Light at the End of the Tunnel

10/13-UPDATE. Arg. It's rainy and humid today--going to have to wait on that second coat of lacquer. I'm outta here for 3 weeks. See you in November!Ah, the end is in sight! All my parts and tools for the reassembly have finally been purchased, and today I put on the first lacquer coat, or clear coat. With the exception of one area on the frame which dripped a bit, it went on really well. I had buffed out the paint to a dull matte finish as recommended before the clear coat, and I was really happy to see the clear coat bring back the gloss and deepen the color. For the buffing, most everything I read said to wet sand with extremely fine sandpaper, but that made me nervous, so I used my "0000" steel wool (dry) to do the job, and it seemed...

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Thoughts on a Quiet Revolution

Wired magazine today covers Interbike 2007, the bicycle industry's annual big hoopla trade show, and refers to a "quiet revolution" away from the high-end, high-performance road bikes and mountain bikes that were so popular during the 1990s and early 2000s. People have realized that getting about in the city is easier on a simpler, more comfortable ride rather than a mountain bike with fourteen kinds of suspension or a road bike that practically forces you to ride like you're in The Tour. The article cites the recent rise of fixed-gear bikes especially, with narrow handlebars for zipping through...

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This is Very Cool

File this under: "A Complete Waste of My Time Today"If you'll take a gander at all the do-dads on the right of your screen, you'll notice my new Google map. I created this to chart the many bike rides around the city that I expect to be taking once my bike is up and running. So far, it's only got the ride around the block I took before deciding to dismantle my bike in July, but I hope it will have a lot more so...

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Grumble

Okay, so I'm not a "bike guy." I know this, I'm okay with it. Why then, does going to a bike shop always make me feel like a second class citizen? I've been to two shops in two days looking for the last components, tools, etc. for my bike. Here's how it went.Bike Shop#1: I went here to get my front rim trued, and to pick up new brake cables, bearing grease, cable cutters, tires, and tubes. I walk in the door with my front rim in my hand. Two employees look at me, turn away, and go back to what they were doing. I was less than five feet from both of them. I lingered near the front, near one side of the counter, trying to catch somebody's eye. When someone finally greeted me, I asked if they could true my rim, and asked about the other...

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The Stencils Turned Out Great!

I'm actually a bit shocked at how well they worked. I was going to wait until everything was put back together to post more pictures, but they turned out so well, I had to show them off. There are some edges that need smoothing and touching up with the red paint, but all-in-all the stencils worked better than I had thought they would. I've still got to do the insides of the letters on the chain guard, but I'll do that next week when I do the red touch ups.Here's the rear fender with the "safety" stripe on the back--wasn't on the original paint job, but I like the way it looks on some of the...

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