Combo Challenge and Shogun update

 

We are on the cusp of Coffeeneuring 2020 and the clunker challenge is still in effect until the first week of November so I figured why not do both on the Shogun?

Before I get into what I have been doing to the Shogun to prepare for the Combo Challenge I will update other developments in the fleet;

Univega

Sold last month for $200, I did something I never do which was I delivered the bike.  I felt in late September as summer was waning that the crazy COVID bike market was drying up so I figured delivering it in order to get $200 was a fair trade.  Doubled my investment on this bike.

Giant

The part out route was not my first choice for this bike but I did eventually get $200 out of it and ended up covering my costs and even making a small amount.

Trek 420 (II)

The 420 did end up being too small for my friend and although I toyed with using it as a trainer bike myself I decided instead to just clean it up a bit, make it a functional project and sell it cheap.  I ended up making $10 and the guy buying it seemed pleased with the purchase so it all worked out..

Shogun

Since  I am doing two challenges in one I figured that servicing the bearings was necessary on the Shogun.  In addition the 10 days of horrible  air quality did a number on my lungs to the point where just walking around the block required multiple stops to catch my breath.  Fortunately things are improving but since I wasn't going to be riding this week it made sense to deal with the bearings.

First however I had to deal with a filthy bike, its not exactly clean now but its better and I don't get dirty just looking at it.

There was also splotchy rust one one fork blade so it got the naval jelly, brass wire brush and then nail polish treatment.  

With dirt and rust dealt with I could tackle the headset bearings, I had to do this with the cabling still in place but it was doable, the grease was present but old so it was nice to clean it all up and get fresh grease applied.

Since I had to do the headset with the cabling in place I found yet another use for a toe strap, it held the bull moose bars suspended from the top tube while I dealt with the headset and allowed me to keep all the cables in place.

I also replaced the absent front reflector with one from my stash of parts.

Finally I dealt with front wheel, the bearings were way too tight although the grease wasn't bad but it got cleaned up, new grease, trued up and finally a new Schwable Jet city tire.  I thought about using the original tires but because I am doing two challenges and the new tires still keep me (barely) under the clunker challenge $100 budget and my experience with old knobby 26" tires is they aren't really comfortable.

Once the combo challenge is done I have some toys for the Shogun; VO leather saddle, barely used chain and 6 speed wide range FW, Ergon grips, new cables and housing, sneaker pedals and tires.   Tires?  but Ryan you just bought new tires??!  well I really wanted some gum walls and after searching around I came across these Maxxis DTH 26 x 2.25 tires, not cheap but on bike forums these tires get lots of favorable comments and I have seen them on builds an really like how they look.  My thought on the Schwables I am currently using on the Shogun is that they may go on a bargain MTB I am yet to find for a quick clean up and flip.

Ride. Buy too many tires. Smile. Repeat.

Holiday Puttering

I figured out the 100 days of the Clunker challenge expires on July 12th and that might afford me time to use the Rock Hopper as my second challenge bike of 2019.  To that end I have been trying to ride it regularly since the 30th of June and have thus far gone over 26 kilometers.  A minor theme is to find gravel on my rides.

Lincoln park

Hiawatha Play field

Alley about a block from my Apartment

Fortunately gravel isn't that hard to find even in my urban neighborhood.   On Friday I am going to ride to a ball game and I think there is some gravel near the railroad tracks and then next week I am going to ride a portion of a trail near where I work that connects lake Washington and lake Sammamish that is mostly gravel.

One nice thing about the clunker challenge is it forces you to ride the bike as is before you make any changes.  Since I am Mr. Fill a cart on Amazon before the first pedal stroke that is a good thing. 

Ok, I did order a pair of Schwable city Jet tires for the RH but only because they were under $40 for the pair including shipping from the UK (chain reaction cycles) and although the Performance knobbies on the bike are fine I do find myself wondering how it would ride with a smoother tread.

I have found I only really have about 2 gears in back that work so I am riding 3x2 and it reminds of the 6 months I spent riding a single speed to work, you are never in quite the right gear but it gets you there.  I found a bikemanforu  video that I think will help me fix the gear issue but I want to get through 30-50% of the challenge first.  After all I had two bikes with basically zero issues on the challenge so this is kind of like penance lol.

The other bike that has been occupying my time is the Allez Sport, there seems to be an early 90s Specialized theme going on here.  I have all the parts I need for the the rebuild, I think, including a new BB.  If I was keeping the bike I would use the stock BB which spins fine but since I am selling it on I want to be sure its bullet proof for the next owner and the stock BB will go in the parts bin.

I am addressing the frame on the Allez before I do anything else.  I shot some frame saver into the tubes since the bike is stripped down to the frame.  I noticed the under TT cable guides had rust so I have hit them with two sessions of Naval jelly for 15 minutes a shot and then brass wire brushed them.  I am going to see if I can find a decent paint match and do some touch up to at least protect the metal.

I also used two tools that have been collecting dust in my tool box, a chain whip and a cassette removal tool, they allowed me to get the 7 speed cassette off the rear wheel of the Allez so i can clean them up and take a look at the hub.

My friend Annie over at Anniebikes was discussing the experience of maintaining a fleet of  (5) bikes and I find my self thinking, yep there is always something.  I noticed the Cresta didn't want to smoothly drop into the small ring up front and after fiddling with limit screws it finally occured to me look at the FD alignment to the chain rings and indeed it was just a bit off so I will address that this weekend.  The Rock Hopper has the gear issue I mentioned, the Handsome Devil could use some new bar tape and maybe a brake adjustment and the Moto_GT has a FD cable I think is loose, and so it goes.  Not sure I would know what to do with just one totally functional bike lol.

Thankful my ancestors were ungrateful colonists on this day.

Ride. Tinker on independence day. Smile. Repeat.