Smooth riding

I have to say I am impressed with the Mongoose. I still need to replace the FD, which appears to be a top pull (ignoring that bikepedia suggest otherwise) which I still need to replace. Hey, 7 gears is better than none. (Even if all 7 are lower than I am used to)

I moved the kickstand and rear rack from my road bike to the mongoose, and rode to Pizza Hut for lunch. (Lunch buffet, and I get my money's worth.) It wouldn't have been to bad calorie-wise if I got to ride around the bike path after, but as I was finishing my meal, I got a call to pick up my oldest from school.

Riding home, I was pushing speed on the bike as much as I had so far. It like to roll, and that is great, but then it began to shake about three blocks from Pizza Hut, and a good mile and a half away from home. I finally figured I would try something dumb, and reach back to the rack and pulled up on the bike lock. Fixed it. (Part of the lock had gotten into the rack far enough to rub the rear wheel.

Overall, a successful ride. Short term, I still need a water bottle cage on the bike. I have at least one spare one, but I am actually lacking the screws for it. The bike I scrapped during the build didn't even have the brazeons for a waterbottle, so that was no real help. They are cheap though, maybe next week I will hit a shop and get a few. Or just go to home depot and buy a few bags of them, it isn't like they are expensive.

I still miss the trigger shifters I had on the Schwinn, and I have seen reference that the Mongoose had them to begin with. I have seen some online for about $30, but that will have to wait until next year. That isn't really high on my list, as in it won't make the bike work when it wasn't before. (The FD is on the list, but not sure when I will get around to it.)

All things considered, I love the bike though. It feels nice and smooth, even though it doesn't have any suspension. It makes me miss my old Mongoose Transport, though that was a really heavy bike. Maybe next week I will see how it handles on the mountain bike trail in Troy. That should be fun. (Or cold. This is Ohio.)