Here are more photos of Alec’s and my bike taken this morning…
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Archive for November, 2004
After my first report on my thinking of getting a new bicycle here, I have made several trips down the local Dahon dealer and checked out several folding bikes including the reported Matrix and Speed TR. Only in the last couple of months that I’ve found the dealer stocks a brand new 2004 Speed Pro. So, yesterday, I have finally taken the plunge and bought this awesome looking bike.
The Dahon Speed Pro, which is a folding racing bike, but I have made a few modifications based on the Spreed TR to make it more of a touring than racing bike. Since I hated the black body with chrome stems on the TR, and I also find the 26″ Matrix simply too big for me riding the local streets, which is the very same reason why I sold my Cannondale M1000 mountain bike that I have brought back from Canada, modifying the Speed Pro maybe slightly more expensive than the Speed TR, but it has all my likings, which is one very important aspect.
I set on the TR and I kept hating the looks, yet on and off the Pro, I love it.
The modifications that I have made was while keeping the rims, I have replaced the track tires to fatter street tires. I have also put on front and rear mud guards for the wet spots I always run through around this area and some other biking trails. I have yet to decide on a rear rack, but I think I can do without one for a while. A kick stand was also added for convenience.
Purhaps, two of the most effective and comfortable modifications to my Pro was the replacement of the seat post with Cane Creek’s Thudbuster LT equiped post, which is just like the one on a TR, and the Trek CRZ+ Saddle. The Thudbuster is a very effective sports suspension while the CRZ+ is quite a comfortable gel saddle. These two brings back the comfortness of a touring bike while retaining the performance of a sports bike.
Other than that, my Speed Pro is a rather stock 2004 Speed Pro, which is more than I can say for the 2003 Speed TR they have “on sale” for even more than the stock Speed Pro, and yet it had several non factory parts changed as well as a 24 speed gear rather than the stock 21 speed gear. A fake “good deal” for Speed TR is what it is, which is another reason I don’t want it.
The Pro came with an Allen tool and a bottle of touch up paint. Since I like the beautiful Mango color very much, the touch up paint is quite thoughtful.
The 10 minute ride from the shop back home proved to be a very comfortable and easy one. I haven’t had a chance to run it through all the gear settings yet. Compared to the 16″ folding Yeah I got a couple of years ago, it is night and day. While the Yeah wasn’t a bad bike, the gear was just too high for hills and not fast enough for flat road yet it wasn’t a case of not low enough gear - it just doesn’t want to move sort of thing. Like all other gadgets I suppose, it takes owning a cheap product first to appreciate a premium product.
I’ll try some distant riding in the next couple of weeks and see how the Speed Pro handles.
are non-existing only in the US; even when problematic ballot collections are evident by at large.
Everywhere else is just that whenever a non Western country favored candidate has been elected. In such case, the Western country favored candidate can simply claim victory and take over without legal acknowledgment.
Amazon Japan has listed a whopping 52% price drop for the Nikon D2H DSLR.
Hopefully, this means the price of the D2X will be in my range when it comes.
Local songwriter James Wong passed away this morning.
Friends in my age grew up with his songs along with the late singer Roman. This is certain sad news for us all, especially for the ever talent diminishing local entertainment industry.
That’s Fujifilm’s latest DSLR, the S3 Pro, with it’s samples photos just posted.
To call it “latest” is literal. The S3 Pro was announced back in Feb ‘04, just one month after Nikon had announced their D70 and six months ahead of Canon did with their 20D. While the D70 has had its second price drop already and been sold like hot cakes, and the 20D is already a couple of months in the market, the S3 Pro is still no where to be seen.
These just-in S3 Pro sample photos, being so small with jagged edges and somewhat over-sharpened, are simply useless. And with the Nikon F80 based S3 Pro body priced to be the same as the Nikon F5/F6 class based Nikon D2H, the S3 Pro will certainly be a good companion for the Sigma SD9/SD10 and the Konica Minolta D7D just sitting in the shelves of camera shops around the world collecting dust.
In the current issue of e-zone magazine, there is a printer comparison report with the following page printed…
It says (in the enlarged section of the above page below) that the Lexmark printout has a yellow tint compared to the top right original photo in the above page, which makes the skin yellowish. Yet it is clear that their winning pick, the Epson, has a much more obvious yellowish tint than the not yellow at all Lexmark…
For the steep price of HKD$3288 for the Epson compared to the HKD$1188 Lexmark, I surely hope it was the magazine editor’s sloppiness that they’ve simply mixed the two sample photos around.
Megapixel.net reviewed the Konica Minolta A200 DC and pointed out…
“One important detail has been overlooked however, there is no external indication such as a small glowing LED to show when the camera is turned on.”
I say that’s just what the doctor’s ordered.
Over at 21mm.net, the author had this photo and caption…
‘One day, I went to apply my visa and found the instruction board in there. I though, I am not “pleased” to pay for my visa. I am a Chinese from Taiwan. I just travel in domestic area, Why do I need a VISA for? Isn’t it ONE China policy?’
A “Pleasepay” is a payment you make to please them, not that they wanted to “please” you for a profit.
That’s the name of this shop which was closed at the moment.
WhaUSay?!