About – MAMIL Musings: A Middle Aged Man in Lycra Considers Cycling

I decided to create this blog one afternoon after having a few too many cups of coffee. As an avid life-long cyclist, I’ve developed some distinct opinions about the sport, its products, foibles, offerings, and characters.

On this site, I will be posting reviews of products I’ve purchased and used, places I’ve traveled and explored, and from time to time, non-cycling related content. Every product here and every trip have been paid for out of my own pocket, based on my pre-purchase evaluation. Many reviews will be of products that have been available for some time; one challenge of the web is how new stuff gets a perfunctory review, then disappears with little or no discussion of real-world use. Similarly, as I’ve done my own research for travel with my bike, I’ve learned that most discussions are long on stock photos and short on useful info, so the travel sections will also have practical information to help get you there and onto the bike.

In 2003, I decided to try my hand at frame design. Since I am a professional designer and spend hours every day in AutoCAD, I figured designing a bike would be easy. Instead, it turned out to be one of the more difficult challenges I’ve faced. Those who follow cycling know that ‘standards’ are fictiticious, documentation of components is hard to find, and the mysteries of geometry will make your brain implode. My first design was a road bike with a tall head tube, clearance for 32c tires, and disc brakes. Many friends and colleagues derided my bike (“Scoff, scoff”, they scoffed), but now these features have become the norm. Since then, I have designed about 30 custom frames for myself, my family, and many clients. My lovely wife has pointed out that I have been correct in many of my predictions of where cycling trends would go. Given that she is always right (those who are married understand this concept), I put this blog together to consider interesting things.

As those who know and tolerate me will tell you, I am not only long-winded, but I am also highly opinionated. This blog won’t suffer from brevity, not when in-depth comments and anecdotes will do.

Hump