Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label Merry Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merry Christmas. Show all posts
24 December 2023
25 December 2022
The Holiday Question
I wish all of you health and happiness on this day, Christmas.
Now, I am going to reveal something that might cause you to wonder whether the title of this blog is "truth in advertising." I neither give nor receive nearly as many holiday gifts as I got or gave in years past. The main reason for that, I think, is that the people closest to me and I have what we need and, for the most part, what we want. And if we don't have something we want, it's easier to simply acquire it (if we can afford it, of course) than to ask or hint for it.
So, I can understand why some of you might think I'm old rather than in "midlife." Still, I assert that as long as I don't know when my life will end, I am in the middle of it.
Anyway, one thing that might qualify me as old is that no one who has ever received a holiday gift from me has ever had to ask this question:
Nor have I. I don't feel I've missed anything.
25 December 2019
Merry Christmas Bike
I hope you are enjoying a holiday.
Since today is Christmas, I thought I'd share some images of the most Christmas-like object I own:
Yes, I've been doing some work on the Mercian King of Mercia I bought a few weeks ago. For one thing, the sew-up wheels are gone: I actually sold them on Craigslist. In their place are a set of wheels with classic Campagnolo Record hubs with modern Mavic rims and DT spokes:
One reason I decided to use those hubs is that the rear one allowed me to employ an old trick:
The rear dropouts are spaced for 126 mm, as were most road bikes of the KoM's era (1984). I rearranged the spacing on it so that both sides are even. The good news is that I have a wheel with no dish. The bad (depending on your point of view) news is that the right side spacing will allow me to use only 5-speed or Ultra (narrow)-6 freewheels---which is what I'd planned to use anyway.
And it allowed me to use the lightweight Open Pro rim. It's actually a very strong rim for its weight, as Mavic rims tend to be. Also, for a rim as narrow as it is, it can accommodate fairly wide tires--like the 700X32 C Paselas that adorn them now.
Probably the next most-significant change I made was in the derailleurs. Getting a Rally derailleur was nice, but I actually like this one better:
I saw more than a few otherwise-all-Campy bikes equipped with Cyclone derailleurs from the mid-'70's to the mid-80's, so I don't feel as if I'm committing some sort of sacrilege. With that change, I also swapped out the Campy shifters for ratcheted SunTour levers.
One more Campy part went from this bike to my parts box: the pedals. They don't seem to have been ridden much at all, so I wrapped them carefully and am saving them for "future reference." The MKS platform pedals--my current favorites--bear enough resemblance to classic platform pedals like the Lyotard Berthet (#23) or the ones SR made that they don't look out of place on this bike.
The fellow who bought the sew-up wheels also took the deep-drop Cinelli bars that came with the bike. (What such deep drops--or sew-ups--were doing on a touring bike, I'll never know.) And I sold the stem--which had too long of an extension--on eBay. In their place, I installed another favorite--Nitto Noodle bars with an NP (formerly Pearl) stem. The Noodles bear enough resemblance to randonneur -style bars that I can justify (to myself, anyway) them on a bike like this.
If you saw my original post about this bike, you probably noticed three other changes:
The brake cable housings were cracked. I like to replace cables on secondhand bikes anyway. As luck would have it, I found these gold braided housings on eBay.
And I had to remove the leather sleeves that were stitched on to the handlebars in order to remove the brake levers. Perhaps I will re-stitch them onto the new bars some day, but for now, I wrapped them with Tressostar brown and green cloth tape. I also replaced the original Campagnolo gum rubber hoods, which were dried and cracks, with new items from Rustines.
Finally, I replaced the Avocet saddle with--what else?--a Brooks Professional.
This will give you a taste of things to come:
This bell bracket came from Velo Orange and will sport one of those lovely brass Japanese ringers. And, of course, I will add bottle cages, a pump and a front rack for a bag.
Funny, isn't it, that a bike--which can be ridden all year round--can look as much like a Christmas ornament as anything that's hung on a Fraser fir.
Since today is Christmas, I thought I'd share some images of the most Christmas-like object I own:
Yes, I've been doing some work on the Mercian King of Mercia I bought a few weeks ago. For one thing, the sew-up wheels are gone: I actually sold them on Craigslist. In their place are a set of wheels with classic Campagnolo Record hubs with modern Mavic rims and DT spokes:
One reason I decided to use those hubs is that the rear one allowed me to employ an old trick:
The rear dropouts are spaced for 126 mm, as were most road bikes of the KoM's era (1984). I rearranged the spacing on it so that both sides are even. The good news is that I have a wheel with no dish. The bad (depending on your point of view) news is that the right side spacing will allow me to use only 5-speed or Ultra (narrow)-6 freewheels---which is what I'd planned to use anyway.
And it allowed me to use the lightweight Open Pro rim. It's actually a very strong rim for its weight, as Mavic rims tend to be. Also, for a rim as narrow as it is, it can accommodate fairly wide tires--like the 700X32 C Paselas that adorn them now.
Probably the next most-significant change I made was in the derailleurs. Getting a Rally derailleur was nice, but I actually like this one better:
I saw more than a few otherwise-all-Campy bikes equipped with Cyclone derailleurs from the mid-'70's to the mid-80's, so I don't feel as if I'm committing some sort of sacrilege. With that change, I also swapped out the Campy shifters for ratcheted SunTour levers.
One more Campy part went from this bike to my parts box: the pedals. They don't seem to have been ridden much at all, so I wrapped them carefully and am saving them for "future reference." The MKS platform pedals--my current favorites--bear enough resemblance to classic platform pedals like the Lyotard Berthet (#23) or the ones SR made that they don't look out of place on this bike.
The fellow who bought the sew-up wheels also took the deep-drop Cinelli bars that came with the bike. (What such deep drops--or sew-ups--were doing on a touring bike, I'll never know.) And I sold the stem--which had too long of an extension--on eBay. In their place, I installed another favorite--Nitto Noodle bars with an NP (formerly Pearl) stem. The Noodles bear enough resemblance to randonneur -style bars that I can justify (to myself, anyway) them on a bike like this.
If you saw my original post about this bike, you probably noticed three other changes:
The brake cable housings were cracked. I like to replace cables on secondhand bikes anyway. As luck would have it, I found these gold braided housings on eBay.
And I had to remove the leather sleeves that were stitched on to the handlebars in order to remove the brake levers. Perhaps I will re-stitch them onto the new bars some day, but for now, I wrapped them with Tressostar brown and green cloth tape. I also replaced the original Campagnolo gum rubber hoods, which were dried and cracks, with new items from Rustines.
Finally, I replaced the Avocet saddle with--what else?--a Brooks Professional.
This will give you a taste of things to come:
This bell bracket came from Velo Orange and will sport one of those lovely brass Japanese ringers. And, of course, I will add bottle cages, a pump and a front rack for a bag.
Funny, isn't it, that a bike--which can be ridden all year round--can look as much like a Christmas ornament as anything that's hung on a Fraser fir.
25 December 2017
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
May the light shine on your season!
Above all, have a safe journey!
25 December 2014
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