New diggs

Last summer I acquired this Trek from my dad. He discovered it in the trash at a neighboring house and asked the owner if he could have it. When he got it, it was a little beat up. It needed a new chain, wheels, and some other small fixes here and there. But he fixed it up for me and I was good to go!

I seemed to obtain it at the perfect time. It was right before I was to move to Chicago for 6 months for an internship and there is no doubt that it would have proved useful in the city. When I decided last minute to stay is when I really started getting into cycling. I was going through a lot at the time and found that cycling was a great way to clear my mind and get rid of some of the stress and aggression.

Since then, I have researched a lot, been reading books, etc, and really trying to engross myself in sport, hobby, lifestyle, whatever you consider it for yourself. Im beginning to really love it. After my learning splurge, which is an ongoing act, I decided I wanted to start customizing my bike to fit my needs.

When I got the bike it was equipped with flat bars, grip shifts, and generic brake levers. I had a pair of old school drop bars from another beat up bike I had and some Dia Compe brake levers that I obtained from a good friend. After doing some research and thinking what I wanted both functionally and aesthetically I decided I wanted a pair of bullhorn bars. having 2 pairs of drop bars and no urge to spend any more money than I had to I decided to take a hack saw to one of the pairs of drop bars, modifying them into Bullhorn bars. I got some white, microfiber handlebar tape, some old school friction style shifters, and decided to rig the Dia Comp brake levers on the underside of the bars as well. I really wanted to learn how to work on my bike myself. Throughout this whole process, I did a lot of research - learning terms, anatomy, different types of bikes, parts, etc. I really learned a lot and enjoyed it every step of the way. It felt good to be learning a new skill and as an artist I certainly jumped at the opportunity to create, modify, improvise, and use my imagination to make my bike mine. Most of all, It felt good to do it all on my own.

I was quite pleased with the result and plan on making more modifications in the future. Hope you enjoy!