witcomb-bilenky project

it was nearly a year ago that i bought a 1975 Witcomb USA frame on eBay. the purchase was totally an impulse buy (not something i usually do)!  I was surfing eBay late one evening when i came across the listing for this frame (broken, but repairable, according to the seller) in the last 30 seconds of the auction.  no one had bid on it, and there was a reserve price (not visible to me).  i decided the ‘max’ i would pay and hit the send button.  my ‘price’ happened to meet the reserve, and the frame was mine.  the seller was none other than Stephen Bilenky, of Bilenky Cycle Works, in Philadelphia.

i guess i’m just a geek, and i’ve had come to terms with it.  😉  i’m a woman who loves steel bicycles, guitars, fountain pens, and Leica cameras.  i love used and vintage, i love new.  i absolutely have great appreciation for things that are elegant in design, well made, and built to last.

ok, so back to the Witcomb USA frame.  after buying the frame from Stephen, it was time to decide what to do with it.  duh, you say.  build it up and ride it! there’s a bit more to the story, really. the frame’s front triangle was damaged, but Stephen let me know that while in the process of repairing it, we could (to a point) revise some of the frame’s dimensions.  this is where it started to get interesting….

speaking of gray bicycles…

here’s a photo of one of mine.  it’s the newest bicycle i have, and it’s gray in the sense it’s raw steel finished with a clear powdercoat.  it’s a Rivendell Roadeo, and i am already quite fond of it.  i’ve had it a few months now, and while i am still dialing in the fit (dialing in the ‘right’ fit seems to take a while for me), i can tell it’s going to be just fine.  the size is 57 cm (c-t), and the angles are 72.5 (seat) and 73 (head).  the top tube is 56.5cm and i’m using a 7cm stem with a Nitto Noodle bar.  i’m all leg…more info on the Roadeo to follow.

one more bicycle blog

this blog is about bicycles, and gray bicycles in particular.  it’s not that i don’t like other colors, i just tend to prefer and end up with bicycles that are neutral (and most often, gray) in color.  like many people, i rode bicycles almost constantly as a child, but over time, i put the bicycle down and moved on to other things.  i rode for a few years in the early 90s, but life got busy, and again, i put the bicycle aside.  fortunately, i started riding again about in 2007, and riding has become something of an obsession for me.  i commute to work (which isn’t really far enough!), and i ride to the market, and just about every other place i want to go. my Saab just sits and waits (and waits) for me in the drive.  sometimes i ride fast, and sometimes i go slow.  the bicycle has changed the world for me.  when i ride to work by bike i am just happier than i am when i have to drive. i see things differently when on a bike.  so…this blog is pretty much just a place to park my thoughts about riding, and about the bicycle itself.  i know i am not the first person to think the bicycle is a perfect machine….