Jasper Bike, v0.9

OK, enough of the retroactive posts. Let's just catch all the way up, shall we?

TA (almost) DA!!

Fate shined on me one day when I my local LBS, Turin in Evanston, went belly up, and I stumbled across a Linus porteur rack, or most of one, on the odds-and-ends closeout table.

$25.00Are you kidding me?!?!?

OK, sure, it's missing parts. Boo-frickin'-hoo. I can talk to the fine folks at Linus and get replacements. It goes on their website for $130! Uh, yeah, I'll take it. Nothing makes me happier than a deal that's shiny!

Another Christmas rolled around, with another gift card, and it was time for Velo Orange stainless steel fenders and chain guard, and new Panaracer tires. Metal fenders are supposed to be a bear to install, so kudos to the fine folks at VO. Installation was a breeze, and the leather washers keep them from rattling beautifully.

Did I mention they're shiny?

O, so shiny. CAW!! CAW!!

Now we're getting somewhere....

Another birthday rolled around, and it was time to tackle the gearing. The old Shimano Altus 7 speed cassette and hub had seen much better days. Many of them. A long time ago. Handspun makes a lovely rear wheel that hit (almost) all the buttons. Shimano Alfine IGH on a reflective Velocity Dyad rim. Tasty. Just the ticket for a gentleman's city bike. Too bad they used black spokes. Blerg. Shiny is more better.

But still, I have to admit the non-machined sidewall works perfectly with no rear brake. Those happy coincidences are the design gods nudging you. Ignore them at your peril. Add on a Surly Singulator, (a beautiful piece of engineering, BTW) and we have us a brand spankin' new drive train, folks.

Oops. Hold on...

The Suntour barcon doesn't have enough travel to shift it. If you want a barcon (and we do), you need to get yourself a JTek shifter. 

Seriously, JTek makes some very useful, niche products. They're extremely well engineered. But there ain't an industrial designer anywhere near their R&D department. But ugly, but it will have to do.

What else...

Black elk leather bar wraps from Velo Orange. Soooo lux. And a black leather wrap for the top tube while we're at it. That sucker is seriously beat up. 

A Pletscher ESGE double leg kickstand to keep it upright.

And the best bell ever made, Crane's brass Suzu. Lovey, never ending tone. 

Time for some miles.

It's baaaaaack!!!

I kinda lost interest in the blog for a while. Honestly, I was spending more time typing than tinkering. Blerg. But a recent status update on The Facebook made me think maybe it was time to revisit things.

The Old New

Many things have changed since August of '12. Oh, those heady, halcyon days of the summer of '12... 

The mission crept. Ambulated. And then I received a couple of gift cards. That's when Mission Creep became Mission Gallop. So let's review....

Hey, I remember that house....

Nitto stem and Wald bars are still on the bike. Good choices then, and they've been solid performers. I flove the hand positions the bars afford, and the stem is baby-bear-just-right. The Tektro reverse lever is working OK. Not the greatest stopping force, but I'm not going that fast. Losing the rear brake has affected me not at all. One does need to be careful to remember to reach for things with one's left hand. Taking my right hand off the bars has resulted in a few Oh, Shit!!! moments when I had no way to modulate my speed.

Mmmmm... Shiny...

The Suntour barcon is no more. It worked fine, no complaints. A beautiful piece of engineering, really. But changes are (were) afoot, and it no longer fit the bill. More on that later.

The Gyes saddle is doing... OK. It's comfy. It's broken in nicely. But the black dye is fading. It's starting to look decidedly dark brown. That may require attention next year. Still, at a fraction of the price of Brooks, I can't really complain. And black was the right choice for the bike.

Now, about that galloping scope

First came a lovely gift card to an LBS. What to buy, what to buy....

My first choice was something really extravagant. Like the Velo Orange Portuer rack. Mmmm yummy. So shiny. This rack is Crow Approved (tm).

Caw!! Caw!!

But ultimately I decided to go with the Gimondi crankset. Also tres shiny. And tres more useful. And did you know you can get purple chainring bolts?!?! O yes, you can. Ebay. Strait outa Compton Taiwan. Pulled the old, installed the new at my local co-op. Fun learning opportunity.

Pair it with a couple of old skool MKS Sylvan Touring pedals, and you get...

Shiny Goodness