Bikes Of 2020: Raleigh Tamland Two

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

 This was a bike I fully expected not to be using in 2020 at any point. However; as long time readers know, I have really liked this bike in the past, so seeing it 'unretired' later in 2020 probably was no surprise. I also am actually pretty happy to have gotten it back out of mothballs. See, the thing is that I have this thing about having unused bicycles that really bugs me. 

I kept seeing the old Tamland sitting there, eventually losing all the air out of the tires, and just looking forlorn. Such a waste! Someone told me once something to the effect of, "Cars were meant to be driven, not sat in a garage. The worst thing you can do to a car is to park it and not drive it." I'm pretty sure that was my old boss at the car repair shop that dropped that wisdom on me. I knew that it also applied to almost anything Man has laid his hands to and has created. It wasn't meant to be idolized. It was meant to be used up. 

So, with that wisdom burning a hole inside my head every time I saw the Tamland, it didn't take much for me to reverse my decision concerning the Tamland. And as I have said, it was a good reversal. This bike is also just too good a riding and handling bike to have it not be getting used up. And I plan on doing just that. 

So, besides a philosophical reasoning, a need to get a pair of tires reviewed was also part of why this bike was brought out of mothballs. Those tires are probably going to live out their life on this bike as they are perfectly suited to the Tamland. (They are Vee Tire Rocketman 44mm tires, by the way) Otherwise things have stayed the same on this bike. 

In the future I may have to replace the drive train, the cables and housings, and occasionally re-wrap the bars, but I don't see myself making any further major changes to this bike. It's good the way it is, and it couldn't be made much better. I had thought about reverting back to the stock steel unicrown fork, but this Fyxation carbon fork rides as well as that fork at a lot less weight, and it has bottle mounts on the fork. The lack of water carrying capacity on this bike was one of its few shortcomings. (If you know the back story on this bike, you might blame me for that!)