SurferRosa

118.

I had it as a 39/50t. The NR rear mech had no problem with 39x28. Hope I don't miss it too much.

thook

frame!!...identify yerself, please!!

and, any build specs you'd care to share. the apple green matching is super!

jbchybridrider 

My first Microshift and I'm impressed with it. Great quality, well made and light it replicates an early 90's Shimano in many ways.
My Sakae's ready for it's maiden voyage this weekend

Soody

thx man
it's a ~2002 gunnar crosshairs so basically a cyclocross frame I think either true temper ox platinum or 853
36 spoke A719 rims on ultegra and schmidt dynamo hubs
Edelux II light on a bracket made from a centrepull brake arm & sinewave usb charger
campag mirage crank with TA 53/39/26 rings
105 front mech and acera rear
9 speed Dura Ace dt shifters
11-34 cassette with the 11t swapped for a 12t to give a 12-13 shift
nitto noodles, nitto stem, nitto minirack (broken, welded, and now broken again), tubus cargo rear rack, carradice & ortileb bags
shimano CX70 brakes and tiagra levers

here's another touring pic

and it's like this at the moment:

Prowler 

As I was finishing my, so called, career I encountered a term in Her Majesty's ITIL manuals on SW development: "suitable for purpose". Boy did that ring true as so many engineers and techies just keep improving and fussing and running up the bill to achieve perfection when something much less perfect would be entirely sufficient - suitable for it's intended purpose. I thought about this yesterday.

My wife now wants to use her Schwinn Varsity on a stationary trainer this winter, keep the cardio going and the knees moving up and down. OK we can make that happen. Got a fluid trainer, can make a F wheel block. But, as with my winter work bikes, much easier if I get a second R wheel so I can swap it in for stationary work but swap the road wheel back in for that unexpectedly nice day. I visited a friends "stash" and, as I told him, found the ugliest rear wheel in the world. Hub all black and grimy, FW like something from a horror movie, rim rusted and every spoke completely rusted. But it seemed true and the hub felt OK. Took that home and "dusted" it off.

The rim cleaned up pretty well but not great - chromed steel. The spokes were beyond restoration, total rust BUT only surface rust. Wire brushed them (outside in the wind) then smeared motor oil on them. Nice blackish patina now. The hub exterior cleaned up fine, no attempts at polish - not needed. The hub interior was excellent. That old Ross probably did not get 100 miles on it. Dark brown but good grease, excellent cones, balls, cups, axle. I cleaned that all up and applied fresh grease. It now spins beautifully. Lovely pendulum action. And the rim is true. Very fortunate as I doubt any of the spoke nipples would have turned, no chance of adjustment. Oh, and the Suntour Perfect 5sp FW came off easily and cleaned up very well.

So now it's no longer the ugliest rear wheel in the world. Not pretty so I'll put it under the bike's saddle so no one has to look at. Don't care about the lousy steel rims, you never use the brakes on a trainer. I care about bearings and they are great. Same for the FW. Mount a decent 27" road tire and "let er rip". Suitable for purpose, and free.

thook

there was a point i really wanted a gunnar. a custom 650b crosshairs, no less! i like how you kept yours low key on the graphics. and, the caliper arm light mount is neat...lol!

thanks for sharing the details. i wouldn't have guessed a gunnar, but figured it probably wasn't c&v because of the sloped top tube. the build certainly gives it the looks, though!!

ryansu

Noodling around with the Allez I got from @tricky . It was a great deal but came sans wheels. I found an old Takara on CL for cheap with upgraded 700c wheels I couldn't tell much from pictures but I could see a Mavic sticker on the rims so I figured it was worth a shot. Upon inspection the hubs were Ultegra! I paid the man. I have been waiting around on a spacer so I can mount the 7 speed cassette I picked up for the wheel, it arrived this week and as @canklecat assured me the Suntour GPX RD indexes to a 28t cog even though Velobase said the max was 23t. Still some work to do but it indexed to all gears from the start so I've got that going for me.

Kdogbikes

Paint stripping. At 55 degrees to cold to work. Maybe try to get some movement on the post instead.

bikemig 

I've been working on mountain bikes lately. I finished up my 1993 Bridgestone MB 1 last week. And I finished rebuilding my 1992 Trek 950 this weekend. The bike needed a new bottom bracket. It came to me with Origin 8 v brakes that were not very good; the integrated brake/shifters that came on it had died as well.

So I replaced the bars with a trekking bar and decided to go with thumb shifters. I replaced the v brakes with tektro CR 720s and kool stop pads. Those are great brakes

I'm really, really happy with how the bike came out. The trekking bars are a blast and really comfy. I used some planet bike century gel pads as well on the bars and they help. The Continental Travel Contact 26 x 1.75 tires are excellent as well.

billnuke1 

The owne of the campground that we frequent brought me this gem to look at...work on today.
Nothing really expected...he knows I can’t help but find problems...and fix them!
Pretty much most problems were from over zealous tightening.
Finger tight with a 10” monkey wrench!
Interesting REI Novara single speed...with a Superb crank setup!
Fixed everything and went back to campin’...



Loosened chain, pedal innards, brakes...it’s a bike again!


Campfire perfection!

ryansu

Love that Biplane fork.

Soody

Thanks man. I got it beat up and cheap used after years of cross racing and it's been great. I don't regret de-stickering with a hair drier and a video store card. I'm against it in principle and i wish i could rep the brand but GUNNAR CROSSHAIRS just sounds too militaristic for a touring bike you prop up on strangers gates in the middle of nowhere to ask for water.

Kdogbikes

After 5 days of PB blaster and a bmx stem and some random forks, the seatpost was free. No heat or hammer.
Closeup pic of the fillet brazing seat tube junction.

thook

beat up and cheap....i like it! good find!

militaristic? i'd never thought of it like that, but i see the point. and, you're actually not the first person i've ever read to frown on the model's name....lol. i do like the headbadge; the chainring and dog paw. but, then, i love dogs! and, bikes....of course

SurferRosa

DQRider 

Just finished my Trek build, and it rides beautifully. The 35mm tires make a huge difference.



I took it for a nice long ride around the neighborhood yesterday.



The 9-speed Deore is perfect for this kind of City Bike action.



It's a nice, stylish addition to my growing collection. Next up: Either the 1984 Dawes Ranger MTB (531 frame), or the 1986 Raleigh Portage.



.

nesteel 

Beautiful. Much want in that pic..............

malcala622

No actual wrenching but steady handling and a small buffing wheel from Harbor Freight works wonders.

gugie 

Working on a bunch of mods on yet another Raleigh Gran(d) Sport(s), this time for @bwilli88. This one will be a 5 speed IGH frame with top tube cable routing, old school with a pulley on the top of the seat tube, brazed on centerpulls, and a Wald Woodie rack. We had some issues getting the rack attachment playing nicely with the centerpulls, but came up with a solution.


Note: pictured abo e is not the Woody rack, it's the same model without wood insert.


Later today I had a long distance visitor, @skipmontanaro and his local Portland son Portland came by the Atelier. I love having new visitors and meeting other BF members. Pix or it didn't happen!



me, Skip and Chris

noglider 

I love the work you're doing on that Gran Sport, and I like the other Gran Sport in the background.

noglider 

Last week at the bike coop, one of the visitors (BF member @jethin) volunteered to take a junk bike out of the pile and make it ready for sale. It had a mangled fork, so we picked through the pile to find a suitable replacement fork. The steerer tube was too long, so we got out the die and cut new threads on it. It was definitely a two-person job. It was nerve-wracking to make sure the threads went on straight and we didn't wear the die out too much. It's nice to have the proper tools. The one thing we didn't have was something to hold the fork while one person turned the die. The other person just leaned on the fork on top of the workbench.

Yesterday I went on a trail ride with five other people. One rider's chain broke. It was a 10-speed chain. A few of us helped him remove the bad link and rivet his chain back together even though you're not supposed to rivet modern chains shut. It held up for the rest of the day, and he will replace the entire chain.

I guess I should put a spare master link in my tool kit. These modern chains don't hold up so well.

tricky 

I am excited to see this coming together so well!

Duralumin

I just replaced not one but two broken spokes on the rear wheel of my Huffy Sportsman ladies 3-speed. Funny though I built these wheels up with all new WS spokes. Second time I had to take the wheel off to do this. I'm about 182 and hard on bikes with the climbing here, I can't go anywhere from my house, literally not even around the block without some steep climbing needing to happen. Rims are Mavic aluminum 650A that I got off eBay a few years ago, snagged them immediately. I have never seen this rim before or since. I also have a black Sears ladies 3-speed I'm rebuilding which I can tell by the fork, frame, front sprocket and components it is a rebranded Huffy. Finally I have an all chrome Sears Fleetwood ladies three speed, also Huffy. Of course it's apart to, it's getting everything rebuilt and new Panaracer Col De La Vie Randonnee tires and all new cables/housings and brake pads. Keeping the chrome bike original but the black Sears will get upgraded with side pull brakes, I found a great dual pivot one for the front. Japanese Panaracer tires will go on that one too. Love them Shimano 3-speed hubs, I climb up the really steep hills where I live and expect to hear a crunch but never do. Love the twist shifter. Love them hand brazed Huffy frames, the very solid nicely chromed double wall but not as heavy as Schwinn Araya rims. And especially the furnace brazed fork with stamped crown is a nice example of American manufacturing practical affordable bikes. These 70's Huffys were not at all poorly made. I guess I'm a big fan of the mid-70's Huffy ladies 650A bikes since I have three of them now. They each have their own personality.

bgolda

Just about to start a Colnago neoretro build with full campy Veloce group.

noglider 

I volunteered at the bike coop as I do most Monday nights. One of the highlights was teaching TWO people to true their own wheels. I also helped a guy tune his derailleur by showing him how to use the derailleur hanger gauge. All of this while his chain was terribly worn, but he can't afford to replace it yet, so we compromised on our expectations of performance. He was happy.

There was a third person using the truing stands. He was finishing up his own wheel which he didn't need help with. It had one of those top of the line dynamo hubs. Very cool. It was a ~1979 Centurion Le Mans. I noticed he had the original steel rims. He built a dynamo front wheel with a steel rim. Of course, I didn't mention that alloy rims are worth having. Hey, he can replace his rim any time he wants, given that he can build wheels, and that's pretty good.