11/27/2007

Call me Frankenstein



Snow has arrived in Montreal, in a small dose... but here none the less. The Scrambler has been put away for the winter, still bruised from the accident. A new rear derailleur is on it's way from E-Bay, but the repairs will wait until spring. Last Friday Julie dropped me off at work with the Supercycle and a big bag full of mixed parts. After work I made full use of the workshop & began rebuilding and making the 1800 road worthy again. What began with a shifter and a rear tire, soon spread to more drastic changes. How drastic you may ask? The 6 speed second hand shifter I found, just could not cut it. I actually installed a 7 speed Shimano rapid fire shifter with the original 6 speed cassette. (call me Frankenstein) It actually kinda sorta worked... mostly. Then I decided to be more traditionalist and change the cassette.

Sooo... the 18 speed blue machine is no longer 18 speed.

It is now the Supercycle 2100... 21 speed.
(I hope I have not offended any purists)

A new tire, a rear brake lever & brake pads were also added. Then when I was done... well I had to see if it all worked? (not just the bike... me too) I rode home... hoooray! Monday morning I started commuting to work again. Was I rusty? ... you bet.

The good news is... I still love it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jeez, man, I thought you'd go down to ONE gear instead up up to TWENTY ONE!

You squeezed in an extra two weeks of cycling over me... 28 Nov was my last ride, in snow. I don't feel so bad now.

I'm getting restless, though. Thinking of pulling out the bike, despite the -40 temperature and ice-caked landscape.

Urbainxavier said...

I'm going nuts out here as well. Every time the roads clear and it gets a little milder. IT SNOWS!!!

I'm bored and out of shape. Doesn't take long to loose it and put on the pounds.

I'm moving to Laval in March... so riding to work will have to be put on hold and adjusted. In April I would like to start by riding to the Metro. (About 15km) I would eventually like to ride all the way to work. (30 to 35km, 70km round trip) A lofty goal perhaps... but goals are what keep us doing what we do.

Anonymous said...

I have been wondering if you have encountered bike snobbery in your travels? I have a bike that I use as a spare - I call it The Red Hybrid - it is a Holstar Peleton Road, basicaly it's a flatbar road bike. I think it is up there with the others that I have seen and with a good pair of tyres it could go reasonably well as a trainer for the serious cyclist. However on a couple of occasions I have copped a few interesting comments - mostly when I have taken her to a local bike shop.
The first occasion I had taken her to get a rear wheel trued and retensioned. For some reason the bike shop I took it to thought the frame was bent. I bought it second hand. I was worried that I would have to either get the frame repaired or scrap the bike all together strip the componants, buy a new frame and build a new bike. When I picked it up I was told that the bike was safe to ride and all was fine except they believed that the bike was welded in such a way that the frame looked bent (the blamed this on the brand). I was much relieved to take it for a ride later on and found it rides quite well.
The second time I encountered bike snobbery was when I went to a bike shop to pick up some tubes for my Trek Hybrid that I will be taking on a tour later this month. I was asked if the Holstar was mine, being the type of bike shop where dept store bikes are laughed at I claimed I had just borrowed it. The reply was "I didn't think it was yours it is not good enough". I am looking at writing a piece on bike snobbery on my blog because it is becoming a noticable issue. On another cycling forum www.sydneycyclist.com there has been debate about Cell bikes which are a bike brand put out by a direct wholesaler. The bikes have shimano componants and are reasonably good but the frames are considered cheap and nasty by serious roadies. I have considered getting into road racing and using a Cell bike to find out if they can produce the same results as a Giant/Trek/Pinerello/Colnago etc and it is just the rider that is the issue.
You won't be the only bicycle blogger that I will ask about this.

Urbainxavier said...

In my case... and in most cases here in Montreal, it is not uncommon to own 2 bicycles. One is used for daily commuting and the other for more serious journeys. The Supercycle... like other department store bikes, is perfect for deterring theft and riding in winter conditions. The repairs are also less expensive. (yet more frequent) As far as "snobbery" is concerned... never happened... but then again... I've never cared what others think. Be proud of you're bike and revel in you're riding accomplishments.