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The list could go on, but the truth is what it is – Happy Monday!
I took some pictures this morning of the bike I threw together over the weekend from parts in the garage. The Frame is an older Trek 400 sport bike converted to 650b. By using the smaller rim I could run a fatter cushier tire, and also bring the front end geometry into a range that will handle well with front biased loads.
I have a few Trek frames in my garage that I bought off of Craig’s List and they have been hanging from the ceiling for almost 2 years now. All three have their dents, scratches and other marks of age. I decided it was high time to do something about it. The fringe benefit is the fun in building a bike up instead of stripping one down to sell. With a little planning and 30 minutes here and there I was able to put this together from parts in my bins of spares.
About a month ago I picked up a pair of NOS Weinmann 750 brakes, and they pushed me to get this done. The 750 calipers have just enough reach to get to the 650b rims. There is plenty of room for the 584×37 Col De La Vie tires, and fenders are in the works. The wheels are decidedly not S&S, Phils laced to Velocity Dyads, but they belong to my wife and i am “borrowing” them. I used an old MTB stem, bars and levers that span 20 years of age. The shifting is handled by a Shimano Deore DX in the rear, Suntour XC high normal front and NOS 105 clamp on DT shifters. The front rack is the Bruce Gordon (made in Oregon) rack that used to live on my Rawland. The saddle is an Avocet Touring in pretty good shape. All of the cables and housings are from my recycle bin.
Initial rides have been unloaded and it handles fantastic. This will become my around town bike for errands and such. There are only a few things I hope to change. The handlebars will be switched out with some Wald 867 bars that are on the way. I may do something about the saddle, but i tis OK for shortish trips. I have some newer brake shoes to put on, but the old black blocks have been slowing things down acceptably. As for fenders, I have an older set of the VO zeppelins that were bought on clearance 3 years ago, and will be re-shaped to work here.
Yes, new bikes are fun, but sometimes the best bike is what you have. At least for the moment.
Remember – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle
The clean out continues this week, you can see my eBay auctions here. As written a few days ago, I am preparing to take the business to the next step and need to raise some capital, and keep bootstrapping this along. This week we have my Rawland dSogn frameset, an older Selle Italia Flite Trans Am, King Headset and Tange Switchblades fork. Soon to come up are the wheels from the dSogn, 40 Hole Dyads laced to White Industry M16 hubs, and older Dura Ace crankset, some more saddles, and other odds and ends. I am still planning on updating the Yardsale pages with some older Trek road frames you may remember.
Thanks for taking a look, your continued readership and support help me steer this venture into the future.
I am starting to work through my extra parts bins to weed out the things that have accumulated but are not likely to end up on one of our bikes. These will be going up for sale on either my eBay auctions or on the soon to be updated Yard Sale pages of my site. I am preparing to take the business to the next step and need to raise some capital, and keep bootstrapping this along.
Thanks for taking a look, your continued readership and support help me steer this venture into the future.
A couple of months back my neighbor George asked if I would be interested in doing a segment for his local access TV show, OurVentura.com . We went back and forth on it a bit, and finally set a date to record, and now the post production is done. I am not sure when it will air, but it is up on his web page.
It was a fun experience, I learned a ton about TV and public speaking all in one 30 minute lesson. Nothing like being on the spot, in front of cameras rolling, and talking to a complete stranger about something you are passionate about, but is news to them. This may lead to an oppertunity to host a show, and who knows where these kind of branches on the tree can lead.