I hope the environment appreciates how much a pain building this bike was...

[Tri Girl]

Wow- that turned out GREAT!!!! I really like the look- sleek, fast (thanks to the flames) and rugged as all get out. I'd be worried about leaving it outside because it's so nice now.
Congrats on getting your bike built up. The environment is surely appreciative of all your efforts.

[derailed]

Fantastic! That's a real investment of time and thought, and I hope you get many happy miles on her.

[Cataboo]

Yeah, someone might steal my flame stickers if I leave her outside! And I might have to switch to a torn up terry butterfly saddle I have instead of the specialized ariel I have on there now... but I'm hoping the bike'll also be a nice ride on something like the C&O canal or gravel paths (things I would never take my road bike on, but my mountain bike seems like over kill for)... A road triple with an 8 speed mountain bike rear should provide enough gearing that I don't think hills will be a problem and it's more than enough for my flat ride to work... I was debating just making it a fixed gear, but I decided buying all those parts was probably more than just using what I had.

I did learn a fair amount building her up and I proved my bf wrong on a lot of things "you can't use mtb shifters with a road front"... (Proving him wrong at least once a day is sort of a goal of mine since he's always convinced he's right)

One of the comical moments was the set of spare wheels I had, which I'd continually complained that they were slow... The bf absolutely didn't believe me and thought it was all in my head (this is a very common occurrence if I complain about something on my bicycle)... so I'd been letting him use them on his trainer, and at some point he decided... something's not right about this rear wheel, so he took apart the hub and it was full of crud... To which I got to exclaim "What? My slow wheels are full of crud... do you think that mighta been why they felt slow?" But apparently, despite that, it would have been impossible for me to feel a difference in the wheels according to him. I'm slow enough that the slightest thing that makes me slower, I feel.

So anyways, he puts the wheels back together and gives them to me... and I'm adjusting the gearing on the bike and the wheel's wobbling on the trainer... and I'm going... Erm, you didn't put that hub back together right. He's going, no, you didn't put that tire on right. No, the tire's fine... So he looks at it, the hub has worked its way loose, and a bearing has made a run for it... Which is followed by 3-4 comical hours of watching him try to get all the bearings lined up, one falling into the hub and getting lost in some groove in there... rescuing it, knocking some more down in there... And... Me just going... "I wanna ride my bike, hurry up and find the bearings"

Poor guy did finally fix them for me though.

[tulip]

That is one hot bike!

[Zen]

I love it.
I love the flames, the red pedals and the tires.
But...
you might want some fenders for rain or muddy towpath.

Too bad this decal doesn't come in red.

[Cataboo]

Thanks everyone

Zen - I'm still debating what to do about the fenders. I'll probably stick a piece of wood underneath the backrack for now... Then I have a plastic rear one that's supposed to clamp onto a back seatpost... But I've never had a seatpost that was up high enough to use it. So I may end up cutting that up and improvising something to hold it.

The bf's been building me a kayak, so he's got long thin scrap pieces of marine grade plywood and spare fiberglass.... So I may take some of that, cut out some fenders & see if I can glass them in a curve & make them red... If the bike looked a bit more classic (erm, wasn't covered in flame stickers & red), I'd love to have the natural wood look... Maybe I can stain it sort of a dark mahogany or cherry color?


7 rider - The DC craigslist provides much amusement value at least.

[Zen]

The bf's been building me a kayak,...

Wow! He's a keeper (if it floats)
Does he have a similarly talented unattached brother?

[Cataboo]

Wow! He's a keeper (if it floats)
Does he have a similarly talented unattached brother?

He's got an unattached brother, but I think his talents lie elsewhere. I could be convinced to share this one, since he does have that annoying habit of always thinking he's right.

This is about the point the boat has stalled at, we're debating whether the top is going to be cedar stripped or... And it was it's maiden voyage to see how it balanced - it does balance and it is fast... (and it's covered in fiberglass dust and has the un-glassed areas duct taped with plastic, but you get the idea.. it's a boat)

[solobiker]

Thanks everyone

Zen - I'm still debating what to do about the fenders. I'll probably stick a piece of wood underneath the backrack for now... Then I have a plastic rear one that's supposed to clamp onto a back seatpost... But I've never had a seatpost that was up high enough to use it. So I may end up cutting that up and improvising something to hold it.

The bf's been building me a kayak, so he's got long thin scrap pieces of marine grade plywood and spare fiberglass.... So I may take some of that, cut out some fenders & see if I can glass them in a curve & make them red... If the bike looked a bit more classic (erm, wasn't covered in flame stickers & red), I'd love to have the natural wood look... Maybe I can stain it sort of a dark mahogany or cherry color?


7 rider - The DC craigslist provides much amusement value at least.

Very cool. DH built a cedar strip canoe. It is very pretty and floats too. When he took it out on its maiden voyage somone on shore commented to me that he liked and and wondered who the manufacturer was. I proudlly stated my husband let me see if I can find a picture. He had to bend the wood for the bow and stern. Have fun making the fenders.

[solobiker]

here is a pic of the canoe he built. I would love to see a pic of his kayak that he is building you once it is done