Banta Cycles

Katie and I finally got around to doing a bunch of work around the house the past week or so. A big part of that included getting rid of a bunch of no longer needed/wanted stuff in our garage (donated) so I would have room to put together my bike area in the garage.

It was exciting to get everything setup and situated and we're still not finished, but it's definitely starting to grow on me.





Katie told me this past weekend she was ready to start riding, now that she's recovered from giving birth to Sam. The bike she's going to try first is the Bianchi Volpe I purchased almost 2 years ago and put 1500+ miles on. It's been sitting in my basement without a chain for almost a year, sad to say, as it required replacing so I removed the old one and never got around to putting the new one on. I took the opportunity on Father's Day to spend a few hours in my new bike workshop and not only install a new chain, but take apart the crank/chainrings and rear cassette and give everything a good cleaning so the new chain wouldn't be thrown into a drive train that had existing filth in it. She rode it around the block right before dark when I was finished and she is pleased. I'm anxious to see the verdict once she rides a bit further. :)

Picture of the finished Volpe with Grissom, our 2 year old Golden Retriever.

Haven't been riding much due to the left achilles tendon issues. I decided I wanted to take some time off as the tendon gets inflamed whenever I ride. The up side is it gives me time to work on projects such as above. I did well over the weekend not getting on the bike once, but today I broke down and rode into work and home. I took it fairly easy in an attempt to minimize inflamation and I think I was mostly successful. I'm going to try to ride in everyday this week and see how it holds up.

Upcoming Bike Projects:
1. Complete build of my Carbon Fiber Pedal Force ZX3 bike. Waiting on a 31.6 mm seatpost that should be arriving at MWC tomorrow. I'm going to use the Dura-Ace groupo that I've had sitting in a box since last winter when PBK was having a big blowout. I went with the 170mm cranks, which I've never used before but based on my body geometry and the calculators I used was recommended. I'm anxious to go on some nice long smooth pavement rides after the 200+ miles of gravel.

2. Surly Pugsley and Big Dummy - both are currently awaiting frames in my size to be in stock at Quality. I've started thinking about the builds I want to use and started purchasing odds and ends. The Pugsley frame should be available in a few weeks and the Big Dummy available in early August.