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Finally got the 84 Chas Roberts back together. Rode down to shop while passing thru London on way to NZ, Chas said that’s one of my dad’s bikes when I met him. The pound was really cheap, so I asked about a bike to pick up on return in 10 weeks, no problem, since I was not a racer, he offered up an audax, or ‘club’ bike. Asked to be all campag, didn’t discuss tubes. Rode it a lot, but finally had some bad rust on top tube. Took the frame to Groody Brothers, in west KC, around 2012. Fun to see the ATSF Argentine yard, across the street, as I was working as a switchman for them in OKC. Then the frame sat, finally putting it back together. When the bike arrived home, Chas had used Simplex shifters rather than campag, as I later learned was normal. It’s still a nice ride, w/o pump or water bottle, 9.4 kgs on my luggage scale. Ordered decals from Roberts a long time ago, and asked if they knew what tubes the bike had, and they sent some Reynolds Super Tourist decals. It’s as light as any other bike I have, Reynolds 531 Pro, Columbus SLX, and Super Vitus 980, so I wonder what tubing it actually is. Nice lug work.

These Campagnolo pedals I recently bought were pretty rough, the left one especially, which was previously built two balls short in both cups. :wtf:

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After an overhaul and some paint, I think they'll work.

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We referred to those we thought lacking in skills on the railroad as two bricks short of a load….

We called it, "Couldn't find their way out of a one door room".

On a recent pickup the bb was installed way too tight. It felt good after adjusting, mostly. Upon removing inspection showed otherwise, a massive amount of grind on the nds, and a deep pit on the drive. Oh this was frustrating, until I realized I had a NIB OEM, YES!
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d2ebdef97.jpegAs you can see above the pitting, you may also note that the dust cover allen stripped the hex. I drilled the cover and used a pin wrench for removing.
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The dirt, grime, crust, and rub down of Meguires Carnuba Wax cleaned just about all. A rub of turtle wax rubbing compound has freshened the light scuffs on the clear celeste metallic. A light rust stain remains on the fork from the on board computer sensor.
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The headset was also very, very tight. That was inspected, not bad, not good, in need of the loose ball treatment for the lower stack.

The original saddle was replaced with a woman’s version of the Avocet touring I. At minimum insert the ITM seatpost is not enough for the 66. A spare ti-flight with the crook Thompson has been put in its place.

The wheels are worn on brake tracks, the tires were mismatched and dry rotted. The spoke’s tension was all over the place, have been retuned. Good news! Rims are straight and true, with nice even tension. The front hub is missing a dust cover on one side, dang. An initial few drops of oil in the bearings tells that side is probably ok. The front felt normal roll :)

The 600 group is in ok shape, levers and hoods very nice. The shifters are soft between 3 and 4. The front derailer is good. The rear derailer, while it follows commands shifts correctly, does have a lot of clatter needs attention if not hanger alignment should be replaced.

The bar wrap, from top to bottom, needs a rewrap on the lower on the drive side. Here is how it looked on the test ride last night.
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I have lowered the stem 1/4” since this picture was taken.

Cinelli - Break down and pack, sending to a friend
Originally was planning to pack small, with both wheels off, box was too narrow to make that happen, had to backtrack and put back wheel on again. Bike is very secure in box and (fingers crossed) just under the dims where the price doubles.
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[MENTION=181693]bikamper[/MENTION], I really enjoy displaying reverse snobbery. I've brought a lot of clunker bikes to rides where people have fancy bikes. You can be proud when you keep up with everyone.

It often works out well when you do something as radical as changing the type of handlebars, but not always. I have a 1971 Super Course, same color and geometry. I put on North Road (swept way back) bars, and it didn't work well. The bike was unstable and had floppy steering. It seems to want some weight on the front end. I think bullmoose handlebars will be fine.

Mine is 21-1/2 but I don't think I can use your bigger size. Try it, and you might find it's not as bad as you think. Ideally I should ride a 22-1/2, but up or down an inch is fine.

My #1 rider is a 21 1/2 Super Course which fits me like a glove. The 23 1/2 size is actually ok given the relatively short top tube. Standover height is the only issue. It’s a bit snug where you really don’t want it to be. 22 1/2 would probably work. But I have almost everything I need so why not? I’ll enjoy the build and will be sure to take it on at least one repack style off-road bomber decent before I pass it along to the next owner. That said, if anyone is looking to trade please let me know.

I picked up a Schwinn Varsity last fall and replaced the minimum to make it rideable (brake pads, cables, tires). Recently I needed to downsize and listed a half dozen bikes locally. A Schwinn Continental sold lickety split. So I figured if that is what will sell to make room I decided to do a full service on the Varsity. Good thing too as the grease was dry as a popcorn fart. No pitting and all the caged bearings are reuseable.

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I have been working on the paint on my FW Evans and I had decided to do it in British Racing Green with yellow highlights. While I was spraying the seat and head tubes with the yellow, I like how it looked so much that I was tempted to keep going and paint the whole bike yellow. Ultimately, I decided to stick with my original plan, but I think I know what my next project will be.:love:

Spending a relaxing Friday evening engaged in the sordid task of sorting stuff. Finally getting the not-3/8-26 nuts away from the 3/8-26, finding a smattering of seat binder bolts, and making nefarious plans for colorful quick releases.

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Some pictures as promised.
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About 90% complete now. New tyres fitted and a period correct bottle holder. New hoods for the brake levers and a new chain on the way.
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The 48 teeth inner gear changed for a 42. Nice panto outer gear with plenty miles left.
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And the unmistakeble Chesini down tube shifters.
The frame has not been repainted so some marks and scratches add to its character!

Finished up a rehab on a 73 Schwinn Varsity. I went for a ride to the neighborhood baseball field and stopped for a photo op.

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Spent much of the day on work for a client preparing for an upcoming meeting, so it's nice to unwind by getting the fixie ready for tomorrow's club ride. Plus peeling sun-wrecked covers off some old saddles, and stretching a few new covers on to extend their useful lives.

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bikamper that looks like a cool motorcicle Mr. 66 Beautiful LImited! I love that Metallic Celeste which was only used on two models.

It’s a chilly start to day here on the edge of the prairie and they are calling for storms about the time it gets warm enough for me to ride. So I'm going to at least try and keep mostly on my feet doing stuff. No not housework I have more important things to do. Poor Samantha got booted from the stand and Barbara Batavus is up to get a new tire.
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Not sure how many miles are on this old Rally. I had the wheels built around 2003 from some almost NOS rims and hubs from a warranty bin or something, but they didn't see much use until arounf 2012 or so
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This looks to be culprit!! Not much more than a block and half - tweo blocks from home! I just walked back and grabbed Esmarelda and had a nice ride despite the constant stiff breeze
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Finished! I should have switched to tape decades ago, it’s so easy. I must have removed this tire off a wheel I sold or something, it looks in good shape and held air overnight so it’s “good to go”. In the fall of 2022 someone had a big sale on Rally tires so I bought a few and I just mounted he last two for stretching today. I must have done something to me settings or something, I thought I could add music to video on the youtubes.

After finishing PBP, albeit poorly; having several 24TTs under my belt, and done retired after almost 55 years in the work force, I think I have earned the right to be a bit of a curmudgeon.:50:

Bianchigirll That motorcicle is more fun than you are legally allowed to have. It attracts old dudes and families with little kids. I let the kids sit in the sidecar so their parents can take the kids pictures. I'll give Veterans rides.

Moar tube testing & patching! This time with a friend helping. One more bin emptied and 5-6 more to go.

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I'm beginning to suspect this tube is just deciding to be a pain in the butyl...
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My brother in law said Here, take this. I had overhauled it for him years ago but he didn't ride it much. Trying to decide if I should sell it or strip it.
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It's been really fun! We went to the thrift store and a local shop/museum called Bicycle Heaven on saturday to pick up a couple of parts bikes to finish up the stingray build. got a 20" kids' bike to take wheels and BB/crankset from, and an old beater 3-speed cruiser for the internally geared hub. She's running single speed for now, but I'm going to clean up/overhaul the 3-speed hub and build a new wheel for her.

Thanks for info! The hub I ended up finding on the parts bike is a shimano 333. I only learned recently that Shimano made 3-speed hubs, and I understand that they're more complicated than the proper English 3-speeds, but for $15 for a whole bike, you can't really go wrong. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's a coaster brake, so we'll have to see about a braking solution when the time comes to swap the wheel. With the 20" wheels that are on it now, I'm not sure calipers would reach the rims. I've seen some clamp-on v-brake bosses, but I'm not sure how confident I am in those. We'll figure it out though.

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The only direction I would suggest is to look at the Sheldon Brown caliper brake page for more ideas on mounting,
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/calipers.html
Good luck with that Shimano hub, I've never been into one of those.

So I teased this build last week. Spent all day yesterday building the bike. Went on a longish mixed surface shakedown ride this morning and really enjoyed it! It’s a bit tall for me but top tube is only 22in so it actually fits me better than I thought. Standover is a bit snug but not uncomfortable.

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Only "snug" if you don't come to an emergency stop...
Love the gearing for just about any ride you might like to take!

Nothing exciting but still some wrenching this afternoon. First task- swapped saddles on the Trek 800 I'm selling for a friend and put the saddle from the 800 on his 2014 CAADX.

Installed Shimano pedals on my wife's Verve 3 and the Quick 1 to replace the Raceface Rides.

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Then I did a back to back comp of the CAADX to a 2004 Trek 2300 the same friend picked up. Yeah, the 2300 was the winner.
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Spent about a half hour in the garage this afternoon (98 degrees out) swapping out handlebars on my Revolution E-Stay.
Added a period set of Scott AT-4 bars. Still need to get a new roll of black bar tape to wrap them though.

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