Sunday, September 2, 2018
Cresta GT: Rear Wheel
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, especially on a 3-day weekend so the first order of business was to enjoy a sunny day at the Market.
I took the Moto GT since it has a chain ring guard which means no need for a rolled up pant leg. It reminded me I have some tweaking to do on this bike, but the work stand is a bit busy just now.
This cool split window bus was right next to the bike parking, I always liked the ones with front windows that opened - old school AC. I am also reminded that I could have a much more expensive hobby than vintage bikes.
A hazy IPA, be kind rewind from Cloudburst/Modern times, paired with a market fresh breakfast sandwich had me in my happy place.
And I couldn't leave the market without a little taste of summer.
Cresta GT
This is where I started with the rear wheel, sans Freeewheel, a very dirty hub, and spokes and rim.
After a few rounds with armor all wipes, Simple Green, a tooth brush and lots of elbow grease I got to here.
The free wheel was also a dirty mess..
..that came good in the end. Speaking of free wheels this one is a SunTour Perfect that specifically works with the accushift system on this bike. Its a 5 speed with decent range but it made me think I wonder what a 6 speed would cost. A quick check of ebay revealed that a Suntour wide range 6 speed FW made to work with accushift would cost me over $130! No thanks. If the indexing works with the 5 speed great but if I end going friction then I will do a IRD Classica 6 speed wide range FW which is only $48, but that is down the road a piece.
The axle pieces got a soak in the sonic bath and were then clean and ready to go.
Fresh grease, bearings and a clean cover and the bearing cups are ready for final assembly.
Unfortunately the Mariner game going south distracted me and I ended up with this... the spacers for the FW drive side of the wheel are on the non drive side, in perfect order but on the wrong side! I had to laugh at myself D'oh!
A reversal of my mistake and the addition of fresh rubber and presto the rear wheel is done!
I even threw the chain on, it looks odd with no clearance in the small/small combo but I am not panicking as the are no cables or tension yet, might revisit Sheldon Brown on chain length though just to be safe.
In the past week I also mounted my new Brooks Cambium saddle to the seatpost and installed it. I could have gone with leather but was intrigued by this saddle, it gets good reviews from Vintage bike folk, no break in and no maintenance, looking forward to seeing how it feels.
In riding the Allez so much this summer I realized I missed having a bell so I made sure to mount one on the Cresta GT. In this position it doesn't take up any handlebar space. With Monday being a holiday I am going to use it for running cables and housing, adjusting and tweaking brakes and shifting and hopefully going for a test ride. We are getting very close to NBD!! (new bike day).
Ride. Smile. Repeat.
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Dangit man I just wrote up a 500 word comment that was probably the best stuff I ever did and then lost it somehow through bad buttoning. How good was it? Well, it had the word "kerfuffle" in it...mentions of the Little River Band and Toto...drinking rum and beer at sunrise...hell, I even threw in a Socrates quote.
ReplyDeleteI am behind in your blog. I will now read all the Nishiki stuff. It was a Nishiki that turned me on to fine bicycles back in the early '70's. There's a story there, with sex and violence and betrayal. It ultimately ended up with me in the Air Force...
Could you do a brother a solid and share your thoughts on the Salsa Journeyman 700c with the crabon fork and Sora group?
New Bike Fever kicking in again.
It really was a good comment. What a conundrum. (That was in there too.)
tj
Hey TPC good to hear from you Man. The Salsa looks intriguing, The Path less pedaled has a review of the Journeyman and I like them. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5amFBMpbt4 its the 650b verion but should be a good start. Looks fun
Delete"Do a brother a solid" LOL I don't really talk like that. I also never use "LOL."
ReplyDeleteNBF n+1 WTF 10-2 and even over and out. LOL
Oh and I found a 700c review (Claris) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzv2ppEl-Qk
Deletecrap it was SIX two and even...gotta start checking my references BEFORE hitting the button.
ReplyDeleteDrinking at sunrise
I laughed at your picture of that front split window VW bus and hobby cost. Holy shit, I would not be surprised at all if that dude has a solid 35K invested in that machine. I have had two different Bugs in my past life and I remember working on them and keeping them nice because it was a budget friendly car for a High school and starving college kid. Now-a-days I keep slight tabs on the market because I would like to have a weekend bug, but, 12 to 13K just to get started again with a "needs work" bug.
ReplyDeleteThe Nishiki project has me mesmerized how cool this is going to be.
Yeah Jim same here, a 74 Bug was my first car as a college sophomore in 1984 and I did my own tune ups too, it is pretty crazy what people want for an old bug considering they made a zillion of them, probably a good thing I don't have to the room for that particular hobby..
Delete