Mad Honk 

52 telecaster,
Wasn't that in the Madison bike project not too long ago? Smiles MH BTW whadda ya think about a '57 Gretch f-hole in ebony with white piping? It was stolen from my dad about twenty years ago, wish I had it back.

TriBiker19 

Those bars absorb all the shocks. And they kinda look like pretzel dogs.

Kdogbikes

Thanks!
5 weeks and 2 cans of paint. Went with the vinyl decals over the water slide.

52telecaster

Gretches are nice but i never owned one. Currently have 2 teles and an archtop.

thinktubes 

Velomine wheel after 100 miles....


After 30 minutes of work....

Senrab62 

Good work 👍 what wheelset is that? I thought general consensus was velomine is solid?

thinktubes 

Shimano 6800/Mavic Open Pro. Underwhelmed. If you don't have skills/tools budget for truing costs.

ryansu

The Takara got a bit more time in the stand, Stem and seatpost cleaned and given new wax, stem shifters mounted and my spare beater 27" araya rim/Suze hub wheelset mounted with used but decent tires and tubes. If I can make the shifting and braking work it will go back on CL as a beater commuter.



Stem shifters mounted, tapered stem meant I had to site them high up for the clamp.


Cobbled together wheelset


ready for cables and bar tape

thumpism 

I'd wager there are pristine original Grab On grips under that bar tape.

Narhay

I used the skills gleaned from wrenching on bikes to replace the pads and squeaky rusty rotors on my 2013 Town & Country last night. I have more respect for how physical working in tight spaces like that can be.

RobbieTunes

Decided to pull DA9000 out of a box and put it on a deserving frame. US-made Fiorini. This is my 2nd try at making this frame work, and I think it will be fine. I installed a Roadlink, but I think with the DA9000 RD, I'll be ok with the 11-28 rear without it, and take it off, returning shifting to the snappy flick I expect from DA9000, there's about a half-second delay, I find, on the upper cogs using a Roadlink, as the cassette winds around to the right place. I used DA9000 wheelset (Aerohead rims) as well.


I did find some new Challege skinwalls to put on there, so that gets done in the near future. I still have final cleanup to do.


Interesting treatment at the stay tops. I need to clean out the grease, but may just let it stay to avoid corrosion.


Glad I found those seatpost binder pieces.



Had some more spare time, so I went on with putting DA7700 on the Merckx. 2 hours to get the crankset and BB out (15mm bolt heads, and no thin-walled socket). Since I used my Octalink Italian BB on another bike, had to order one before I can complete this. Hard to tell, but this uses a Roadlink, an 11-34 9sp rear cassette, and a DA7700 GS medium cage RD. It works fine. 7403 wheelset.

thumpism 

Nice crosshatch on the rotor. Talk about bling!
I found this Marin at the curb this week and grabbed it. Since it's my size I thought I might give it a chance, although I'm not riding much these days. It would be nice to have a racy rigid MTB. I'm thinking drop bar conversion. Marin stems of that era were known for low rise--this is at max height--and big reach so I won't keep this setup long. There was a lot of rust but the bike was original except for the seat and bar ends. I binned the seat and got the three stiff links in the chain to move. Everything worked but the rear shifting (rusted cable) and I managed to break the shifter by forcing it, but since I don't care for Rapid Fire that matters not to me. No hurry on this one with all my other projects.

52telecaster

I find servicing my own automotive brakes makes me a more conservative driver.

Narhay

So far so good. Really just 4 bolts, some wiggling pads and clips in and out, smacking existing frozen rotors with a sledge and some piston pushing.

52telecaster

The job isnt that tuff its just looking at what saves your life that makes me a tad more cautious.

Narhay

For sure and I get that it is hard to get over that fear. I suppose building your own bike wheel with a couple pounds of suspiciously thin spokes and relatively soft alloy rims and then descending at 70kmh has fewer component redundancies and safety features than the brake system in a car.

thumpism 

Went by the co-op for a stem that cost me a whole $7. I don't care for adjustable stems but this will give me the latitude to tweak the setup at my leisure and get a fixed stem later. This is the bar setup I had planned to put on my Cimarron so that will have to wait.

52telecaster

I worry about the bike too...

joluja 

Finally finished the Teledyne Titan this morning...

Ronsonic 

Prebuilt wheels can be a bargain. Usually less than the cost of the parts. But, I've learned to treat them like a wheel that's been assembled but not yet trued and tensioned. It's like having someone else do the lacing and pre-tension steps.

I've had only one pair that didn't need to be re-worked.

Johno59

Surprisingly well made. Wire brushed, rust converted and new bearings (inside 1/8 outside 5/32) and greased. The locknut design much easier to correctly adjust than most others I'm familiar with.

Heavy rust 70 years old - no problemlemo!

noglider 

Yesterday, I went about replacing the crank with the buggered threads. I tried one last time to thread my extractor in, and I GOT IT! As I threaded it in, it gave no indication that it was cross-threaded except that resistance was high. I took that as a good sign, so I continued pushing through the resistance. As long as it was going in, I was happy because the previous times, the extractor kept popping out. I finally got it in deep enough, and the crank came off. Yay.

I put on the VO triple crankset I bought used, but the small ring rubbed against the frame. Darn. Then I noticed that the crankset came with its own BB. Well waddya know. The new spindle is extremely long. I hope my legs don't mind the bigger Q factor. And I hope the front derailleur can reach out far enough!

I didn't have time to try the new front derailleur I plan to put on.

Here is the crank rubbing the frame, before discovering I have a longer BB.



Here is the entrance to my workshop. In the foreground, you see the little house built around the top of our water well. You also see my wife's cement mixer. She's a power tool maven.

As I was working, I heard all kinds of wild creatures in the upper level above me. I think I heard a rodent walking. I know we've had squirrels. I'm also pretty sure I heard a bird flying inside. What kind of bird would take home in a barn? I also saw a mouse come to my entrance. I shouted at him just for fun. I don't like them in the house, but I don't mind them in the barn.

52telecaster

Most of ur pics dont show, i will say i really like the vo stuff I've used.

noglider 

Please take another look. I hope I've fixed it. And I did test it in a not-signed-in window, and it worked. Grr.

Does anyone know why the VO cranks have two different-styled dust caps? I don't have pictures but can shoot some next weekend.

Mr. 66

Here's the Performance all built. Fast!