I haven't posted much over the last few months - perhaps I am becoming like another blogger I follow, who, when I commented favourably on one of his posts, replied -
Thanks Lizzie! I tend only to post when I've got something to say that's inspired me! I'm glad that the post has inspired you.
I've also noticed that many of the bloggers in my list of blogs I follow have not posted anything for several months, whereas they used to post more often. I wonder if that is a sign of the times. Life has changed considerably for all of us in the last 21 months or so. Perhaps many of us give priority to different things. One thing I would like to write about in the future is the change in the diet of Husband and I, in connection with health. Hopefully that will happen.
You may wonder, then, given the title of this post, where I am heading! Well, I'm not sure that this will exactly be an inspiring post, but nevertheless I thought I'd write it. I am selling one of my bikes, and until I do sell it I shall be down to the one bike, my faithful Old Lady Trek, as I like to call it, or my everyday/shopping/short rides bike. The reason for the sale is that I have not really enjoyed riding my Koga since my last long trip on it in September 2019, when I rode from Derbyshire home to Oxfordshire over 4 days. It may be that this bike is ideally suited to longer, loaded trips, and I don't really want to keep a bike which has that quality, and nor can I afford to. Even on these longer trips, I have only ever ridden with two panniers, something on the back rack and a very small bag on the handlebars. I don't think I will ever need to ride with more than that, and I think a different sort of bike, would suit my needs better.
However, it is not just that. I have no idea why it is that I can no longer get comfortable on this bike, the main reason being that I cannot get the saddle far enough back. It must be the geometry of the bike, but why I should have this problem now and yet it wasn't always the case I do not know! I even swapped saddles for a while, taking off my favourite and recently hacked Brooks B67 and replacing it with one of my spare Bontrager saddles, which I can get a fraction further back. However, it's still not far enough back, and also I do so like my Brooks saddle, especially after that hacking which I described here, that I don't want to ride this bike with any other one. I looked into buying a new seat post with more set back but unfortunately the size of the Koga post is not the most common, and finding one was almost impossible, and certainly a lot of money.
I also have to confess a long term slight disappointment that this bike isn't steel (or a colour that I like! I know that colour sounds so unimportant but I think if you are spending a lot of money on a bike then you want one that you like the colour of!) which I believe, rightly or wrongly, would make for a more comfortable ride. I always wanted steel, but when I was looking for a bike in 2016, and after the disappointment with my Oxford Bike Works bike which I wrote about here, I could not find another steel bike that I liked. So, finally, I have made the decision to sell. Here are some pics, and if you are reading this and are interested in buying, then I can send more. I know that this bike will suit somebody out there, even if it doesn't suit me.
Magura hydraulic brakes HS33
Schwalbe Marathon 37mm tyres
Frame - KOGA Aluminium 6061
Tubus rear carrier
B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo RT lights
Pletscher stand
Axa lock
Bell with compass
2 bottle cages (with 1 original bottle if you want)
Pump
Weight - 17.1 kg
