That's you?!


Amesja:

Honestly, the cheap chains seem fine. I usually buy KMC chains. No problems yet.

https://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...oducts_id=2465

And snarkypup (again): I suggest you give just a little time to working on bikes so that you learn some. There's no need to aim to reach a certain level of proficiency. As long as you are learning, that's the most rewarding thing. Read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" if you haven't yet.

Thanks for the link. I buy a LOT of stuff from Niagara (I've got 3 different orders I made at 3 different times in the last week through them still in the mail at this very moment -I need to consolidate more and save shipping but I'm impatient and order stuff at the spur of the moment when I need it) but I always buy it through the amazon site rather than directly. They don't seem to offer the cheap chains through amazon. I should start shopping Niagara directly from their own website. The cheapest 1/8" chains I can find through Amazon are nearing the $10 mark + shipping. This is great. I'm always learning something new.

As for wrenching. I think I enjoy wrenching on bikes as much, if not more, than riding them. Bicycles or Motorcycles. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a great read and fits with my philosophy. One thing about wrenching, if it isn't more fun than riding it is only because the wrenching has actually made the act of riding MORE fun as i appreciate my bikes, and what goes into them and how they work, so much more after having had every piece apart in my hands and lovingly put together by my own skills and craftiness. I really don't like to let anyone work on my vehicles. I prefer to have done it myself. I don't trust professional mechanics the way I trust myself. And the knowledge that I can trust myself and my work makes the enjoyment of using the fruits of my own labor that much more sweet.

Amesja, please email me at the address below. This is only because I think you're interesting, and I'd like to chat. And I may have a lead on a Raleigh Twenty for you.

Hi guys. I'm home sick, and my sinus-infected brain is sort of vaguely processing all this.

Yes, that's me with the sweater on. About 6 years ago, but still me. I'm still moderately cute, I think .

I read Zen and the... many years ago. Or rather, I tried to. About 3/4s of the way through, I called my mom, who was the most voracious reader I've ever known and a literal genius on many, many levels. She was also an engineer. "Mom," I said, "I can't read this book!" "Did you get to the part about 'quality'?" she asked. "Yes! That's where I am now." "That's where I stopped, too," she admitted .

Perhaps I should try again, now that I'm older and once studied Buddhism extensively with an eye on conversion. Didn't do it, but I think the principles would resonate with me more now.

Wrenching is complicated for me. There's too much of a learning curve involved and I don't live with someone who can help. I don't like relying totally on someone else to help me, and there are days when I literally can't do it at all, and other times when I can. In the end, I think I just like riding a lot and am content with that.

I'm enjoying making rideblog way more than I enjoyed cleaning up the Shogun, for instance.

I enjoy reading rideblog more than I do staking out craigslist for my next project bike.

Now, see, that's a compliment!

Aw, that's sweet, Amesja.

One important point in the book, which I've only just begun, is that if we don't grasp technology, it takes over us. It creates anxiety and a separation between those who understand it and those who don't. It limits our choices and reduces our happiness. I have begun to make this point when I teach people about computers. I'm a computer consultant, and people tell me they just want their computers to work. I used to accept that wholesale, but now I recommend a little learning throughout life, even if it doesn't bring them to the level of mastery.

Very wise, Tom. And for what it's worth, I can learn almost anything new on a computer!

My father is a woodworker, and very good with machines (obviously). My mom was an engineer. Funnily enough, neither of them ever let me near the business end of any gears. My dad said I never had any interest in woodworking (not sure how true that is), and my mom was all theory, no practice. Understanding complex machines is a bit like playing a sport to me: if you grow up with someone who plays catch with you, then learning to play baseball is a lot easier and more intuitive than if you've never tried to throw a ball overhand before. My son, for instance, is a very good little sew-er (not sewer ). This is because I've always had him help me and sew little quilts for his toys, etc. My grandmother did this with me, and it's really been easy for me to learn to knit, quilt, etc. If I didn't do this with him, I imagine he'd be like my BF, and wonder how to sew a button on his shirt when it falls off. While this seems so simple to me, the BF found it horribly confusing and labor intensive!

In the end, while I have a great appreciation for the beauty of old machines, I just don't have any fun when I'm tinkering with them. I think it's just too much to take in, with too much at stake. Wheel building might be more fun, but I'm not up for trying it right now, especially on my own. It's okay, though, as I have enough other hobbies to keep me more than satisfied.

Get the 22.

That is very wise! I like to understand things and people and feel out of control when I can't do so. Most of all I strive to be in control of my own life and understand how my own brain works and why I do the things I do. I've found out that if I can't do this then everything else is much harder to understand. First one must find their own center and work one's way out from there.

w00t!

UPS just dropped off my CR-18's!

It is a bit shocking how thin they are though. I hadn't realized they would be this narrow. 22.5mm isn't even close to an inch wide on the outside while the old rims are more like 1-1/4". I wonder what they are going to look like on the old '54? Surely it'll take a little getting used to. I'm sure that the first time I pull the brake lever in the wet I'll be loving the difference though.

can you order them polished?

Yup, they are polished, look almost like chrome. Well, shiny at least -not like typical alloy rims. I'm sure they'll eventually get scratched...

32-hole and 40-hole.

A more recent book about the value of working with one's hands is Matthew Crawford's 'Shop Class as Soulcraft.' I haven't read the book but did enjoy the essay by Crawford in the NY Times magazine which he adapted from the book. It might sound similar to 'Zen and the Art...' but it is much less philosophical and much more pragmatic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/ma...24labor-t.html

I have that book on my list. I'm sure I'll enjoy it, eventually. I have ADD and have difficulty reading books, though. Thanks for the Times reference!

One of my all-time favorites.

Heh, I think I'll pass on those tires $20 for a bicycle tire is just about my maximum limit. All my Raleigh builds get Kenda K40's either in blackwall or gumwall depending. I spend the dough on the cork grips which seem to turn heads more than the tires.

I'm hoping that these rims look as nice as they do with those creamies. But I have to say that I really don't like the look of that naked chain. It's too ghetto for my tastes -creamie tires or no, that turns me off.

My rims arrived today! I'm going to take the bike down to the Dutch Bicycle Co. this weekend and drop it off, after a good ride on Saturday (hopefully, if the weather doesn't thwart me). I'll have them replace the cog then, too. When I pick it up, the Raleigh will be a whole new bike! Weird... but good.

Great to hear it! I bet you can't wait to get her back on the road with her new rims!

I am awaiting your report on the re-rimmed wheels, SP, also amesja's as I know he just got the Suns too. In fact this thread and a couple of others have prompted me to 'max out' the improvements on our Ladies' Raleigh Sports. We have a 1969 like yours, but bronze green, with Schwalbes and Koolstop pads and new cables, otherwise 100% original including Brooks B72. I intend to change out the cog, which will mean a new chain of course, and I am going to overhaul the SA hub as well. I have done everything but that and, oh yeah, the headset. This is mostly teen daughter's go-to-school bike and I am also fixing her up a Centurion mixte as she finds the Raleigh heavy. Worst case is we keep the mixte and the Raleigh.

I am really loving the CR18's. I ended up putting new SS spokes in the rear and purchased DT Swiss Champions from a LBS for $1/each which got kind of pricey. I might redo the fronts later.

At the moment I am ordering 2 more CR18's for a bike I'm restoring to sell as well as a spokeset from a source I was given by a member here which works out to much less than half that $1/ea number even with shipping and I can order exactly what I need. The cost of the parts with shipping is just under $100 for a wheelset which is a pretty good deal indeed. I might end up doing more of them if I can get that money back out of a bike at resale. I'm hoping people will appreciate the alloy rims when looking for a rebuilt/restored vintage bike. It makes a HUGE difference in both braking and ride quality.

Snarkypup, did you get your bike back yet? Are you still bikeless? How much did the wheelset end up costing you in the end between the rims and having the LBS lace them up?

I have CR18 rims (from Harris) with Kool Stops on my new bike. They stop perfectly dry, decent wet (I have been riding only fixed for the last 8 years, so I can't compare). I had my wheel built around a new SA 5-speed hub, which has a LOT more range, and I love it (wanted Nexus but only the SA5 had 110 spacing). Might have been cool to try the drum brake but I got a good deal on the brakeless hub.

Amesja, I have no doubt that the rims help a lot, but with all you spent on these wheels, it makes no sense to me that you're cheap with tires. Tires give you more ride quality for the money than anything on a bike. You should try the Panaracer tires. Harris says they're the very best. I'm curious to try them. I'm using the Schwalbes now, and they're OK, but I wish I had gotten the Panaracers. The Schalbes look nice, though; I got the whitewalls.