Clyde1820

More of a "What have I not been wrenching on?" post.

Been seriously delayed on a project, awaiting on parts availability since last February. Just got the last of them in, today. And, wouldn't you know it, timing's bad right now and there are other projects needing attention first. *sigh*

Hopefully within the next month I'll be able to get the bike put together and tuned, along with a few photos posted here.

The build: 1996 Trek 970 ZX triple-butted OX III, Surly Troll rigid fork, 2x11spd Shimano Deore XT drive train (34/24T w/ 11-42T), Wipperman ConneX chain, thumbies shifters, the original Deore LX brakes, custom Velocity CliffHanger wheel build w/ ReneHerse RTP 26x2.3", a Brooks B67 saddle w/ Cirrus Kinekt BodyFloat suspension post, and upright/swept bars.

Pending installation of derailleurs, chain, cabling.

Looking forward to finally being able to ride the thing, instead of waiting on parts for 10 months.

Murray Missile 

Well, it's not C&V but yesterday my soon to be 10 Yr. old Grandson and I put together the MTB "kit" I gave him for Christmas. He had outgrown his BMX bike and wanted a MTB so he could keep up with his friends on theirs. He and his Mom were asking me advice on getting him a bike last Fall while the shortage was still going on. After they left I was looking around the shop at my parts and got the idea to build him one as I had most of the new parts already on hand. Then it hit me to have him help build it , Mom and Dad thought that was a great idea as it would give him a better appreciation of the value of it. To get him through the rest of the year they found a Roadmaster at WalMart which at the time was no small feat, the Roadmaster will probably be kept as a "guest" bike when his cousins come to visit. I rounded up the rest of the pieces including the NOS Marin frame, I hid the parts in a spare bedroom. Christmas Eve I wrapped the cable guide that goes under the bottom bracket and gave that to him for Christmas then brought the rest out after he unwrapped the guide. He had no clue what it was and I told him it was a puzzle piece and that he and I were going to put it together. You should have seen his face when I rolled out the loosely assembled fork, frame and wheels. We were initially going to put it together New Years Day but had to postpone the build because of weather but we finally got it done yesterday.,

We had a great time and he was seriously interested in how things went together so I made sure he got as much hands on with it as possible. He not only has a cool bike that should last him a long time, well at least until he out grows it, but he can take credit for helping build it. It was a blast, however our photographer got distracted talking recipes with our D-I-L so the photo record is incomplete. I also had to deal with their Chocolate Lab "retrieving" my tools LOL. Since he had such a good time I suggested to his Dad that he could help me rebuild his BMX bike when the weather gets decent again.

Unfortunately everything here is snow and ice covered right now so he only got to do some very tiny laps in the garage.

sd5782 

I got brave and/or ambitious and got the cottered BB apart on my 1964 Frejus. I was previously afraid to attempt it with the rare steel 3 armed crank. I had done one before on a vintage Raleigh 3 speed. I knew it wasn’t a delicate operation. I had previously dribbled some lube down the seatpost. I believe it reached the bearings as some came out the spindle previously.

Anyhow, it came apart with a little persuasion and all was well inside but in need of some grease. No pits and bearings looked good. I was under the assumption that all was stock inside, but sometime in the past it may have been apart as I encountered a plastic Sugino accordion style bearing protector inside. Also, the spindle machining would be an embarrassment to the Japanese from the 80s.

Put it all back together with 11 new loose 1/4” balls on each side like I took out. Hopefully good for years now as this bike is just a 5 time a year Sunday rider.

Clyde1820

Very cool.

Plus, since he now knows quite a bit more about how the parts work and go together, when he gets stranded for whatever reason he'll likely have a very good idea of what the problem is. Always useful to know.

Looks like he's pleased. Great project.

Drillium Dude 

Swapped out an Atom 77 for a Campy alloy FW on the Colnago Mexico. It's a fair-weather rider, and we're having precious little of that lately. Just having fun wrenching a bit, I guess, while stuck indoors.

My assistant is already bored and ready to bail:



Guess I'll have to finish up on my own - good thing I've got the right tool for the job:



Finito:



DD

jdawginsc 

Came out pretty darn cool...

Murray Missile 

Thanks. I told him I didn't expect him to remember everything I showed him but that somewhere down the road he'd remember it. Kid is smart he's been getting straight A's in school all school year so far. He was asking lots of questions about how the derailleurs and brakes work. I think we have a future engineer in the family. Yeah, he's pretty proud, not just of his new bike but that he helped put it together. When the bike is just a memory he's still have that feeling of accomplishment to call up.

velojym

Scraping up parts to do something with the Ocelot. Figure it'd be a good 'world tourer' or loaded monstercross type beast... or really my Winter/bad weather beater. The handebar is from my Kona KtS, and I have some long pull drop bar brake levers to handle the v-brakes. I have a set of fenders, and am just waiting for the bottom bracket (I have another crankset waiting to go on here). Also, some Conti touring tires, though I've had a pretty good time with these Rubenas.

abshipp 

Dealt with my first stuck fixed cup last night

Wrench didn't work.

Wrench plus hammer didn't work.

PB blaster plus wrench plus hammer didn't work. (This is English threaded, right? It's got to be!)

PB blaster plus vice almost didn't work! (Stupid swivel base!)

Everything's out and happy now though, and the effort yielded a NJS 7200 BB.

I'll use some grease when I install the next one

Clyde1820

Well, there's periodic maintenance on such bikes that I'm sure he'll get a kick out of learning how to do. Tube repair, brake pad swap and tuning, cable swap along with derailleur tuning. All good future mini-projects you can do with him.

As for the memories: he'll probably always remember doing it all with grandpa, as well. And that's a memory that won't easily fade. (I remember the sprinkler system I put in with grandpa, along with digging all the holes for the new trees getting planted. Won't mention the toilet swap, as I've blocked out that one, but all the rest were 'priceless.' Funny what you learn as a kid, when you've got a handyman for a grandpa.)

Your next project: see if you can keep ahead of the guy, once he gets completely comfortable on the thing. An increasingly tough challenge, I suspect. Enjoy every precious moment.

Murray Missile 

I suggested to his Dad that he help me fix his BMX bike and then he can sell it, he thought that was a great idea. I'm kind of surprised Dad let the BMX get in disrepair but it did so I'll take advantage of the opportunity to teach him more. I was just about his age when I tore my bike apart and put it back together just to see what made it go. Admittedly it took me a few tries to get it back together LOL but I did, after that it became a Spring ritual.

MNCycling

I am currently overhauling my Reparto Corse. Just waiting on the down tube shifters to arrive and taking off the brifters. It is turning out nice, for my first bike “re-build”.

Wildwood 

Getting one ready for chain & final rd tune. Check every nut/bolt/pad/etc.

The Bianchi (1st celeste for me) deserved a mock-up for other pictures But is 2nd in line to Rickert; or maybe build two-atta-time? No rush on either, all parts (seeming) on-hand for both.



Rainy day morning - the news is so bad, it is Allman Bros Band on the cable music channel.. edit = it switched to Meatloaf (yeackk) for the pic.


edit: Or better wIth tanwalls?
luckily these 27mm (measured) tires fit under these brakes with 2.5-3mm to spare.


Didn’t have the heart to move Pete for a pic.

Johno59

Removed the 'fixed' bearing race.As always a bear to remove, especially as the BB shell had been pounded by something. It had been on there since 1980.

The hole had been elongated by the axle rubbing on it after the bearings had broken their cage thru lack of grease. I can't imagine what it sounded like going down the road to wear the race in such a manner.

xiaoman1 

Wildwood,
Tan looks better to me, but I know it's a personal choice.
BTW nice to have a "watchdog"
Best, Ben

SurferRosa

Does @Wildwood need a grub screw for his SR rd?

Mad Honk 

Perhaps the spring for the chain cage is set to the weakest position. Or you may be right missing grub screw . I have been using some stainless rod to make replacements here in the shop. Smiles, MH

Mr. 66

The mint white bianchi got some new Campy cranks to go with the seatpost.

Johno59

For crying out loud - change the damn black quill stem....please!

BFisher

@Wildwood, Those tan walls beat out the black walls for me.

Nice bike.

Mad Honk 

I had a chance today to work on the bike Francophile said I could keep after finding it in a friend's parking lot. It has been sent out for coating and is now well cured and today it got decals from Velocals. Interesting install of the decals but following instructions (remember the RTFM mantra) they were relatively easy to apply. I'm glad this model only had a few decals. Next step is to do the clear coat and move forward. I'm in luck, the War Department approves of this one so I think it will get to stay. Pics below and the next step will be whether to build clinchers or tubulars. Smiles, MH

thook

love the color!!

clubman 

The ONLY bike with colour matched wheel reflectors that look great!

jdawginsc 

Thanks!

Mad Honk 

@hazetguy Does that Sun unit still work?
Today I worked on re-creating a bottom bracket tool I used in the 70's. It locks into the fixed cup and it threads against itself so It can't slip and works on both left and right handed cups. A very simple design that just works. The working looks a bit unrefined but will remove fixed cups. Depending on which side of the tool you tighten it moves both right and left thread designs. The nuts are race car lug nuts with a bit of lug stud welded into one end with an extension that is welded into a 1/2 inch drive hard socket. I need to bit more cleaning of the welds and then paint but I have a new tool I haven't seen in a long time. Smiles, MH