Passage Refit Part II down to the frame

Today my plan is to get down to the frame on the Passage but first things first, its Sunday and that means the Farmers market.  Before I could leave, I needed to search for a tool that I had not used in seemingly months...

Oh yeah baby its Sunny! Even as a native of the great Pacific North West I have found this winter to be dreary, going weeks without a sun sighting.  Not today!

We've missed ya Sun!

Even the Handsome Devil seemed to enjoy soaking up the rays.

I decided in March I would try to break out of my IPA box for the one beer I have every week.  I love IPAs , double IPAs and Imperial IPAs but sometimes change is good.  Went with my German side and had a nice Pilsner by the Commons.

I ducked into the local Italian deli thinking about something sweet but was seduced by the garlic knots.  Have I mentioned how blessed I am to live where I do?

I did find my sweet fix at the market Pie stand,  what is "Irish Apple?" I asked "it has apples, Bushmills, and Irish cheddar" they said.  They had me at Bushmills.

Ok, I got my sun fix and now its time to work on the bike.  You will recall I got some big stuff off last time like; wheels, cockpit, pedals etc. but still had a ways to go.  So I started with the cranks.

I am looking forward to putting the new chain rings on this crank and giving myself a wider and lower gear range.  I really like that this crank has an original Sakae crank bolt cap, unfortunately the bike only had one so I will put a generic one on the non-drive side.

one is the loneliest number..

Last week I didn't really need any special tools but that changed this week, my crank puller got some exercise.

Now its down to the bottom bracket and getting the kickstand off.

The drive side bb cup tends to be a bit of a bear to remove, fortunately I have the correct tool and I picked up a trick that just requires some hardware store parts and makes this job soooo much easier.

It was recommended on a blog I read that if you had a lag bolt, nut and two washers it will allow you to snug the bb cup tool in place - the cup is has a very thin interface where the tool goes and without this hack the tool tends to slip off.  Another thing to remember it that the drive side cup is reverse threaded so you loosen it clockwise.  With the bottom bracket out my suspicions that this bike was just a superficial rebuild, before going on CL where I found it, are confirmed.  There is grease on the bearings but it is neither new nor abundant.

I can also see this on the Canti posts after I removed the brakes

You don't do a complete tear down and leave rusty canti posts...also I noticed something interesting, modern canti bikes have posts with three holes for the spring, the Passage has only one.  That should make fine tuning it interesting.  On to the headset and now I have a nice collection of parts laid out; the headset, shifters and the baggies have the brakes in them, front and back.

Speaking of shifters I have a decision to make.  The bike came with the original spec Huret rachet down tube shifters.  I'm not sure I am crazy about the look, its ok but I'm not gaga.

One year when I had purchased many parts at Rivendell I used my yearly dividend to pay for most of a set of Silver shifters.  Still in the box just waiting. I like them and have heard good reviews.

And finally I went out of my way about a year ago to get some Dia-compe ENE down-tube shifters that I LOVE the look of.

my pair

 

spiffy marketing shot

So after working through the remaining stuff, even the headset cups, I arrived at the bare frame.

I was fortunate not to encounter any stuck parts so now its down to the real work; cleaning, polishing, and reassembly.  I was hoping to have a Gitane TdF update today but that story has taken some twists and turns.  I think I will have the full story next weekend for you.  Until next time.

Ride.Smile.Repeat