# WARNING! Adult content! New bike arrived this week (pictures inside)!



## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

After a few weeks of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, finally got the new commuter a couple days ago. Milwaukee Bike Co.; road geometry with track dropouts. Until now I've been commuting on a Bianchi Pista, and the track geometry has been kicking my arse.












*Was debating the badge upgrade. Thanks to a little nudge from MB1, I sprung for 'em. Glad I did.*





















*Chris King headset.*












*Brooks black leather bar tape. That stuff is hard! I've spent the majority of my life looking for gloves with little or no padding. I may be in trouble. Was going to order a black King headset cap, but I might stick with silver.*












*Izumi chain for "Easy Running." Euro-Asia 19t cog, from the Pista. There's not much clearance for the fender. That's why the rear axle is so far back.*












*Nitto bottle cage.*












*Brooks Team Pro. Carradice Barley saddlebag.*













Other components:


Thomson seatpost and stem
Crank Bros. Quattro pedals (first time trying them)
River City fenders (front one needs some work to clear the brake caliper, hence it's MIA)
Tubus Cargo rear rack
Velocity Deep-V rims
Panaracer "for Messenger" 700c x 28mm tires (I hate that it says they're "for messenger," but they're the only Panaracers I saw that didn't have tan sidewalls)

I had to get fit for my road bike today, so I got fitted for this bike as well. Seems like a smart choice ... should be very little difference going back and forth between the two bikes).

I have yet to ride more than a few miles at a time. Will be riding to work tomorrow though!


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

*Cool bike!*

Very nice, another fine bike product from the midwest! Did you have it fitted before the photos? The saddle position looks a little far forward to me, but if it's good for you, then it's good.

Ride on!


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## matanza (Jun 9, 2004)

The paint looks good too! What color is that, a blue or a green? Love the badges, CLASSY!


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

My oh my that is NICE!!!

Does it still have that new bike smell?


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## MSD (Jul 17, 2006)

Looks great! Do you like the ride as much as I do?


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## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

very, very nice! congrats (and enjoy!)


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Very nice and very classy looking.


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

Very nice. I like the badges...


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

MSD said:


> Do you like the ride as much as I do?


I haven't ridden it much so far ... I built up most of it on Tuesday. Took it to the shop on Wed so they could cut the steerer tube, hammer in the star nut for the headset, and a few other things. Took it to get a fitting yesterday. So little rides here and there.

That said, it seems to ride great. Feels much more efficient than the Pista. I'm glad I went with 28mm tires instead of the 32s I had on the Pista. That probably helps a lot.





Andy M-S said:


> Did you have it fitted before the photos? The saddle position looks a little far forward to me.


Yeah, fitted just before the photos. According to my fit guy, it's a little less than 1 cm too far forward, but the Brooks has really short rails so it's as far back as we can get it. The Thomson setback post would probably have it too far back. I guess I could go with something other than Thomson, but there are too many other pluses. I've got my eyes on it, though, and if I start having issues I'll make a change.





MB1 said:


> Does it still have that new bike smell?


I could smell the paint when I opened the box.


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## superjohnny (May 16, 2006)

That is gorgeous! Oh how I wish I could get up & over "the hill" on a fixed/single speed. So much less maintenance and so much cleaner looking. Love that saddle bag. Dang man I'm jealous.


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

Sweet! Nothing against Surly (I commute every day on a Cross Check) but I think I'd ask Waterford to build a matching fork for it.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

superjohnny said:


> That is gorgeous! Oh how I wish I could get up & over "the hill" on a fixed/single speed. So much less maintenance and so much cleaner looking. Love that saddle bag. Dang man I'm jealous.


I was not planning on getting one. Then I saw the Barley at Wallingford's site, found it for a great price on ebay and decided to get it. Once I had it, I fell in love with it. It's a beautiful bag.





superjohnny said:


> Oh how I wish I could get up & over "the hill" on a fixed/single speed.


What's stopping you?


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## superjohnny (May 16, 2006)

DrRoebuck said:


> What's stopping you?


skinny legs and a real big hill.

lol


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## Kung Fu Felice (Apr 17, 2007)

I love the single bullhorn brake lever! Hmmmm... maybe I can do something similar but with a coaster brake instead of a single speed so I can have that single brake lever look too, LOL


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## northcoast (Jul 11, 2003)

Beautiful! Good job


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

superjohnny said:


> skinny legs and a real big hill.
> 
> lol


Haha. I thought you were being methaphoric.


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## Spinfinity (Feb 3, 2004)

*Tasty!*

Soft color, lots of leather, a bike you can ride with pride.


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## the_dude (Jun 25, 2004)

that's the kind of bike i would take out with the intention of a quick spin, and find myself riding until my legs explode. absolutely beautiful.


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## vanjr (Sep 15, 2005)

i have to ask, how much? 
i would love something that nice looking!!


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## Pigtire (May 26, 2004)

Beautiful! Don't park that bike in Venice.


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## superjohnny (May 16, 2006)

Now that you've had a little time riding it DrRoebuck how about an update? Do you still own & ride it?


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

You bet. I ride it almost every day and I love it. And even if I didn't like it, I get so many damn compliments on it that I'd still ride it. I've even taken it into snooty roadie LBS's and the snooty roadie LBS guys ooh and aah over it.

It's certainly heavy and is really hard on me when I've got it loaded up with stuff. So I upgraded the saddle to a Swallow and upgraded the rack to a Tubus Fly, both to reduce some weight. If I could stop blowing my money on lenses and monitors I'd probably also upgrade the Crankset. Not only would a better crankset likely be lighter, but I have a lot of issues with uneven chain tension that (I hope/assume) would be taken care of by an upgrade.

I was having some knee issues so I replaced the crankset once already. Same model, shorter cranks. I've also gone from a 48-19 to a 44-18 (I think). My cruising speed is around 13 or 14 mph and my top-end is somewhere around 19 before I'm spinning at 130+ rpm. So it's not the fastest commuter. But overall it's smooth, sturdy and, most important, comfortable.

Doesn't hurt that, to me, it's one of the prettiest bikes out there. 

Thanks for asking.

J


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

I was wondering why the wheel was so far back... looks like the rack mount might interfere w/ the nut too


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

That had to do with chain length, gearing, etc., which I've since changed. Now that I'm running a smaller gear, and adjusted the length of the chain, the wheel is right in the middle of the dropout.

The rack comes reaaaal close to interfering with the nut, but it's ok.


///Looking at the picture, I've since used an adapter for the rack mount, which has raised it up from the bolt and pushed it back a little bit.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Here's a quick-and-dirty (really dirty) pix of the rear dropout.


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## JohnnyChance (Dec 13, 2006)

what crankset?


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

JohnnyChance said:


> what crankset?


Sugino RD.

I'd at least get Sugino 75 if I upgraded. But I was at the LBS and some other stuff I liked.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Dr R -- Just a suggestion since you seem to be concerned about weight. I used to ride Brooks B17s, but have switched all of my bikes to Fizik Vitesse saddles. I tried the Vitesse because it had a similar shape to my B17 when broken in, plus it is wider than most "racing" saddles. For some reason, they market the Vitesse as a women's saddle in the US but not in Europe. Anyway, it is the most comfortable saddle I have every used, plus it weighs less than half as much as a B17, and the cost is reasonable. I paid about $70 new for mine and found another one for $50 at a bike shop sale rack. The Vitesse weighs about 250 grams and I think the width is 160 mm. Unlike many other "women's" saddles, it is not shorter in length than the Aliante and other Fizik "men's" saddles.

Great looking Milwaukee, by the way.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Thanks for the tip. Glad you like the look of the bike. I'm still smitten.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

do i detect a subtle fade in the paintjob? very discreet & lovely.

a fixed gear commuter can be so utilitarian it's beautiful. perfect form for it's function. 

A+ Dr.R


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Good eye, Inner G. It's so discreet that you can barely see it sometimes. It was also a little nerve racking to work that out over the phone/email with Photoshop, Pantone numbers, etc. But it worked out, I think.

One of my favorite things about having a fixie for commuting, besides all the obvious benefits of riding fixed, is that it's a nice deviation from the road bike. Keeps things fresher.


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## afriqnboy (May 15, 2007)

thats pretty. i'd drop it down to maybe a 14 or 15 and tear some cars up.


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