There is nothing fitness or diet related here , -- nor is it related to time management , or any of the other concepts I like to wax poetically about
This will be photo heavy, but
I took a walk down memory lane recently when I pulled a few bicycles out of an early grave --- all of these mean a little something to me , and I will spend a little bit of time yacking away
Why? --- Its New Years Eve and I'm bored --- I'm not a party guy anymore -- In the past I have spent New YEars Eve with friends out of state, but this year I am home --- today was a solid workout day with some decent spin bike and rower time, plus a mountain bike ride -- I'll probably be in bed by 10 -- LOL , so much for Mr Excitement
anyway -- the inspriration for tonight's post came while I was riding ---- I was contemplating how I was going to build (re-build) an old warhorse of mine
Warhorse number 1--- Nishiki Linear time trial bike --- this bike was seldom used, but roughly replicated the pursuit position I had on my pursuit track bike --- this thing is as painful to ride as it is to look at ---- it is very rare, but sadly , is in the category of "rare, but nobody cares" -- Funny bikes are seldom used anymore , and , while I would like to restore this someday, its not a top priority
Centurion Sport DLX ------ this is my brother's Christmas present, 1989 I think ----- why Is it a big deal to me? It is the first bike I put any road miles on ---- I started out mountain biking as training for MX, but quickly learned that road cycling was a much more efficient and faster way to hurt yourself, ------- so I borrowed my brothers bike as much as I possibly could --- My first real road racing bike is long gone, but this one remains ---its not light, or trendy, but its a solid, honest road machine that could still serve somebody well
This is the one I am going to recycle --- I have gone through the suspension era, the disc brake era, and now the alternate wheel size generation --- I went riding today and I literally had the only 26" wheeled bike out there
-- that makes no difference to me -- if the bike was fast in 1994, its still going to be fast today ---
Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, when the world started moving away from bikes like this and going towards full suspension (which is lovely) People put a bunch of these on the shelf - or did single speed conversions (something else that got popular 10 years ago)
Well, I threw this one on the scale and decided it needed to get recycled --- 17 lbs 13 oz in largely complete form for a single speed, just missing the bars and cables ----- but I'm guessing 21 pounds with shifters and derailleurs and all that --- with a very pedestrian parts spec
This frame is pretty cool, but I thrashed it unmercifully in the mid 90's --- I also tossed it away without a thought ---- but that scale reading shocked me, so it will get rescued
- There are days when a very simple hardtail can be appreciated, -- thinking with some decent wheels, lighter bottom bracket setup and tires, this rascal can some in under 17 #'s a full rigid single speed, or possibly be in the 21-22# range with a lightweight suspender fork and a SRAM 1x11 setu ----- either way would be silly light , even by todays standards --------- so cool to be a steel frame to boot
here's the pics
Scale reading of MArin Team bike in partially complete single speed state
Pic of the bike --- doesn't look too special , admittedly
These are some darn trick cantilever brakes for the day -- 1 finger stoppies are easy, but they will squeak if only a bit out of tune -- either going to run a carbon fork with disc adapters, or a Magura hydraulic setup as a substitute
An old White Brothers crankset -- with the granny and the big taken off for the old single conversion--- serious style points, but a later model Shimano crank and external bottom bracket will have less flex and weight
Tange Ultimate Prestige -- a brief clue that this may not be an ordinary bike store bike--- rock chips from some screaming downhills --- a couple down in SE Oklahoma that heated the rims up so much it popped the tubes on one ride (big POW -- then the handling goes immediately to heck -- LOL)
This frame is full of obscure details like this -- cable stops on the head tube to ensure the length of the housing is as short as possible , to get the last 9/10th of shifting potential out of your components--- but most of the frame's secrets are hidden -- you don't know its anything cool at all until you pick it up
That's it --------- the MArin will be my winter project I think and I'd like to hit the trails with it in a couple of months ---- it doesn't look like it needs much, and it basically doesn't, but the crap it needs costs' plenty ---- I might do the bare minimum and bomb the course around here with a 20 pound singlespeed --------- , its a project that would likely only get used a couple of times a year, but the times its used will be memorable
Thanks for putting up with the garage tour ---- happy New Year ---- I don't expect many to have barns and attics full of bikes, but some judicious use of Craigslist and Ebay may get you a similar project if your of a mind to------ I'm going to update this accordingfly as I keep cleaning out my attics and various storage areas --- I don't consider myself a cyclist anymore, but it was a very important part of my life for a couple of decades
Peace --
No comments:
Post a Comment