First of all, thanks for operating the site. IÕm loving all of the pics.

This is my Quickbeam. I just picked it up in August with the intent of kitting it out as an all-weather-all-rounder. I try to commute at least 10 months out of the year, and having a bike with fenders should help me get in more days. While clearly heavier than my track bike, the QB has been rockinÕ from south Brooklyn to mid-town Manhattan for three weeks already and it feels great.

IÕve taken it out a bit on the ŌtrailsĶ in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The low bottom bracket can make things a bit tricky, but the ride is predictable and the bike handles well in the dirt, considering the 41cm handlebars and the 28mm tires.

The bike comes with Suzue hubs (free-free rear) and Nitto Noodle bars, which are quite possibly the most comfortable bars ever. Aside from the aforementioned fenders, IÕve added a Nitto Mini Front Rack, which holds an Army Surplus medicine bag with all my tools, tube, lock, rain gear etc. Rivendell includes mid-fork braze-on eyelets, which make mounting the rack an exercise in clean minimalism. Very nice.

I found the only 15 tooth freewheel made to fit the standard single-speed hub http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1094 which, along with a new 42 tooth chainring, got my gear-inches up to a respectable 73 inches. The rear fender looks a bit goofy due to the need to leave space for moving the rear wheel back to take up chain slack when you change gears.

I also came up with the idea of using a wing nut to hold the brake cable straight inside of the headset-mounted hanger.

Gaylen.Hamilton@ninepeaks.com