Thus Far

Well, this is the bike project so far. So if anyone wants to know why my dissertation is lagging behind and why, for the first time, I'm way behind on finishing a conference paper in a timely fashion, here's your answer! It still needs a bit of work but it's moving along (sorry for the blurry shot. I'm not used to digital crap). Right now I am on a bike hiatus so I can finish a conference paper and because my bike funds for this month are gone. By my count I still need to get brakes, pedals, a seat post and saddle, brake levers, a chain, handlebar tape, front derailleur, and cables for the shifting and brake system. So it will be a while...

The past month of collecting parts and whatnot has been, well, 'fun', to put it mildly. But now I know my mailman well since he has been dropping off lots of parts to the apt and has taken an interest in the project. The frame took forever to buy and due to a massive fuckup by paypal it cost me a hundred bucks more than I wanted to pay (they mischarged the payment and over drafted by bank, which dutifully charged me fees up the wazoo. Turns out that the tip portion of a dinner bill counts as another charge, thus racking up the fees even more!). But that is behind me now. I also learned that perhaps my rear hub is not, indeed, an 8 speed despite what they seller said. But after I elongated the axle to give it more space (not really hard) that was fixed. Of course that necessitated re-dishing the wheel (setting it to true centre line) and in the process of doing that I stripped 4 nipples (they hold the spokes in place, pervs) and had to cut out one spoke as a result. But she's true and smooth now!

It also turns out that the rear drop out spacing (the part that holds the wheel to the frame) was 126 and my hub was 130. How does that work, you say? Well, it doesn't! Fortunately, steel is flexible. So it was merely a matter of 'cold-setting' (changing the shape of the frame) a few millimeters to fit the new hub (this is not so uncommon, by the way). Someone at the bike shop, however, convinced me to just squeeze the wheel in and let it cold set on its own rather than properly adjust the spacing with a 2x4 (my idea but also suggested by Sheldon Brown, the bike guru of the internet). Either way, I ain't strong so man handling that fucker onto the frame was a pain in the ass to say the least. I got it part way on then went back to writing only to find myself staring at the bike from time to time (a common problem of mine, I admit). So eventually I had to just deal with it and put the wheel on. After nearly breaking a finger/thumb and almost giving myself a hernia the wheel is now firmly on the frame! Unfortunately, I forgot to lengthen the skewer (the part that tightens the wheel to the frame) so I need to get one of those. Go figure...

There are more wonderful stories to tell- like having a perfectly well machined diagonal threading on my hub that leads to a slight (millimeter or so) wobble in my cogs (no biggy, I spose)- but I'll just save those for the grand kids someday.