Crazy Coffeeneuring Challenge idea of 2018

Well its that time of year again, the Coffeeneuring Challenge 2018 starts Friday and I plan to make it 3 years in a row of completing the challenge.  I need to go to seven different shops and it occurs to me that I have 4 rideable bikes, 2 bikes that are close to ridable bringing my total to 6 which is only one short of 7 according to my math. Hmmm..

Of course the Cresta GT is going to get ridden.

Barney is still fully functional.

The Moto_GT adds a bit of class to any ride.

And the Handsome devil is always ready to go to work.  So that is the four easy bikes but the other two aren't too far away.

The Trek 420 is docked in the trainer currently but would just need one brake cable run to make road worthy for a short ride.

 The Allez isn't quite as bad as the picture shows -it has been reunited with its original seat-post and saddle and bar/stem combo.  It too needs a brake cable run as well make it road worthy but since it has aero brake levers running the cable and housing will be a bit more work than the Trek.

Man, six bikes its like I have a problem or something, but what to do about #7?

My first impulse was to scour CL for another project bike, shocker, and last week I thought I had a line on a late 80s Novara Trionfo, a poor man’s Centurion Ironman, like the one pictured above.  It was cheap and had Shimano 600 components, but I never got a response, probably just as well.

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to try one of those fancy E-Bikes and the Lime bikes that litter the sidewalks in my neighborhood would allow me to do that and I wouldn't have another bike to store LOL.  So 7 coffee shops on 7 different bikes is this years challenge, let the coffee drinking begin! (on the 12th.

1987 Trek Antelope 800 -Salvage

As I mentioned in a previous post I picked up this Trek 800 for $40 locally just to get some parts for the Bianchi Ibex ..aka Barney.

Today I would normally be riding to the farmers market, but it's grey, rainy and cold so its a good day to stay inside, drink tea and strip a bike.  The wheels were the first to go.

With a little time and some Y wrenches I had a box of parts and...

... a mostly bare frame.

I am going to leave the BB, headset, rear cable guide/roller and seat post quick release with the frame-set.

Two years ago I parted out a Gitane to mixed results.  This time is a bit different as I bought this bike for some parts I could use and I am only really looking to offset my outlay for the bike rather making $$.

This bike was also equipped with a SunTour Alpha 3000 accushift drive train.  Its not everyone's cup a tea but I put the set above on Bike Forums where bike nerds like me hang out, failing that I can put them on Ebay.  I also have a Dia-Compe brake canti brake set and an SR triple crankset that may have some value.  I think I can recoup my $40 but we'll see.

The whole point of this exercise was to get a shorter reach stem and a front wheel to match the rear on Barney.  The rims will need some clean up but now the wheel-set will match and I can get rid of the squirely handling of the current skinny front wheel.   I may still need a stem with more height but I will try this one first as it will bring the bars back compared to the current set up,

Speaking of Barney I have this idea to leave him at work for the rest of the month. The parking garage in my building has secure bike parking and since I go in early I am usually ready to go by 4 pm so I can take advantage of daylight till 6 on days its nice enough to ride.  To that end I picked up a rear blinky light and a Lezyne pump which is small enough for a jersey pocket.  I also have a new bottle cage on the way but the broken one will server for now.

Once cool thing I noticed while cleaning up the frame is that the Trek Antelope was sold in my home town of Wenatchee Washington, what are the odds?

Ride.Salvage.Smile.Repeat.

The very stubborn Fixed BB cup

What are you looking at?  I'm  a bottom bracket fixed cup, look its in the name FIXED.   I ain't going anywhere.

Oh cute, a bottom bracket wrench, wake me when you're done. (Note the end that thing is too fat to get a pipe over).

Ooh a bigger wrench, ya that's not gonna happen chief.

Hey whoa, kid you don't need a pipe, why you gotta come with a pipe, no wait, noooooo

How dare you! no one has seen these threads in 30 years, you had to go an use leverage didn't you.  You bastard.

Andy the adjustable cup is that you? when did you get out?

So empty...

Use Leverage. Smile. Repeat.

Sunday Musings

Looking back over September I realized that this month I have done a pretty good job of rotation in the stable for the Sunday Farmers Market ride:

I led off the month with the Moto_GT.

Handsome devil got the call in week 2.

In Week 3 I rode Barney to get some Clunker mileage.

And today, week 5, I was back to the Moto_GT.   And for week 4 I was in Portland riding the Cresta GT for Sunday Parkways.  And that is literally all the street ride-able bikes I have.

While at the Market I got my normal IPA and picked up my last pint of fresh blackberries, these late season beauties were tart and delicious.

Last Sunday I mentioned that I didn't intend to do any bearing work on the Le Tour, well both the headset and bb felt a bit dry so..

I took apart the headset and indeed

It was pretty dry as I had suspected.

 And the bb was so dry..

 ..it was dusty, so its a good thing I took them apart.  At this point I'm just planning to clean the existing bearing and races and add some new, fresh, grease.

The Le Tour ends the week down to the frame with just the fixed cup to remove before I can clean up the bb shell, finish cleaning the frame and then waxing it.  I also hope to get some more after work rides in but the forecast is currently calling for a rainy week so we'll see.

Ride. Smile. Repeat.

Chasing Daylight

I have been having a hard time letting go of summer (yeah equinox smequinox) and in the PNW we are usually blessed with Indian summers that can stretch into October.  Also having finished the Cresta GT I want to ride it, and I have a goal of 100km on the new build before the end of October.

My ride Tuesday took me through Lincoln park and up Admiral, I made it all the way up without stopping but I was going at a glacial 3 mph, I think an ant passed me.  Oh well, ya gotta start somewhere.

A bit over 9 miles, not bad for an after work ride in late September which puts me over 20 miles on the bike so far and a 1/3rd of the way to 100km.

I took a different route tonight with another great weather evening and some great views of the city.

To aid in my pursuit of later summer daylight I ordered some USB rechargeable lights from Amazon.   In addition to having a way to light the path home if I stay out too late they are also helpful in making me visible.   With the rubber strap they are easy to get on and off the bike too.

Tonight I went up Avalon which is the most steady climb in my area, I was still slow but it felt a little easier than Tuesday, perhaps because I knew I had already conquered a more difficult hill and it certainly helps that the Cresta has such low-end gearing.

With the ride this evening I am halfway to my goal so perhaps I need to shoot for 200 km?

I still have some ideas about taking the bike to work and riding close to work after quitting time to make better use of the available daylight, and I hope to get in at least one multi-modal commute that includes my bike and a bridge I still haven't ridden across since they upgraded it with a great commuter path cantilevered off the side of the revamped 520 bridge.

Ride.Smile. Chase the Sun. Repeat

A proper shakedown ride and some misc. tinkering

awaiting the ride

My daughter and I did a quick trip to Portland, basically 24 hours, to visit friends and catch the last Sunday Parkways of the 2018 season.  This was my second year in a row and I hope I can start a nice long streak.  It was also an opportunity to do an extended ride on the Cresta GT.

There was Shakespeare in one park and Opera in another along with lots people and bikes and food.

resting

I think I used every gear on the Cresta, there was a decent hill to start and lots of rolling and I certainly got to practice my low speed handling skills in traffic.  The more I ride this bike the more I love it.

We had a lovely late September day for riding and at almost 10 miles this was my longest ride on the Cresta GT to date.  I am already scheming about how to cram in more rides before the end of October.

Misc.  Tinkering

It may already be too late to sell a bike this year, but I figured I would get the Schwinn Le Tour ready so I could give it shot in October and worst case it will be all ready to go come Spring.  Onto the work stand it went.

I had thought about just doing a wipe down and replacing the brake cables and chain but it didn't come to me exactly clean and being on the porch through a smoky summer didn't help matters any so getting it down to the frame is probably the best way to go.  I am not planning on any bearing work unless it obviously needs it but its easier to clean and wax the frame with all the bits off and the drive train can take a trip through the Sonic bath.

Since finishing the clunker challenge I have been thinking about Barney and the changes I want to make, the first being a front wheel to match the rear and hopefully reduce the slightly squirrely handling of a narrow front rim/tire.  A new front wheel on Amazon is about $40 and one from the Co-Op is $15.  I also wondered about a salvage option...

And I ran across this 1987 Trek Antelope 800 on CL in my neighborhood for $40,  

The front wheel is an exact match to the rear wheel on Barney.

And metal thumb shifters with intact shifter covers and their Suntour like the rest of Barney's drive-train.

I also think there is a good chance that the stem will solve the fit issue I am having with the stock stem on Barney.

The derailleurs I can either clean up and sell or add to my parts bin along with the Dia Compe canti brakes.

And the paint and decals are in nice shape so I might see if I can sell the frame for cheap and recoup some of my outlay but if it doesn't sell I'll donate it and the rear wheel and to bike works.  It would have been perfect if it also had a rack and bottle cage but I am pretty happy with front wheel, thumb shifters and drive train, it also has an SR triple crank, for the money.

Ride. Smile. Repeat.