New bike (another one)
======================

I have found an interesting bike at one of popular social networks. The
Velamos  MTB  from 1989.  A  solid,  steel,  bike with  combination  of
original eastern (Czechoslovak) parts  and some Western components (the
derraileurs,  for  example). The  color  is  an  odd combination  of  a
metallic blue and  white. But it was probably  fashionable color scheme
in late 1980s. These were crazy times, you remember...

So  I have  got  it. It  was  some $90  including  shipping. The  owner
informed me that  some parts are non-original (he had  to replace them)
but there are just a few.

The bike  itself is well preserved  (there are some traces  of use like
damaged paint, a  few tiny rust spots  and so on, of  course) and rides
well. I have had  to tighten some bolts and to  add some reflectors (to
be compliant with current law). I  still have to find a front reflector
which will fit here.

The  bike is  quite interesting:  a traditional  steel "diamond"  frame
modified to  fit 26"  wheels (they  may be  2" wide,  I think)  and the
derraileurs. The brakes are of type which was used on the Favorit brand
of Czechoslovak bikes (I think, it  looks like that). The headset is of
type which was used on other  mountain bikes and the handlebar straight
(as it was  common on mountain bikes of early  1990s). There are decals
in English. I think that this bike was aimed for export and not for the
local market. It must be very expensive when it was new.

What have surprised  me was the fact that the  bike is very comfortable
and  rides well  (of course  it  helped that  its previous  owner is  a
Favorit bikes collector and  he took a lot of care  to this bike before
he offered it for sale). I tried to run through local forest (there are
narrow dirt paths  and a lot of climbing and  descending) and it worked
very well.  Of course, being  3x6 speed bike from  late 1980s it  has a
little limited gears range - I  was climbing consistently on the lowest
gear and  I felt like it  might be useful  to have even lower  gear for
better comfort. The  highest gear is also lower than  I would like (but
no mountain bike is much better here, I think).

But the main fature  of this bike is its frame size:  it is bigger than
my Velamos ATB  (a very similar machine from about  1994, just with the
Shimano gear)  and thus much more  comfortable for me. I  will probably
use this new one as my main all-terrain bike.

I only have to add some sort  of rear carrier because at the moment the
only  baggage option  on the  bike  are two  bottle cages  and a  small
plastic box for  repair kit. I cannot  add a frame bag here  as the top
tube also holds the full-size air pump.