Bike SOLD!

We had a busy but enjoyable Christmas. Now I am trying to catch up on missed sleep, just in time to get off schedule again due to New Years, but it's all good!

A friend came over last night and we were hanging out in the bike shop. He spotted the rebuilt Takara and offered to buy it right there. So I sold my first rebuild. WooHoo! Friend also has some other bikes he said he will pay me to tune-up and another friend wants his wife's bike tuned up. So it looks like I may have a few side jobs for minor stuff. It works for me.

Bike Kid's K2 Hardtail is all tuned-up, works as good as new. Now I'm disecting Capt'n Balance's 20 year old rigid Cannondale.

We had a difficult time getting the rear wheel off, the axle bolt on 1 side was seized. Fourtunately he never had a flat tire on any of our rides last summer, there would have been no way to get that tire off with a bike multi-tool. Not impossible to fix a flat with the tire on the bike, but more difficult.

I overhauled the hubs last night, good thing a few friends were over, there was NO WAY I was going to get the freewheel off. It took 2 guys, both well over 6 ft tall, much bigger than Capt'n Balance (although the Capt'n is very strong) and huge hands, as big a frying pan, straining to get that freewheel off. 20 years of tightening with each pedal stroke, you can imagine how tight it was.

Then flushed out the freewheel with lube, put it all back together and mounted the Ice Spikers. Way easier to get those tires on than the Nokian on my bike.

Today I will overhaul the roller-cam brakes, the rollers don't roll anymore. Replace the chain, lube up the cables, replace if necessary. I'm not going to get into the bottom bracket today, maybe in a few weeks. It rotates nice and smooth with no play, so I think it's fine for now.

Hopefully we will be up for a ride tomorrow. I don't plan on celebrating too much tonight, I don't like missing a day to recover.

Happy New Year!

Studs

Sorry guys, I'm not talking about you

I bought Capt'n Balance Schwalbe Ice Spiker studded tires.

They are damn sexy....as studs should be

There is something about bad boys that attract girls, and these are some Bad Boy tires.

Now to all you guys, it's a known fact that bike guys are stud-ly, so puff out your chests, grab a beer, do some struttin and tell some lies, you are a STUD.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Shopping

We rented a hotel room in Anchorage Friday night so we could do our annual massive
Christmas shopping all in 1 trip.

I have only been able to suprise Capt'n Balance 1 time out of the 7 Christmas' we have been married, I THINK this might be year #2!!! This year, he told me about a good sale Lowes was having on a small circular saw/drill combo. I went and got it after work one evening and hid it away when I got home. About 2 days later, he asked me if I got the tools....I said no, like I could really tell him I did. So then he said he was going to head into town and buy it because it's a really good deal. Well, what could I do? I told him I did get it so don't go buy another. Sheesh.

He mentioned a while back that he also would like some power shears. He builds many metal building, such as my bike shop and all the other little outbuildings on the farm here. He used to professionally build metal pole barns, which is why it was relatively inexpensive to build my bike shop. I don't know what he has been using to cut the metal lately, but he said he needed another power shear. So I went back to Lowes the other day and purchased one and hid it away.

So yesterday, while we were still in Anchorage, he takes us to a pawn shop to look at power sheers. I'm thinking "S***" and decide I'm am NOT going to say anything. I will let him buy one and then he will have 2 or he can return the one I purchased. He ended up not purchasing one at the pawn shop, so whew. I think he will be suprised.

I purchased myself a cable stretcher tool from REI as well as 25 ft of cable and brake housing and some teflon coated cables. The REI salesman was asking if we needed any help, only he keeps looking at and talking to Capt'n Balance, ignoring me, although I'm the one holding the tool, cables and housing. Capt'n Balance told him to talk to me, not him, as I'm the one who in into bikes. I told him I had everything I needed, thanks anyway.

I was looking at truing stand, decided against it for now. I am going to start replacing all the cables on Bike Kid's hardtail and put on new chains on his hardtail and my road bike. Maybe I will then start on project bike #2, a Shwinn Super Sport. I was reading about this bike, it has a handbuilt frame with brass brazings or something like that. It's special due to the way it's built, according to the guy who wrote this website.

I took a nice, short ride last night in the falling snow, I love it!! I need to get the lights up on this new used winter bike so I don't get splattered.

What is this tool??

I got the brake cables on the Takara. There must be an easier way to pull the cables taut. I improvised and got them nice and tight but it took some work. I have come to realize I don't have much hand strength. I'm a wimp. I used to rock climb and my hands were much stronger. I have to start working on that.

I used a Dremel tool for the first time to get a clean cut on the cable housing. I have some housing cutters but have a hard time getting a clean cut due to pour hand strength, also the cutter handles spread too far apart, my hands are too small, they are too big. So I got out the dremel. Capt'n Balance fortunately warned me to expect sparks. It was a little scary a first, sparks flying, the sound and the smell. Then it go to be kinda fun. The housing came out nice and smooth, no burrs.

The other day I was using the air compressor to blow dry the bottom bracket bearing/cassette. I had it over my thumb with the bearings on my thumbnail. The air was making it spin really fast, which caused it to make a really cool whirring sound. I thought that was pretty neat so I was playing around with it a little. Then I see a bearing fly out and feel pain in my thumg. The edges of the bearing cassette are pretty thin and flexible. It snagged on my thumb after the bearing flew out. I was sure there would be some missing skin/blood, but no, just some pain. So now I know not to play that way anymore. Then I went to the bike shop and Bike Guy gave me a new bearing.

Anyway, I purchased a cheap box of generic tools a while back. I have this tool, and have NO IDEA what it is used for. Anyone know what it is?

I was also checking out the prices of tensiometers, holy ****. $$$!!!!!!!

It will have to wait a bit.