A very bikey Sunday

I started my bikey Sunday not with an Epic ride but a visit to the Bike Works Warehouse sale.  I didn't get there for the start because I was giving my Daughter and her friend a ride to a birthday party but I went anyway.

I have always liked the Peugeot MTBs and so this one peaked my interest but alas it was too small.

This Nashbar road bike peaked my interest but I already have two road bike projects in the queue and did not need a third so I kept walking,

I was really looking for a hybrid and this Bianchi in lugged steel was very interesting and at $50 not too expensive and I borrowed a tape measure to check the size but it was only a 20 inch seat tube and thus too small so I left it behind.  I actually walked away not having spent a cent but its never a waste of time to hang out around old steel and other bike geeks.

The skies cleared and the temp hit 50 degrees for the first time in ages so I got out the Trek 520 for some naval jelly treatment.

The naval jelly did a good job of dealing with some rust spots the oxalic acid soak did not, (see the rust removal part I post  from the 5th)  I still have some work to do with a dremel and a brass wire brush but things are much better.  After I clean up the last bits I can spray frame saver and move on to doing some paint touch up.

It was too nice not to ride so I hopped on the Trek 850 and rode to the market.

And of course I had to stop for a beer, I had a nice Berserker stout from Fremont in Seattle.  Mother nature made me pay for enjoying the sunshine by pouring on me when I rode home and I was soaked in the 1 km it took me to get back lol.

Ride. Get drenched. Smile, Repeat.

I am not made of sugar....

,,Nor  am I a ride anytime anywhere guy, when it was in the 30s and snowing earlier this week I did not ride or wrench for that matter.

However high 40s and typical Seattle drizzle I can handle, I am not made of sugar and I will not melt.  Heck I didn't even have fenders of a rain jacket.

The Trek 850 got the call, it still needs some help to get the final 3 gears working and the rear brake squeaks a bit.  But for $20, a patch for the front tube and some brake kleen to fix the shifting from about 6 gears to start to the 18 current working currently, it works pretty good.  I think some time with a park tools video and a screw driver should restore ALL the gears and I will have to play with the rear brake pads.

It didn't feel like a day for regular space ways so I ordered the MEGA space ways Imperial IPA from Modern Times in San Diego.  I was thinking of getting a 20 oz beer to take home to enjoy with chips and salsa while watching championship football but alas I have no rack or panniers, so sad... but wait.

As it turns out this fits perfectly..

In a bottle cage, so I brought some beer home after all.

Still haven't figured out what to do with the Trek but for now I am enjoying using it and getting it up to spec.

Ride.Smile. Haul beer. Repeat

1987 Trek 520 Frame Rust removal part I

One thing I knew I would have to deal with for the 520 was rust, even before I stripped it down I knew there was rust on the drops, chainstays, in paint chips and in the rack holes in the fork.  One concern I had was with the outside evidence of rust how much might be inside the tubes.

To deal with possible interal rust in addition to the outside stuff I decided on an oxalic acid bath, however I don't have room for a kiddie pool and its not summer anymore.  I have read you need mild temperatures for an effective rust bath so what to do?  I went to Home Deport and bought a resin planter box for $10, as a planter of course it has holes for drainage so not ideal but it was most of what I needed.

I taped the bottom of the planter box with duct tape and then used a cheap mylar emergency blanket, doubled, to line the inside,   It ended up keeping the tub water proof.

Ideally you would do this outside but I did have the tub to contain everything and a bathroom fan for ventilation.  I ended up using about 3 teaspoons of powdered "wood bleach" to every gallon of water.  The results as you will see were good but not great, hence the part I of derustifcation.

BB just after I stripped the frame, pretty rusty.

BB after about 2 hours total in the bath, better but not complete.

Clean drop out pretty much rust free

The other drop still showing some rust.

One shifter boss -still rusty.

The other is fine,

Chain stays underside -before

After -one side completely clean and the other not so much.

still some rust

On the numerous paint chips it mostly did a great job but there are few with a bit of rust still.  I need to think about how to deal with those once the rust removal is done, since I suck at paint match and I don't have the $$ to go to an auto paint place to have them match it for me I will probably do the clear nail polish and then multiple coats of wax option.

Part II of this process will be to wait for a clear day and then take the frame and fork out on the porch for a dose of Naval jelly.  And the BB will probably also get a session with the brass wire brush.  I am still happy I did the rust bath despite the imperfect results, it did most of the work and I have to think it helped with any rust inside the tubes.  One drawback of the trough is that I could do the down tube, top tube and stays but not the seat tube, however I can get a portion of the ST with my brake hone.  The final step will be using frame saver and then I can move onto other parts of the rebuild.

Ride. Kill Rust, Smile Repeat.

First ride of 2020

No I didn't ride on the 1st and this ride wasn't really very long but I got off the couch before the rains came and rode down to the local park on the Trek Antelope.  So I got on the board both for riding and blogging in the new year.

The Trek is really perplexing me, I am torn between trying to sell it, triple my investment and use the proceeds towards a hybrid - which I have been obsessing about for months.  Or, biting the bullet and swapping out the stem, which would mean new grips, and ordering the Schwable city tires and finding out if this is really a sweet urban ride or just ok.  I have a slightly shorter stem and nice Ergon grips but if I later decide I want to, or need to, move the bike on I would probably just buy some cheap grips and keep the Ergons.  If I do that I am into this bike for about $70 bucks between initial purchase, new tires, and new grips  and so I in break even mode at that point if I sell it, or maybe making a small gain but certainly not doubling my $$.

In the meantime I will endeavor to..

Ride. Smile, Repeat.