trouble seems to have cleared.

So, let’s get all the unpleasantness out of the way first. The paint “powder-coated for extra rust resistance”gets a lot of mention in curbside ‘s write ups about this brand, but mine hasn’t fared too well at all. My almond milk coloured paint job has a lot of little nicks and chips around the body from where the u-bar lands  every time I park, even though it was designed to be “locked up next to metal poles all day”. For some reason these marks don’t bother me at all. They don’t threaten the bike’s structural safety. They give it that well-used, well-loved, hard-knock life feel I can identify with. And the rust matches the colour of the decals and script on the body exactly!

The kickstand is thin and wobbly, and after a bit of wiggling and twisting, it still doesn’t get into a position where it’s of any actual use without careful balancing, at least not with a basket on the front, because it doesn’t keep the bike upright enough. And it seems to be connected to the fender in a way that makes it difficult to replace with a different kind of kickstand.

This 3-speed doesn’t come with a luggage rack, and the seat is too hard and pretty cheap;  you can see the staples from underneath.

I’ve made a few adjustments to make Windy more comfortable and practical. I changed out to a wider handle bar with a better angle for the wrists, raised it a bit and brought it closer by changing the stem. The cockpit was probably a bit too big for me, even though I’m tall, but it is a really huge bike, which it had to be, if the seat was going to come up high enough.

I would say altogether I’ve spent about 200 dollars on top of the price of the bike, not including the accessories I transferred from my previous bike.

You’re probably wondering why I chose a Simcoe, if it falls so short of filling my needs.

I test-rode a lot of bikes, and most didn’t come close to what Windy offers in the way of ergonomics, durability, quality where it counts, winter-heft, and yes …elegance. I would have had to make expensive adjustments on any bike.

I think the Simcoe ends up being a really amazing vehicle.

I love what we can do together – the way she responds to me now that she fits, the way I can move around and balance on top of her and be prepared for anything,  the way we wiggle around through the snow together.

But she’s a hard ride! Its “lightweight cromoly [sic] tubes” are very unforgiving.

What’s chromoly anyways!  Apparently, it’s a type of steel, but stronger, so less material is needed, hence a chromoly bike weighs less. I guess the strength makes it more rigid. I shudder to think what riding an aluminum bike would feel like.

A little bit now about the  55 dollar seat I bought: Elastomers, are not springs! And Royalgel’s “unique tridimensional gel structure”… “guarantees  the highest level of comfort” for my tender sit bones, but maybe it works better in its native Italy where the temperature rarely drops below 10°C. It does have a useful quick dry surface that’s non slip as well. The slightly sticky top coat can be good and bad, bad when you’re fidgety and you need to adjust your position with a skirt on. I also have to add, that snow and ice get stuck in its little “ass” crack and is very hard to remove from the weird rubbery coating, so I have it wear a shower cap when it’s sleeping. The cap is black and white leopard print. I bought it at Dollarama for a buck 50 and can’t believe no one has appropriated it yet.

I spend a lot of time bouncing around the pre-PanAm construction ridden patchy pavement, hovering just above my seat so my boobs don’t fall off from the relentless impact. I have very strong thighs now.

But the new luggage rack is a beauty! Solid! Came with a reflector attached. I forget the brand. I also love the chain guard. It means I don’t have to tie up my pant leg.

And my favourite part: Those gorgeous grippy hybrid slickers/winter treads. Winter’s almost over now, and there’s not much we can’t do.

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