Urbanus Magnus

Well, I now have to wait a few weeks longer to get hold of that cx700 frame - a mix up during shipping meant I got the wrong size frame; 50cm as opposed to my order of 56cm. Oh well. Such is life in Moscow. Erm, Toronto. I meant Toronto. I give 'er the run down when that frame arrives. Wish me luck!

I had been looking at frames for a while, when I stumbled upon this: Credit where credit is due: Picture stolen from <www.team-bicycle.webpowered.com> That, my friends is the new Cx700 frame offered by Origin 8. From what I've heard, it is pretty awesome. Here are some of the highlights: - Triple Butted steel - ~5.6 lbs, frame +  fork - Canti/V-brakes or  Disks - 2.1 in tyres in 700c size - this is what I'd be willing to call a "29er"! - All the touring braze-ons you'd ever need Don't get me wrong - this is by no means an endorsement/promotion for Origin 8; I just happen to love the idea of a go-anywhere, do-everything frame. This is one of the first  frames I've seen that can be full touring/cyclocross/road or offroad with just a change of tyres, other than the Surly Karate Monkey (can be finiggled into "light touring" mode), the Salsa Fargo (an off-road tourer), or the Rawland Drakkar frameset (like a more off-road version of

Many thought it impossible; to construct a fully-fledged loaded-touring bike for under $500. I have gone to the "possimmpible" - the land beyond impossible, to a place where the possible and impossible meld and intertwine. Reality must then surely be warped, I can hear you all saying, if I was able to build up a touring rig for under $50 dollars!  It all comes down to the fact that many people in Canada, especially the now-ageing baby-boomers, want to get rid of   (*gasp!*)  their old bikes cluttering up their sheds/yards/garages/evil laboratories, and so can be had for free most of the time, sitting sadly by the roadside of many suburban residences. No, I did not lick out and find a nearly-complete touring bicycle that I used $35 dollars on to refurbish. But, I did the next best thing, which was to convert an old 70's Peugeot UE-8 frame and wheelset to touring quality! I must correct myself; for there are those Peugeot junkies here on the interwebs that are going to c