The build continues slowly.

It took a lot of noodle power to decide on brakes. Initially I thought I'd use an old set of cantilever brakes that I have in the parts bin. The problems of adding cable stops front and rear, while not insurmountable, changed my mind in favor of V-brakes.

Today I hung some Tektro 829 AL linear pull brakes on the frame. They aren't the highest zoot brakes, but I've used Tektro stuff before and it works just fine. I have a pair of Dia Compe 287V levers on order to mate to these.

I bought a seat post collar for the frame in the recommended 31.8 mm size. It was a bear to install. I began to think that either the collar or the seat tube were the wrong size. As it turned out, the seat tube was slightly out of round at the top. This probably happened when they cut the relief notch in the tube. I squeezed the collar onto to the tube by spreading it open with a big screwdriver. Unfortunately, I took a chip out of it. While it is only a cosmetic problem, I've ordered a fresh collar to replace it.

A buddy of mine, who owns a small metal parts manufacturing business, and who knows more about these things than anyone I know, took a look at the frame the other day. He said, without my asking, "Those welds look good."

I said, "I don't know. Look at the bottom bracket. I think those are some butt-ugly Chinese robot welds."

He looked them over closely. "No," he said. "They look fine."

I maintain that the welds are big and goopy looking, and the beads are uneven. He insists that, though I may find them ugly, they are plenty strong and functional.