A tale of 4 bikes...and Clunker Challenge shake down cruise

Allez Sport

On the 4th, I rode to my second baseball game in a week.  I had noticed on the Allez that I would get some upper back tightness on rides longer than about 20 minutes, so I swapped out the cockpit and I'm giving the new Nitto/Tektro combo intended for the Cresta GT a dry run.

I was also tired of the super crooked rack so I removed it.

And replaced it with a recently acquired Banjo Brothers Barrel bag.  I had one and used it for many years but it got sold with the Passage, and I found I missed it so I ordered one up.

Ah much better and the barrel bag still fits a mini u- lock as well as all the emergency kit.

You really can see Mt. Rainier from the top of the bridge.

1978 Schwinn Traveler III (aka the Campus bike)

Even at a bargain price this bike has been languishing on CL, but I had a recent inquiry  I felt good about so I put it in the stand to give a once over.  Air in tires, I tightened up the brakes a bit and in doing so noticed that the chain was slack in the small/small combo.  I used my last ^%$# pin connector style chain on this project but I had recently purchased a package of quick links so removing a few links and reconnecting the chain with a quick link was no big deal.  My prospective buyer showed up and bought the Schwinn so it has finally left the apartment.

1978 Motobecane Grand Touring

I finally got around to pulling off the rubber so I could tackle the hubs and clean up the rims and the FW.

I got the very dirty FW off to give it a clean.

After lots of elbow grease and Simple Green you can see its gold again.  I also dribbled penetrating oil into the seam in back and let it soak in, then spun it to spread it out inside.  The FW spins nice and quiet now.

While cleaning the rim I discovered the rear wheel had a broken spoke so before I work on the hub I am going to take it to the LBS for a new spoke. Not in my wheelhouse....yet.

I moved on to the front hub and while it still had grease it was a tacky syrupy feeling grease.  The axle and cones will need a long soak.

The cups are now clean and I dribbled 3 in 1 oil onto each spoke nipple so when I get around to truing the wheel they will (hopefully) not be frozen.

1990 Bianchi Ibex (aka Barney)

I got the Ibex in the stand so I could give it a thorough going over before I rode it.

I have an 8 mm wrench but sometimes that isn't small enough and the tiny adjustable wrench comes in handy.

No more clips and straps just a nice flat pedal.

I also removed the rear fender since the challenge is going to be done during the summer months.

And I replaced it with a Blackburn rack I got from the co-op for $5.51, so I still have $14.49 of wiggle room if I need a tube or cable or something.

While the bike was in the rack I not only checked for braking and shifting etc. but I did a bit of sleuthing.  The front and rear brakes are mismatched, rear are Dia-Compes branded like the derailleurs (XCE) and the fronts are Shimano Alivio.   The shifters are also mismatched, rear shifter is Suntour XCE the front SRAM X.7.

And the water bottle cage is broken but still usable.  Throw those things in with the mismatched wheels and tires and this bike has had a life, which I kinda like.  It was finally time to throw a leg over and do a shake down ride to the market.

After all that work I treated myself to a Nitro pour of Rasputin Stout.  With the market ride I am now 2.5% done with the mileage portion of the challenge. I did end up raising the saddle and had the following observations; in the ballpark for fit, wouldn't mind a taller stem, the rear brake is a bit mushy,  and with a 1.25" front tire the handling is a bit twitchy at low speeds.  I am not sure about how the saddle will do for longer rides but I have a few other choices in the parts bin I can assign value too if it becomes and issue.

I have plotted out some rides that involve bike paths and breweries that I think will get me to 100km, kind of a beerneuring clunker challenge.

Ride. Smile. Repeat.

Cresta GT Headset: Strike Two! and Thursday musings

My second tool arrived this week and my second try at the threaded spacers on the Nishiki's headset.  I have a Park BB lock ring tool, the HCW-5,  but I thought this tool, the HCW-17 fixed gear lock ring wrench, would have a shallower curve.

It did not have a shallower curve, and therefore...

Neither side of the tool...

..could get the required purchase to try and move the threaded spacer.  The tool for the final try is on order, and the most expensive one yet.  The good news is that the shipping was free, the bad news is that its coming from Japan, apparently via squirrel post,  The soonest it will arrive is May the 5th, and the latest estimate is May 18th, so the headset isn't going anywhere for a while.

What to do with all that time?

• Nothing - I am good at that
• Replace the noisy freewheel on the Campus bike as it sits on CL
• Lots I could do on the Nishiki; 3 other main bearings, clean frame-set and wax, clean and lube parts, replace brake shoes etc. etc.
• Put the Moto_GT in the stand for a tear down
• Scour CL for vintage bike deals? (NO! down boy, bad dog)

We'll see what happens.

Since I had the parts and some time I did a mock up of the new cockpit; 44 cm Nitto Noodles, 70 mm reach Nitto Technomic stem and Tektro RL340 brake levers.  

I am just a touch concerned the stem reach is too short but I did measure the set up on the Handsome Devil that I know I like so we'll see how it works when the bike comes together.

One thing I do NOT regret is going with the beefier brake levers, the Tektro's feel good and substantial in my hand, my paw would have engulfed the stock dia-compes.  Glad I listened to the voice that said gee these feel small when I was cleaning the brake hood.

Oh, and I might have ordered a Brooks Flyer Classic Springer.  I think I am done ordering stuff for the Nishiki, we'll find out next month if I add a trip to the LBS to the tally.

Ride.Smile.Practice Patience.Repeat.

Cresta GT Headset Strike One, and Sunday musings

The Nishiki Cresta GT rebuild is currently stalled due to two stubborn threaded headset spacers.  Today I tried my first solution.

I came across a Youtube video of someone using these funky long reach pliers from Mintcraft to remove a BB lock ring which made me think they might work for the threaded spacers,  At $8 I figured it was worth a shot.

It looked good to start but trying to turn with any sort of pressure made the pliers slip out of the grooves.  Strike one on removing the spacers, I have two more options I am going to try, both of them involving buying tools I don't currently have.  If I get to three strikes it will be time to go to a bike shop as I don't want to mess things up.

Sunday Musings

I forgot yesterday to detail how I dealt with the broken rear derailleur cable guide on the Campus bike.

I took a belt and suspenders approach by using both electrical tape and a zip tie and this was after I had gently tapped the cable housing and ferrule into the c-shaped opening.  It doesn't look great but its not going anywhere.

On Saturday we were getting Noah level rain all day, so when Sunday started dry I figured I had better get a ride in to the market.  The Handsome Devil got the nod and on the ride in I felt like was riding through molasses so a trip to the work stand might be in order to check brake pad clearance etc, or maybe I am that out of shape.  Did someone say beer?

I started with a Link In Bio, double IPA from Cloudburst brewing in Seattle.

And finished with a Elixir Breakfast Stout (Coffee style) from Old Schoolhouse brewery in Winthrop WA.  Does that mean my ride counts as Coffeeneuring?   On my way back to the HD I saw not one but two cool bikes.

The first one was a Rivendell Hubbuhubbuh tandem, it has quite a presence being so long.

The second was a Faraday Porteur Ebike, which IMHO is one of the nicest looking Ebikes on the market, but it doesn't come cheap at $3500 retail.  The owner came back as I was taking my picture and I asked her how she liked it, she said she loved it so much she'd bought a second one after her first was stolen, she had goofed and left it unlocked (unintentionally) while downtown for 3 hours.  She also told me she had purchased it  in lieu of buying an electric car so that put the price in perspective.

We'll see how the Cresta GT headset saga plays out.  Ride. Drink IPA's.Smile.Repeat.

Campus bike part IV: Finished! (1978 Schwinn Traveler III)

The correct shim arrived and I didn't even have to give up my kingdom for it, a few tries and..

we have snugly fit handlebars, and we are (hopefully) past the last road block on this build.

It looks good with the bars finally on it, and maybe I'll do just a bit more.

I ended Wednesday night with shifters, brake levers and grips mounted to the bars.

Friday night I ran the shift cables and housing, and did a bit of test to see they worked.

This morning I started with removing the rear wheel to mount the kickstand I had picked up at bike works.  I also ran the brake cables and housing and then made a startling discovery....

at some point I had bought a pin connector model chain!  I hate this style and swore off them years ago.  When I opened the box I was looking for the quick connect link only to realize, with mounting horror, that it was old school.

Note to self; do NOT buy the Z50 model KMC chain again, not matter how good of a deal it is!

I do have the right tool and knowledge for this type of chain and I did get it mounted, I just didn't like it.  While I was not successful building this bike for zero $ out pocket, it did get major donations from the parts bin.  The rear wheel, freewheel, crank-set, brakes and rear derailleur came from the 83 Raleigh Record (Junk bike).  The saddle and seat post came from the 74 Nishiki Professional, the handle bars, grips, rear rack and bottle cage came off the Raleigh Rapide mixte and items like the levers, shifters, pedals and front wheel came from who knows where.  I did end up spending about $20 for; 2 MTB brake cables, 21 mm Schwinn specific stem, handle bar shims and kick stand.

From 10 feet away the bike doesn't look too bad, from 10 inches away the rough condition is pretty clear.

The Traveler won't win any beauty contests but should provide functional transportation.  Finishing the campus bike means all the projects I intended to build for sale are done!  Well, mostly done, the Traveler is on CL, but as I was adjusting the shifting and then wheeling the bike out for pictures I wasn't thrilled with how noisy the FW is.  Bikes don't actually fly off the shelf at this time of year, the Mixte finally sold after about a month on CL,  so I should have time to do a FW swap to see it makes things better.

Packages have started to arrive for the Cresta GT and I received a tool that may solve my threaded headset spacer issue, I'll let you know.

Ride. Recycle old bikes. Smile. Repeat.