How's your winter project coming?
 

I guess I can file this under "harmless lies we tell ourselves." ... A couple of weeks ago, I bought a Cannondale touring bike. I told myself it would be a nice winter project. I even mentioned in the thread I started for it that because we were heading into rainy season I wouldn't feel rushed.

So, as the clock rolls over and the third day of winter starts, it seems like a good time to assess my progress. I need to run brake cables, wrap the handlebars, and put on some bottle cages and it will be done. :o

I seem to have only two possible outcomes with my winter projects. One is like this one. The other is like the '73 Nishiki that I said was going to be my winter project for four years straight before I finally finished it up in the summer of 2020.

Is it just me? How is your winter project coming?

Its not just you, I have a major project that has been at least 70-80% done for about 2 months. :wtf:

Could probably close the deal with half a days work by getting off my azz and just finishing it.

Maybe after Christmas. :roflmao2:

My winter project is coming along swimmingly, but you'll have to go back to Winter 2019/2020 in the English three speed thread to see pics. I managed a shakedown ride that Spring to check for fit them got too sick to continue. Been restricted to indoor cycling ever since. I'm going to put a chrome drop bar with a cool Sturmey bar con on it and change out the 47 YO tires this winter.

My winter project is next to last years winter project.

Looks like I'm over ambitious. Two frame sets will be back from the powdercoater Monday and I'll drop a third off. Fourth and fifth are in the shop as they don't need re-finishing. sixth is still in the strip/assessment stage. All will be on CL/Marketplace by mid-April. AND I've got something special cooking for my own self.

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I just hung my summer project back on the ceiling..... and had to go up in the attic and have a little talk with the winter project about expectations...

I seem to have gone on a buying spree, accumulating a variety of winter projects, mostly to keep myself distracted from my day job:

1974 Mercian: I’m actually just about finished with this one and took it for its inaugural ride earlier this week. Just waiting for new brake pads to arrive as the current ones only suggest stopping.
1986 Raleigh Grand Prix: This came as a frameset and awaits cleaning up after I installed the headset and fork. I test fitted it with a 650b x 38mm wheelset that was on a different bike, and they fit, so now I need to strip the rest of the parts off of that other bike and install on the Raleigh once I shine it up.
1938 Maclean: Another frameset acquisition. It’ll be an IGH build but haven’t decided on a wheel set as 27”, 700c, EA3, and EA1 are all possibilities.
1971 Fuji Finest: Came as a frameset plus a bunch of original parts. Finish is pretty beat. At first, I thought I’d just strip the paint and go with an all-chrome look, but I’m worried the chrome under the paint won’t be particularly well polished. Instead, I’ll likely try an oxalic acid bath first to see if that helps. Build will likely be a 1x 5 or 6.
1990-ish Specialized HardRock: Plan it to clean this one up (acquired for little money) and install the 7-speed group set that came off of a trash picked MTB. I’ll then sell or just give away in the spring.

Now the most immediate thing I should do is deal with the rear flat on my Black Mtn Road, as that’s the bike I’ll use through the winter.

The worst is done; paint stripping. Waiting for a bit of warm to start painting. I can heat the garage up to painting temp if it's >45 outside. which might be this Friday.

2 x 10 speed touring bike on a 25" Centurion frame, Shimano drivetrain sourced from The Box and the net. The gearing is fairly extreme and I'm counting on Shimano's specs to hold true. 50 x 34 front with an 11 x 36 rear.

Hoping to use this on the Erie Canal trail (flat!!!) in the summer, as well as the Catskills (OMG Not Flat!!).

I have just finished up building a bike for my grandson. He is still very small, and a long way from a nice bike, so I built a StingRay frankenbike. Started with the frameset from a 1966 Schwinn Buddy, added a bunch of reproduction and used parts. It will be good for him to run around his neighborhood on it.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...49b8371325.jpg

I just changed out the handlebars on my Lemond Buenos Aires. The ergo style didn't really fit me well, and I got these with another project.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e7b123e818.jpg

My bigger bike project is a modern "gravel" bike, so that will eventually get posted elsewhere.

The '72 PX-10 I acquired a couple weeks ago is stripped, mostly cleaned. I need to source some 700c wheels & rubber, derailleurs, cables and a few other little things for it, do some more polishing and start re-assembly. My 'workshop' is an unheated basement, so temperature is a 'limiting' factor...!
The 80s Peugeot touring bike I've resuscitated for my partner is 90% done, just needs new pedals, a seat and fenders.
Not much of a 'project', but adding low-rider racks and front panniers to my vintage Cannondale tourer is on the 'winter' list, too.

I'm glad that finally showed up. I saw that it got stuck in the FedEx Black Hole of Troutdale for a bit.

We're planning to do the E/W (Erie) part of the Empire trail next summer, too! Elevation-wise, the east-west (or west-east, as we'll do it) doesn't look bad at all- at least a lot easier than the north-south route!

I'm also planning West > East. Will cut south just before Albany to get home, getting all my elevation in the last 20 miles through the Helderbergs. Or call for a pickup :).

Yeah, FedEx was extremely lacking in providing updates for several days, but it did show up in fine shape. Thanks!

My frame is at the painter in CA, and my office has parts everywhere as some are being cleaned/reconditioned and some are being replaced. Have several parts orders out and hopefully am recovered from hernia surgery by late January when I hope to start getting updates on the frame progress.

Weather cooperating, hope to have my (only) bike back together and on the road by the end of February.

My winter project is finding room for piles of stuff so I can get to my winter project.

Don't have a specific build for the winter this year, but just gradually getting the maintenance done on some of the fleet. The Ironman got a new Sram 9s chain, cassette & chainrings cleaned. I may get another season out of the Michelin Pro4 tires on it, but they have some sidewall abrasion issues. Thinking about picking up new tires for it.

Also, after trying out a pair of SPD pedals I decided I like them better than the Look Keo system, so I'm making that conversion as well.

It's on hold until after Christmas and after I recover from yet another concussion and other fall related stuff. It's a 90's Calfee Tetra Pro, one of the old italian BB ones that take an odd length BB. I've decided to just get a Phil Wood one but am holding off spending the money until next month.....probably.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c897b66195.jpg
Going for a mostly Campagnolo silver bit build, I think.

But I'm also sitting here perusing the local classifieds for an old school MB to set up for riding right now. The Azor is a tricky handling beast on the snow with the regular tires on it and all. The old Raleigh Mojave 8 winter bike was borrowed by my son and left when he moved a year ago. I've got some 26" studded tires, fenders, and racks in the garage so I just need a cheap donor and can be back up on a winter ride again. So that may become another project soon. In fact, there's an 87 Schwinn Sierra for $80 that's available close to me. May be just the ticket.

And here I thought you had given up on vintage bikes! It's shocking to hear that the Black Mtn is suffering neglect.

I suppose the winter project is finding a framebuilder with TIG welding capabilities to repair the crack where the top tube and head tube meet on my newly-acquired Ritchey Break Away. :cry:

I consulted with gugie on the matter, who suggested possibly Breadwinner in Portland. I contacted Dave Levy at TiCycles, who quoted $500, which included replacing the head tube, and a date of July 2022. I've also sent an email out to Keith Lippy here in Salem, who is technically retired from framebuilding, but has apparently done repairs for others in the area recently. I haven't heard back from him yet.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3d19ea3ff5.jpg

Paint stripping was where my Nishiki project stalled. I got it down to bare metal and then it sat like that for a few years while I looked for and failed to find the motivation to paint it.

My "other" winter project is to do something about the paint on my Gitane. From 10 feet away the (original) paint looks great, but up close it's got a lot of ugly blotches from a previous owner painting over bare spots with paint that didn't quite match. My plan is to rough sand it and paint over the whole frame with rattle can. The problem is, my painting space is outside (under my back deck) and I might not get a suitably dry day until June.

I’ll be happy jf I find time to rotate the tires and oil the chain.

Need to build some wheels to get the Ciocc back on the road.

What happened to FedEx? They used to be reliable. Earlier this summer, it took almost a month for my Bianchi frame to get to Oregon from Kansas. I think one of their oxen died along the way. And then for the last week tracking showed it at various places in the Portland area and twice was listed as out for delivery without actually being delivered. I finally changed the delivery location to a local FedEx store and went to get it myself. A friend who works at a local bike shop told me that because of the odd dimensions of bike boxes they often end up in the back of the truck and the driver decides it's not worth the trouble to dig it out.

Ouch! That's heart breaking!

Our daughter's boyfriend works for FedEx, and he offered some insight as to their operations. Apparently sometime in the last several years, FedEx went from being a wholly-consolidated company to a franchise model, leaving independent operators much greater leeway in operations than a carrier like UPS. He indicated that this has not necessarily been a good thing, and that UPS was definitely a better choice as a shipper in most cases.