new bike parts etc

Recently I've been spending a lot of time riding my bike. As I've been mostly on city streets, my old mountain bike has been becoming more urban. All these items are available from Old Skool Cycles in Lafayette (who I highly recommend) if you're local, otherwise check out the amazon links for ordering and more details..

I started off with some Tioga city slicker tires. They've got a really low rolling resistance, but they're wide like mountian bike tires. I'm not exactly light, so skinny road bike tires always scared me.. The city slickers worked out great, even in rain.

I also grabbed one of these cheapo cateye mirrors. I really didn't want one of the larger ones mounted on an arm, and you can't go wrong at this price. One the downside, the mirror can move around a lot, so frequent adjustment is necessary. The mirror on this one is plastic, which is kind of a boon for me since the bike manages to fall over on occasion at the bike rack. Altogether, this mirror allows me to see traffic behind me and doesn't get in the way, which were my two main criteria for such a product.

I got these Odyssey gloves about two months ago, and they're really saving my hands. The terrycloth "sweat wiping" area is handy, but the gel palm inserts are what really makes these worthwhile to me. It seems like these run a little small, so I recommend buying a size up if you do. I got Larges and have already managed to tear the seam between the index and middle fingers. I do have a problem getting these off quickly, as well as answering my iPhone while riding, so I'm kind of considering the Knog Orca gloves. They've got quick release finger loops and are fingerless.

I've got a set of these Knog "Frog" safety lights on order after seeing them on a bmx street bike. They blend in quite well, and will hopefully keep me from getting run over. I'm anxious for these to arrive so I can get em on.

I feel kind of bad dumping a lot of money into my old bike. I'm courting the idea of building a new, more urban, more stripped down ride. At the top of my wish list are a rigid fork, a single disc brake, and a single front sprocket. I probably wont mess with these plans for a while though.. too many other projects in the works.

Oh, and one more thing.. I would really like to plug the iMapMyRide iPhone app that works with MapMyRide.com. It uses GPS to track your ride, plots it out on a map, and records your distance and average speed. Really awesome app. I have the free version, but there is a pay version that I think I'm going to have to try out. Definitely a cool thing for those of us who don't have computers.