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.