2021 King of Autumn

There are 3 blog posts between this post and the King of Autumn post from last year. All evidence points to my pretty much stopping with this blog. However, I still have a great deal of affection for it and the people I've met* through it.

I was late getting this year's photo because my commute hasn't taken me that way in a great while due to seemingly never ending road work.

Anyway here's the king:

While I in the park taking this photo, some guy walking his dog told me that I must see a red tree doing a fun colour change from the top down a couple of blocks away. Not one to ever turn down a good tree tip, here's that one:

I didn't want to let Autumn go by without keeping my tradition of posting the King, but I must admit I'm not pleased with this half-assed effort. No matter what I'm doing or not doing with the blog, I will endeavor to catch the King at his best next year.

One reason I'm not writing as much is that my creative outlets have shifted into more guitar playing and singing (which was difficult after my brain thing but is still getting better all the time) and making things out of old bikes. Remember that Trek 520 I painstakingly documented the building of? There was something up with the fork or frame that I was never able to properly correct, but made it ride funny. As a result I later converted it into wind chimes and a lamp, of course. I posted the chimes on etsy and they sold almost right away for a fairly high price, which has led to me trying more stuff. My efforts are sometimes clumsy or crude or misguided, but I'm just learning as I go, having fun and trying to sell the stuff anyway. If you're interested, take a look at my store on etsy here. 

Have a spooky good Halloween!

R A N T W I C K

*in a correspond or reply to on the Internet sense; I have never made the effort to actually meet people in person. I know some people use their online lives to strengthen or make more exciting their real existence. Not me. I kind of like keeping those things separate.

Trek 520 Build - Part Seven - Roadworthy

This is Part Seven in an ongoing series of posts documenting my painfully slow progress in building a light loaded touring bike. If you care to read the whole thing so far, use the "Post Series" link near the top of the sidebar.

Well, it has been a long time since I posted on my progress with the 520, partly because I have been very busy and partly because I haven't really gotten very far. That said, the bike has crossed the line that exists between idea/project and functioning machine, and some good things have definitely happened. When I left off in the last part, the bike's foundation was together, but the more complex components weren't on it yet.

The first order of business was cleaning all the old parts. I prefer to dismantle things about as far I reasonably can, getting every last bit of old grease and grit out of them. Something like a derailleur is easy enough to take apart and put back together (at least the parts you should), but the cantis from this bike frightened me a little when taken fully apart:

I managed to get them back together OK after studying pictures and diagrams online and footling about for a while...

More on brakes later. Once I had brakes, I slapped on cables, derailleurs, a chain and all that. I am pleased and surprised to say that all went very easily and I spent very little time bemused or puzzled. This was rather new to me.

The old components, while less than pristine, cleaned up pretty well, and the new stuff looked, um, new!

The moment of truth had arrived. I had tuned everything as best I could. It was time to ride it. I set out with a few tools in a backpack so I could adjust seat height and such along the way.

The test ride went great! Other than tweaking handlebar and seat height a little, everything worked. I was particularly pleased with the shifting, which was smooth in both indexed and friction, and it would seem I got the limiting screws set correctly the first time. I rode the bike to work a couple of times and I recalled why I like racks and panniers over backpacks. Anyway, that produced the desired "cable stretch" and I've re-tuned things since.

The brakes, while sufficient, are a bit of a let-down. I have fiddled and adjusted and tuned myself insane, but they still haven't got the power I'm after. I am strongly considering some Tektro 520s like the ones on my fixed gear. They have been great and are about a million times easier to install and adjust and use modern cartridge style pads. The current brakes will do for now though, because I have to abandon work on the 520 to get Mutant Winter in shape before the snow flies.

Besides, the 520, while functional, is not finished and other things matter more than new brakes. Still on my list, in order of importance:

1 - Racks

2 - Fenders

3 - Bar Tape

4 - Stickers/decals

5 - Headbadge

While getting the headbadge back on the bike will be relatively quick and easy, in my mind it is the very last thing, the finishing touch. I will be back with another instalment on the Trek when I manage to get anything more done. Don't know when that'll be. I mean, I got the frame in August of 2009. That should give you an idea of the quickness with which I work.

Thanks for tuning in, whether its your first time or, god help you, you come here often. I really appreciate it.

R A N T W I C K

PS - I almost forgot about the money again!

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80
Used Wheelset front wheel: $100 (arg!)
Blasting of frame: $50
Powder Coating of frame: $50 (super deal)
Components from Part Four: $246
Taxes and Duties on shipment: $40
14-34 Freewheel: $22
New Rear Wheel: $62
Cables and Tubes: $30

TOTAL to date: $680

Trek 520 Build - Part Six - Getting Started

This is Part Six of an ongoing series of posts documenting my painfully slow progress in building a light loaded touring bike. If you care to read the whole thing so far, use the "Post Series" link near the top of the sidebar.

Before I begin with this instalment on my Trek 520 build, I need to issue a disclaimer. I don't really know what I'm doing and I learn as I go. If you are looking for guidance in building up a bike, you're better off going to one of the many excellent instruction sites out there. If, however, you're into seeing the process of an unskilled hack, read on.

Having gotten most of the necessary bits and pieces together, I finally got a start last weekend. I elected to assemble the headset and fork first. I began by giving the headset parts a nice bath in degreaser. After they were all cleaned up, I was happy to find that the cups, cones and bearings showed no pitting or scarring worth mentioning. I wondered if the headset had been replaced at some point, they looked so good.

On the last bike I built I almost wrecked the headset trying to use a home-made headset press that consisted of a long bolt and some big washers and stuff. I had gotten the design from one of those DIY/MacGyver style web sites. This time, I was going back to the tools I had used in the past...

I use the PVC pipe to seat the crown race. I just slide on the race, then slide the steerer into the pipe, flip the fork over and bang it on the floor. The hammer and block of wood are for seating the cups in the head tube. Like I said, don't look to these posts as an example of how to things the right way, but rather the Rantwick way.

Next, I installed the bottom bracket. I had the correct tool for that, at least. Up until now I have just used some good grease to install a bb, but my bike shop friends had suggested anti-sieze compound instead, so I used that this time. The bb went in smoothly.

Having suffered a little confusion about what spindle length would be correct and having become something of a chainline nazi thanks to my fixed gear build, I was anxious to see what chainline I ended up with having used the 115mm bottom bracket. I installed the crankset to see what I got.

Chainline measures 47.5mm. From what I have read, that chainline probably favours the middle ring and granny over the big ring. That is likely a good thing since a loaded tourer and a less-than-fit me will probably make more frequent use of them than other bikes and riders might.

The used bike I originally bought came with a black stem that I didn't like much. I replaced it with a silver Nitto stem that I had lying around. It is slightly shorter, but that is good because the frame is a little big for me anyway.

I love the look of a classic "7" shaped quill stem. It is just plain sweet. I popped on the bars, seatpost, saddle and wheels, and here's where the bike is now:

There's something about a bike that doesn't have any of its fancier components on it yet that just looks beautiful to me. I guess that's why so many people love the look of a track bike. I know the bars look a little whacked, but I'm nowhere near final adjustments yet. Anyway, that's how far I got last weekend. The more fiddly components come next, but I don't know when I'll have time. It's a busy old life, ain't it?

As Always, Thanks for Reading. Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

I'm skipping the build $ tally this time, because nothing I did cost me anything. OK, anti-sieze. But I'm not counting that.

Trek 520 Build - Part Five - Bad News Good News

This is Part Five of an ongoing series of posts documenting my painfully slow progress in building a light loaded touring bike. If you care to read the whole thing so far, use the "Post Series" link near the top of the sidebar.

I've only really "built" two bikes before this one, having only gotten back into bikes in the last ten years or so. As such, I lack the experience of some other crazy life-long bike wrenching fools. Unfortunately, it sometimes shows. In this case, it shows in that one of the wheels I found for this build was bad, in more ways than one. You may recall that the freewheel on my used wheels was a 12-19, which wasn't a good match for the triple crankset I chose or touring in general. In my post about the wheels, I described that freewheel as being in excellent condition. I am stupid. I recently picked up a 14-34 freewheel, and wanted to put it on. Here is what I discovered when I tried to remove the existing one:

Not good, but no biggie, right? Sheldon Brown had some instructions for removing such a freewheel. The method was destructive, but I was OK with that. Sadly, I was incapable of getting the damn thing off anyway. My guess is that the thing was seized badly and somebody else destroyed the tabs trying to get it off. I headed over to South London Cycle, more of a repair shop than anything else. The guy who runs it figured he could get the freewheel off somehow, but in spinning the wheel noticed a flat spot. I had noticed it too and thought it was correctable or at least not too bad. I was wrong. He suggested that it would be a waste of my money to have him remove the freewheel, because this was a flat spot I would feel for sure.

I was pretty angry with myself. Live and learn, I guess. The first thing I did was inspect the one remaining rim from the original bike. It was a front, but re-lacing it to be a rear was an option. It had a big flat spot too. I went online and started the search for a new rear wheel. Unlike the last time, there was NOTHING in the local (or even nearby) classifieds like craigslist or kijiji. Ebay and other online stores offered nothing used, and I was feeling reluctant to buy used stuff again anyway. The only reasonably available and good quality 27" wheel in production seemed to be a Sun CR18. The best deal I could find was $70 plus $30 shipping plus whatever they dinged me for at customs. I was sad.

It was a Sunday, and I couldn't reach any bike shops. Many smaller shops are also closed on Monday. I was pretty distressed and wanted to just run away. So I did. I caught the red-eye to London and hung out with Ham. I had to work, however, so I jetted back to London Ontario after chilling out and having a beer.

Tuesday was a good day, because I struck paydirt on my first try. First Cycleworks came through with an in-stock 27" CR18 wheel, aluminum hub, stainless spokes, etc. $62 after tax. Although I didn't make any more calls, I'm pretty confident nobody else would have had one and would have charged me more than that to get one.

So the bad news is that I am naive and too stupid to spot a bad wheel. The good news is that I was able to recover using my wallet and a LBS. I may well try to get a CR18 for the front as well... I'm into symmetry. The used front wheel I bought, however, really is perfect (I have checked and re-checked) so all is well for now.

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80
Used Wheelset front wheel: $100 (arg!)
Blasting of frame: $50
Powder Coating of frame: $50 (super deal)
Components from Part Four: $246
Taxes and Duties on shipment: $40
14-34 Freewheel: $22
New Rear Wheel: $62

TOTAL to date: $650

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Trek 520 Build - Part Four - Have Parts, Will Dawdle

This is Part Four of an ongoing series of posts documenting my painfully slow progress in building a light loaded touring bike. If you care to read the whole thing so far, use the "Post Series" link to the right.

Now, on with the bike building blog post that shows no sign of ending, ever!

There is something very wrong with me. I mean, there have always been lots of things wrong with me, but this is a new thing. In the past, the main stumbling block to building a bike was getting everything I needed together. I have always preferred to have all the parts necessary for the bike to function before I begin. I mean, having a bike that has everything but, say, a toilet would be utterly maddening.

Once I start putting it together, I will use every spare minute I've got until it is rolling and tuned as well as possible. Then I'll turn to the non-mechanical points like stickers or racks or fenders or whatever. Thankfully shortly before my Out Of Pocket van rental experience I had ordered and received the new parts I was going to need for this build:

When combined with the old parts that I saved when stripping the bike down in Part Two, I do believe I've got everything needed to put this thing on the road. I have a good saddle that I will use for now. I want a Brooks (since many of you told me that they are worth it) for the long-range bike, but for now the saddle I've got should be fine and is an exact match to the one on my daily commuter.

Anyway, here's what's wrong: I can't seem to get started. My tool room / workbench is such a mess I can't even work in there. Normally that wouldn't stop me; I would just work on the porch. There is something else going on that I don't understand... I want to build and ride this bike, but I'm almost scared to begin. What happened to excited? Perhaps I am just self-aware enough to know how emotionally invested I get once I start, and I'm waiting for the right time when my immersion won't cause undue hardship for my family. Let's go with that for now and you can suggest other reasons I'm unable to pull the trigger. In the meantime, long-winded explanations of my new component choices should be downright riveting, don't you think? These purchases were made at a major online cycling retailer in the UK. God help me, I found my best deals across the Atlantic again.

Crankset: Stronglight Impact Triple - Price Paid: $58

I wanted a Sugino XD500 Triple, but didn't want to pay for it. These come very close at a much lower cost, although I think they are hard to get in North America. I even read somewhere that the arms are forged by Sugino. There's an XD2R and XD2L forged into the inside surfaces of the cranks, so it seems pretty likely. JIS square taper, nothing fancy. Mine has aluminum middle and outer rings with a steel granny, which was the cheapest configuration I could find. 50-38-28.

Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN54, 68mm $15 or $25

I was told that UN54 was a perfectly good bb for touring by bike shop people, and I believe them. Again, fancy isn't my goal, but reliability does matter. Two bottom brackets? Wah? I have two of these because I ordered the first from the aforementioned UK online retailer, using the spindle length of the old bottom bracket (122mm) as a guide. Having already made my order, I learned that your bb spindle length is normally suggested by the crank manufacturer. Looked it up. 115mm. So now I have both. If neither work out, I'm hoping I could swap with a LBS. Before anybody beats me up for not shopping locally, check this out: 122mm Online Price Paid: $15 115mm LBS Price Paid: $25. On one item, no big deal. On a bunch of parts, big difference in cost. I hate it, because I want to support my LBSs, but can't afford to when I'm buying lots of stuff like this.

Pedals: Shimano A520 - Price Paid: $39

I started out looking for MTB pedals like the ones I use now, because I like spd shoes, but came across these. They're only one-sided, but some say the more spread out design reduces hot spots where your foot contacts the pedal. I don't know about that, but they sure look nice.

Bars: Oval R300 - Price Paid: $41

26.0 mm clamp. I like wider bars than the ones I took off the bike. These are 44cm wide and have that little ergo bend, which I like.

Tires: Schwalbe Marathons, 27 X 1-1/4. Price Paid: $51

Good tires, I'll bet. My winter Schwalbes have been excellent.

Bar Tape: SRAM SuperCork - Price Paid: $13

I used Deda tape on my fixed commuter build. I love the way it feels but it hasn't proven super durable. How often do you re-tape? This stuff looked similar so I thought I would try it. The bar end plugs provided are pretty nice looking too.

Chain: SRAM PC870 - Price Paid: $19

SRAM chains with their power link are what I like best now, although I didn't always. I always get the lowest price chain that features nickel plating, because I love the look of them with the alternating black and silver. I figure that buying at that price point also ensures some measure of quality.

Wow. I must actually build this bike, because I never want to write anything this boring again. Or at least this kind of boring. A different, something actually happening kind of boring would be OK with me.

Now that I am the proud owner of all these bits, please feel free to inform me how I have messed up in my selections... I mean it.

R A N T W I C K

Oh! Oh! I almost forgot the running tally. Maybe I subconsciously didn't want to see it...

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80
Used Wheelset: $100
Blasting of frame: $50
Powder Coating of frame: $50 (super deal)
Components listed above: $246
Taxes and Duties on shipment: $40

TOTAL to date: $566

Trek 520 Build - Part Three - Powdered, Dusted and Sprinkled

Mmmm. Donuts. I love donuts. And recently blasted bike frames. If you showed up here because you love donuts too, I am afraid I am about to disappoint you. Take comfort in the fact that my regular visitors come here ready to be disappointed ahead of time, and maybe get yourself a donut at your local deep fried dough establishment. That should make you feel better.

This is Part Three of an ongoing series of posts documenting my painfully slow progress in building a light loaded touring bike. If you care to read the whole thing so far, use the "Post Series" link to the right.

So, to continue: I took my newly blasted bike frame to H&G Powder Painters here in London. I didn't know if it was strictly necessary, but I only handled the frame while wearing some thin disposable plastic gloves and when the H&G people saw that, they thought it was probably better that I had done so and complimented me on the care I took. It is entirely possible that they just thought I was a big freak and were lying to me, but even if that was true they certainly got the message that I wanted proper care taken with this frame.

The big question was, of course, what colour I wanted the bike to be. In completely boring but practical fashion, I went with a glossy black. There were two main reasons for my choice, the first being that I quite like "plain" bicycles in black, white or silver. The second was that H&G does "runs" of black all the time, often for industrial applications. If I had wanted something more interesting, I would have had to wait longer and possibly pay more. Decision made.

I consulted with a young man named Jason from H&G who was enthusiastic and showed very quickly that he understood what needed to be masked off and why. I got the feeling he was looking forward to doing something a little more sporty than screen doors or gardening equipment or whatever. Anyway, the frame got done and I'm really pleased with the results:

Those pictures show pretty well that the black powder looks good and stops in all the right spots (no threads or inner surfaces for me to clean out) and that my front lawn really sucks. Ah well. I like making bikes, not caring for grass. Sue me.

So that covers the "powdered" part of this post's title, but what about the rest? When I first brought the frame home I left the frame and fork on top of a wood pile on our porch. There is a ton of construction going on in my neighbourhood, which is raising lots and lots of dust. When I took it down to take some photos for this little article, it looked like this:

Now that wasn't gonna do for a "hey look at my pretty bike frame" picture, now was it? I had to rinse off the frame and give it a wipe before taking the nicer photos from earlier. Despite the little annoyances like this that the road work produces, you will never, ever hear me complain about it, because I love smooth pavement. The frame now resides in my basement tool room, where most of the dust is kept down by sweet, cool basement-y humidity and an abundance of cobwebs. So that's the "dusted" part. Now for the sprinkles!

The day after my bike was done, the aforementioned Jason gave me a call. He said he wanted to discuss how my job went. I was naturally a little concerned and went over to H&G at the first opportunity. Jason wasn't happy with how my frame coating had gone. It had sprinkles:

You may need to click on the above image for a bigger version to see the sprinkles.

For reasons Jason wasn't exactly clear on, some particles from some other job or item being treated ended up part of my powder job. Jason told me that he takes great pride in his work and that didn't want me to see these sprinkles later and come back unhappy. I had to take the frame out in the sunlight to see them at all, and overall they looked kind of like a sparse metallic fleck to me. I asked if there was any chance that the durability of the coating would have been affected, and he said absolutely not. He offered to try re-coating the frame or knock $30 off the original $80 we had agreed on. I took the $30 without a second thought. I had thought the $80 sounded like a pretty damn good price in the first place.

I would like to thank H&G for their friendly service and Jason in particular for presenting me with what may be the first ever occurrence of a price being reduced by adding sprinkles. Just try asking for that at an ice cream place and see how it goes over. I dare you.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know enough about the powder coating process to have caught this "problem" on my own. I would have paid my $80 quite happily. But they were honest and I really appreciate that. I wonder if my carrying the frame into their place while wearing silly little plastic gloves has anything to do with it? Perhaps, but I would rather think that this is just a case of a business doing the right thing in the hopes of gaining one more happy customer. They have.

Before I go, there is one more picture that I want to share with you for no good reason other than that I think it looks kind of cool:

Thanks for reading Part Three. The next parts will be about components, of course. I have 'em all picked out, but don't know when I'll be able to buy them. There's also a Police auction coming up that may yield some cheap bikes laden with good parts, but I am skeptical. Short version, don't hold your breath for the next part. Everything comes in its own time, even stuff you don't necessarily care about or want.

I have promised to keep good records of the costs involved with this build; I am beginning to regret that because the final, true cost of my bike building is going to shock me and Mrs. Rantwick, I think. A promise, however, is a promise:

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80.00

Used Wheelset: $100.00

Blasting of frame: $50.00

Powder Coating of frame: $50.00 (super deal)

TOTAL to date: $280.00

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - Upon re-reading this post, it looks like I'm promoting H&G. I suppose I am, but only because I'm a happy customer. Neither have I have received any monetary consideration for what I have written, nor do they even know that I have written it.

Click here to continue to Part Four - Have Parts, Will Dawdle

Trek 520 Build - Part Two - I Strip and Get Blasted

Before I begin, if you are enough of a bike freak to want to follow my Trek 520 light-loaded tourer build from beginning to end, use the "Post Series" link near the top of the sidebar to the right. If, on the other hand you are only here for the "strip and get blasted" part, here we go:

The Trek 520 I picked up last fall looked like this:

The frame was going to need attention in the paint department, which meant it was time to strip. I mean, like, take it all off! WooHoo!

Before I did that, I took closeup photos of all the parts I thought I might have trouble reassembling. Then I put everything I meant to keep in little plastic bags. They eventually went into a larger bag.

Bars, stem and crankset will be replaced. Anyway, I and the 520 stayed in the bag for 6 months. Everything just sat in my tool room until this week. The paint and decals on the frame were in pretty bad shape. I have stripped a frame using a combination of chemicals and wire brushes on a hand drill. It was a lot of work and yielded acceptable but less than perfect results. I wasn't going to screw around this time. Given the situation, I knew in my heart that it was time to get blasted, which I proceeded to do a couple of days ago. I picked up the frame just yesterday:

As you can see, all that messy stuff was cleaned right up. Finally clean, me and my Trek 520 are ready for the next steps. We will try not to get all freaked out on powder...

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80.00

Used Wheelset: $100.00

Blasting of frame: $50.00

TOTAL to date: $230.00

R A N T W I C K

PS - I'm going on trains and planes for a few days. Be good while I'm gone, and maybe I'll bring you something back from my trip late next week.

Trek 520 Build - Part One - A Bike Needs a Frame and Wheels

Since several of my favourite blog people are doing articles in several parts and I am nothing if not a sheep-like follower and imitator, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. There may be months between the parts of this documentation of my Light Loaded Tourer build, since the restrictions of time and money will make it a very slow process. To see all posts relating to this build, use the "Post Series" link near the top of the sidebar on the right.

On previous builds, I have been asked by people, "so how much did it cost to do?" I could ballpark it, but in all honesty I didn't have any good answer. This time, I'm going to keep track of everything in these posts, right down to the bar tape. I've got a bad feeling the total amount will be more than I ever guessed, but I know I do that to myself by needing to upgrade lots of stuff that probably would have been fine. As such, please don't treat these posts as a "how to build a good bike for cheap", but rather as a "how Rantwick builds a bike he'll love". Also please know that this is not a restoration project. Lots of new bits and pieces that have nothing to do with the original 520 will go into it.

Of course the first step in building up a bike from scratch is getting your paws on an appropriate frame. In my case I found a local classified ad for a "90s Trek 520". The back wheel was trashed and the frame would require a complete re-paint to look nice again. When I got the bike home, a little online research at Vintage Trek revealed that my bike was actually an 1988 or 89. The serial number puts it in 1989, but the 27" wheels make it a 1988! Anyway, here it is, just as I brought it home:

Double-butted made in the USA lugged steel goodness. Long chainstays. Braze-ons and eyelets for racks and fenders, including eyelets midway on the front fork, two water bottle cages and mounts for the downtube shifters (which you can switch between friction and indexed for the rear).

Like I said, the rear wheel was trashed, and the 6 Speed freewheel cogs showed the signs of a long life spent with the same chain, so I couldn't use it either. The front wheel was OK, but the spokes were grungy with oxidation. I needed some decent 27" wheels if I didn't want to replace the perfectly good cantilever brakes or get into moving the braze-ons. Once again, the local online classified gods smiled on my project: I picked up a pair of Mavic G40s (double eyelet, 36 spoke) laced to sealed cartridge Specialized hubs. They even had nice silver skewers without a mark on them.

Brass nipples, DT Swiss stainless spokes, and 6 Speed freewheel (the original was a 6 speed too) in excellent condition. I didn't measure, but the rear spacing of the bike is a perfect match. It's gear range (12-19) is higher than that of a typical touring bike, and I'm debating with myself about how to proceed. I was intending on replacing the Deore/BioPace crankset (which was also really worn) anyway, so I've been playing with gear calculators to see if I can get touring-style gear ratios by choosing the right crankset. I'm thinking the smaller chainrings of a MTB crankset might do the trick. I know some bike people who would gasp in horror at the notion of using MTB components on a road frame, but I'm way more interested in function than convention. That said, I'm a sucker for a nice Ultegra crankset... obviously I'm still percolating on the matter. Maybe a road triple crankset with no rings off ebay? Buying rings one a time can be expensive. Gaah! Ack! I love this, and I hate this!

Sorry you got dragged into my tortured thought process there. So: A frame and wheels that I really like. What an excellent start!

Build $ Tally:

Used Frame + some parts I will re-use: $80.00
Used Wheelset: $100.00

TOTAL to date: $180.00

This was Part One.

Click Here for Part Two: I Strip and Get Blasted

If you were expecting something funny or interesting to normal people, I apologize. Like I said, it will likely be quite a while before I post on this build again, so come back soon for something more entertaining.

R A N T W I C K

This Is Not a Post - I'm just Excited

I just had to mention that I have found the foundation for a new highway tourer build, a lugged steel 1988 Trek 520. God knows I'll be writing about this some more, so I'll leave it there for now.

Since people always want to know... I paid $80 for it, but I'll need a new 27" rear wheel which may be hard to source, might switch out BB and crankset, but brakes, levers, derailleurs and shifters are all good. Frame is scratched but not rusted... will probably repaint.

Wish me luck on my obsessive journey,

R A N T W I C K