A few bikes that I have sold or am selling over the past few months...

Click to be taken to photo sets, some are still for sale. I thought that they look pretty nice:

For Sale $45 OBO


For Sale $165 OBO


Sold


Sold


Sold


For Sale $275


More to come, I have to clean out the garage...

1984 Trek 500 Ratrod

Well I finished the Trek 500 I have been working on and thought I would share some pictures. It took some cleaning, greasing, and repairing and the bike is as much done as I am going to make it. Maybe if I get time I will start taking off the reflective tape on the rims, or maybe not. I literally took all parts off, greased all bearings, removed all rust that I could, replaced the worn out parts, and put on new tires, tubes, brake pads, cables, housing, cork grip, and new to the bike chain and seat.

The ride is every bit what lugged steel should feel like, just real nice, long ride comfortable. Kind of cool ratrod, cafe racer styling. Frame has been serial confirmed to being built in May 1984 and built with Reynolds 501 tubing. Just a thicker version of Reynolds 531. Take a look at the pictures and feel free to get in touch with any questions. Bike will be up for sale in March and frame is a size 22" (57cm).

New Year, New Ideas...Shop Update

So resolutions are abound this time of year and my biggest is that pending any real job offers, I am going to open a bike store in Mission. It is going to be a lot of work and truly the patronage from the public last year has convinced me to move ahead. I don't know where the shop will be located yet, but I am calling around to various open store spots for possible rental space.

That being said my hand has healed as well as it probably will, and I can go back to doing repairs. I have an old Schwinn in my garage for repairs, but do not know where I am going to find all the parts to make it work again. Other than that I have time to repair bikes again, but my garage and therefore my shop is ice cold so I can't promise anything with any speed. I have been over coming this with a little propane heater but a pair of Coleman canisters only last a day so I can go through a lot. So if there is any work anyone needs I am going to charge an extra $6 to pay for the canisters for the day. I hope that isn't an issue.

In preparation of the store, I have been purchasing and thoroughly overhauling bikes to resale in the store. This will hopefully help me afford my first few months rent until I can convince a bicycle company to allow me to be a retailer. I have five bikes right now, and would like to get closer to the 20 bike range but we will see. I thought as a teaser I would let you know what I have found, these will not be available until the store opens so be advised. Remember that all these bikes have been completely overhauled including repacking bearings, drivetrain tuning, brake repair, and truing wheels. (Pictures to come)

2001 Jamis Aurora touring bike in nearly new condition. Absolutely ready perfect shape for your first tour. The color is kind of a purplish-blue. Only change to it was a Terry brand anatomic seat, everything else is stock. Highlights include 36 spoke Ritchey Wheels (Hub and Rims, offset rear rim), SLR Brifters, cantilever brakes, and Reynolds 520 frame and fork. Stout and ready for the long road including all the little touring and fender mount eyelets needed. Size is a 53cm.

1997 Specialized Rockhopper cromoly steel mountain bike in nearly new condition. This bike come in a Ferarri Red color and is ready for offroading, rail-trailing, campus life, or as a commuter conversion. One of the last high end steel frames that Specialized made, included Ritchey dropouts, fender and touring tabs, and modern threadless headset. Highlights other than the frame include gripshift, Shimano/Ritchey wheels, super knobby Specialized Team Tires, Specialized Strongarm Crank (made by Sugino), and V-brakes. Just a great bike, size is 17in.

Late 80's / Early 90's Schwinn World Sport ladies (or low slung top tube) road bike in nearly new condition. Would be an excellent commuter or campus bike. Beautiful deep blue, lugged, 4130 steel frame. Highlights include new tires, Shimano SIS 14spd drivetrain with stem shifters, ergonomic bend handlebars, and quick release wheels. I haven't measured the frame size but it is small, meant for someone less the 5' 8" to ride.

1984 Vintage Trek 500 Road Bike that is currently being restored. I am in the middle of rebuilding this bike now and it is going to turn out great. It will be like owning a Rivendell Roadie or Bridgestone road bike, except this model was made in the USA in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Frame is in good shape, but definitely shows some surface rust in spots from its age, metallic silver paint job. Made of Reynolds 501 steel on a classic lugged frame. The Mallaird hub bearings / race and headset bearings / cups are in excellent shape and have been repacked with Paul's Waterproof Grease for long life. Rear hub is the infamous Heliomatic hub. Most of the bike will remain stock with exception of a new seat, tires, tubes, cables, housing, and maybe a chain. Just a really cool old Trek that upon finish of the restoration, I am going to send pictures to Vintage-Trek.com for permanent record. Size is a 22.5in (or 57cm). Click the first link for the original Trek catalog details.

Early to mid 80's Schwinn World Traveler ladies road bike that is up next for restoration. Grey in color from the Panasonic made frame Schwinn era. Frame is lugged 4130 steel. Everything is in good shape just needs a good cleaning. Bike would be at home as a commuter or campus bike. Size will be 19in (or 48cm).

Trading Bike Work for Printer Repair...

I posted an ad on craigslist that I could use some help with anyone who knows a little something about computer printer repair. Specifically, I am will to trade bike repair like a full tune-up, wheels trued, etc for some help with my printer.

I have a Canon MF5750 that is currently stuck thinking that it has a paper jam. I have spoken with Canon customer service rep and worked through there approprate flow chart. All that conversation basically figured that one of the paper jam sensors is stuck "on", and to repair the machine the sensor would have to be cleaned, replaced, or bypassed. Electronics aren't my strong suit so any help, suggestions or what not would be greatly appreciated.

The Incredible Movements of Cycling Development...

(Quick warning to those just looking for typical average joe bike person blog writing, this post is basically full bike nerdness do not be surprised if you don't understand.)

So back when I first was starting to care about bicycles fully, the year was roughly 1989 and 21 speeds or 3 x 7 gearing (depending on your bike schooling) was all the rage of the growing mountain biking scene, much like Ned Overend's mustache. Components were moving from freewheels to cassettes and freehubs and spacing on rear hubs went from centered to dished. Over the next five years, some of the greatest components from Suntour and Shimano came from that era including both companies thumbshifters, nearly every component of Suntour's XC Pro gruppo and Shimano's Deore XT gruppo, Shimano wide style cantilever brakes, WTB Greaseguard products (hubs and headsets), Ritchey headsets, Ritchey brake levers and headsets, Sugino compact cranks, and on were created. What has happened since has probably been the greatest diversification in bicycle components and frames in 20 years than whatever had been engineered in the however many years before it.

Natural progression of parts well progressed. Threaded headsets with largely adjustable quilled stems made way into lighter Aheadsets with largely unadjustable stems to dedicated adjustable theadless headset stems. 3 x 7 (21 spd) gearing went to 3 x 8 because we needed more gears to 3 x 9 because we needed more gears to, strangely enough, 2 x 10 (20 spd) and single speeds because we have too many gears. Mountain bike frames went from rigid steel to front suspended aluminum to fully suspended aluminum and carbon fiber to rigid steel with larger diameter wheels. Brakes went from fairly lightweight and effective "cable straddle" style cantilever brakes to crappy working "y-straddle" style cantilever brakes to effective and lightweight v-brakes to now heavy and moderately effective disc brakes (in cyclocross they went back to lightweight and effective "cable straddle" style cantilever brakes). SRAM which became successful by offering a shifting option (Gripshift) other than Shimano's Rapidfire, essentially equips bikes today with their version of Rapidfire.

It makes you wonder if all the hype of parts and frames and styles were truly advances in technology or if it was just really good marketing. I don't know the answer, I definately appreciate v-brakes but miss thumbshifters and can't help but wonder what other junk that will come next.

Latest on the Shop and the Hand...

First off I am happy to say the shop is open again in my opinion. I have a backlog of bikes in my garage first, but if you stumble onto here and want some work done get in touch. I will post a new Craigslist ad in KC when the backlog is taken care of. So good times.

My hand is in good shape for a pretty knarly accident, just some good scaring. Also found out why I crashed. While repairing the bike I found that there was a bent middle ring on the crank. That is what caused the slip between the middle and large gears. It sort of pisses me off, other than that have a good cold early winter Kansas City.

- The Management

The Great Tri-tool versus Bi-tool Debate...

(The following has been copied over from an old blog I started and abandoned a couple of years ago called Retrobike. I couldn't find my muse there as I have seem to found here. This article is the only thing worth keeping, as I hope to slowly reveal what tools are great in the world of bicycles. No, not all are labeled "Park". I would best describe this article as cute.)

In the history of bike mechanic arguments, never has an argument been so dividing as the great tri-tool versus bi-tool debate. Typically one of these two tools is most mechanics first real toy that they learn how to quickly put together a new disassembled bike. Depending on the teachings of their original bike sensei, the mechanic will choose their tool of which they will wield, protect, and defend for the rest of their lives. We should probably break down the great adversaries first before weighing their skills in combat.

The Y-shaped tri-tool comes in a variety of combinations but only one style is truly worth its value. Ignore the screwdriver tipped or 8-9-10mm socket tipped versions and engorge yourself with the pleasure 4-5-6mm hex headed tool. These three sizes are the most commonly used in the spec’ing of bolts for a bicycle and allow for a mechanic to quickly put together a bicycle without having to constantly stop, find the right size wrench, and continue working again. Many different bicycle tool manufacturers have produced a version of the tri-tool but the best comes from Lifu (pictured above). Most of the other brands like Park or Pedro’s use some sort of sawed off hex shape and shoved it into a metal or plastic sleeve, where as the Lifu version is forged out of chrome-vanadium steel into it’s needed shape and bent and welded together. The later seems to hold up better, the other brands have had a tendency to bend and shear off over time. Lifu can show up as Ice Toolz, Nashbar's generic tools, Avenir, etc. Because of its Y-shape this tool allows its user to more easily torque bolts down. This isn’t always an advantage as a lot of bolts and threads are made of aluminum and can easily strip.

The bi-tool firmly says “Meh” to the 4mm hex size and utilizes only the 5 and 6mm sizes. Shaped like an S, this crafty version allows good leverage due to its natural fitting in the palm. 4mm were never used quite that much anyways. I have found this product as a Lifu branded product as well as Summit. It is sometimes difficult to find at the local bike shop (Waldo Bikes has some in stock), but worth the effort if you find one.

Comparing these two titans is really more like comparing your two favorite beers. Each has its own certain tastes but both can leave you feeling drunk and happy. The tri-tool is exceptionally good at adjusting cantilever, side pull, and v-style (linear pull) brakes and especially brake pads, which need its high torquing capabilities to keep the pads in place. The tri-tool is also real good for road bike brake levers and bar-end shifters as well. Bi-tools are particularly good for seat posts, stems, derailleurs, and mtb brake levers. Both work well for testing out new bike adjustments, just stop loosen, adjust, and tighten over and over until you find just the right angles.

My suggestion, pick them both up, try them out, and pick your side of the divide today. Both typically sell for less than $5 each, so it should be affordable for everyone. Also, don't ask me which one I prefer, I have 4 of each in case the great bike tool Armageddon ever comes true.