Michael: The Mouth of the Gift Horse

 The air is heavy;

Wrapping us in a blanket

Of heat and fatigue.

 Thursday, August 20, 2020

The bicycles that were promised to me by a very gracious guest were delivered at work Sunday when the guest arrived for another week’s stay. One was titanium from Mosaic and the other was a carbon fiber Odlo? Neither brand have I heard of.

The components on the Mosaic, however, were familiar, Shimano Dura Ace electric with Fulcrum disc wheels. Those I hope to swap over to a new Cervelo R5 frame. I’m hoping for a straight up exchange of the frame for the labor involved in the changeover. I’ve contacted Incycle Bicycles in Pasadena and am waiting to hear back.

Even if they agree I know it won’t be as simple as dropping the bike and frameset off and letting them have at it. This is going to be a ménage-a-trios of bikes with a few expensive toys thrown it to boot.

First off I want the new bike to fit exactly as my current bike. I’d also like to swap out the contact points on my current bike to the new bike, except the handlebars. Those I’m hoping to upgrade to possibly a one-piece quasi- stem/aero bar.

The headset on the Mosaic is Chris King which I’ve never had but they have the reputation of being top notch. Only problem is there red and don’t exactly go with the deep green/hi-viz highlights of the Cervelo, but I’m going to live with that. Who knows? It may even make the bike standout as a custom build Christmas kind of beauty.

If those are the only changes I end up making I’ll get a fantastic bike for a fraction of what it would cost off the shelf. But I doubt it’s going to be that clean or cheap. Hey, but I’m not going to look this gift horse over and complain about the niggles of putting this new bike together. I was happily riding along and know with even a few costs over runs I’ll be happier with a quasi-new bike with electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes.

It won’t be the Celeste Bianchi of my dreams. That may never be. But it may just end up being a better performer and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do this and get out there and enjoy the canyons of SoCal on what will be a fantastic bike.