New Build!
 

OK, so not exactly 'new...' Not really anywhere close to 'new.' A 199? (I am guessing 91 or so) Steve Bauer Caurus. It was probably around $300 or so at Canadian Tire, which makes this one of the finest crappy bikes they were selling at the time.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=287072

This is the semi-finished version... I cut those old grips off ... 'cut' is not really accurate as they were basically gelatinous and I more 'wiped' them off. I replaced them by triple-wrapping black cotton tape finished off with twine.

The front tire is a 26X1.95 Nokian Hakka-somethingorother that I was gifted a few years ago. The rear tire is a 1.75" wide Kenda that was on the front wheel when I got the bike. THe fenders have a wide square profile and a cool marble look because the silver paint is peeling off the inside.

The only thing that needed replacing were the crank and bottom bracket - the ones that came on it were buggered. And the saddle is a nightmare but I don't have a clamp for a standard saddle so that will have to wait.

I am off now for its maiden voyage and to take the dog for a run. Wish me luck!

I like! So, how'd it perform?

It is pretty sweet! The seat is a touch low and disastrously uncomfortable, but the shifting and brakes work good. I am going to go seek out a seat clamp tonight and put something better on.

I had forgotten how noisy studded tires are on pavement!

meh, they only sound questionable as long as there isn't ice out on the streets. Later on in the wintertime they sound like pure victory!

Sweet!, sounds like your ready for the first snows.

We actually already had a cm or three of snow on the ground (enough that there were a few sets of ski tracks on the trails when I took my dog for a walk last week, but a thin enough layer that meant those people almost definitely damaged their skis). It warmed up and rained for a couple of days and so most of the snow is gone now. And the ground that was damp is now frozen. And it is the ice that I need to be ready for, not the snow. I rode my non-winterized bike to work and back last week and it was scary coming in, and even scarier going home in the dark.

Yeah, same here, our snow turns to ice real quick until later in the month when snow start to accumulate. Mornings are always icy from road melt of the day before. I prepared my regular bike for winter by simply putting on the studded tires.

I was going to just swap in my studded tires on the Torino 76, but winter around here is very hard on a bike, so I decided to go the winter beater route instead. Especially with the Torino 76, which already has the beginnings (or middles or ends) of runs starting, and a few penetrations into the tubes (internal cable routing I added) that could let even more crapola get in there. So I am decomissioning the Torino 76 and I am going to touch up the paint, replace the fork, and cover the internal cable routing holes with split cable stops.

I will ride the Steve Bauer int he meantime.

Is that a steel frame? I have decided to continue using my Fetish because I spent so much time building it up to be comfortable and efficient that its hard to go back to my old LL Bean Beater for commuting to work. We'll see, it's made out of 7005 Alluminum Columbus Aircraft Tubing which is very strong and lightweight. If I see too much damage is being incurred, I will have to go back to the beater for the winter.

Yes my 'new' bike is steel - 100% hi-tensile, I believe. The paint is mostly intact so I am not too concerned about rust. There are a few patches missing right down on the chainstays by the BB, though, so I might hit it with a wire brush and some Rust-o-leum paint if we get a warm day.

The Torino 76 is also steel (Reynolds 531, I think)and it say in my friend's backyard for years before I rescued it, and there was actually a crack in one of the seatstays that looked like it was partly a result of rust, but I brazed a patch over it and have ridden it a few 1000 kms since without a problem.

I figure the hi-ten steel in the Steve Bauer is thick enough that I won't need to worry about it rusting through any time this decade. And I have seen some spectacularily rusty frames that were still safely ridden for many kms. I can only recall a couple of frames where rust was actually a problem. Usually most of the parts on a winter bike need to be replaced long before the frame gives out, and at that point it is easier to get a whole new (used) bike.

Is your aluminum frame painted or anodized? If so, practically speaking, that frame will never fail due to corrosion. For parts that are not anodized or painted (like scratches or inside the tubes), a protective coating of aluminum oxide forms on unprotected aluminum within seconds of exposing it to air, and unless you keep polishing the oxide off, it will last forever. Make sure you occainsionally remove and thoroughly grease close-fitting parts like seatposts and bottom brakets, though.

It's a powder coated finish . Very tough and won't peel or chip. I have never seen a bike rust to the point where the frame fails. As long as the paint is kept up in the summer you should be fine for years, even riding in salt and slush. My old Raleigh is made with that Reynolds tubing, nice stuff and light too. Thats a nice Steve Bauer you have there, looks like a large size frame for someone with long legs. LOL>

The frame is about 22" C-C, which is the same as my good MTB, but the seatpost in the Bauer is much shorter... although it has about the longest straight steel post I have ever seen. After I find a proper el-cheapo seat clamp and put a normal saddle on, hopefully that post will give me enough leg extension.

THe top tube is around 23", I think, which is shorter than my MTB, but that should be OK for a winter commuter. I may take off the terrible/awesome colour-matched bar and stem and use the chrome steel 'bullmoose' bars off the cracked frame '80s stumpjumper fron whence I got those cranks. The bullmoose bars have a little more forward extension... AND a pretty set of aluminum friction thumbshifters that I was planning on using when the plastic ones on the Bauer snap in the cold.