Passage Refit Part VI Wheels are bearing me down

Original wheelset

I really do like to keep bikes as original as possible but sometimes it just doesn't work out.  Last night I took the rubber off both wheels intending to work on them today.  In fact I took apart the front hub to clean it and rebuild it with fresh lube and bearings.

Before I rebuilt the hub it felt like it had gravel in it while I held it by the axle and spun it, after cleaning and polishing all the hub parts, new lube and bearings, it  felt like it ......had gravel in it (Merde).  Fortunately, I hadn't spent too much time with the rim and spokes and a good lesson here is clean the hub and rebuild it first before you spend time on the rims and spokes because if the hub doesn't spin smooth then you have just wasted time on the other stuff.  Kind of a gut punch to spend the time thinking you are fixing things only to see no improvement.  I could try to find new cones and do some research to get things better and I may do that especially for the 40 spoke rear wheel - later.  Right  now I want to get this bike road worthy so i can ride it before my organized ride on the 29th.  Hello Amazon.

I have ordered this Sta-tru 27" wheel-set before, most recently for the Raleigh Super Course project and as I have mentioned before there is still some work to be done even with new wheels but it will be a quicker fix for getting the bike on the road.

Speaking of replacing the old with new I took some of my Gitane earnings a few weeks ago and ordered a set of Tektro CR 720 canti brakes.  This type of brake tends to be finicky in my experience and usually the more options for adjustment and dial in the better.  The Original brakes, Dia compe 960s, really only have the one spring to tension everything and I anticipated issues in getting things dialed in.

So we'll see how the new brakes work out but they were fairly inexpensive and get good reviews so I am hopeful. 

Its not all bad news, since the frame is all waxed I started hanging parts on it as I got the chance, like the cleaned up front derailleur

Upgraded crank and new pedals

And I skipped the original Huret down-tube shifters in favor of the lovely Dia-Compes

So I have the drive train attached now I will have to wait for the new wheels and then I can hang the brakes.

In the mean time I should mount my bike rack to the trunk so I can start riding the flats again.  Until next time Ride.Smile. Repeat.