snarkypup

Wow, everyone, thanks. Especially Beech333! I have a horrible cold acquired, no doubt, by the mere thought of going back to school in two days, so I'm not taking anything apart today, but the wheel explanation was so clear that if I felt better, I'd be out there right now doing it. What sort of grease do you use? Is there a "standard" sort that most folks can agree on?

Chicago Al, that mixte frame Shogun is gorgeous! Love the levers, thanks for the tip. They look beautiful. That inspires me to get my bike fancied up. My paint is in pretty horrid condition. If I like the bike enough, I'll have to have it repainted with the same scheme it has now. Love the blue/yellow and the pin striping. Love it!

garage sale GT

Why not choose the features you want and then shop for good deals? If you decide you want a specific brand, you'll have to look longer and pass up other good deals.

Start with the frame, for example. In steel frames there's gaspipe, cromoly, butted cromoly, and the branded proprietary tubesets. How smooth riding and light do you want vs how much do you want to spend? Prices vary too much by area for any specifics.

In general, Italian and French bikes are the longest in the top tube vs the seat tube height, English and American are somewhere in between, and most bikes from Japan and Taiwan have shorter top tubes for a given seat height. Instead of guessing based on gender, why not do a few online fit calculators? Then you'll know what you need. I also simply ask people to measure the top and seat tube when I answer their ad. Most don't mind. Don't forget, you can still get quill stems in various lengths.

garage sale GT

No.

beech333

I would recommend buying a tube of whatever the LBS sells. One tube should let you grease both of your bikes at least once. If you were going to do a lot of this type of work, like flippers would, you could buy in bulk and pay a lot less per bike you worked on. In your case, perhaps you might spend an extra $2 and keep the money nearby.

snarkypup

Thanks. I've found that the new guy at work is a bike mechanic in his spare time at one of the big bike shops around here. So there you go: problem solved, mentor on board. He's got tools, room at the shop, and expertise. It's all good. I have some other questions that are more about aesthetics.

1. Paint: how does one touch up badly beat-up paint? I love the pin-striping and other details on the lugs on this bike, and the two-tone trim, and the great headbadge(sticker)s. I don't want a cherry frame, but I would like to touch it up a bit at some point. Is this possible? How do folks do it, if so? I don't want to repaint. I will polish up what's there, but one can't polish up what no longer exists, you know?

2. Fenders: can I? What ones? I LOVE fenders. LOVE them. I want them. Chrome = good.

3. Rack: no braze-ons. I want to carry stuff. Best options? I can do another Pletscher, but boy, was securing that puppy on the Sports a pain-and-a-half. Is there a better option?

mkeller234

That Shogun is really nice looking, great catch! The Deore components on your bike are first generation and IMO look great. I have the same Deore stuff and it does have some experimental oddities that make it sort of unique. You will notice that the shift lever and rear derailleur work together so you overshift and it automatically adjusts, pretty cool. It looks like your crank is not Deore, which is probably for the best since it takes the oversized dyna-drive pedals.

Anyway, great find!

mkeller234

I think the Pletscher racks look out of place on a nice road bike like this. There are lots of nice ones out there, a Jim Blackburn would look great. I have a inexpensive bontrager on my commuter, it attaches where the rear brake is. No braze ons required.

Velo-Orange carries some polished aluminum fenders thought would probably work. I like the plastic SKS chromoplastic fenders for both price and looks.

Poguemahone

I think the mechs are second gen deore; first gen deore had a deer head insignia on the parallelogram body instead of the tricolour. Not sure on this; velobase shows the tricolour as first gen. Anyone know for sure?

Both generations work quite well, however, so it's really not a concern.

noglider 

This is true, but I let it go, since snarkypup got a bike that fit more quickly than I could make this point. But actually, arms are almost always proportional to the legs. Michael Phelps is a rare exception, as his arms are extra long.

I'm 5'9" and I have very short legs for my overall height. My Levi's jeans say my inseam is 30". Women two or three inches shorter than I am can ride a bigger bike than mine.

mkeller234

Yeah, both look cool too. I don't personally know much about the different changes in the Deore group and was relying on what I read at Velo-base and disraeli gears. I like the crank set that comes with the tri-color group but it odd pedal size and the one key bottom brackets.