16-NOV-2006
Disc Brake.
A very nice upgrade from the previous setup. This unit is very tiny, possibly even smaller than the original, weaker front brakes. I'm sure it will come in handy if I'm cruising downhill at high speeds and a nice, little old Swiss-French lady decides to cross the street in front of me.
15-NOV-2006
Gears.
Can you count them all? 9 of them now, with 3 up front. I'll have more of a chance to keep up with the cars in the city now. Plus, a new derailer. Cool.
14-NOV-2006
Shifters - Brakes.
The new system, with very ergonomic shifting action. You push on the upper to lever to up-shift, push on the lower to down-shift. As you hold the handlebars, all of the controls are placed comfortably at your fingertips. Can't wait to tear around the city now...
13-NOV-2006
The Bike Master.
Hard at work, transforming my bike and bringing it from the domain of the mountain to the domain of the city. It was great to see Mike - He had a few free days and we had a great time tooling around Geneva. When this shot was taken, he had been awake for about 20 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane because of the jerk next to him). So, to fight his sleepiness so that he could get adjusted to local time, he arrived at my place, dropped his bags, and went to work on my bike.
12-NOV-2006
Front Brakes.
Old, inefficient, squeaky (Really squeaky under heavy braking..). The newer bikes use disc brakes, and after speaking to Mike about this, we decided to renovate the front of the bike as well... Disc brakes are much stronger, allow for some serious stopping power, and work well in wet conditions.
11-NOV-2006
Slow.
The mountain bike gears do not really allow for high top-end speed. Given that you are climbing more than cruising over the mountain, the gears are large in the back so that you can pedal the bike up some steep inclines. Well, this will all change soon enough...
10-NOV-2006
Brakes - Shifters.
These things finally started to wear out (not bad for lasting 15 years). So, here's a shot of the old controls. These are slightly lower-end components, and Mike brought me some nice new shifters. Plus, since the new wheel has more high-speed gears, a new shifter is required in order to reach all of the gears. Notice as well the one piece stem; This makes it hard to adjust the height of the handlebars relative to the frame... again, Mike came through with some amazing components.
09-NOV-2006
My Bike.
I bought this bike with my life-long friend Mike, back in high school in the early 90's. This bike has held up over the years quite nicely. Over the past few years, though, I haven't been using it since it isn't quite practical to ride a mountain bike to Philly (from Trenton) every day. But, since I am now transitioning to city life, I thought this thing would be useful here in Geneva. My boss was kind enough to bring my bike along with all of his furniture.
However, a mountain bike isn't the most practical thing to have in a city. Asphalt streets allow for faster speed, and the gearing and tires should match the environment. Mike, who now works for MAVIC (Shameless Mavic Plug: Go here for all of your bike needs!
http://www.mavic.com), visits the nearby French town of Annecy often. He had business this week, so he came a few days early to visit - and he brought some tasty new bike parts for me :-)
08-NOV-2006
My Bed.
Doesn't look that impressive yet, but I'm sure it will be much more comfortable once it is assembled!
07-NOV-2006
My Place.
Standing near the radiator, looking towards the hallway. There is a fairly large built-in closet for clothing and other random things on the left. The hallway also has hardwood floors. And, although I don't have furniture at this time, I have the things that matter - Phone and wireless internet...
06-NOV-2006
My Place.
As you stand in the doorway to my bedroom and look slightly to the right, this is what you see..The floors are in great shape, and as you can see, I have a huge door that leads to the balcony.
05-NOV-2006
My Place.
So, coming up now, we have a few shots of my bedroom/living room. I have big plans for making this place more of a home, and I wanted to show you all how it looked before I put my hands to it. In this picture, you'll notice a small folded blue foam cushion - Thanks to my boss, he gave me this to use as a temporary bed. The first night I stayed here, I had to sleep on the wood floor - Not the most comfortable sleeping surface....