NOW IT FITS

Got my Litespeed Tuscany, and my Kona Jake the Snake fitted by Chris at Joselyn's bike shop in downtown Monterey.

I'm VERY satisfied with the results.

I have measured and sized my own bikes for my whole life, but this $125 investment moved EVERYTHING on both bikes, but especially the seat height and stem length.

Here's my analysis:

Hey, How bout that plastic???

My next venture into the world of plastic parts (yeah I call it plastic because carbon fiber sounds so pretentious, and plastic sounds so "Lego", and innocent).

Realdesign Supersonic 60mm rims from eBay, nearly $500 smackers with shipping. WHOA!

Slightly lighter than MAVIC Aksiums, but way aero, we'll see what happens.

I loved the feel of the Spinergy Rev-X wheelset at speeds up to about 30mph, but then they started to oscillate on me, made me a little nervous.

More reports after my test ride, but for now, they are lost in the miserable world of US POSTAL SERVICE parcel post (40,000 job losses.... I wonder why?)

Finally Settled In

Finally.

After hmmmmmmm, seems like 5 cross fames, I am finally completely satisfied!!!

I decided on a 2009 Kona, 60cm Jake the Snake frame and fork from www.bikeman.com.

I loved the Redline, but it was a SMALL 58cm, and I could not make the geometry work for me. No matter how I set it up, my knees were hitting the bars anytime I was climbing. Bummer.

So anyway, I mounted up the Aksiums, the Carbon crankset, the shifters and derailers, and the stem and bars.

First impression? Well, I crashed in the middle of the street on my first ride!!!

I rode a dirt trail near my house for about 30 minutes, and on my way back home, cut hard into a left turn, and laid it down for about a 6ft skit on my hip, thight, knee and ankle (minimal scratches on the bike thank god).

So it comes right out of the barn with battle scars.

LOVE IT!