Spotted In The Wild

I saw my first Kona AfricaBike locked to bike rack (downtown Toronto). It was an older model with the removable rear rack. If I wasn't in a car, I would have taken a picture of it. It's strange that I was a little excited to see one. Now I look at bike racks all the time to see if I can spot another one. Weird huh?

Riding A Mountain Bike

It's funny how accustomed I am to the Kona AfricaBike after only one month of riding it. I recently hoped on a mountain bike and was shocked how strange it felt.

The extra reach to the handlebars. The extra pressure on my shoulders and arms. I never notice that before.

Adding A Water Bottle Cage

I mounted a water bottle cage on the basket with zip ties. It takes up a bit of space but there's still enough room for stuff.

I'm not sure if I want to keep it on though. Before I could throw stuff in the basket. Now things have to be placed in or else it'll get caught on the cage. Anyway, this mod is easy enough to redo or undo.

UPDATED OCTOBER 6, 2010: I removed it today. haha

UPDATED MAY 29, 2012: I installed a handlebar mount bottle cage.

Specialized Fatboy Tire

I replaced the Continental Traffic 1.9" with a set of Specialized Fatboy 1.25" tires and Presta valve inner tubes. I wanted tires more suited for road and paved trails. The combination of a slick tread, lower rotation mass, and high PSI did the trick.

With the Fatboys inflated to 100 PSI really surprised me. I was expecting a harsher and twitchy ride. It feels similar to the Continentals except for the extra speed/efficiency I gained.

1'st and 2'nd gear on the bike used to feel a bit high. After installing these tires, the gearing feels a little lower.

The Continentals are good for what they were designed for, but the Fatboys are perfect for my needs. They're awesome.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2010: I keep them at 85 PSI now. They feel way more comfortable and just as fast.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 28, 2011: Depending on how and what you ride over, pebbles, twigs, etc. can cause the front/rear end of the bike to instantly skip left/right.  It'll startle you if you're not expecting it.

Seat Post Collar & Bolt

I swapped the quick release set-up for a collar and bolt awhile ago. I didn't find the quick release feature very useful for this type of bike. Once the seat height is adjusted, that's it.

The collar and bolt set-up is also a security feature (although a very weak one). It'll still take a thief a little longer to steal my seat, and seat post.

Minor Issues

The factory bell is constantly ringing lightly to the road irregularities.  It's not loud, but it's frequent enough to get on my nerves. I'll have to replace it with a different one soon.

This one is a little more serious, but it's still nothing major since it was caught early. I noticed some play in my front hub that wasn't there before. It's fixed temporarily, but I'll need to get a 13mm or 14mm cone wrench to adjust it properly.

After a month of riding, these are the only issues worth mentioning. I think that's pretty good.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2, 2011:  I reinstalled the factory bell.  Somehow the constant ringing had disappeared.