Bike Swap - Milwaukee

Today's bike swap yielded unexpected booty. We went in planning to look around and support the bike fed, and of course we walked out with our 'pocket books' a little lighter. Cale found me a road bike frame, which was the last thing on the bike list that was needed. I wanted a fairly cheap road frame so that I didn't ruin my ever-so-nice Salsa CX bike in the salt this winter or in a crit.

We found a Blue Cycles RC6 team bike from last year. Apparently the MSRP on it is about $1,900, which is ridiculous. I mean, I'm sure it's worth it, but goddamn. I paid $200 for the frame, fork and headset. Our theory is that it was so cheap because the team got it for free from their bike sponsor (Blue) for last year's races and needed to just get rid of it to bring in the new bikes.

Whatever the case, phwew! I'm just glad I've got a road frame now, so my precious CX frame stays safe. Well, so we brought the frame home around 2:00 or so, and I didn't really see Cale in the apartment for the next three or four hours. He was out in the garage, working on taking the parts off of the Salsa and switching them over to the new frame.







Everything from the Salsa transferred to the Blue with no trouble. We picked up a pair of 105 brakes while at the swap, and those were the only thing we needed to complete the build. And by 'we' of course I mean Cale. Speaking of, Cale picked up a ridonculous Zipp wheel.



Don't ask either of us- we don't know what it's going on... or why it exists in the first place. Apparently it can be a front or a rear wheel, which is kinda cool. It could ruin the aesthetic of any bike as a front or rear wheel!

But back to the beauty: Hello Michelin Man!





I took it for a test spin down the hallway, and it feels great. Cale measured everything out from the Cross bike, so the seat height and everything was ready to go when I first set cheek on it. The stem was about all that was changed, and the new position feels pretty racy and fast.

The only other thing I bought was an old Tour de France shirt. The guy offered it to me at a lower price if I would wear it and love it a lot. Well, I've already got a start on it:



And there you have my account on the Milwaukee Bike Swap. Another long post on a short amount of information :)