Appreciate Very Helpful Advice
Thanks to all for guidance on the seatpost, pedal, & brakehood installations. I should start over with lubricants and tools in hand. In response to localtalent: it is same seatpost; I hadn't thought of the seatpost's becoming squished & the inside may well be gunked--or rusted. Bike was stored for a decade.
Thanks localtalentfor providing the 15mm bolt spec for the track nut. Ended up with the trackwheels by being too hasty and too focused on price. I only needed a front wheel, but a local bike shop quoted $200 & so I checked out Colorado Cyclist, the one catalog sent to me: mildly shocked by $600 wheelsets. http://thebikebiz.com wheelset closeout was $120 & figured I'd sell rear wheel. But a fixed-gear, single-speed would be fun & frames like pake or IRO are affordable.
(I've been off bikes for a decade so astounded by extent to which professional gear is in consumer market, e.g. $2,000 frames, $2,000 gruppos & c.
I was working in Taiwan, who is very proud of Giant's transition from OEM to strong brand & sponsors of US Olympic Mt. Bike team and Team High Road. Never saw carbon fiber or composite frames in Taichung, 3rd largest city. Bike shops stocked lots of kids bikes and kind of urban cruiser. (Trying to explain why trends in U.S. market since 1990 are surprising.)
lotek (Marty) does make a good point--and I take no offense--that I'm not set up in terms of tools, or ready in terms of knowledge to do this on my own.
I was editor of DC Velo News--back when there was a club and an annual race behind the White House on the eclipse. So I knew many of the shop owners & in particular:
College Park Bicycle (Larry Black)
Revolution Georgetown (Pinky--then had small neighborhood shop)
Mel Pinto's (next door to Revolution & not named so; he was importer.
Proteus College Park ( Looks down on its luck. But 1980s, Yamaguchi was the framebuilder, who became builder for U.S. Olympic Team
http://www.yamaguchibike.com/content/History
Marty, what shops do you have confidence in now, 2008? (Because any opinion I have is +/- 20 years.
Thanks everyone,
Richard