Just Commuting - Not much to report
As far as riding the happy little three speed bicycle, I've just been commuting to work as always, so there's not much to blog about. We did have about four more inches of snow over the weekend, but the daytime temperatures have been getting above freezing, up into the forties, and this week, up into the fifties (Yay!). The roads were fairly clear by Monday morning, but the back roads I bicycle up to work on still had sheets of ice across the shady side, which is the side I ride on on the way up to work. In combination with hitting the time of year when the rising sun is shining directly down the streets I ride, it made for an exciting ride yesterday. I had to be far out in the street to avoid the ice - the ice I couldn't really see because I was riding straight into the sun, knowing that any car that came up behind me most likely could not see me either. Luckily, at the time when I ride up to work, there is hardly any traffic. On the way home, my front brake cable snapped at the cable stop (or whatever it's called) in the lever, which was also exciting. I made my way the rest of the way down to the house carefully applying the back brake. I did have a friend who once broke both brake cables simultaneously and flew through the screen door of a house at the bottom of the hill he was going down. He was miffed because they made him pay for a much nicer screen door than the one he had ridden through. I was happy to find that one of the cables I keep trying to stuff back into the tool box was a brake cable, so I was quickly back to full braking power.
The 1952 Raleigh is with a local frame builder, Charlie O'Leary. I know Charlie from back when he ran the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. He is going to fill in the rear dropouts where they have become rounded and squeeze them back down to 8mm. They seem to have both worn and widened over the years. Charlie gave me a tour of his shop, and I talked to him about bike building. He said he would be happy to help me and to encourage me to buy tools if I ever decided to build a bike. I think, quite a bit, about learning to braze a frame, but the reason I want to learn to braze frames is to build bicycles like the happy little three speed. It would be fun to make a more modern version of a fully lugged Superbe, (though I guess Pashley does that to some extent). It would be fun to build a frame to fit a NOS AW hub and to put a Schmidt dynohub on the front. But it's just something that I want to know how to do. I would love to think that I could make a living specializing in hand-built city bikes. (It would even be fun to learn machining and manufacture new, robust three speed hubs, but that is probably well beyond my means). I like, for example, the Italian Umberto Dei. I could see myself in a little shop, brazing away, slowly filling the streets of my little town with beautiful, practical bicycles. When I start to get carried away, though, I have to remind myself that I think I'm pretty much the only person in Santa Fe who rides a three speed on a regular basis. My income as a builder of beautiful city bikes for my city would pretty much be $0. Even Charlie isn't moving many of his bicycles, and he builds a wide range of bikes, from extra wide tire mountain bikes, to nicely lugged racing bikes. I believe he makes most of his income from powder coating.
The spokes for the wheels of the old bike have arrived, and I think I might start lacing the rear wheel tonight. Wheelbuilding fills me with anxiety, but the one wheel I built turned out fine. I'm sure these will turn out fine as well - maybe not perfect, but certainly serviceable.
In the meantime, I'm waiting for the weather to warm up enough to spray paint the chaincase and the few spots of the frame I need to touchup. I'm thinking about ordering a 22 tooth sprocket for the old bike, since it's geared higher than than the happy little three speed, but there is the question of whether it will fit in the chain case. Some say yes; some say no. I guess I'll just have to give it a try.
The 1952 Raleigh is with a local frame builder, Charlie O'Leary. I know Charlie from back when he ran the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. He is going to fill in the rear dropouts where they have become rounded and squeeze them back down to 8mm. They seem to have both worn and widened over the years. Charlie gave me a tour of his shop, and I talked to him about bike building. He said he would be happy to help me and to encourage me to buy tools if I ever decided to build a bike. I think, quite a bit, about learning to braze a frame, but the reason I want to learn to braze frames is to build bicycles like the happy little three speed. It would be fun to make a more modern version of a fully lugged Superbe, (though I guess Pashley does that to some extent). It would be fun to build a frame to fit a NOS AW hub and to put a Schmidt dynohub on the front. But it's just something that I want to know how to do. I would love to think that I could make a living specializing in hand-built city bikes. (It would even be fun to learn machining and manufacture new, robust three speed hubs, but that is probably well beyond my means). I like, for example, the Italian Umberto Dei. I could see myself in a little shop, brazing away, slowly filling the streets of my little town with beautiful, practical bicycles. When I start to get carried away, though, I have to remind myself that I think I'm pretty much the only person in Santa Fe who rides a three speed on a regular basis. My income as a builder of beautiful city bikes for my city would pretty much be $0. Even Charlie isn't moving many of his bicycles, and he builds a wide range of bikes, from extra wide tire mountain bikes, to nicely lugged racing bikes. I believe he makes most of his income from powder coating.
The spokes for the wheels of the old bike have arrived, and I think I might start lacing the rear wheel tonight. Wheelbuilding fills me with anxiety, but the one wheel I built turned out fine. I'm sure these will turn out fine as well - maybe not perfect, but certainly serviceable.
In the meantime, I'm waiting for the weather to warm up enough to spray paint the chaincase and the few spots of the frame I need to touchup. I'm thinking about ordering a 22 tooth sprocket for the old bike, since it's geared higher than than the happy little three speed, but there is the question of whether it will fit in the chain case. Some say yes; some say no. I guess I'll just have to give it a try.
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