Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and interviewed me for over an hour—the first of several conversations—before the bike
was designed, the frame built, and the components chosen.
The crucial info: I wanted straight-across handlebars—well, didn't want them, ex-
actly, but promised my physiatrist I'd get them. (
Physiatrist
, what a word! So exotic-
sounding I'm almost proud to need one—a nerve, muscle, and bone specialist who treats
injuries.) He was worried about the pinched nerve in my neck and didn't want me spend-
ing weeks with my head tilted back and my neck contracted. Andrew also brought up
the idea that I was going to spend a lot of money on this bike and that I would want it
to be, very likely, the last one I ever bought. When the trip was over, he said, I wouldn't
want to be riding a bike that was built only for long-distance touring and carrying extra
weight and that couldn't be a little bit frisky on a casual ride.
NYC Velo worked with Independent Fabrication, a frame builder in Newmarket, New
Hampshire, and together they decided on titanium as the best material for the frame,
a compromise between hardiness and handling. The straight-across handlebars, highly
unusual for a touring bicycle, mean that the top tube—the frame's horizontal beam con-
necting the seat post to the steering column—has to be slightly shorter than normal; and
to keep me sitting at least semi-upright, the head tube—essentially the steering column,
the vertical tube that the front fork passes through—is slightly longer.
Once I rode a few miles, I brought it back to the shop for some adjustments. The
handlebars were so wide and keeping me so upright that on my first couple of trial rides,
I felt like a sailboat sail, my body's breadth working against me. So Andrew lowered the
bars slightly and cut an inch off each end. I also had him add bar ends—grips affixed
perpendicular to the handlebars—to give me alternative hand positions.
Unlike the wheels on many new bikes, mine are made from separate compon-
ents—hub, rim, spokes—which adds durability. (Prebuilt wheels tend to be a smidgen
lighter in weight.) Each wheel has thirty-six spokes, rather than the standard thirty-two,
another strengthening element. And the tires are touring specific and essentially flat-
proof, with a layer of puncture-resistant foam between the outer rubber and the inner
seal, though with the extra armor you don't roll with maximum alacrity.
“The bike is unique,” Andrew said. “It's expected to do dual duty, to get you across
the country loaded with a certain amount of gear, in as fine a fashion ergonomically as
possible. For the trip we wanted to balance the need to be lightweight, to be durable,
and to be comfortable. But you're also going to use it for other rides, so we wanted to
make sure you had a bike that wasn't singular in function.”
2
This morning, before I took it back to Andrew for packing and shipping to Port-
land—he's got a pal who owns a bike shop out there where I can pick it up—I took a
