My friend Tim Joe writes so well I couldn't resist hijacking his comments from my post about the Raleigh Sports and turning them into a guest post. If you haven't read him then I suggest you immediately remedy that situation and go to the trailer park cyclist. If you have here is a little treat I couldn't let languish in the comments section.
The pictures are mine but the prose is pure TPC.
Dang, dude, those "after" shots look like they could be in the original catalog. It is an art, I think. Too bad it doesn't pay better.
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| An actual Raleigh Catalog shot DL22L at the left |
I've been out of work for a week now, after an intense two months of almost daily labor. It looks like there will be another month before things pick back up so I have to either go look for a new job or ride my bike. I'm going to ride my bike, the Le Tour in particular. It has been a long time coming. Work (and trouble) always seems to find me sooner or later whether I want it or not.
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| The Le Tour in Original form |
I'm running the original 27" front wheel with one of the new gumwall tires you sent me awhile back. I have a pretty good 700c wheel I bought two years ago, a Dimension product, but I don't know...I just love that 27" front end and don't want to change. The spokes are almost rusted through, however, and sooner or later it's gonna cost me some teeth if I don't replace them, or the rim.
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| Le Tour in current form aka Little Miss Dangerous |
But I'm planning on buying a big-ass 29er tire to put on the 700c rim and stick it on the Mongoose, making her into a sixty-niner, pardon the expression. So I gotta come up with a new front wheel for the Schwinn.
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| A 69er like this Trek has a 29er front wheel and 26" rear wheel |
Oddly enough, while I was pondering all this and reading your latest post I noticed in your "Popular Posts" sidebar your piece about 27 inch rubber and re-read it. Imagine my surprise when I saw a comment by my friend Chris (three-speed) stating with no uncertainty that Sun CR 18 rims were the only choice for a 27 inch replacement rim. I am putting together my yearly $100 (free shipping) order of parts (Niagara Cycles) and they have the rims but no wheels...I would have to build the wheel, something I have never done but because I am crazy I am sure I can do it.
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| The Polished Sun CR18 36H beautiful and bullet proof |
But the final product will cost...well, a lot. Because of my penchant for overkill, while perusing possible hubs (starting with Tiagra) I noticed the Son hubs and that started me down a whole other path. Now I am looking at lighting systems and phone chargers and hey! I'm unemployed and the truck needs tires and we are talking about a bicycle that I bought for $25 and a half pint of rum.
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| The Son dynamo hub is the cadillac..err. Mercedes of dynamos |
I have not rode (ridden? biked? pedaled?) more than ten miles at a time in the last...the last...I don't know. Randonneuring sounds like a great thing to me, as long as I am not doing it...but those rando bicycles, on the other hand, seem to me to be the best set up for a just in case scenario. No not zombie apocalypse, I'm not that crazy, yet, (but stick around the fridge is full of beer and I still have a little rum left) what I mean is I like the racks and the lights and so on...
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| Full on Rando with Racks the VO Campeur note 3rd bottle cage for Rum |
Whatever. This started as a tech question but now I realize it is actually a cry for help. How did I get this way? I should be looking at porn, not bicycle parts. I should be out somewhere snorting coke and dancing with skanky women. As I type this, Little Miss Dangerous is leaning against the table next to me. I pause to pat her top tube.
This can't end well...
tj
Ryan, my Velo Brother! What have you done? You buried your own new post! But I have to say I am honored. This must constitute the ultimate in Blogjacking. Like I said before, I wish it paid better. But thanks, man.
ReplyDeleteI gotta go. I'm doing a 60 mile intermodal today, meeting a buddy down at our favorite gator hole. Being laid off ain't all that bad sometimes.
tj
Buried Schmuried! It was my pleasure to post this, hope others enjoy it as much as I did. Enjoy the multi-modal and don't wrassle and Gators!
DeleteHappy to see this! Ah, what a slippery slope bike parts and upgrades can be, one leading to another to another to another... :) Glad to hear you chose pedaling over working for your (hopefully) brief hiatus from the work grind.
ReplyDeleteDan
I'm pretty sure that LMD has never felt she was a $25 dollar bike. What is the perceived value after all, of freedom on two wheels???
ReplyDeleteNo Randonneuring? I have been thinking of some type of beerdonneuring ride but I can't seem to get myself past the first control card spot with beer. The question becomes, why leave??? And , That Velo Orange beauty???? If you find yourself the owner of one of those....Goodbye TPC. You would become a fart in the wind....Gone!!
Beerandouring?! sign me up. I think its also called a pub crawl - man you just gave me an idea for a 1 mile loop that would encompass 4 or 5 pubs in my 'hood. Maybe I can incorporate that into this http://30daysofbiking.com/
DeleteAnd Ryan.... Nice job giving a voice to TJ here. Good reading!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim couldn't resist
DeleteMan, what a day. That gator hole is actually a place on the water in a vast (VAST) wetland surrounding Kennedy Space Center. An outfit called Space X is bustin' large and so the one road in and out...wait...I just remembered I have my own Booger.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me crash on your couch, Roadie. I owe ya, in more ways than one.
tj
Anytime Velo Brother, you can crash on my couch anytime.
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