Hey look! It kind of sort of looks like a real bike! Imagine this with bottom bracket and chain and cranks! A chain ring and cranks adds to the effect: Annoyingly, the bottom bracket doesn’t use an alan wrench like my bianchi. So now I’ve got to buy a 14mm socket wrench so I can…
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“Cold setting” (AKA bending) the frame. This is where I bend the frame so that it can fit a rear hub as big as the one I’ve bought (which is 132mm long between the locknuts). Have I done this before? Of course not. An astute reader may wonder how I know what the hell I’m…
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The frame just arrived in the mail. It looks good! Let’s see if bike building or paper grading happens tonight…
The bottom bracket just begging to get screwed in and hit that gob of grease waiting for it. Just one of many fun dedicated bike tools. This screws the bottom bracket. Bottom bracket getting screwed in. It’s lefty-tighty, by the way. Hey, I gotta give props to Shimano. That’s the Japanese company that some people…
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Chainring, crank, and chain guard assembled. The front chainring has 46 teeth. It’s not easy to find a chain guard big enough for that. This one can go up to 48 teeth. The crank is 110mm (distance between where the bolts go). That’s BMX size. Road bikes are 130mm. You can see extra holes in…
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This is Zora‘s old bike, modeling in my kitchen (how many bikes can my small place fit!?). We’ll call it the Tour de France. I forgot to mention that in addition to all the other problems, the front derailleur doesn’t work at all. I rode it back from Zora’s today. She’s out of town. I…
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So at this point I have most of the parts of the bike. Things I still need: 1) Brakes2) Handlebars and related parts3) Fenders4) Seatpost (it’s unlikely Zora’s seatpost will fit this frame)5) Oh yes, the actually frame. Bikes need a frame. The brakes and fenders have to wait for the frame, for a few…
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The Miyata frame. The third time is the charm. Miyata is a large and respected Japanese company that makes, uh, fire extinguishers and bicycles. Really. Best I can tell from their very Japanese looking website, they also make blue skies and puffy clouds. Miyata makes quality bikes and frames that aren’t very well known by…
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This is the freshly laced front wheel. I love the curvy spoke pattern. It’s only curvy because the spokes haven’t been tightened yet. After they’re tightened, they’ll straighten out and look more normal. Bicycle wheels are amazing things. I’ve actually built a few wheels before. It’s considered relatively advanced. I find it amazing to take…
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When I first tried to lace the wheel last night, I thought the spokes were too short. The first cross spoke wouldn’t reach the nipple in it’s whole. I took the wheel apart this morning and did it again today. Turns out the spokes are just right. Maybe that’s why master wheel builders don’t drink…
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