One of these days I'm really going to have to have some photos of my bicycle in its proper habitat: the outdoors, but today is not the day for that.  I'm strategically pre-empting an imminent flu by not working today. Unable to stay in bed past noon, I was blearily rummaging about the kitchen for soup and tea, and my eye fell upon the pile of parts in my apartment corner with the bicycle suspended over them, like a half finished model airplane. I remembered that there was an Upgrade Not Gotten To last week and perhaps my forced inaction would provide me with an opportunity to remedy this.

So out came the 14mm wrench, and I was soon loosening mangled bolts from their mangled nuts to remove the borrowed Specialized seat and install a new Bontrager one.

Someone should write a book about this creating a roadable, century-capable road bike for $90, which includes its purchase price of $40.  The author ought to be a lazy person who can't be 

bothered to get good deals on parts by rummaging through used bike websites.  Can't even be bothered buying new stuff at a discount on Amazon since he hates paying for shipping.  He would buy everything brand new at MSRP at his local dealership (or dealership SALE prices *smirk*)

I'm not saying that's what I've spent on it, I'm not saying that's even NEAR what I've spent on this project altogether, for I assume the author of such a book would not include kit such as miniature (6") Trek tire pump ($30), a frame pack ($20) tire spoons and associated patches ($6) and various allen wrenches and spanners that I refuse to leave home without.  

And then there was all the spandex, which added up to, well, a lot.

So I'm not saying that serious road riding for the lazy person is cheap, but I am saying that the actual bicycle is but a small fraction of the overall cost.

Anyway, the new seat.  No it's not fancy or anything but it retails for $59.99 and I got it for $18 at the local Trek store: