Could this be my new Bike?
My buddy Dave brought over a little present for me today. His old time trial bike from the 80’s: A Shogun Kaze. This thing is old skool baby! Funny bike, 650 front wheel, 700 in the back. It’s about 16lbs all in right now… I am going to take it down to my local tri shop and get their opinion on what it would take to upgrade the components and set it up as a tri bike… if they laugh me out the door, then this thing may need to become my new fixie.
I absolutely love the lines on this thing. It is crazy sweet looking. I haven’t ridden it yet… but I’ll do that shortly and report back.
Tri bike? Don’t do it Brad - just look at that seat tube angle!
As a fixie though . . . . cool as ice, a mad, bad bike . . . It’d be ideal for one of your $5, 5-minute jobs . . . . you know you want to.
[…] I wanted to ride the funny bike… but alas it had a flat tire when I pulled it out of the garage… maybe 3 miles was too much to ask of it after being in a garage for 18 years. So then I figured well, ok, I’ll ride my fixie… as I was standing outside ready to go, chatting with my friend Dave (the actual owner of the funny bike) all of sudden “POP!”… my tire blew out on my fixie. WTF? Maybe I’m not supposed to ride today? […]
[…] I have pretty much decided I want a new bike. The Shogun Kaze thing just isn’t going to work out as a tri bike… that was a crazy idea to begin with. And seeing how I am taking this Ironman thing pretty seriously, it just doesn’t seem right to be racing on a road bike. Sure, it was fine for my first Ironman, and it’s still a great bike. But it just doesn’t ride as well, or look as cool, when you throw aerobars on it and tri to call it a tri bike. It isn’t one! […]
[…] So unless you’re thinking of buying a gem of a second hand bike, be sure to consider the deteriorating value, hidden costs, and the time and effort it might take to get going. […]