I decided I wanted to start commuting to work. For some reason this thing caught my eye although it's not really what I was looking for. I'm located not too far from Fort Hood here in Texas and this was listed by a soldier who was moving to another base in Alabama and didn't want to take it with him. He said he bought it while stationed in Germany and used to get around the base there and Fort Campbell in KY once he got back to the states. It was well used and I offered him half of his asking price and so it became mine for $20.

Once I got it home and aired up the tires to take it for a spin around the block my first reaction was that this thing is a tank. It's really solid. And really heavy. It really did feel like it was crushing the ground beneath it. The rear cogs looked to be pretty worn and the BB felt pretty crunchy, along with the hubs and headset. So I decided to tear it all apart to go over everything. It was pretty evident that it had never been serviced since the day it was built. All the grease was hardened and the BB was full of grit and twigs and gravel.

The brand name is Fischer, it didn't have a model name. It was made in Germany according to the sticker that was on it. It's all steel. Heavy steel. I weighed it prior to taking it apart and it was over 37lbs. Once I got it stripped down I was curious so I started weighing things. The bare frame is 8lbs, stem and handlebar together was over 5lbs! and so on.

Anyway here are some pictures of it the day I brought it home.




Once I had it stripped down I decided to paint it. I removed the stickers and scuffed up the factory finish with 800 grit. The paint is Rustoleum covered with Rustoleum Matte clear coat. Because it's German and really heavy and it rides like a tank I've decided to call it "Panzerkampfwagen" Anyway it seemed like a fitting name to me. This is what it looks like now.




Everything else will be painted flat black.

While the paint was curing I rebuilt the hubs with new bearings. Retentioned the spokes and trued the wheels. I managed to break two but luckily had a couple extra DT swiss SS spokes and nipples left over from when I rebuilt the wheels on the green bike and they where the correct length.

I have now reached the stage of analysis paralysis. I've built the bike a million different ways in my head and haven't pulled the trigger on any replacement parts yet because I keep changing my mind. Gearing, handlebars, stem, seatpost and saddle, lights, tires. All of it is up in the air.

The six speed freewheel is pretty far gone. The cogs are a little worn but the rust pitting is severe. It's a DNP unit. That is getting replaced with Shimano seven speed freewheel.

I'm leaning towards Treking/butterfly bars with and adjustable stem. I will be going to friction shifters. I like simplicity and they just work. Beyond that is still undecided. I will be getting some parts rolling in soon and start putting it back together.