Tag: Sophie

At lunchtime today I went for a ride with Sophie to Brushy Creek Regional Trail. I wanted to try out the Jaws Flex Clamp Mount which I got a few months ago. I wasn’t really happy with the video I was getting when the GoPro was mounted directly to the handlebars. It tended to pan side-to-side quite a bit which didn’t look so good. So I thought that mounting the GoPro to the bicycle’s top-tube might give a smoother result, and I was right!

Even though the cables are in the way of the shot, I like the field of view much more. I enjoy watching POV bicycling videos where the handlebars are in the frame, which was a difficult angle to capture on the Peugeot. On my mountain bikes, my body is more upright, so I can wear the chest-mount and get the desired angle. But with my road bike, my body is leaning so far forward that when I use the chest mount, there’s too much of my arms in the frame.

The Jaws Flex Clamp Mount solves this problem, and now I can have smooth video with the field-of-view I like best. The clamp looks a bit silly on the bike, but when I am riding, it’s hard to tell it’s there.

One thing that I appreciate every time I go out for a ride with Sophie (my Peugeot bicycle) is that road bikes are much faster than mountain bikes on the pavement. Of course that makes sense since the frames are generally lighter and the narrower, smoother tires that are inflated to a much higher pressure have less rolling-resistance, but I am still taken aback at how quickly Sophie accelerates and gets up to speed.

She’s 50-years-old and I am 53, so we’re no spring chickens, but it’s still fun to ride fast. Or maybe it just feels fast. At any rate, it’s a blast.

Today I received a bicycle bell that I’ve coveted for a while now. It’s a brass Crane Suzu Mini. I really like it! The bell is made in Osaka, Japan, which is cool since that is my wife’s hometown, and the brass color matches Sophie’s gold decals and lug details nicely. Also, the name “Suzu”, which means bell in Japanese, is the same as of my favorite Japanese actresses, 広瀬すず. 😆

I rebuilt the rear wheel with the new spokes and now I can say that I am just about finished with the bicycle restoration. Sophie is in great shape, with shiny new spokes, strong brakes, and new cabling all around. One thing that has changed from the original setup is that I removed both chain guards. The rear chain guard is pretty rusty, and it also rubbed on the chain when the bike was in its lowest gear. I think it looks a lot better without those! I am not too worried about keeping those for authenticity’s sake. After all, they were an optional component that was installed at the bike shop according to the receipt I found (and online catalogs).

After I took the photo, I re-installed the Christophe toe-clips that I used when I rode from San Francisco to Los Angeles back in 1982. The dark blue leather straps are still in decent shape, but I have a pair of brown ones on the way that will match the bike a bit better. It’s cool that Christophe/Zefal makes the same straps after all these years!

Of the three bicycle that I have, I definitely have the most affection for the Peugeot. And I have even received a couple of compliments about her when we are riding around the neighborhood! 🚲💜