I hear ya about the carbon, Slim. These are all possible thoughts for the future anyway, I'm not really sure what direction I'm going to go except faster!
Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
You do some good work... saw the before and after and am most impressed.
Have provided a lot of bikes from this era and quality level to many people at our co-op and they continue to provide decent service year after year with regular maintainence... the only thing wrong with cottered cranks is that they are heavier as is what is most likely a carbon steel frame.
31 pounds sounds about right... if you wanted to compare this to a frame built on 531 tubes with a better part spec (as you usually get with better frames) you'd be looking at a bike that curbed out in the low twenties that might not ride as nicely as the Free Spirit due to more aggressive geometry and skinnier, higher pressure tyres.
It is important to note that the steel rims on that Free Spirit are probably not hooked and will not handle tyre pressures over 70psi regardless of what the tyre says is maximum... inflating beyond this can cause the tyres to blow off the rim.
Thanks, I appreciate the extra information! Really surprised the 531's weighed so much less, I would have expected mid 20s at the very lowest.
I just had the tire off the front wheel the other day and I honestly can't remember whether the wheels were hooked or not, but I'll keep your advice in mind until the next point I have a chance to look in there and know for sure. Max tire pressure is listed at 90 psi. I imagine it's probably drifted down to around 75 psi now so I'll just let it stay there.
Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
STI's, bah!
Have some DT mounts brazed on.
Is that possible with an aluminum frame? If so, heck yeah! I went with stems because clamp on DT's weren't possible with the funky frame shape. I'm enjoying the DTs with the Free Spirit so far, but the stems work nice too. Either way I'm a big fan of the simplicity of friction shifting.
Today's update!
I went to the local bike shop and found a rack that is almost exactly what I was looking for at a heck of a good price. I say almost because the only thing I would change would be for it to be silver in color to better match the whole 'vintage' theme. But hey, it's a Free Spirit not a Rivendell.
Here's my rack setup along with a couple of component pics I forgot yesterday:
I used the stock reflector from the bike to mount on the rear of the rack.
I love my LBS...with their help I firmed up these single pivot brakes further. That combined with tightening the headset removed a lot of flex and stopped the shuddering during braking. I also managed to eliminate my squeaking in the crankset by tightening up the cotter pin so, no further issues with the bike.
I may take the FS on a fast group ride tonight. I should really take the Denali, but I'm in the mood to get this bike sorted out fully so I can start commuting on it right away. Either way I'm sure one of them will be going tonight.
More later!
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