Open thread 206

It's been almost a fortnight since my front brake cable snapped as I cycled behind Centraal Station in the busiest part of the morning. My back brake, which has a history, wasn't really at its best either. This made for a briefly exciting time. (Because I'm pretty damn good with the bike, no one else was excited. But I found it plenty entertaining.)

Martin pointed out that Emily the Bike has done pretty well. I work about 10km from the office, and I cycle every non-icy day. If she's done 100km a week for most of the last five years, that's a pretty low cost per kilometer for a a150 bike, even with another a150-odd of repairs. But there's no denying the amount of friction she adds to my journeys these days, nor the quantity of other squeaks and rattles she's picked up over time.

And that's a problem, because I'm planning a bit of an adventure in the late summer or early fall. I've decided to cycle around the IJsselmeer over four days, stopping in hotels as I go. And unlike the warriors of Clan Spandex, who rush by me on the roads like quarrels from crossbows, I shall be doing it on a normal Dutch stadsfiets, comfortably upright and ordinarily dressed.

But not, alas, on Emily.

So allow me to present Grace.

She's a Dracat, assembled in Zaandam about five years ago on an aluminum frame. I bought her from my local bike shop for a250. She's got front shocks and 8 gears rather than 3, but she shares Emily's step-through frame and upright posture.

When I bought her, she had a weak back rack (25kg weight limit) and no front cargo provision at all. In what must comprise a nearly Levitical transgression, I bought steel components to amend these lacks, and she is now fully fitted out.

I tried her out a week and a bit ago on an all-day ride, and even after 8 hours and 114 km (70 miles) in the saddle, I love her with a painless love.