Since this blog is so different from my portfolio site, I’ve decided to move it off to its own domain.

Please point your browsers to http://wonder-wander.com and update your RSS readers to http://wonder-wander.com/feed/.

After having sold my beloved Bianchi Reparto Corsa Veloce to a friend that I knew would appreciate it, I had space in my heart (although, not in my LES apartment) for a new bike. The road bike was a bit on the bumpy side on the roads around my old NYC Lower East Side apartment, so, a bike that could handle fatter tires and a rack and fenders seemed to be a good match for the terrain. After having lectured my old roommate on the virtues of cyclocross bikes (super sturdy, tour-able, an everything bike), I had my eyes set on a couple steel steads: Surly Cross-check, Bianchi Volpe, and the Masi Speciale CX.

After having ridden the Cross-check, I wasn’t too sure about the friction shifters being that I was used to STI (AKA, brifters). It was about the same price as the other two, a bit heavy when purchased as a complete, I didn’t like the way the handlebars flared out at the bottom, and I couldn’t figure out which on fit me best since neither size in my range felt quite right “out of the box”. I really love the frame, though. Its very flexible in that you can choose to use it as a single speed or a fixed gear or whatever, it comes in a great beef gravy brown color or black, and its Surly, which is cool all on its own. Overall, I decided against it because I would have had to spend more money adjusting things when I could find the things I wanted in other bikes for about the same price. If I was looking to have built up a bike from scratch, though, I would have picked either this frame or, if I had the cash, the Surly Traveler’s Check.

I had swung by Panther City Bikes fully ready to shell over the cash to buy a Surly, but, after some discussion, I came to the conclusion for the aforementioned reasons that I should go with the Masi. They didn’t have one in stock, so, I though that, while in Austin, I could test ride on at Mellow Johnny’s when I stopped by to pick up a wool cycling jersey. They didn’t have a jersey in my size but they did have a Masi Speciale CX that fit. I test rode it back and forth the Lance Armstrong Bikeway for about 30 minutes before setting out across some dirt on my way back to the shop. I loved it. After looking over everything and doing some math in my head, I figured that getting the bike from MJ’s would be about $100 cheaper than Panther City after shipping it up to NYC and getting it assembled and tuned at the shop there. (It was a good deal for me, but I really like to give PCB my business when I can.)

I didn’t get a chance to test ride the Bianchi Volpe because I couldn’t find on in my size in any of the NYC bike shops I came across. I was really just considering it because it fit the bill to what I was looking for and it was a Bianchi, the brand of roadbike I historically tend to favor.

So, now that I’m back in Austin and living downtown (above is the view of Lady Bird Lake from my balcony), I’m pretty happy with a 7 minute commute on a bike that has literally been all over the country with me. I’ve had my Masi Speciale CX for a few months now, and I’m loving it more than I expected. The transmission has been sturdy and smooth through all the jaunts on dirt and through rain. The stock tires hold their grip through the 4 levels slick parking garage to rainy downtown streets and mud. The seat has even proven to be comfortable throughout a 30 mile ride on the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. My only complaint is that the brakes took a while to get sticky out of the box, but, now that the pads have gotten some wear, they are grabbing the wheels nice and tightly to ensure a timely stop.

As far as future upgrades go, I’m considering taking the Ultegra parts off of my commuter bike and swapping them with the Tiagra parts on the fancy new bike. As for addons, I installed my old Cateye trip computer, a waterproof under seat bag made by Ortlieb, and a pair of Wellgo DH Shimano SPD compatible platform pedals.

I’m back in Austin after a 6 month “working vacation” in New York… and I really miss the smelly air, the deafening subway sounds, the crowded sidewalks, and the feeling of living and walking through a living and breathing brick, metal and asphalt monster. I miss doing things like visiting every museum possible, eating at every kind of restaurant desired, exploring different neighborhoods, moving my car to avoid parking tickets, riding subways, getting lost in central park, looking for restaurants, trying to find the stores i always wanted to visit that happened to just be a couple blocks from the Manhattan apartment.

I’m also sad to have missed on this:

Austin is extremely relaxing and laid back, and I must say that I appreciate that more now than ever. My new place is downtown right by the Amtrak station, a half mile from work, across from Whole Foods, and 5 times larger than its Manhattan counterpart. I have yet to really move in – my current wardrobe can fit in a duffel and my furniture is made up of shelves and a futon that I had given away at the last minute before leaving for New York in June.

Its funny that my new place is so close to Whole Foods since my New York place was closer to the Houston Whole Foods than my last apartment in Austin was to the 6th St. Whole Foods that i’m not even a block away from now. Since its my historic hangout and has been dubbed to obviously be my “most favorite store in the whole world” since i’m always either there or suggesting that people meet me there or whatever. single beer is less than $2, lots of rooftop seating, fresh food that i don’t have to cook, pastries, chocolate milk… really, why doesn’t everyone spend their free time reading and eating there?

Now that I’m back in Austin I should have time to work on updating the design and content of my personal websites and ride my bike and rock climb and such. I’m hoping to find the time to put some real thought and love and design into the my sites like i do for other sites. Every new project i take on has an aspect to it that i want to add to my own site that i haven’t had a chance to create.

One of the criteria for a city that I wanted to move to was that it have ferries. I fell in love with ferries when I was in Sydney and was delighted that New York also has ferries. I have an overwhelming urgeto ride them back and forth all day.

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Back in the saddle again… I’m going to Texas for a couple weeks.

In other news, I also made a quick video of the view from my office balcony complete with city sounds: