In two bursts of misprioritized time I finished up the LeTour’s build. In the wee hours of the morning I installed the freewheel and the new/old IRC tires. I fitted the SunTour Blaze derailleurs and shifters, using one new and one used shift cable - call it $4 total, $1 for the used one and $3 for one from the stash. The original chain, post-Evapo Rust bath and soak in 30W, went on next. Once I got the front mech high enough to clear the SR oval chainrings, I was delighted to find it indexes very nicely.
Next was the saddle and seat post. I realize the rails are bent, and I think a taller saddle would let me put just that much more seat post in the frame to meet the minimum insertion line.
Bars and stem were next. and I added the calipers and went to bed.
This morning after breakfast I raided the storage unit for bits I thought I might need. Of course they were in the bottom two Rubbermaid bins in the back of the unit …
I brought back a set of Look pedals ($0, given to me on the Mercian that is now my son’s ride), a Shimano bottom bracket I may install later, a set of Dia-Compe Blaze hoods I didn’t need after all, and all the used bar tape I could find. I’ll have to go back tomorrow for the Vetta saddle that came with a Univega I got last year.
I know it has been suggested that I run the bike with the cockpit arrangement it came with -
- but there are some lines even I cannot cross. So I helped the bike molt, so to speak -
- and got to work. Because the original brake cables were both stainless and good, I wound up greasing them and using the original housings and dialing them in. I was grateful for the brake centering wrench for that!
After realizing I didn’t have enough black bar tape, I decided to go wholly clunker and pieced together the green stuff that came with last year’s Specialized Sirrus.
I took it for a very quick spin around the parking lot and I think I’m going to enjoy this!
