Originally Posted by
jdawginsc
Well, I picked up a junkyard Azuki frame that I was going to use for dropout repair practice for another messed up (but more highly regarded by nearly everyone here) bike project, and the bike came with a junk stem in it. I bet its frozen, but if I can unstick it, I'll have a free donor.
This build is a complete set of contradictory, nonsensical goals.
The build is high status...the bike will never be
The bike should be ultralight...but I'm starting with straight gauge gaspipe
I want it to use ultra high end parts...but use homemade stuff wherever I can
I want to build it on the cheap...but I have no budget
Nothing about any of this makes sense, but that is how it's supposed to be, so I guess we are true to the ethos. The original goal was 'hey I wonder what a throwaway bike would ride like with super high-end lightweight components?' I started it without anything else in mind. We've been flying by the seat of our pants on this one, and it has led us down some interesting roads. I've been willing to compromise on some of the original points, provided they meet some other esoteric, unreasonable goals somewhere else.
My hope is that when I ride the bike nearly a hundred miles in two day's time, I won't instantly want to take a chainsaw to it and rip in half. If not, then the bike will be a resounding success and will be further fine tuned. I supposed I'm a bit biased after getting this far, because I've never ridden a Huffy road bike prior to this, and most of my experience is around the mid-tier stuff (Ironman, vintage Trek, Peugeot, etc). And riding the Huffy in original trim just really wasn't that bad. So for most, if a simple wheelset and long-reach centerpull conversion can turn a bike from an unrideable piece of joke garbage to something that someone could actually enjoy, then I'm hoping the project can change some minds. Rest assured that I'm not going to pull any punches....if the bike turns out to be a huge steaming pile, I'm going to call it as such. But I have been pleasantly surprised. Other than some heavy components and some QC issues, the bike is actually a comfy nice riding bike. She's got good bones. I see a lot of potential. Not to mention the bike is fillet brazed...so, elite
So far, you all have seen the deficiencies and the issues I've run into, and I'm hoping the component changes solve most of that. There are a few other speed bumps we've encountered, but nothing that crazy. Yeah its a bit ghetto, but let's be honest, the Raleigh I have (you know, the same Raleigh that people love to turn into Super Ultra Randaneurrisimos) was just as mediocre.
This is probably the funnest bike I've ever had. That same fun is available to you as well - at your local rolloff dumpster
