"Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents." - Epictetus
Cycling has been on my mind a lot recently. I mostly blame the shipmate who sent that old photo, below:
Which got me thinking about the comfortable bike that I let get away and the uncomfortable bike that I should rehab and start riding again. And it got me thinking about cycling in general.
Below: A nice Italian bike - a 1984 Colnago Oval CX. Look closely - this bike has very rare oval-shaped Columbus steel tubing. It is also a mechanical work of Italian art. You can pick one up on Ebay by following this link. They're totally affordable. I'm still thinking about replacing the old Centurion Le Mans, which is about 1/20th the price.
Since I'm going to attempt to re-live the glory days of cycling next summer, it seemed like a good idea to get inspired.
An inspiring moment in bike racing
An inspiring segment in American Flyers - a movie about bike racing: (heads-up, the rest of the movie is pretty meh).
In preparation for restoring the old-school Masi, I've placed some stuff on order.
First up: Wider tires to soften the ride. The current set are just 20 mm wide (as small as they go, for reduced rolling resistance), but they ride really harsh. I now weigh 40 lbs more than I used to, so anything to improve the ride will go a long way toward making the bike more comfortable. The new tires are 25 mm, which should help quite a bit. The old rubber is dry-rotted, so the tires and tubes had to be replaced anyway. The new tires are Continental Gatorskins. I also ordered half a dozen larger replacement tubes.
The chain has to be removed, so that it can be soaked in solvent and re-lubricated. I'm fond of melting a pan of paraffin wax and soaking the chain in that. It's way less messy on the bike frame than lubing it with liquid oils. My worst experience was with a teflon-based chain lube - it was nearly impossible to get off the paint after the chain flung droplets everywhere.
I can't seem to locate my original chain breaker, so a new one is on order. This tool pushes the pin out of one link (or back in) without bending or damaging the link. This particular chain has no master link, so you have to push a pin out to remove it.
Also on order, a Shimano Cassette removal tool. The gear ratios will need to be changed from "hard-core younger rider" to easier "old guy" ratios. The current 12-21 teeth will probably be too difficult for me to push - ever again - because the knees are not so trouble and pain-free as they were. A 14-28 ratio cassette would be appropriate at this point. I'll probably just install a whole new cassette loaded with the correct sprocket teeth counts instead of trying to piece it together with a bunch of individual sprockets. Either way, I'll need the tool to remove and re-install it. Once again, a tool I can no longer locate!
New Cinelli yellow cork handlebar tape and some new yellow cable sheathing, are on order. These should brighten up the look a bit.
When it's cleaned up with all the new parts installed, it should look less like this...
And more like this...
One of my co-workers recently pulled his old road bike out of storage and went through it. He said the local bike shop wanted over $200 to rehab it for him. We both agreed that's too much money to get a dusty bike road-worthy. He was able to rehab his bike, so I should be able to do the same.
I *will* have the bike shop lube the steering tube bearings and crank bearings. That's partly because I don't want to deal with loose ball bearings and trying to get a proper adjustment afterwards. The crank bearings I'm finicky about, though.
That's because the crank bearings have to bear the brunt of your pedaling force, and sometimes your body weight, when you stand on the pedals. Additionally, the housing for the crank bearings gets spray from the front tire when you hit a wet patch. It needs to be well-sealed against water. In my opinion, it's better to leave this item to a professional. I'm reasonably certain I can do the rest of the work though, so that's what I hope to be doing very soon.
I'm taking a brief vacation soon and intend to take care of a few other projects that have been on the back burner. The month before Christmas is always a no-go, the week after is de-decorating, and I have a lot of seasonal chores that screw up my days off. I've noticed that a couple of recent wind-storms have toppled some trees on the property, so those will also have to be dealt with.
I wish I was retired. Then half my days wouldn't be consumed shaking my body out of night-shift sleeping routine, or just catching up on rest. Then I could finally get caught up on old projects and then tackle some new projects!
Edit January 2021. The bike is refreshed and good as new!
Wish i had your enthusiasm and energy. Also wish I was a thin as you in the first picture. Sadly, 40 years of sitting at a desk made it far too easy to gain weight. I was looking at pictures of the "affordable" bike (Not!), comparing it to the one you have, and think it almost appears as though the angle of drop on the handlebars might be ever so slightly more aggressive. That said, perhaps changing/replacing your handlebars would increase the comfort of the bike you currently have. All the other parts I'm not familiar with. Is also best I don't take anything apart anymore, as I would never get it back together. Would gladly come up and help with those downed trees but don't have a big or strong enough chainsaw. Don't think my old back would handle it either. After having worked every different shift imaginable over 40 years, and having been retired now for 2-3 years, my body(in regards to sleep) still hasn't gotten back to a normal night. Keep hoping someday though. Good luck on the bike redo. I'm sure it will turn out fine.
ReplyDeleteHah! I wish I was as thin as me in the first picture! I don't have the time for 3-4 hour bicycle rides these days. I still try to stay active though.
ReplyDeleteWe have a two-flight indoor staircase at work that I climb up and down 50 times back-to-back when I'm on shift. I've calculated it's the same elevation gain as the Empire State Building observation deck. It takes about 25 minutes. Off shift, I use the home gym to exercise.
The harsh ride of the Masi is due to the frame geometry (sharper angles) and the stiffer tubing. Carbon and Titanium frames with the same geometry would give a much nicer ride. Most of the harshness is delivered through the seat, although a bit comes up through the bars. I'll probably play with the positioning of those as you suggested. The handlebar is a specialty item that I'm probably going to keep though.
The downed trees are no big deal. I chop those up all the time, and none of them are very large this year. On the other hand, we have a few dozen Ponderosa pines that are 3 feet across at the base. Each branch is like dealing with a tree. One year I had to dispose of a Ponderosa and it took nearly a week to get it cut up into small chunks.
The bike parts aren't too complicated. I'll probably do one section at a time so that I don't get confused too. The memory isn't as good as it used to be, for certain. There is a good YouTube video explaining the difference between a Freewheel rear sprocket and a Cassette rear sprocket. The cassette design is super clever...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcgz3-XyNkI