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

Return of the Crow

After much soul searching and general consternation, I ordered the modern Shimano trigger shifter.  And then promptly won an eBay listing for NOS Suntour bar end shifters.

I like shiny things

I can't help it.  As I've said, I have the mind of a crow.  So my disappointment when my "NOS" barcon shifters arrived was palpable.  Were they New Old Stock? Er... no.  Were they shiny? Not as such.

"NOS" Suntour Barcon

Bleh. That is not a shiny thing. 

That does not get my inner crow excited.  Off to the hardware store!  Back in a flash with a cotton buffing wheel for my grinder and some kind of buffing...sticks.  Compound.  Four colors in a pack.  

[Cue sound of thoughtful tinkering.]

After some experimentation, I started to see small patches of shiny aluminum. Brown Tripoli.  It was then that I realized the shifter was not dull and oxidized, it was painted. Painted silver, to be exact.  Silver metal, metal that takes a nice shine, painted dull silver.  Who is so out of touch with their inner crow to do such a thing?

Grumblling, I stomped over to get a piece of emery cloth.  There's no sense in being delicate.  After about ten minutes of hand sanding, most of the paint had been scuff sanded though, and the aluminum below was showing.  Back to the buffing wheel and the Brown Tripoli. (That was a Rolling Stones song, right?)  Ten minutes later...

CAW! CAW! CAW!

Now we're talking!  Here's the before and after:

Mmmm... Shiny!

My inner crow is well pleased.  On the off chance the rest of the world likes them dull and painted, I left the other one alone.  I'll probably be selling it on eBay soon.  Maybe I'll give folks the option of shiny or dull.