Mar 28, 2014
Under the microscope
—orc Fri Mar 28 23:55:47 2014
The pink heart is very important!
—orc Fri Mar 28 22:23:14 2014
Mar 25, 2014
The GT sits at Office Depot, with new handlebar tape (I switched handlebars to a pair that had angled drops and while I was at it I replaced the cloth tape with some lilac cork tape I had lying around), a temporary tool roll, and no bicycle pump.
The temporary tool roll & lack of a pump is because when I went to the store Sunday night some entrepreneur decided that my pump + toolroll would look much better on his bicycle. Drat. Pumps are annoying to replace and it took me about half an hour to sew up the toolroll.
—orc Tue Mar 25 21:35:38 2014
Mar 24, 2014
Found in the trash, and worth every penny; a rebadged “SE Draft Lite” frame, in glorious high-tech carbon steel, and now sitting in my basement waiting for me to decide what to do with it.
—orc Mon Mar 24 19:19:51 2014
Mar 22, 2014
Mar 21, 2014
Lord of all it surveys.
—orc Fri Mar 21 20:26:17 2014
Mar 18, 2014
After a considerable delay, I’ve restarted working on the born-again Trek’s weighted companion rando bag. This is going to be a much stripped down rando bag; I don’t use front pockets for very much or rear pockets for anything, so they’re not going onto the bag. It’s going to have a map pocket on top (a small one @ ~6.5×6.5 inches) as is traditional, but I’m going to use pockets (on the front corners) and stretch webbing (to loop around the tombstone) to hold the bag down instead of velcro strips or loops to thread toestraps through.
It’s not really going to be suited for anything longer than a fast 300k (there is almost no room for layers, so unless I took several ultralight windshells I’d end up freezing my butt off on overnight segments) but I can carry a saddlebag if I want to take the born-again Trek out for a 400+k loop (or sew a larger bag for those longer rides.)
Or just take the midlifecrisismobile for those loops (though I need to sew a rando bag for that machine as well!)
—orc Tue Mar 18 19:50:37 2014
Mar 14, 2014
Trying to postulate a spherical Dust Mite of uniform density.
—orc Fri Mar 14 23:43:46 2014
Mar 09, 2014
I needed to respace this hub so that I could fit it into the rear dropouts on the born-again Trek (I want to build up a wheelset for the pair of ztr 355 rims that I was given last december) and it’s not possible to get axle ends for this ancient White hub anymore. So I made one myself, using my drill press as a poor excuse for a lathe. No axle stub (I’m going to Sheldon the thing – if it doesn’t work I can always drill the axle hole wider and press a length of SS tubing into it) and it’s a hair too small in diameter (if it doesn’t work I’ll turn the insert down a little bit and press a length of SS tubing onto it.)
—orc Sun Mar 9 17:29:28 2014
Mar 07, 2014
Dust Mite models a large (12×15) porteur rack.
—orc Fri Mar 7 22:31:16 2014
The rim off a rear wheel I salvaged from the free pile at the bike shop (WTF bikes) next to Brooklyn Pharmacy. I didn’t think that a rim wall could fold over like this without immediately disintegrating, but it turns out that I was wrong.
It’s an awe-inspiring sight.
—orc Fri Mar 7 18:10:40 2014
Mar 05, 2014
Not enough rain to keep me off the bicycle today, but enough to be annoying. Warm+rain is one of the nastier combinations, since a raincoat that’s stout enough to keep the rain off is also unbreathable enough to convert the inside into a bit of a sauna.
—orc Wed Mar 5 22:55:24 2014
Mar 04, 2014
Well, new on this bicycle at least; I sacrificed a set of VO Zepps to the dark gods of 650b (reshaped them down to 650b, which gives me a set of fenders large enough to cover Col de la Vies and maybe even things like the Pacenti Pari-Moto (assuming I can borrow a pair from a friend; I know that Hetres work, but I don’t like their ride, but the Pari-Moto is supposed to have a casing much like the Hutchinson Confrerie.))
—orc Tue Mar 4 21:43:41 2014
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