town&countrybiker

grand prix driveline

Looking at my Grand Prix project from 2008, that I haven’t ridden for a year or so, it appeared that it could use a good once over. In my spare time, I have been using Simichrome on parts of the bike that appear dull or have surface rust. That has worked out.

Yesterday, I decided to tackle the driveline. This bike is close to 40 years old, and I don’t think that its’ chain, or derailleur have been freshened up for quite some time.  I picked up some Simple Green at the store and grabbed a juice bottle from the recycling container.

First, I put the bike on the VO simple work stand on top of some old newsprint. I then got out my Park all in one tool to remove the chain. I have not removed a bike chain in a while, so I am glad that I had a decent tool to help with the job. I made sure that I looked at how the chain was set through both the front and rear derailleur so that the reinstall would go smoothly.

grand prix rear derailleur

I used the chance to get at the sprockets on the rear derailleur with some Simple Green on a rag so remove the dust, dirt and other gunk that had collected over the years.

After I removed the chain, I put in in the juice bottle that had some diluted Simple Green and hot water. I shook the bottle up for good measure and let it sit for an hour or so. The gunk was definitely turning the cleaning solution a dark gray color. I then drained the bottle and put in a fresh hot water and Simple Green Solution and repeated the process.

simple green doing its' thing

After it looked like the bottle cleaning was complete, I made a hook out of a coat hanger and fished the chain out of the solution. I set the wet chain on some newspaper. I then spent 20 minutes or so with a rag and cleaned between the links. It is not perfect, but quite an improvement.

Then I reinstalled the chain on the bike, carefully re threading the chain as it was originally. I then got some Finish Line Dry lube and moved the pedals and applied the lube to the chain. After that, I spin the pedals a bit to work the lube through. I am pretty happy how it turned out. Now I need to find a saddle for the bike.

I built up an older Raleigh Grand Prix a couple of years ago. I didn’t ride it much in the past year or so, but I originally built it to be a comfortable country road riding machine. It worked well in some trips that we took to Wisconsin.

As such, I left the standard 10 speed drive train in place, as the thought if having 10 gears should make the bike more versatile in the hinterlands.

To be honest, the Simplex gear has always been the weak point of the bike, but that will stay for now. I have considered moving to 700c wheels and using the prebuilt 3 speed wheels from Velo Orange, but the 27″ wheels with their new Schwalbe white walls look too good to toss. They will stay for now. I should see how the 700c wheels from the Raleigh One Way look on the GP.

raleigh grand prix rear

I also removed an old rear light that came with the used chromo plast fenders that I added to the bike. I had a little green reflector so I added that. Not sure of the provenance of said reflector, but it must be from at least the 60s. I think it looks sharp.

I have been using the Velo Orange work stand and the Simichrome metal polish to clean up the GP. The metal bits on the front- the stem, the chrome on the forks, etc.- all benefited from the metal polishing.

raleigh grand prix front

I need to come up with a treatment for the cork grips as the shellac is wearing off. I am thinking that some Barge Cement might do the trick as it has protected my beloved Birkenstock cork for years. I also need to round up another Brooks as the honey B17 that I got for this has been on my Root Beer Bike for quite a while.

This NY Times article makes the point that with smart phones becoming more predominant, hackers are starting to turn their attention towards them.

In my six days with an iPhone 3GS, I can see the attraction. My prior smartphones — the latest a Samsung Blackjack2, I can say that the iPhone really turned the corner as since it is not Windows Mobile, I actually find it pleasurable to surf on the device. I have increased my mobile surfing exponentially.

With market maturation, increased market penetration of smart phones, and more surfing and other online tasks moving from the PC to the mobile platform, increased hacking makes perfect sense.

I had not heard of this RickRolling iPhone incident, but the implications are pretty clear.

“Last month, an Australian student created an experimental worm that hopscotched across “jailbroken” iPhones, which are phones altered to run software Apple has not authorized. The mischievous worm did not cause any damage; it just installed a photo of the ’80s pop star Rick Astley. But to security experts, it suggested that pernicious attacks on iPhones are possible.”

Lookout a mobile security startup funded by Khosla Ventures says the following:

““It feels a lot like it did in 1999 in desktop security,” said John Hering, Lookout’s 26-year-old chief executive, who for years has done research demonstrating security vulnerabilities in phones. “People are using the mobile Web and downloading applications more than ever before, and there are threats that come with that.””

velo orange bike work stand

I do a fair amount of my own wrenching on my bikes. One of the main issues that complicates matters for me is my lack of a bike stand. Since the project is never properly secured, it seems that I am doing more work, just trying to keep the bike from becoming unbalanced and flopping on the ground.

I came across the Velo Orange Two-legged Stand. From the pic and description, it sounded like this tool would meet my requirements perfectly. I plunked down the debit card, and I got a package yesterday.

This little implement works very nicely- you just loop the hook over the down tube and then cradle the rest of the device under the bottom bracket shell. Very simple and effective. I had a spare block for front wheel road bike rollers, and I found that the block helps to make your project bike even more stable.

I did some maintenance and cleaning on two bikes last night- the wife’s mixte and my Raleigh 20. The stand performed great.  It was much easier to make adjustments and some clean up with a more stable base than just the kick stand.

I concur with the VO description that this stand ($19.50) is probably all many of us need to do maintenance. I really like that when I am done, I can just put the stand on a shelf, or use it to hold up one of my kickstand-less bikes.

snow bike off the rafters!

We had our first measurable snow fall this am. We got less than an inch, but I felt that it was time to get the snow bike off the rafters and shake some of the dust off of it.

The Snow Bike is a GT Team Avalanche. As such it is one of the old Gary Turner bikes that was created before the company was sold. the paint is some custom job that says “grunge” just about better than anything. It is a dark purplish shade with random metallic skull type shapes in contrasting metallic shades.

As such, it is a hardtail mountain bike that was outfitted with the best of kit (Shimano, Campy rims, etc.) in its’ day. For snow bike conversion, I purchased some Innova studded tires from biketiresdirect.com last year. I think that I paid around US$100 for the tires and some new tubes.

I need to address the seating position, as it feels way too “forward’ for me at this point, I think that I can make this a bit better by raising the bars.

Riding the Snow Bike on some errands today was fun, as the bike will not slide on ice. It reminds me of my old 4X4 Toyota. That was good on the slick as well.

When I went to the garage to get a tool, I noticed that the front tyre of the Root Beer Bike was totally flat. The bike’s weak point is its’ no name tires and tubes. When money s more available, I plan to upgrade to some of those creme colored Schwalbes.

That said, I grabbed the box wrench from my mobile tool kit and pulled the wheel and brought into my workshop.

After I pulled the tyre off, I noticed that there was no rim tape. (I must have changed this tyre when I first got the Sports 6 years ago. I have added rim tape to all my bikes as the tubes have failed.)

adding velox rim tape

So after pulling the tyre, checking for road debris inside and outside the tyre, I found a new roll of Velox rim tape in the parts bin and installed as in the above pic. I have used Velox old school cotton tape exclusively, and after installation, I have had zero issues with spoke nipple punctures.

getting new tube into tyre

Next, I pumped the new tube so that is was roughly round and I stuck it into the tyre.

setting tyre bead into rim

After that, I put the schrader valve through the hole in the rim and the hole in the rim tape. Then working away from the valve, I set the tyre bead into the rim.

kool stop tyre bead lever

For the last bit, I used my Kool Stop tool that I got 5 years ago. It makes it easier to get the final couple of inches of bead into the rim. It acts like a lever by having one side of the tool on the rim and the lever side of the tool grabs the unset tyre bead. The tool works like a champ and is always in my tool kit.

crank bros. mini pump inflating tube

Then I inflated the tyre maybe half way to fully set the bead and to ensure that all was seated correctly. I cheat a bit as well, if the tyre is not totally inflated, I can install the wheel without messing with the brake assembly.

floor pump to complete inflation

Here is the partially inflated tyre in the forks getting pumped to 70PSI.

box spanner (wrench) to tighten hub nuts

Finally some quick wrenching to torque down the hub bolts. I took the Root Beer Bike up the street and nothing fell off, so the project is complete.

root beer bike POV

After 4 days of unending gloom, the sun started to break through the blinds around 7 Am today. It improved my mood.

I decided to get the Root Beer Bike out to run a few errands, including a library run as well as a quick haircut @ Lou’s.

On the way, I saw a garage sale on Illinois, so I stopped and while the lady said she had some records, they were in CA. She did say that she ordered the weather, though. I thanked her, of course. It must be about 50 with a light wind.

The North Face Apex jacket that I got last year, kept me perfectly warm. The way that it is tailored a bit longer in the back, really helps to keep the PBS (plumber’s butt syndrome) at bay.

Yesterday, I set about to meet up with the Tweed Ride in Commemoration of Mr. Fawkes attempt at blowing up Parliament.

I contemplated using the R20, but at the last minute, knew that I would more further appreciate a nice fall ride on a full size bike. Since I planned to use Metra commuter rail, I opted to use the Root Beer Bike as opposed to The Green Machine. Typically, your bike will become part of a scrum of bikes on a nice day such as Saturday.

root beer bike upon metra

I got to the Ravenswood station right on time and then headed east on the bike (unfriendly) lane on Lawrence. In about 2 minutes I arrived at the Chicago Ale House. I parked right next to a Pedersen. Completely and totally unique looking (and operating I’m sure) bicycle. I went inside and tried my first Lagunitas Pilsner.

tweed riders in front of chicago ale house

Upon leaving the Ale House we headed on a nice route to Duke of Perth. I was treated to some classic tunes by Stiff Little Fingers and The Damned (“New Rose”.) To paraphrase a comment, “Why did they go goth?”

tweed ride heading north

On the way to DoP, we stopped in Andersonville for some Puppet Bikery. Notice aforementioned Pedersen on left.

tweed riders enjoy puppet bike

After the DoP, we headed to Weeds. I called an audible and headed home for a wonderful late dinner with family and friends. I am sure that the bonfire was a blast!

blurry tweed bikes @ weeds'

It is glorious today.

elm tree sans leaves, perfect fall day

I have to take a ride to the Doctor in a bit, so I plan to take the Root Beer Bike on 8 mile journey, and enjoy the sun and warm November temperatures.

The leaves have fallen and the past three days have had me spending breaks in my days raking up the leaves from the large elm and the two maple trees in my yard. the piles of leaves were enormous.

root beer bike upon bridge in fall sun

I took a trip for my honeymoon to San Francisco last week. I was not able to ride in Critical Mass, but we did have the pleasure of seeing the Mass clog traffic on Kearny where it hits Columbus in North Beach.

We had just finished an excellent Italian dinner outside, and started the walk to Union Square when we came across the Mass. Below is a picture when the corking started.

corking in North Beach

Here are some Massers flying by the cork. I was amazed at how unmassed the ride was compared to here in Chicago.

Eventually, more folks stopped as the drivers were starting to get out of their cars. What was really entertaining was the guy with the large red parasol that you can see in the pic. As he was corking, he undid the parasol and stood there while motorists honked and yelled.

Here is a view south on Kearny. Notice Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope on the left in the flatiron style building.

jammed up traffic

the traffic might have been backed up for a mile...

All in all, a nice extra after a great meal in SF!