The
Viande Mystère has arrived.
#1: My hopes for reycling a stem won't work - it's too short. Unless this was supposed to be a 1940's English club build, it doesn't "work." Not to mention that the TA Pro 3 Vis really does look like a Williams cottered crank from a distance. I already have an Italian bike trying to be French, I don't need a French bike trying to be British. Plus, the cockpit looks quite cramped.
#2: Only the front Altenburger fits. I'm not convinced it looks right, but without fenders, nothing looks right.
#3: I'll take that a step further. Upright bars make a lugged frame look weird unless there are fenders. Unless it's a flat bar, in which case, it raises the look to "abomination" status. But I've gone so far off track now that I'm not even talking about this PX10 anymore...
#4: Anyone have some hammered 700C fenders? I have a set of Velo-Orange stays here, and would only need to rustle up some mounting hardware.
#5: The Weinmanns have Mallard hubs laced in. Quite appropriate. For whatever reason, the front spokes are 14g, but the rear spokes are 12g (!). Also, these are nutted axles so the spare Q/R axles sent to me for the Raleigh Pro Mk.IV won't go to waste. Or I could be really cute about it and put on
wingnuts. I like that idea, come to think of it.
#6: I don't have a French headset.
#7: Damn Simplex hanger.
#8: Yes, it's a Phil BB, and I finally got to confirm that my presumed-Phil-BB-tool-not-marked-as-a-Phil-BB-tool really is a Phil BB tool.
#9: In the original Mystery Meat thread,
WGB said the seatpost hole was 26.0mm.
T-Mar pointed out that this was the only detail that contradicted it from being a PX10. I put a bore gauge down the seattube just past the binder slot to check. I took a couple of measurements and kept coming up with 26.5mm in all directions, right up to the top.
Except if the gauge was pointed towards the left ear. The tubing appeared to be kinked inwards there. I pried it out slightly, then ran my reamer (set to 26.3mm) down the tube. It removed a bit of material from the left ear and cleaned up the rest of the tube. Now a 26.4mm post fits in there smooth as butter - as it was supposed to.
#10: I rather like the look of the Pro 3 Vis on this. In fact, it's the
only part that looks nice on it so far.
#11: The third hole in the headtube just might be the one in the middle, so an original badge may hide the third hole after all.
#12: There are a couple of
small surface rust bubbles in the paint, but this is an exceptionally nice paint job. It's not my idea of a color, but it may have to be - I don't think I can bring myself to change it. Decals alone may suffice.
#13: This thread is worthless without PXtures.
-Kurt