The genesis of this bike was newly refinished frameset purchased from a neighbor.  He had powdercoated the frame and various other bits (including a Blackburn rack) in green and red, giving the bike its first name, the "Christmas Bike."  Since then, we've added some yellow to the mix and re-named it the "Rasta Bike."

With a full load of cold weather gear and batteries, this beast weighs far more than any of our other bikes, but it's a real joy to ride--the big, 700x38 tires float over the road, making bumps--even railroad tracks!--almost disappear.  For the winter, we have it outfitted with pair of lightweight Zefal fenders, which will come off in the spring.

We've geared the Christmas/Rasta bike with a 39x28 low, using a stainless steel 28t cog purchased from Branford Bike.  That's more than enough gearing for just about anything but heavily loaded touring in the mountains--we'll keep the Triple Bianchi for the really steep stuff.  We've taken this bike on several centuries, and it performs as well on the flats as a "standard" bike.   Take it up a hill, and the extra weight slows it down a bit, but it's worth it to have the storage on the back to start layering up or down.

	Guide to photos (clockwise from upper left): The Campy Only Rasta bike; Daytona/Racing Triple drivetrain; early aero levers control Olympus cantilevers; color-coordinated rack and cable housings; overall shot with rack and bags Click on any image for a larger version

Some specs:

• Frame by Trek; double-butted cro-mo, cyclocross/touring geometry; cro-mo fork
• Front derailleur: Daytona triple
• Rear derailleur: Racing T 9-speed
• Shifters:  "Record" bar-ends, 9-speed indexed
• Crankset: Daytona 53/39 9-speed
• Chain: SRAM
• Pedals: Performance "Topo"
• Hubs: Daytona
• Rims: Velocity Aerohead, 32-hole, laced 3x front and rear;  DT spokes
• Brake levers:  Early Campagnolo aero style, with new black Campagnolo lever hoods
• Cantilevers: Campagnolo Olympus, purchased NOS, Campagnolo brake pads
• Bars: Ritchey; no-name cro-mo stem; Cinelli tape in Seaco team colors (red and yellow)
• Fenders: Zefal
• Rack: Blackburn
• Tires: "Invert 2" by Gary Fischer, 700x38
• Lights: Nightsun and Cateye
• Seat:  Selle Italia
• Pump: Silca with Campagnolo metal pump head
• Weight: Don't ask, don't tell

We were able to find several items for the C/R bike at Branford Bike, including cool, red-colored shift cable and brake cable housing, which is almost impossible to find locally.  Much nicer than black on this bike . . .

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