Timeless Time

I planned to stay off the bike to try to do the just cycling thing, the single speed thing. But one step on the scales, two days ago, made me think again and in a few seconds I was giving up patching the twenty-something tubes I collected in the last 18 months and was setting up Sandra's old bike for the team's recovery ride Friday morning.

Fixing tubes? Now and then, I get into this mood and I have to do something that makes me feel I am doing some good. As simple as it sounds, fixing and re-using tubes does it for me. It is almost like a meditative exercise. And, admittedly, one of my pet hates is to see tubes on the roadside, and I do see a few.

You had a spare new tube in your pocket when you left home, why not put the punctured one in the same pocket and bring it home with you?

Fixing tubes is a fairly easy task but the low success rate these days bothers me a little. After doing all the work and testing them I usually have a 50-70% success rate. That's pretty low and I think it is caused by the use of the crappy glue sold to cyclists in those colourful repair kits.

This time, and under recommendation from a friend, I am using the heavy-duty rubber cement they use for car and truck tubes (who fixes those though?). While I am not doing the stitching they recommend, I will post my record breaking achievement later.

Now, to the ride on Sandra's bike, the Time Edge. I was very wrong assuming its age and the kilometers it had covered over the years had made the ride on it sloppy and slow. I rode this bike in the past. You know, the swap bikes for a while and the "can we swap back?" seconds later deal but I have never had it set up for me.

Anyway, I am not going to write a bike review on the Time Edge, I am just going to say that I have now realized why these frames (all Time frames must present a similar ride) have such good reputation. The Edge rides exceptionally well.

Sandra's bike has a smaller frame with a short stem and narrower bars, all I could do was to adjust the seat. That seemed enough and I felt very comfortable on it but what really surprised me was that I was riding on the big ring for the whole time, effortless. It might be that its geometry suits my body more than Sandra's. She thinks her Canyon offers a better ride but I have witnessed too many great performances by the pair to agree with her completely.

Yet, the Edge doesn't feel like it is fully intended for racing, it is much more comfortable than what I am used to. It does deliver a beautiful, plush ride.

Next, I need to get my bike back to compare the rides and to try to substantiate some of my statements. For now, I am going to enjoy riding Sandra's bike and will call it the TIMELESS bike.