Puttering along on the Allez

With the Allez down to the Frame it got me thinking, always a dangerous thing, about a slight change.  I do like the original 53/39 Shimano 600 crank but for hilly neighborhood and old man reasons it occurred to me that a compact crank might make more sense.  I found that I could get an FSA Vero 50/34 crank for about $70 delivered and I actually have a new 110 mm cartridge BB in the parts bin I can use. so I went for it.   If I find that I truly love this bike and the compact crank I can save my pennies for a nice Sugino XD2 that is about 3x the cost but with a more vintage look.

before

after a first pass

I also stripped the old bar wrap and started on cleaning up the grungy white brake hoods,  its amazing what some dish soap and a tooth brush will do.

I didn't let the lack of access to my deck stop me from using it to apply frame saver on internal tubes of the frame and fork. 

I also replaced the brake pads, since these are Suntour brakes, of course there are no replacement pads to be found.  Instead I went with Shimano Tiarga/Sora replacement pads.

I won't really know until I put the bike back together but it appears the pads will work fine.

And finally I got the new tires mounted, I think the red stripe should look good and hopefully the 700x25 cm size won't be too tall for the brakes.

For 3 of the main bearings I won't have much to do, the vintage wheels came to me already serviced and since they came from a Bike Forums member I assume they knew what they were doing, and they spin smooth,   The bottom bracket is a more modern cartridge style one that is brand new, so I really only need to do work on the headset.

Ride.Smile.Repeat.

Allez roadblocks and progress

I had made good progress on the Allez tear down but non drive side crank bolt simply refused to come off and I was concerned that I was rounding it off.   I decided I would take it to my local shop.  I normally handle most everything I need to do on a rebuild but I am happy to go to a shop when I hit a road block where I am concerned I could make matters worse.

I the meantime I dealt with the headset, headset cups and the bottom cable guide to get the tear down as far as I could.

As expected it took the wrench at Alki Bike and board about 5 minutes with his deep socket to get the bolt loose.  He even took off the crank arm for me.

I asked what I owed and he said nothing, and then jokingly said a six pack of Rainier, I asked if he didn't want something more upscale and he said no we like Rainier.  Since the shop is next to a Safeway I dropped the frame at my car and bought a six pack of Rainier for the wrenches.  He seemed surprised but pleased when I walked back in with a paper bag with this six pack in it.   This bike attracts six packs of beer like a magnet!

Ride. Treat your shop right. Smile. Repeat.

Time to Allez (Go) with the rebuild

I started fathers day with a short ride on the Allez,  because its so fun to ride I have delayed actually tearing it down,  I figured the only way to stop riding it so I could refurb it was to start taking it apart.

So once I got back from the ride (back) in the work stand it went. 

I was making pasta for lunch so while things boiled I had time to remove the wheels, brakes, derailleurs and shifters.  The box of parts was starting to fill.

With those parts and the chain off its starting to look kind of barren.

A few more twists of the hex wrench and the seat post and saddle as well as the cockpit are off the bike.

I got one crank bolt out no problem but the other is being stubborn so I am just leaving it for now, a bit more time with the crank, BB and Headset and I will be down to the frame.

I have quite a few fresh parts for the Allez, not pictured is the new Cassette which is on the rear wheel.  I don't plan on replacing the brake hoods but have a pair of replacements I *think* will work, just in case.

Ride.  Refurb. Smile. Repeat.

Some Tweaks for the 520

After test riding the 520 I found that although it was fine in the workstand the rear derailleur rubbed on the two lowest gears of the Mega range FW when I was on the road.  I could have fiddled with it to try and get it to behave but opted to spend about $25 on a new Shimano 14-28 6 speed freewheel and KMC Z51 chain.  You should always replace them in pairs so an old FW doesn't prematurely wear out your new chain or vice versa.  The new parts solved my shifting issues and I addressed a few other minor issues like chain rub for the FD in the biggest gear and rear brake squeak.

It took me a while to figure this out but when you have a saddle and pedals you like you don't leave them on the bike you want to sell, you replace them with items you have in the parts bin and keep the stuff you like.  So the VO leather saddle and MKS sneaker pedals stay with me for the next bike I adopt.

I took some snaps and listed the bike on CL and FB marketplace to test how hot this bike market really is.  If someone wants to pay me $400 for this Trek 520 then fine, and if not it won't break my heart to keep it.


Ride. Smile. Repeat.

Riding the Fleet

In the past month or so as I thought about how much walking I was doing I would lament " I should be riding more"  and it occurred to me recently I just shut up about it and in the words of Nike; Just Do It.

So this week I decided that instead of starting the day with a walk I would instead ride my bike, and then I edited that thought to ride all my bikes.

Monday.  I had to take this bike out the work stand to ride it but I couldn't resist getting in a ride before tearing it down.  Impressions:  Fun!  this is my most racy bike and it felt like it, it was a blast to ride and a great way to start the week.

Tuesday.  I could see rain in the forecast so I went with my work horse.  Impressions: I couldn't have chosen better for my wettest ride of the week.  The 700 x 47c tires handle wet roads with ease.

Wednesday.  It had been so long since the last ride I  had to get air in the tires the night before.  The MotoGT is my oldest and most stock bike in the fleet.  I am always a bit surprised I don't ride it more.  Impressions:  As I have been riding more 80s and early 90s bikes this one feels a bit dated sometimes, but that is part of its charm and riding this French bike compels me to visit my local French bakery...

.....hmm pastries,

Thursday.  I wanted to ride the recently completed 520 before possibly putting it on Craigslist to test the market.  Impressions: I was not as done with this bike as I thought, namely the shifting to the low gears that works fine in the work stand, grinds under load on road and some other minor complaints.  I guess the lesson is I need to do longer test rides before proclaiming I am done.  I was also struck by just how smooth this 531 frame rides.

Friday.  I actually rode this bike last Saturday to escape West Seattle, but I was happy to ride it again on my short, slightly hilly, 4 mile morning ride.  Impressions:  Why do I ride this bike so little after I did so much work on it!  Its hitting its stride but I am still not sure about the cambium Brooks saddle, guess I will need to ride it more.

Saturday.  And finally the last bike in the fleet, the Miyata 112 which I bought to be my trainer ride but since I am without a deck (where I do trainer rides) right now its off the trainer.  This bike has only a front brake so for the first time I deviated my daily ride and just rode the local streets with no long downhills.  Impressions: while in some ways it is obviously an entry level bike (heft, components) it still has many great touches, lugs, maker engraved fork crown and I love the ice blue paint color.  A great example of 1980s Japanese craftsmanship.

I am not going to ride the fleet every week but it is good to be reminded of each bikes strengths and to give them all a turn on the road.  Wow, I just realized half of the fleet is from 1987! and 4 of 6 are from the late 1980s

Ride a lot of bikes. Smile. Repeat

1987 Trek 520: Finishing stretch

Since I was waiting on the rear derailleur cable I ran the brake cables and got the braking dialed in front and back.

When the derailleur cable finally arrived I had an issue in the lowest gears where the derailleur body was rubbing on the 34 tooth cog when indexing through the gears. I went back to the Park Tools video on the rear derailleur and doing indexing and got it sorted out.

while dealing with the RD I noticed the rear wheel was not as true as I thought so I first marked the tire with some masking tape where it was rubbing and then trued it up.

That got the bike finished enough for a test ride which included some peaceful protesting in the local junction.   It was raining but not enough to keep protesters from gathering or me getting the bike too dirty by riding it.

I got this blue bar tape to play off the blue of the Trek logo and I must be out of practice because I had to wrap one side 3 times to get it right.  The tape appeared to be a darker blue when I ordered it but I still like it.

Its far from perfect but the rust is gone and the frame is touched up and  I am pleased with the rebuild.  I am mostly inclined to keep this bike and do some comparisons with the Nishiki just to see which 1987 steel touring bike I like best.  There is a part of me, however,  which wants to see just how hot the bike market really is right now.... we will see.

Its not May but the 6-pack Allez has made its way into the bike stand...

Ride. Smile. Repeat.