It's purple, which is cool. Purple goes with everything.

I think the color was called Insane Grape, or something ridiculous like that.  It's an old 700 model.  CroMo frame. Tires won't hold air.  Mismatched grip shifts on a straight bar.  I broke one shipping it to Germany.  Fortunately there is a bike store around every corner in that country, and the mechanic had a spare that would work.  Accent color is black, which was cool then, but I'm not too crazy about now.  It's got traditional center pull cantilever brakes, 21 speeds, and has been stripped of every accessory save bar ends.  


Really, I think it should be a cool city bike.  Don't you?

So here's the plan...

Step one:  Swap out that wrist-bustin' flat bar for something more upright.  

I like the Nitto Bosco bar that Rivendell has on their site.  It's $60 for the CroMo version, which is a bit more than I want to spend.  If the transmogrification costs too much, I might as well buy a new bike. So I ordered a couple of knock-off's from Amazon - the Wald 867 and the Wald 872.  Four and three inches of rise, respectively.  

I also ordered a cheap, chrome stem.  Yep, it was cheap.  Welds like gummy worms.  That puppy's goin' back.  The Nittos are too expensive.  The Kalloy AL-222 might get the job done.

Parts are on their way!