The surest sign that spring has sprung is Herself telling me to grease up her old two-wheeler ’cause she’s ready to ride.
That this announcement coincides with temperatures in the upper 70s is not, well, a coincidence.
Herself rides a Soma Double Cross. I bought the frameset back in 2006, and Old Town Bike Shop in Bibleburg tricked it out smartly with bits of this and that, some of them mine, some of them theirs. The drivetrain is a mix of Sugino, FSA, and Shimano 105/LX, yielding a low end of 34×32, which probably should be 34×34, or even 30×34, but I haven’t gone there yet.
Not on her bike, anyway. I love me some 30×34 on my New Albion Privateer and Soma Saga (the disc-brake version).
But then I’m a señor citizen, not some spry young tomato like Herself. She can tough it out. I’ll wheelsuck her and provide helpful hints from her slipstream.
Seasonal prep this year was pretty basic. I checked that everything shifted (105 brifters) and braked (Suntour cantis) as it should, lubed the chain, and replaced the 700×32 Vittoria Randonneur Cross Pros with a pair of Schwalbe Little Big Bens. Run those 38mm fatties down around 35-40 psi and they buff some of the rough spots off The Duck! City roads. I’ve got ’em on both Sagas and they appear to have eternal life. They’re easy on, easy off, too, which is handy in goathead country.
She could use some new handlebar tape, but that can wait, as can a spit-shine for her brass Crane bell, which she rarely uses. That thing could wake the dead. Even the self-deafened AirPlodders dive for the ditches when they hear it tolling for them.
I’ve been giving a little love to neglected bikes this week — the Rivendell Sam Hillborne and DBR Axis TT have both gotten out in the fresh air — but tomorrow I’ll be riding my own Soma Double Cross. Now, you wanna talk about a low low end? How’s 24×34 sound to you? Gimme a tailwind and I can climb a telephone pole.
Don’t tell Herself. If she senses the slightest weakness she’ll put me in The Home.
Mad Blog Media 
PO’G: I’m happy to report that Old Town Bike is now entering 40-plus years of great bike service to the “Greater Bibleburg Community” and that John Crandall still heads a team of terrific LBS wizards.
Re your comment about “helpful hints from her slipstream”, might I suggest a new section of Maddogmedia called “Pro tips from life’s slipstream” and/or “Advice from the Wheel Suckers”? 🙂
No slipstream should go unsucked and certainly we loyal readers (polite reference to our average ages) are beyond feeling an obligation to pull some time at the front, eh??!! 🙂
Keep the faith ….. stay the course ….. forget the power meters ….ENJOY THE RIDE!!
To me (an 68-yr old geezer) this bike is the epitome of cycling technology. All that one needs, and nothing more.
I read a “guide” to bicycle tech on a widespread website a day or two ago that recommended that cyclists make sure their derailleur batteries are up to snuff prior to a ride. To steal from another medium, “We don’t need no stinkin’ batteries!”
Dale in Mid-MO
Truer words, etc. Herself is hard to fit, at just a bit over 5 feet tall, and this Soma frameset was one of the few that would do the trick at a reasonable price. Add the basic, time-tested bits and hey presto: a bike she’s never felt the need to replace with what the industry thinks is the latest and greatest.
My own Double Cross has a subcompact triple for that extra-special low end, Dura-Ace bar-cons, and some really pretty IRD Cafam cantis. Also, Donnelly X’Plor MSOs because I ride mine on trails when I feel the urge. But basically, there’s not much difference between the two machines. To steal a line from Apple, it just works.
I’m an older geezer than you Dale but no troglodyte to technology. But battery operated derailleurs?!! I find that almost offensive. I ain’t saying you have to use friction shifting since I loves me my indexing on my rides. And given how awesome drivetrains became over the years even lower end bikes can be made to cable shift like butter. I’m pretty disgruntled with having to charge up my various blinky lights more often than promised by the manufacturer. I won’t even bother to point out the absurd cost of electronic shifting.
I just don’t see the upside to electronic shifting. Not for recreational riders, anyway. Shouldn’t good design make things simpler for the end user, not more complex?
I loved STI until I found out how quickly the brifters failed, and how they could be difficult/impossible to repair. Indexed bar-end shifters and thumb-shifters are simple, lightweight, and functional — friction shifters demand a little bit more attention from the operator — but once you become reacquainted with how they operate you also come to appreciate how they’re easily adjusted, repaired, or replaced even by a thumb-fingered shade-tree mechanic like Your Humble Narrator.
For me, the pinnacle of cycling functionality is my Nobilette, with its nine-speed cassette, Ultegra derailleurs, Dura-Ace bar-cons, Sugino triple, Paul Comp cantis, and Cane Creek brake levers.
And I hear you about the blinky lights. I’ve learned to plug them in immediately after a ride, and I keep a set of charged spares handy for when I forget.
My Double Cross Disc, now in a friend’s garage, was one of my favorite bikes. The other was a SOMA Saga. If you had both, you are ready for any road ride you could think of. Even if it includes some decent dirt roads.
Herself put you in a “home?” If you see the brochures for such a place around the house, run, don’t walk, to the city shelter and get her a dog! That will buy you at least five more years of residence at Rancho Perro Loco.
Thought you were going to suggest that our host check into said shelter.
I’m so behind the times that I still have a wind-up derailleur.
“Wind-up derailleur.” Haw. Is that the kind that doesn’t automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time?
make sure you got the am / pm right before you leave the barn.
is that the kind that comes with a clothes pin and baseball card for extra vroom vroom?
The Soma folks do fine work. They have some sort of tag-team deal with Rivendell, which is nice; you’ll find Silver shifters at Soma, Soma’s 7-speed cassettes at Riv’, and like that there. I still yearn for a Soma Pescadero, but I’m trying to keep my acquisitive streak on a short leash, having run out of hooks in the garage.
I do believe you’ll be alright POG. You check off 3 of the top boxes for staying hitched to herself’s wagon. 1. You’re a good cook. 2. You can fix things enough to fend off (some) repair bills. 3. You’re smart enough to shut your yapper and nod your head the right direction when she has “that look”. As for another important box to check I cannot say, but I suspect your do limit your off-gassing to when Herself is not around.
No. 3 may be the hardest to learn and the most important. Well, No. 4, too. She figured out the old “pull my finger” bit a lot faster than I thought.
I ain’t buying it. You’re too classy a guy to try that old pull my finger stuff. If you think BAS (bike acquisition syndrome) is hard to manage, you should try GAS. I have room for 4 guitar cases next to my dresser, but I only have 3 guitars. What to do?
My Long Haul Trucker sports a 24×34 low end on 26″ wheels. That gets me down to something like an 18 inch low gear. I have even been known to use it on the Ski Hill. Here is a toast to Frank Berto and Really Low Gears.
Well, I hope that you two had some nice weather to pedal that Soma for a few miles. I like the bell. I’ve been riding on a bike trail quite a bit over the past couple of years and need one myself. There are a lot of dog walkers on the trail I use and I entertain myself by barking a little when I’m coming up behind folks. The dogs typically hear me. But lately I’ve been thinking about getting a really loud squeaky toy.
It was an excellent ride. Saw many deer and quail. And I notice that suddenly everyone has hummingbird feeders out. We haven’t seen or heard any yet, but we’re gonna set the table for them anyway.
Those big brass Crane bells are slightly nuclear for casual trail encounters. I prefer a smaller, more musical Incredibell or the nifty Spurcycle bells. But I have considered a horn, the clown-style deal with the blunderbuss-shaped trumpet and black rubber squeezer.