I went north yesterday, into the cold (meh, not that bad) and white (pretty), to try out motorcycles… I mean spinning wheels.

I’m getting ready to upgrade my wheel, which means I need to try out wheels and figure out what I want to move up to. As I was talking to people in the know, Abby used a very skillful simile comparing spinning wheels to motorcycles, pointing out before I decided I wanted a production wheel (a touring bike) I should try one, and others, to make sure I didn’t really want a cruiser first, or even in general. Keeping in mind I have like… a BMX bike right now. Maybe a Vespa.

So, in search of motorcycles, I mean wheels, I drove north, to the fabulous Spunky Eclectic to try wheels. Mmm wheels.

First, it was a three hour (plus a bit, what with a mistake in the directions I wrote out) drive from MA to ME. Long, but pretty, and contemplative.

One of the things I’ll most miss when I leave New England are it’s winters. Stop laughing, I’m serious! I love them. Even with the ice and sliding and power outages. You can see Gumby waving from the bottom of the picture, in the dashboard. Pokey is out of frame. Gifts from my parents, they keep me safe on the road.

Finally, I arrived. Stupidly, I managed to forget to take a photo of the fabulous Spunky herself, doh. But I did take lots of wheel photos. I will show them in order of like, rather than use. All of them were tested with a nice BFL.

First to use, and first to love… the Schacht-Reeves 30″ Isn’t he pretty?

::sigh:: Instant love. I was worried it would be too fast, but on the middle setting… he just made yarn for me. He’s both elegant and pracical, strong and deep voiced, quite the conversationalist, talking of wide open spaces and mountain bluffs. Anything I could do, fast, even, yarn came out. Longdraw (something I’ve only done once before for about 30 seconds) just… happened. I held the fiber in the viscinity, and yarn appeared on the bobbin. Yeah. He’s the fancy, powerful, expensive cruiser, and I want him. So very much.

Next on the love-list was not what I expected. A castle wheel, a design I’m rarely fond of, though the Matchless is quite attractive. Elegant. This is the DT (Double Treadle) version.

He’s very smooth, once you get to know him, and fairly personable. He’s not as chatty as the Reeves was, but he had a few things to say. He’s a manly wheel, talks in beer, which I can do. A broader range of ratios, cheaper, more compact for apartment living. He’s not got quite the elfin magic of hold fiber in front yarn comes out, but he’s lovely, and good, and practical.

Next up, another surprise, as I expected her to be up above the Matchless. The Schact-Reeves 24″

Much like a bigger version of my wheel, with more options (the 30″ being the same only biggerer). She’s a lovely wheel, and we could be friends, but she’s… chatty. She makes small talk. I don’t do small talk, not without effort. Still, more than useable, quite capable, good range of ratios. Much cheaper than the 30″

Hereabouts, the line begins to blur about which wheel I’d rather have, each has advantages and things which I would have to live with. Which to start with? I guess the surprise.

Next up, the Louet S11 (shut up, Tsocky, I can HEAR you sniggering from here… ::frowns:: You could at least be subtle about it ::grumps::).

Disclaimer here. I don’t like the way Louets look. I’m sorry, I don’t. I know some people do, and I have nothing against them, or their tastes, it’s just not my aesthetic. That said… some of them spin pretty well.

The Louet S11. Name them please, Louet, it would go a ways to making me feel more personable with this guy. Now, like I said, not a big fan of the Louet aesthetic, but Mr. S11 here was far more personable than I expected. A little limited in options, but a good, practical wheel. He wasn’t terribly talkative, but it was a comfortable silence. Like he had things he could say, but didn’t think I was ready to hear them. Oddly like some of my rougher-around-the-edges friends. REALLY big bobbins. Which is nice.

And, the Matchless ST.

Nice wheel, but the dead spot caused by single treadling… annoying. It ruins his smoothness. He tries to talk beer but seems to still think Coors and Bud count as “beer.” Honestly, it would be a toss up between him and the next guy…

Next up, the Louet S10, the wheel Abby is going to put in every house when she rules the world.

I can understand why Abby wants everyone to have one. The S10 epitomizes not my style, aesthetically. That said, we had a long talk about practicality and spun some lovely fine singles together. He’s a bit… too practical? butch? macho? for me. I know, I know, he starts to cross that line for me from the Matchless’ macho but still educated beer talk into car talk. It’s not that I don’t appreciate car talk, I just don’t speak car.

In the small, but still usable and nice category, we have the Ladybug.

Adorable little wheel. A little shaky, but basically a mini Matchless. Cute. Not exactly the workhorse I’m looking for, she’s nonetheless a competent little tom-boy. Totally up for anything, and annoyed she’s not really strong enough to throw the haybales easily yet. Not what I’m looking for, but a nice wheel.

And in the itty-bitty travel wheel category, the Louet Victoria

I like her. She’s not what I need right now, but I like her. She watched me sit down at her, skeptical, and said, “Try me, I dare you.” I liked her standoffishness. She was the girl at the bar who’s totally feminine, and then will totally drink you under the table just to prove she can.

Then there’s the wheels I’m not going to be getting.

First, the Fricke DT

I can see why some people like it. It treadles really evenly. But it didn’t speak to me.

And then… the Mach 1

This… was a good concept that needs much more work to make it actually functional. It’s clear that it could work, but as it stands, it doesn’t.

So it was finally time to head home. But I couldn’t leave empty handed from a fiber place now could I?

Of course I couldn’t. Luckily Spunky has pretty pretty fiber.

On the left, a pound of beautiful grey shetland. Mmm soft. On the right, a pound of even more beautiful and soft brown BFL. And then in the front, “Berry Berry” some lovely SW BFL dyed by Spunky.

So, all in all, an absolutely lovely day, with a lovely drive and a great time with Spunky.

And I still want the big 30″ production touring bike, I mean spinning wheel!

~The Gnome