Statrix Redux

Wow…I’m impressed. The bike is in much better shape than I had imagined. The tires inflate and hold air even!
So…
Today I pulled out the bike, wiped it down, and got to work. First I removed the front and rear derailleurs, a few minutes work. Next it was time to remove the chain, clean it up a bit, and see if I could shorten it.
All good.
I even managed to get a quiet chain line. Mind you it’s probably not exactly what I want, but the bike works.
I had to raise the seat a bit, can’t believe I used to ride it. Oh, that’s right, I really didn’t. Anyway I’d like to move the handlebars out and up a bit, though kicking the seat all the way back helped a bit. The tires 26×2.0 have to go. They might be great on dirt, but on asphalt…’nuff said.
I did have to swap out the pedals because the cheap plastic ones it came with had warped. I put on the cheap plastic ones I took off of my Giant way back when. It’s a lucky thing I kept them.
Here’s what we’ve got at the moment…

Things to do…
1. New handlebars
2. New cranks/chainring
3. New rear wheel/hub
4. New tires
Other than that, things are going along swimmingly. The bike works.
I do need to see if I can find a source of parts to cannabalize…that would be best.
Aloha!

My dropouts have turned out not to be a problem, indeed, they are going to make my life much easier. High school? College? Nope…bicycle.
As I wrote before my old ATB (read MTB) is going to become some sort of single speed bike. I am hoping to keep the cost down and, just as importantly, have as many options as possible. These are not always mutually exclusive goals.
In my case I was hoping that I could run my bike both in freewheel mode and, possibly, as a fixed gear bike. The problem is that most modern-ish bikes use a vertical dropouts, but for singlespeeds it is much easier to work with horizontal dropouts.
You can see various dropouts on Sheldon Brown’s page on the topic…

My dropouts seem to be of the shorter semi-horizontal variety…here’s a really bad image of them (and if you look close you can see the derailleur is an Altus C50).

If I’m not mistaken, this is going to make my life a lot easier; I can probably use a flip-flop hub and have the best of both worlds.
So far I haven’t actually managed to get any work done on my bike, but today I will begin.
And on that note, I’ve just discovered that Sheldon mentions the bottom bracket on my bike…

Altus C50 CT50 Triple 122.5 Square 47.5 rivetted 1994-95

I’m going to have to figure out what that means. 🙂
Aloha!

Just another in the endless parade of shots from the roof at work. Downtown Honolulu in the sunshine!

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from statrix’s posterous

As the longtime reader of my blog can attest (assuming that person is still reading this blog – perhaps it’s just me), I’ve been going on and on about bikes for a while. Mostly it’s been been about how I’d like a new one. I’d actually like several new ones.
That, of course, isn’t happening soon; funding just isn’t available.
But I’ve just discovered I do have an option…a new, old bike. No, I’m not going to purchase a used bike. As it turns out, I own one.
It’s a Fujiyama ATB from around 1996 or 1997. I think I bought it to ride to work when I was still in the retail trade. I never really cared for it as I had been a road guy in a previous incarnation. The last registration sticker I see on the bike is from 1998 and I recall not reregistering it in 1999. I’m pretty sure I never rode it after that either, so it’s been closeted away for quite some time.
I was trying to find out something about it last night and a Google search of Fujiyama bikes turns up…nothing. I’m thinking it may be a low-end Fuji, but it’s hard to say. It’s a steel framed non-suspension bike using 26″ wheels. Currently it has thumb shifting S.I.S. gears, 3×6 for 18 speeds. Everything actually looks okay except for the plastic pedals which simply have to go.
Indeed everything must go. I’m going to turn it into a single speed, at least that’s the plan. It’ll give me something to play with and when it’s done, I’ll have a decent commuter for short trips around the neighborhood. Once that’s done, I can turn my Giant into an Xtracycle.
I’m hoping this whole deal can be accomplished for under $100. I’ll be doing it in bits and pieces and, as much as I’d like to start after work today, that ain’t happening…too much to do. Tomorrow it is then! As soon as I can find a picture of the bike, I’ll post it here.
In the meantime, here are some resources I’ve been able to find…
Build a “Single Speed” from the Reject Pile By Keith Bontrager
MTBR – Single Speed Conversions
..and of course Sheldon Brown on the subject…
Single Speed Conversions
..and Sheldon mentions…
Eric House’s material
Aloha!

I was listening to an NPR Talk of the Nation podcast today and learned that Reading Rainbow, a PBS show about reading for kids, has is going off the air after a twenty-six year run.
While I don’t recall watching it, I knew it existed because the host was LeVar Burton and he was the guest. An articulate and interesting man from what I gather, I remember him most from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
So just what is the point? The point is that at some point on Reading Rainbow a pizza dough recipe was given. A caller wondered if it was possible to retrieve that recipe as she thought it was great. Well it is:

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2-3 cups flour
Mix all ingredients together and knead for two minutes. Let the dough rise until double (optional). Spread dough on lightly greased pan, top with sauce, cheese and other favorite choices. Bake in preheated oven 500 degrees for 8-10 minutes. This recipe makes enough dough for one large pizza (either a 16 inch round pizza pan or the more probable large rectangle baking sheet).

To be honest, I found it on the web on a site that doesn’t have much to do with Reading Rainbow or TNG. The site is The New Homemaker. Currently I don’t have an oven, but I didn’t want to lose the recipe, hence the reproduction here!
Aloha!

There is a Vegas trip in my future and I will be bringing my BF. And yes, my best friend is my Bike Friday. Well that might be going a little too far, but it’s been a boon companion so far.
So now the research starts…and this is my first stop…

…indeed it might end with this as the Biking Las Vegas site has much to offer. It seems to a be a full service stop with a forum, mapped bike routes, links to other sites, and even a weather widget. Cool.
Aloha!

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Just giving Posterize a try!

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I’ve been following the posts of a nice young couple who’ve  pretty much sold everything, packed the rest, and have hit the road on their bikes for parts unknown. They are over at The Path Less Pedaled. The thing is, I’ve also noticed that they use something called Posterous for posting (or at least that’s how I remember it).

Of course I had to find out what it is. 

And the answer is…another blogging platform. The cool thing about this one is that besides posting at ‘My Posterous‘ it should post on my regular blog, Statrixblog.

Aloha!

Posted via email from statrix’s posterous

Saturday I had a mostly lovely time riding from Honolulu to Kailua and back. Here’s an image of Makapu’u early in the morning as it was lit by the rising Sun!

I was particularly pleased with the fact that I was able to ride there about 15 minutes faster than the last time I did it. Admittedly I wasn’t riding into the wind on Saturday. You simply couldn’t have asked for a nicer morning.
It was the ride home that did me in. I’m pretty good about hydrating. I try to stop at least every half hour and drink a bottle of water. I must have misjudged the time on the way home though. It was a very hot ride on the way home and I was fine until I got back to Hawaii Kai. At the top of “Heartbreak Hill” (isn’t there one everywhere?) on the easy ride up from Sandy Beach I felt chills. Given the temperature, in the nineties, I knew that could only mean I hadn’t really consumed enough liquids.
I fixed that and made it home just fine, but as a result I was wiped out the next day. Given it was only about a sixty mile ride, with an hour off in the middle, I should have been fine.
I consider it a cheap lesson though as I don’t seem to have any other ill effects. I’ll certainly remember to be more careful in the future though!
One of the best parts of the journey came when I stopped, oddly enough, to take on more water.
I was at the restrooms at Makapuu when a lovely tandem pulled up for a break. As it turns out I knew the riders slightly. They are Beth and Barton Cox, fellow HBL members. Please take a look at their link if you have any interest in tandems!
You can also find them on the road:

We ride with one of HBL’s more popular groups, the “Heavy Breathers.” We meet at Kapiolani Park at 9:00 am every Saturday and ride out to Makapu’u and back. Ya’ll come!

I’ll probably try riding with them someday when I’m a wee bit faster. Barton claims the group is for slow riders but I’m afraid I’m not even up to slow yet; 12 mph is my average – though I can go a long way at that speed.
Anyway, I survived the ride and made some friends so all in all it was a great day, even if I didn’t take in enough water.
Aloha!