It’s been Ride Your Own Damn Bike Week around here, and what a trip down memory lane that has been.
The Nobilette has been getting a lot of road time, but on Thursday I gave it a rest and broke out the old DBR Prevail TT road bike for a 90-minute spin.
One reason I haven’t been riding this relic is that it didn’t have sealant-filled tubes, a shortcoming I remedied before leaving aboard it. Another is the low end of 34×25, which is a tad tall for Your Humble Narrator these days.
But as it turns out, 34×25 is pretty OK when the bike only weighs 20.7 pounds, as opposed to, say, the 32.2-pound Soma Saga Disc, which I rode Friday.
Today the Co-Motion Divide Rohloff gets its moment in the sun. It, too, lacked goopy tubes, until yesterday, when I reacquainted myself with the joys of rear-wheel removal and replacement, that Rohloff hub adding a few additional steps to the process.
All these little chores make a fine distraction from the news, which is all bad. A choking shit-mist has descended upon the nation’s capital and the doings therein seem likely to make “Game of Thrones” look like “Survivor: Canyon Ranch Spa.”
This is assuming, of course, that the Republicans in Congress grow a functional pair, which seems a very wild assumption indeed. What a motley clot of harem guards that lot has turned out to be.
Mad Blog Media 
O’Grady on a genuine race bike? Shiver me timbers…..
And with hairy legs, too. This is just wrong.
I’m also wearing my Bicycle Retailer kit, which should be the last nail in that publication’s coffin.
If you still have this beautiful bicycle, would it be any trouble to send me some photos of the decals? I purchased a 1994 Prevail TT frame but the decals are either missing or badly damaged (sandvik material badge is pretty bad off). There is no Prevail TT decal, no chainstay decal, no DBR or ‘Diamond Back Racing’ or any of that. I don’t have the DBR triangle logo on the head tube. Instead it’s that Square DB wave logo.
Some people of course prefer the nudist style, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m more of a completionist. Rebuilding this ‘relic’ and doing it justice is important to me.
Yours is about the only one with photos floating on the internet that give a clear indication of how it should look frame-wise.
Ditto. I just picked one up. Worse yet it was relabeled as a Litespeed Classic going so far as to have Litespeed headbadge glued on. If you could send me photos of the decals that would be great. Like John said yours is the only one I’ve seen that seemed to have all the markings.
Thanks
Geez, ya gotta weigh down your tires with anti-flat glop even on a ROAD bicycle there? With your homicidal drivers and flat tire threat you have no worries about yours truly ever showing up there to ride a bicycle!!
I’m doing this tomorrow and yes, it’s gonna be HOT!
http://www.lavalorosa.com/home.php
Heavier tires or walking? I pick heavier tires every time. Goat head country is unforgiving.
We got free-range goatheads out here. They jump out of the weeds at you like three-legged pit bulls.
I feel sorry for you guys having to ride with heavy tires and/or heavy goop just to avoid flat tires/
Here’s a link to the post about my latest bici d’epoca experience if anyone’s interested
http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2017/07/la-valorosa-2017.html
i’ve been running 50mm schwalbe big bens on my fargo. they seem to be bulletproof although they lack a certain ride quality needed for any significant non-touring mileage. i’m sorta looking for some subtle/durable/wide tires but they don’t seem to be cheap. compass has a 700cx44 mm that seems about right but they are $78 a piece.
Have you tried the 700×38 Little Big Bens, Carl? Not what I’d call subtle, but durable; I’ve got ’em on three bikes and like ’em a lot. Rivendell usually has them in stock for $40 apiece, but I see they’re sold out at the moment.
I like the Bruce Gordon Rock n’ Roads, too, and the Clement X’plor MSO.
REI in Fanta Se has the Clements so I was thinking about those for the Salsa LaCruz as my Panasonics are starting to look a little long in the tooth. So you recommend them?
Yep, I liked them quite a bit. They were on the Novara Mazama I reviewed for Adventure Cyclist.
I have the X’plor USH on another bike and I don’t like them quite as well. 700×35 feels narrow to me after rocking 38-50mm rubber.
Once you go Phat with the tires its hard going back. I am running 47c on my errand bike and I laugh at crumbling pavement and potholes which is 78% of the road surface around here
I may just have to see of the 50 big Bens will work
the 50s are pretty awesome as far as not having to worry about what you run over. they look good on the fargo and fit well with fenders. plush they aren’t.
I don’t recall what they had in stock in REI but I thought it would be cool to have Clement tires on a bike anyway. Reminds me of those years when I was gluing tires to rims rather than gluing fat cells to my midsection.
That said, I probably wouldn’t use them to climb Hyde Park Road to the top.
“Harem guards” Awesome! May I borrow it occasionally? That is the description of Congress I have seen or heard?
Borrow away, Charley. I’m pretty sure I stole that from Robert Heinlein. “Puppet Masters,” I think. What a polite way of calling someone a eunuch.
You got a Richey crank on that DBR? I was looking for them but discovered that Richey recalled them due to crank arms self destructing. I always thought they looked really nice. Reminded me of vintage Campy.
Yup. Bought the crankset from one of the guys at Old Town back in Bibleburg. I had a nice Ultegra on there but was limited to a 38-tooth inner ring and wanted to go compact.
One of these days I should upgrade the old beastie to a semi-modern drivetrain. But I still like nine-speed Ultegra.
Nine speed Ultegra is just fine.
By the way Khal, my 105 long cage rear derailleur that handles the 11-34 cassette is a 10 speed. I am using it with a 105 front derailleur and 105 compact (34/50) crankset.
Hi Pat,
what brand is your rear cassette?
I’m running FSA compact chain rings & cranks, 105 long cage derailleur & shifters & SRAM 10 speed 11-32 cassette & it shifts like a dog.
Good day Hurben! It is a Shimano SLX 11-34 Cassette. I believe the derailleur is designed to handle a 32, but it handles the 34 without extreme adjustment and no problems even cross chained.
http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-bike/en/home/mtb1/drivetrain/cassettes/cs-hg81-10.html
Great, thanks Pat
Just watched the Deschutes video review. Nice work! Liked the out of focus then fade to in focus trick in the beginning.
Thanks, Pat. I use a GoPro HERO 5 Black, a Canon VIXIA Mini X, and iMovie for these little videos, and the consumer software lets you pull a few stunts, but not many.
I’ve thought about upgrading to Final Cut Pro, but wonder whether the learning curve (and the $300 price tag) are too steep for such small beer. This is basically amateur hour we’re talking about here. Might be too tall a curb for a geezer like me to hop.
Also, I should spend more time trying to master the camera. I’m still feeling my way around here.
Amateur hour… no one’s calling it that…..that you’re aware of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5ZtJpO_TI
I love that movie. Keepers galore from that one.
“Ahoy polloi … where did you come from, a Scotch ad?”
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“You were in the war?”
“No … homo. Much better now, though.”
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“Don’t be obsessed with your desires, Danny. The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote, ‘A flute with no holes is not a flute. A donut with no hole is a danish.’ He was a funny guy.”