After the trip, I decided that I wanted a bigger frame. Still continuing with a hybrid but just bigger, maybe 20″ or 21″ frame would be good.

Cannondale Bad Boy

Cannondale Bad Boy

But you know something, the bikes in Taiwan appears to be made for drawfs or hobbits. I just cannot find a 20″ frame. Every where I go, they tell me “We have to make special order for that size” … What the &*%#@! I don’t think I am that tall!

It is a good thing anyway, since I have to make order, I can choose whatever bike I want and not limited to whatever stock they have in the shop. After much research and finally I made up my mind on a Cannondale Bad Boy, size XL (about 22″). Just the ring of that name sounds good … Bad Boy (that song goes off in my head again … bad boy, bad boy what you gonna do? what you gonna do when they come for you …) It is describes as Clark Kent disguising his super powers … hahaha … good one. Matt Black … even the logo decels are low key. A very low profile, low key but a very cool low key bike.  Transferred most of my “good stuff” over i.e. Shimano XT set, the handle bar, Thomson Elite post and stem. Bought a Brooks B17 saddle (heard it damn good for touring). Next steps, thinking about building a special set of wheels. Mavic A719 rims with Phil Wood hubs (reputed to be THE hub for touring and one of the strongest hub around). This set of babies is in preparation for the long tours that I am planning. (BTW, I did not get those Phil Wood hubs, damn expensive stuff!)

Bad Boy is another hybrid. It was designed to be a city/urban bike. And that is the problem! That means it still has 700c wheels but with a more aggressive frame design for speed. But I wasn’t looking for speed but comfort. Hence, during the 2nd round Taiwan trip, the ride was less comfrotable compared to Gary Fisher Nirvana. After riding for some distance, I found that 22″ is too big for me, I should have gone with a 19″ or 20″ max.

So with this new bike, a 2nd round Taiwan trip. Just before the trip, I was not confident with my Brooks saddle as it has not broken in yet. I do not think that this Brooks saddle is going to be kind to my butt during the trip. So I had it changed back to the Alley saddle I used for my frist trip.

The result was a cool bike but uncomfortable ride. Broke 2 spokes in some small town where no one had the spokes for 700c wheels. Suffered backache and neckache for about 2 days. This means I am going into search mode for another touring bike.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a great cool looking bad dude bike for city riding but it was not designed for long distance touring.