Rack 'Em Up!

Well, I just couldn't bring myself to leave the XO-2 completely "naked". While I don't like the looks of most fenders on these bikes, I also don't relish getting a "skunk stripe" every time I go out on wet roads. And, since I really wanted to ride the bike around a bit, today, on the slushy/icy/partially dry roads, I decided to go with a rear rack.

The deck of the rack provides at least a bit of protection from road spray. Plus, it supports the saddle bag and keeps it from swinging around. And, it's even period-correct, in that we often rode off-road with racks on our mountain bikes back in the early 90s.

I rode over to the bank, and back, after installing the rack, and arrived home relatively dry and clean, with no stripe up my back.

The XO is a blast to ride. It feels very lively, and the fit plus riding position seem to be spot-on for me.

So, I think the bike may built up into it's permanent configuration (save for swapping out to a 7-speed cassette, which is on it's way). Hopefully, that means I am through posting about it for a while. (This is almost as bad as all those posts I did when I painted the ghetto bike orange, last Spring.)

x