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Playing with the Bridgestone 200

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Playing with the Bridgestone 200

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Old 03-30-20, 08:00 PM
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velojym
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Playing with the Bridgestone 200

I've lost (at least for now), my wrenching gig at the bike shop due to this whole pandemic thing, so I'm playing the Mad Tinkerer on some of my own hardware.
This is the Bridgestone 200 I singled out for airport ramp use, years ago.
Using parts I have on hand, I'm going to slap on a double crankset and leave the rear single.
Then I'll ride back and forth near home to see how it feels.


Ramp Rat, sans crank and chain, about to get a double, and bar end shifter.
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Old 03-31-20, 09:23 AM
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Keep the pictures coming as you move forward. It looks like a nice bike.

Are you going to use a front derailleur with the double chainrings and use the tensioner to take up the slack?

If so, that would be neat? Let us know how it works.
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Old 03-31-20, 05:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Velo Mule
Keep the pictures coming as you move forward. It looks like a nice bike.

Are you going to use a front derailleur with the double chainrings and use the tensioner to take up the slack?

If so, that would be neat? Let us know how it works.

That's exactly what I'm planning. I have a 53/39 FSA crankset, and a set of bar end shifters. Just gonna use the left one of those.
The tensioner is staying on for the obvious reason, and I have the bike's original front derailleur, which oughta work just fine, especially with a friction shifter.
I'll be working on it tonight and tomorrow morning.

I won't really have a low gear, but if it works well with my current 16t cog in back, I may swap that for a 20 or 22. The 53 ring will be plenty fast on that, for me.
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Old 03-31-20, 07:21 PM
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Ergh. BB is for a triple, and the new crank is a double. My front derailleur won't reach out that far.
Well, cheaper to replace the BB...but maybe I can do something different.

I'd singled out an LX crank for this bike, and I do have the matching LX derailleur, its clamp just happens to match the seat tube size. I'm putting the bike up for the night.
I reassembled the LX crank to install on the ol' Giant it originally came from, but I have another I can use there.

So, this may end up a 3x1, and will also take care of the lower gear issue at the same time.
The FSA crank was so purty, though.
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Old 03-31-20, 08:09 PM
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Well, looks like this tensioner won't swing with enough tension for more than one gear. I guess I could tinker with the spring, but I'm not gonna.
Given the fact that my re-tripled crankset is back on this bike, I may as well use the generous tire clearance and geometry to make this a sorta neo-retro
gravel and beater bike.
I've put it back on the rack for now, until I've either dug up or otherwise sourced a rear cogset, derailleur, and shifters. With that gear range (44/34/24, and probably something like 12-34 in back) I think it'll be a fun bike.

So, I'll post here when I get some junk together for it.
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