The Bicycle Shuffle

I’m notorious for buying things, using them for awhile, buying something similar whether it be better or more useful, selling the old thing, possibly trading it for something entirely different, and so on and so on. I’ve come to realize that material possessions don’t do any good unless they’re performing to your needs. Who cares if phone X is the greatest thing since sliced bread as voted by nine our of ten CNET reviewers? Well, I actually do, but that’s beside the point. What I’m getting at is if I find a product to be failing me in function or form, I’ll find something else that does the job right, regardless of how much it cost or how long I’ve had it.

Case in point: My bikes.

But Jayme, you ask with wide eyes and mouth agape, your bikes?

Yes. My bikes

The recent sale of my [previously] highly coveted Specialized S-Works M4 full suspension has opened my eyes to new opportunities in the realms of bicycle functions and form. I can do more with less, if only I had the right bike. Do I really need a hard tail for light single track, a fully rigid mountain bike frame for touring and commuting, a plush 5″ travel sled for freeride, a super light XC full suspension frame for racing, and a sleek road bike for the highway? Recent developments in the Specialized line of tricross, or “freeroad” bikes, have proven no, I don’t.

Freeroad bikes are practically the do-all bikes of the industry. For guys like me, guys who shred the XC single track, commute to work, tour across the country, and ride the highway, it’s a perfect fit. It’s a design that will allow me to do all but the most heinous of the Maah Daah Hey. And that’s where my Eclipse hard tail comes in.

My current bike collection consists of my Eclipse hard tail, my original Trek 990 from way back, and my custom Produx road bike from Cape Town, South Africa. When I sold my M4 I thought I had sacrificed my ability to engage the technical stuff. The rocks and roots, the washouts and washboards dips. As of late I’ve been forced to ride the gnarly trails with my Eclipse (keeping in mind it’s a fully rigid frame), and, truth be told, I’m enjoying the hell out of the experience. My lines are cleaner, my descents smoother, and my climbs more efficient. My decision to ride my Eclipse has taken me back to my roots, before suspension of any kind, almost to my BMX days, when I had to ride with grace and not brawn. I dig it.

With the purchase of a freeroad bike, I can sell my road bike and pimp out the Eclipse. I can use the freeroad for my commutes, tours, and with a change of rubber, the highway. My Eclipse would get a much needed front suspension fork and upgraded brake components, making it competitive on any single track in the world. It’s win/win, if you ask me. I’m in the market.

But for now, the sun is shining, it’s early afternoon, and my Marines are waiting to play some football with their crusty, old Staff Sergeant. I’m gonna show them that a going-on-thirty, already bald dude still has plenty of fire in his ass. Or is it bats in his belfry? Maybe that’s another story.

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