I've pedaled over 6,000 miles on this rig and still get compliments about her looks. She's my touring bike, my grocery getter, and my daily driver. Fediverse friends, meet Steely Fran.

That's awesome! Bike goals.

All the maintenance and tweaking are part of the Zen of the whole thing, for sure. Sounds like your brother knows what's up.

I have a 20-year-old Trek 4200 with about 70K miles on it. The thing is fucking immortal and it wasn't even close to being a top-end bike in 2006 (I think it cost around $500 new). Drivetrain, tires and brakes are the only things I've ever replaced, obviously many times over.

At that age, all the wear items have worn multiple times, still having the original wheels is pretty good though. They're one of the easiest components on a bike to damage.

Thanks! It's Brooks tape (same brand as the saddle), but I'm not sure I'd recommend it unless you care more about looks than comfort, unfortunately. It's pretty thin, and doesn't offer much in the way of cushion or pad. I put it on thinking it'd enable me to ride without gloves, but it ended up having the opposite effect.

Not OP, but I know why carbon hurts (and why it's useful!):

Carbon is stiffer than steel. That does a lot of stuff, but two things primarily - one good, one bad.

Good: the force you put into the pedals bends a steel frame more than it does a carbon frame. Every bit of force used to bend the frame is force that doesn't get used to push you forwards, so a stiff carbon frame is a lot faster than a bendy steel one.

Bad: the force from the road works the same way as the force from your pedals: it also gets reduced with a bendier frame, and a stiff frame will take every bump and crack in the tarmac and put that force right into your taint.

Carbon is stiffer than steel, so a carbon bike doesn't have as much shock-absorbing flex to it.

Howdy! Sorry, thought I responded already. Carbon vs steel is night and day. There's pretty much zero energy absorbtion with carbon, so you feel every bump and crack.

Steel, for as hard and durable as it is, has a decent amount of give. You'll still feel the bumps, but significantly less.

If you're just looking to make your current ride more comfortable, though, that leather saddle is a massive upgrade. Seriously. It's everything.

Well spotted! That's Gizzy Gator, the mascot for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Thank ya!

Those leather saddles are designed to fit to the rider and last forever. It's thick leather stretched over a steel frame. There's a break-in period of about 100 miles, and then it just fits you forever.

The leather breathes, so you don't sweat as much, but the shock absorbtion is much better. If I hit a big bump, I'll feel it in my wrists but the rest of my body just bounces in the saddle.

They don't like getting wet though. If I have to leave it outside in the rain I'll put a bag over it.

Best investment you can make if you're a frequent rider, hands down. Makes bike shorts and chamois pointless, you can ride in anything. I've had that saddle longer than I've had the bike, there's probably 10,000 buttmiles on it.

It's just an absolute joy to ride, right? The Fargo looks like a beast though, how's it handle in winter?