It wasn’t really an “accident” that I bought a new bike frame but I can always blame Mia for leaving me unattended the other weekend while she went to Napa to run a half marathon with her cousin….yeah, that is who’s fault it is…Mia’s and kinda Kristi’s fault too.

I actually almost bought this exact same frame over the winter.  Competitive Cyclist was blowing them out $899 (MSRP $1,500) but I just never pulled the trigger, then a brand new one, in my size, with bottom bracket installed popped up on eBay for $750 shipped.  So I pulled the trigger.  It’s a Niner RLT Steel frame.  Pretty much identical to my first generation aluminum RLT with a few minor geometry tweaks and of course all the new standards (flat mount brakes, thru axles, fork bosses, etc).  The steel version caught my eye because it is capable of taking 650b (27.5″) wheels which as a short guy is way more appealing to me.  I don’t have the toe overlap issues with this bike compared to 700x40c tires on the aluminum frame.

Today I took the bike out for its maiden voyage.  I tossed in some gravel, pavement and a little bit of singletrack to give it a good test run.  I am very happy with how the 47c tires perform, I feel like this version is a bit more reactive compared to the aluminum.  The Mavic Crossmax SL wheels most certainly help the bike from feeling sluggish.

So while the frame itself is negligibly heavier than the aluminum version the smaller wheels (and pimped out wheels for that matter) help offset some of that.  The frame is Reynolds 853 steel too so there is that.

I tooled around the old part of town towards the end of the ride today. While doing so I stumbled upon this 10 bedroom, 7,700 square feet, house for sale.  “Only” $974,000 and it has it’s own wine cellar.  Anyone game to go in on it?

The other fun and exciting thing Mia and I did this weekend was head down to Amity, OR and hit up Coelho Winery for some empty wine barrels.  While headed down to Blodgett, OR for the annual Mudslinger XC race (I race horribly by the way) the other weekend I had seen some wine casks on a trailer in a parking lot as I passed through Amity.  The sign said $50 each and I was like “no way!”.  Mia and I had been talking about getting a cask/barrel for the front porch and using it as a table with chairs on either side.  My very brief internet searching showed prices ranging from $200-300 plus shipping, so we figured it was kind of a no go.  But when I saw $50 each I was all over it.

We are going to turn the half barrel into a planter in the back yard.  It’s pretty neat because it is stained red from the wine that was previously aged in it.  The barrels also made the car smell like we’d been on an all night bender pounding back bottles of wine.  Probably a good thing I never got pulled over!  Try explaining to the police why we stink like wine.

I absolutely love the small towns here in Oregon.  Forget Portland!  It is the rural areas where all the cool stuff can really be found.  Heading down to Amity also gave us an excuse to stop in Carlton for lunch and hit up the kick butt Carlton Bakery.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete