Meet my commuter bike -- Herbie

A couple of weeks ago Mike bought an old school road bike (Miyata) on Craig's List. It is a lugged steel frame, black with blue detailing and all around classy looking. The only problem was it was too small for him!! Soooo....now its mine!! My only gripe is that some idiot removed the old drop bars and put a straight handle bar on it, so I feel the need to eventually return it to its original look.

Anyway I have made a lifestyle decision to ride a bike everywhere possible, thus needing a bike, other than my triathlon bike to ride around on. The Miyata couldn't have come into my life at a more perfect time. After my first commuter attempt however I found that he (yes, its a "he") has a personality all of his own, and likes to change gears at random.....you can rely on him to skip a couple gears every time you hit a bump too. Hence, he has been christened with the name Herbie, after Herbie the race car who also had a mind of his own.

Although he is now referred to around the house as Herbie, I am attempting to fix his glitches so that my commuting is a little less....exciting.... Today Mike showed me how to take brakes and hubs (the center of the wheel) apart and clean everything and re-grease everything. I also changed the seat to a more comfortable one I had in the shed and attached a bike bag with all my necessary flat tire stuff. Herbie also got a good wipe down. I must say he is quite a handsome bike!! Without further ado, meet Herbie....

Soon he will also be sporting a rack over the rear wheel to carry stuff (like groceries or beach gear), a water bottle holder, lights, possibly fenders, and eventually drop bars (different style of handle bar). He also needs matching tires, the white walls on the rear tire are stylish! I figure I might as well fancy him up to show my appreciation for all the gas money hes going to be saving me!! I'm going to get him a bike computer too, so I can keep track of my mileage and calculate what that would have cost me in gas. I'll keep you all posted!