Paramount with strange growth
Posted: May 7, 2011 Filed under: Road and Touring Leave a comment »We just finished a refurbishment on a wonderful old Schwinn Paramount. The thing is, this particular Paramount had a strange growth attached to its rear section. Same color paint, with an extra saddle. Weird…
The bike now has a new front Campagnolo derailleur, rear Campagnolo Rally, new chains (3 of them, because of the length), new Michelins, new Brooks saddles, new brake levers, cork tape, cables, housing, and on an on.
Look for it on ebay soon.
Magically Delicious!
Posted: April 17, 2011 Filed under: Road and Touring Leave a comment »I was hanging out with Roland Della Santa at his shop a couple years back, entertaining myself when he wasn’t telling me racing or girlfriend stories by digging through his stack of tubing. While pilfering through sets of old Reynolds 531 and Columbus SL, I ran across a full set of Columbus Star still in the box. Back in my bike shop day, I’d worked on a Colnago Master that had the crimped four-sided tubing. I remembered thinking the frame was the cat’s meow. Star was everything the Master tubing was; the only difference was that instead of four crimped channels, Star had five. ”Hey, Rollie! Wanna make me a frame out of this?” He turned and looked at the tube I was holding in the air. It was obvious he was less than thrilled by my request, since the stuff is kind of a pain to work with, being unforgiving as heck for centering. “Hmmm. I don’t know,” was his response, followed by a quick change of subject back to one of his old flames.
Now, it should be noted that Rollie’s frames have always been the essence of aesthetic simplicity; they ride like the wind, but aren’t overly carved or overtly detailed. A frame made from pentagram tubing is flashy by Roland’s standards.To this day I’m still left wondering why he even had a set of the stuff. Pestering can be a very powerful tool, though and I employed it whenever I thought it might have a positive outcome. Eventually my framebuilder friend cracked under the pressure and he agreed to make me a frame out of the stuff.
Now that I had him wher I wanted him, I decided to see what else I could get away with. One day while visiting the shop I innocently asked if he’d consider making my Star frame a ”Gambler’s Special”, Roland’s pet name for any bike where he carves card suits into the lugs. Not seeing the slippery slope he was on, he walked over and wrote “Gambler’s” on my work order. Ah, ha!
Next: 6 months ago Roland had started offering the option of drilled chainstays. I knew a traditional frame with narrower stays wouldn’t fit his jig though. Of course I still asked, but my stays just couldn’t be done, at least not with his current jig. The holes would be too large for the stays. Plus, his jig couldn’t hold my stays correctly, which meant that they would chatter and flex when drilled. Not wanting egg-shaped holes, I’d given up, though the idea was still in my head. While discussing the chainstay problem with machinist, friend and fellow framebuilder Ed Gresham in early 2011 the solution presented itself. Ed had made the original Ossobuco jig and understood what it would take to drill my stays. In the end, Ed ended up making a custom clamp for the stays and the holes were drilled using his mill, without the benefit of a jig.
At Rollie’s this week, I saw Star tubing in the frame jig. Close by were the custom-drilled chainstays. It’s looks like it’ll only be a matter of time before the “Lucky Charm” bike, as it is affectionally known, will be done (Hearts, Diamonds, Stars, and Circles all present). I guess I should start thinking about what color I’m going to try to talk Rollie into painting it…
22 seconds with Neal
Posted: April 14, 2011 Filed under: What's Up Leave a comment »Doping in cycling has always bothered me, in the sense that there are lots of really talented riders out there who never got a chance to prove themselves because they were, well, clean.
I’ve pretty much stopped watching racing, something I used to really enjoy. Back in the LeMond era, we at the bike shop used to listen to daily live reports of the Tour de France transmitted through the shop speaker phone. It was a pay-per-minute deal and as you might guess, pretty hard to hear what with all the ambient noise of the shop in the summer. Nevertheless, we poor bicycle monks would pool our money and listen, taking in the flavor of racing a half world away.
The thing was, we knew who to root for. Nowadays, I’m at a loss. So many times I’ve picked a new favorite rider, only to discover that I was pinning my hopes, which were often childlike in their innocence, on a doper. Eventually I gave up, as it became too demoralizing. Even I learn from my mistakes.
…And that’s how I ended up on Talk of the Nation yesterday. The young Callahans and I were in the car running errands, and as usual, we had NPR on. The topic was doping in sports, brought on by the Barry Bonds trial. I have my opinion about Bonds, but I was content to listen (I have a fear of talking on the radio, or more precisely, of sounding stupid on a national radio show).
That is, until cycling came into the equation. I listened to callers, some of who railed on doping, while others defended riders like Lance Armstrong. Something popped. Arriving back at the house, I was in the bedroom and on the phone before I could talk myself out of it.
I can’t remember exactly what I said to Neal Conan, being utterly flustered at finding myself actually on air. I do know that generally, it felt good and I’m glad I got to say it out loud, for others to hear. Making my nominal case over the airwaves has served as a small brand of tonic, as well. I doubt I’ll be hanging my hopes on any rider in the upcoming cycling season, but who knows, maybe some day it will change: Cycling could change. Maybe someday, I’ll find myself actually sitting down to watch a race with the boys. …And as some young rider breaks off the front of the pack on a monumental climb, I’ll be able to look at both of them and say ”You watch him, boys. He’s the real thing.”
The boy’s match
Posted: March 27, 2011 Filed under: Other Bikes Leave a comment »Here’s a good match for the girl’s Raleigh we posted a while ago (it was even made in 1960, the same year.)
This great old burgundy steed arrived from Arizona a couple weeks ago. It creaks and groans and does everything a good ol’ Raleigh should.
Spring (unsprung)
Posted: March 25, 2011 Filed under: What's Up Leave a comment »
The Wheelhouse gets a fresh coat
It’s hard to justify digging out one of the old balloon-tires and taking it for a ride in March.
Ahh, spring in Nevada, where literally every day is a new experience.
Soon enough we’ll be able to post photos of a bike actually getting ridden.
Raleigh redo
Posted: March 24, 2011 Filed under: Other Bikes Leave a comment »
I decided to jump into the Raleigh right away, more than anything else just to show that projects do get done around here.
The worst part of the refurb was buffing out the paint. Something about Raleigh black paint makes it very prone to oxidation. It took 5 rounds of buffing and nearly 4 hours, but under all the powder was shiny black paint. Most of the gold striping went the way of the dodo, despite my attempts to save it by taping it off.
In the end there is no good financial reason to spend nearly 8 hours on a plain Jane 3-speed (I ended up taking the bike down to a frame and then back up again). I don’t regret the time spent, thought. Chalk it up to “preservation” rather than “profit”.
Hopefully I’ll be able to find a new owner who will appreciate this great little Raleigh.
Coot
Always check the garage
Posted: March 13, 2011 Filed under: What's Up Leave a comment »
Lewis and I just got back from the worst estate sale I’d ever been to. The little house was filthy beyond belief and cigarette smoke hung in the air like mustard gas (not only were there ash burns on the carpets, furniture and counters, there was even one on a globe. How do you burn a globe?) There was absolutely nothing worth paying a buck for in the house, and I mean nothing. To complete the less-than-enchanting experience, the little white mongrel that belonged to the place kept nipping at Lewis and I. The beast had a taste for our calves.
There was a wonderful 1960 Raleigh 3-speed hanging in the garage, though. Black with gold pinstriping, Brooks saddle, and generator, all intact. Not a balloon-tire bike mind you, but one worth saving nevertheless.
It is thus back here at the shop and will get a refurb someday soon. Hopefully by late spring. After that, I’ll find it a good home. That is, unless Fluff claims it.
A Few Years Back…
Posted: March 1, 2011 Filed under: What's Up Leave a comment »That would be 2006. The year we rolled bikes into the Nevada Museum of Art for their museum debut. It’s been a tradition for 4 years now and it looks like we’ve been invited back again. Rather than the long, three-week shows of the past, the new ones are one-nighters (all the work, with less “storage” time. Rats!).
Stay tuned for more info on the next Buzz Bomb show, coming August 2011.
Welcome to the mess…
Posted: February 24, 2011 Filed under: What's Up Leave a comment »Part of updating our website is to have a blog on it. It’ll be the place where you get see what’s just shown up, gotten worked on or taken out for a ride.
We’ll also post any shows or other events where you can see some of the stable out in public.
…And here’s the link back to our site, should you need that.
See you out there somewhere.
Coot
