The Ross is reborn...
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage

My Song

Built up a new Ross yesterday, while listening to the above... it's good ridin' tunes. The ross is white with several layers of clearcoat. Hope the paint lasts. This thing handles sweet on the street and the old 3-speed cranks give it that "old school" look.

- Elvis

Old skool new tech - the Pista evolves
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
5/25/06 - One of my fav girl's fav expressions about something that changes is "it evolved - like a pokemon". My knowledge of pokemon is limited to discarded happy meal contents I pass on the street while riding my bike, but it is safe to say the Pista has evolved.

The bike began with the stock bars and stem. At first I flipped the stem, even fiddled with an extra half spacer (made from a threaded fork fitting) to raise the bars for a more comfortable position. Then on a whim I check out the FGG (www.fixedgeargallery.com) and see a reference to the OST (Old Skool Track) website which I visit time to time. The OST site has some things that are impractical in my humble opinion -- obscenely angled track stems and other bike features which, while they keep to the aesthetic of the culture, can hardly be comfortable for all day riding. And yet...

On a whim I use one of the shims I got from Oscar in Chatham to install a 1 1/8" stem on the narrower Pista steerer. Upside down. The stem came off a mountainbike and low and behold, the resulting handlebar position looked a lot lower than with the flat stock stem. In fact it was only a tad lower. And felt more responsive! A full test ride will be needed for an effective Ride Report on the subject but it may be I've discovered the hidden secret of that sect of fixed gear riders dubbed "old skool"...?
- Elvis

Road fix evolved
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
5/15/06 - Pulled the road brake lever from my Black Bomber fixed gear (the 5boro 06 bike) and fitted it with a bmx brake lever mounted close in to the stem. I may go back to road lever eventually but for now feel the unobtrusive lever will be useful around town. How many people actually use one road lever for hand position anyway?

- Elvis

Hot rod bikes....
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
4/19/06 - 3 projects been in the mill lately: First, my NuCiti, a Schwinn from the early 1980's. It's an "around town" or "urban" bike -- fender clearance, u-brake under the rear chainstays, front canti's. Semi knobby 26"ers fer the blacktop. I stripped off the gears and ran a fixed for a day, then put the fixed wheel back on my fixed mtb and set it up ghetto ss style, using the geared rear wheel and running the chain to one cog. Rides nice and easy around town. With mini fenders and a large seat back that is the size of an army knapsack, it is practical as all get out -- even if it's heavy. I also rebuilt my Trek 100 road frame -- reinstalled cranks and the front brake which were borrowed for other projects. It's running 48/39 up front and flies. Also threw on a Felt Carbon seat -- the twin of the one on my Tempo fix - and black seatpost. Getting the cranks to fit requirted reinstalling the original bb -- I forgot the bike had the bottom bracket swapped out when it was converted to a fixed gear way back when... and the old cranks with 110mm bolt spacing wouldn't clear w/out a new bb...

The other project near and dear to my road loving soul is my Tempo fix. This bike is morphing into a sort of hot rod conversion; black, stealth, fun... hardly anythign original except the bb and headset bearings! After riding MA with the flat bar I realized it's limitations regardign hand position. Off went the flat bar and on went the homemade bullhorns. I have a set of Syntace bulls but they are too long and low... they only look or feel good on a modern frame. The shorter, more modestly shaped bullhorns I made from cut off and flipped road barsd work better on old steel.

... I ran a bmx lever for simplicity's sake, at first, then installed a bar end shifter as a brake lever. In addition to the simple, low profile look it also doubles as a "parking brake" if you flip it while the bike is stopped. Rode a-okay but I decided to further expand on the simplistic brake idea by using a cut down tri lever. The Tektro lever is cut down to about an inch long and is not more obtrusive than the bar end shifter, but doesn't lock up. This makes it a more practical brake even if it results in giving up the "parking brake" feature...

Will update the pics on each of these bike's pages eventually... and darned if I still need to clean out the garage! I got rid of four frames and a plethora of wheels, but then in came the NuCiti and sundry other parts...

- Elvis

FullSpeedAhead!
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
3/08/06 - swapped out the road width drivetrain on the Tempo to 1/8" track stuff. Surly 17t cog, FSA front chainring 45t, old track chain. So far, so good!

- Elvis

Stuff and upgrades...
Topic: tales from the garage
2/02/06 - The other day I redid the lug work on my "black bomber" -- the Schwinn Tempo road fix. Yellow spray paint applied with a brush where b4 there used to be gold-brown auto touch up paint. The lugs of this black bike are now outlined in yellow.

I also tweaked the brake - it now runs front brake only, hooked to a Shimano aero lever, with silver Fizik grip tape on the tops of the bars. And the newest addition -- a "carbon" seat. I got to, can't decide where to put the other one. They are this yet comfy, light yet wide enuff for my bum -- and still ride like decent road seats. $14.99 not bad...

All of this raises the question in one's mind of "Stuff and upgrades". At what point do you go from saying "I added 'stuff' to my bike", to "I upgraded my bike"? Nonriders look askance at spending $ for bike parts, or time on rebuilding, so riders are often compelled to explain that such-and-such is an "upgrade", thereby justifying cost, or time, to those who would not necessarily understand.

By definition, an "upgrade" is the replacement of one part with a "better" part -- but better is so subjective. Better how? Looks, feel, brand name, affordable price, weight?

Ultimately it sounds better to say "I upgraded". "Stuff" just sound lame... upgrade, official. Important. Yet, when you get right down to it, new parts -- whether "stuff" or "upgrades" -- or both -- both serve the same function; improving yer ride. And if a new seat, different brake lever, or some other gizmo allow you to more enjoy your bicycle, than that part is an "upgrade" by definition -- even if it doesn't look as nice, or cost as much.

- Elvis

Finishing touches -- Fixed gear mtb...
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
1/21/06 - My Trek 4500 fixed gear mtb worked fine today, but ponderng chain tension, I figured a halflink would ease it -- the chain was really too tight for both safety, and longterm wear concerns. So I installed a bmx chain with a half link. Turns out the wider bmx chain was slightly longer -- you could see the difference but it was hard to measure -- and I didn't need the halflink afterall. The bmx chain was enough. This is an old somewhat beat-up chain, so I hope it lasts until I can get to the LBS to get a new one -- and I hope the new one will be the same dimensions. There are so many variances among bmx chains -- different widths, different coatings and finishes -- that I hope a new one will work when I need it.

But for now, the wheel spins easy and free -- fixed, with just the right tension.

- Elvis

Successful frame repair
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: tales from the garage
10-13-05: It's thurday. Modified my Fujifixed frame successfully! Some ultraweld liquid metal, sandpaper, and primer, plus silver spray, did a ton of good. The brake bridge had a hole in it which kept getting filled with road grime and spray fromt he rear tire. Concerned about rust over the long hual even with regular post-ride cleaning, I decided to fill it in.

Went off without a hitch and I am so looking forward to riding this thing!
-- Elvis

(pic below shows the bike except for the patched rear brake bridge which was dine right after I took this photo)