I've been riding bikes since I was a wee bugger. Now, not that I'm much bigger, I've had the chance to sandbox with a ton of rigs on the road, trails and cyclocross. I've only had three bikes previously to race 'cross on - starting with a first-year Surly Cross Check, then an Airborne titanium Carpe Diem, lastly, former national champion Larssyn Staley's Hot Tubes.
The Surly was rad - ugly green with 9-speed Campagnolo parts. It looked great, shifted wonderful and was heavy as a bike made out of pewter, and rode like it, too. I wasn't too broken up to sell it to Fozy. Unfortunately, it was swiped from Fozy. RIP.
The Carpe Diem (a.k.a. Bok Choi) was a clear step up in the world. Once I used a green scotchbrite pad and a bit of WD-40 to get the shine on, the bike looked like a champ with Mavic Helium hoops, Dura Ace 9 and a Wound Up Carbon fork. This bike was made to ride and fast. Unfortunately, though, as all things bike - the relationship wasn't especially long term. I broke up with it last fall and ditched it via e-bay.
The Hot Tubes, well, wasn't meant to be. I didn't measure it right and realized this beaut of a 1x1 was two sizes too big for my small frame. Oops.
So, I've been without a rig for over three months now and been studying for the next generation of cross racer. Hmm... Trek... LeMond... Giant... Salsa... Surly... Ridley... BMC... Vanilla... TET Cycles... I just didn't know which one would sell me on the ride, frame, fork, and kit. I'm not especially discriminating, so really, anything that was reasonably light and had a good spec would be a winner.
The shot out of left field?
Yes... another Fujina...
... more to come
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