Sierra

It may be politics for DeJoy.
I haven't heard a good reason why he had a lot of the automatic sorting machines taken out.
Also haven't heard anything that he has done to improve the USPS.
He looks to be a man out to destroy his own agency in the name of promoting private enterprise.

Mad Honk 

It didn't come in the post, I had to go pick it up. But I am likely going to be riding with @Bianchigirll in the near future. I got the Paisley tandem plus two tires. The bike was part of a couple's downsizing so they could move to Florida, and wound up in the hands of an estate liquidator. They had it priced at $500 reduced to $200 and I thought it was a bargain at that. So I am now a tandem owner. Smiles, MH

Bianchigirll 

Mazel tov. Can’t wait to see proper pics.

bulgie 

Two cool things arrived today.

A seat lug from an Exxon Graftek (early carpet-fiber frame from the '70s, for you kids too young to remember):

I already have a pair of Graftek chainstays, a pair of dropouts, and the seatstay bridge. All collected at different times from different sources. At this rate, by 2050 I'll be able to make a whole Graftek! OK it's really just a curio, close to 100% useless.

A TA Pro 5-vis crankset, 180 mm (my fave length), 49-43 double in the Criterium pattern (152mm BCD, 43t minimum inner ring). I will probably use the bolt holes at the 152 BCD to mount a pants guard made from a larger chainring, and drill new holes at the Cyclotouriste pattern (80 mm BCD) to allow a much smaller inner ring. Here's an example of a crank where I did this pants guard thing, currently on my grocery-getter:

(there are reasons for all those extra holes, which I won't go into, long boring story... Let's just pretend it's Drillium.)

I have a pair of TA cyclocross guards, which are the same thing, except they were made toothless by TA to be guards, not cut down from worn-out toothy chainrings. I'd use them, but they're sized for a 47t ring, so they'd be too small to use with the 49t that came in the mail. Plus I like a pants guard to be taller than a cyclocross guard, so my 47t CX guards would fit a ring more like 44t.

Mark B

bulgie 

Ah right, almost forgot, my Suntour cap came today too! Pretty chuffed. I'm wearing it as I type this.
I'll probably save it for bike-related get-togethers, because most "civilians" won't get it.

Mark B

chiefkurtz

I see this brand on eBay a lot, Cardiff Harlech. It's made in Red, Brown, Green, Black, and at one time White. The prices have fluctuated wildly over the last two months, from $60 to over $110. He took my offer of $57 for this one. I need a bike to put this on now.

botty kayer

Since building up my rowdy Somec last year......

....I've been looking for a vintage Somec cycle jersey but despite scouring eBay regularly have never seen any in my size. With such a loud paint job I should probably just go a single plain color when it comes to the jersey, but instead I've gone in the other direction.

At least now the classic driver 'sorry mate I didn't see you' line is not going to pass as an excuse. My only fear is that with this kit and bike set up, it may have the same effect as dazzle camouflage used on WW2 ships, which works not by concealing but baffling the eye, making it difficult to estimate a target’s range, speed and direction, and so they pull out in front of me anyway.

New Paul Smith cycle jersey, cap and socks arrived today.



I'll look like the 2 wheeled version of Peter Blake's 'everybody razzle dazzle' ferry across the river mersey in Liverpool, England, see link here:
https://www.biennial.com/dazzleferry

Mad Honk 

Not in the Post Office mail but by e-mail. A note that I can be a Kool Stop retailer. Woo Hoo! Smiles, MH

Bianchigirll 

Now I know where to get my brake pads

jamesdak 

Feels almost like Christmas again. Yesterday I got some chainrings from here to include a very cool Bianchi one that will see use soon. Then today I got in another old, silver Campagnolo 8 speed groupset with some Cane Creek Volos wheels. The seller had the parts advertised as Athena but someone chimed in saying they are C-Record. I don't know for sure yet but they look to be really nice, just need cleaning and servicing.



And I also got a new black Chris King cap for the Merckx. It came with a mismatched pink one, this will be pretty much the last part I need to sort out the Merckx.

jamesdak 

And here's the nice Cane Creek Volos wheelset that I got with the Campagnolo parts above. They look spot on true, spin smooth, and are pretty dang light for older alloy wheels. 1559 grams is quite respectable in my book, 50 more grams than the last couple of sets of Zonda wheels I've bought.

rccardr 

Acquired a pair of those Volos wheels about 10-12 years ago, really nice roll to them and as you mention, pretty light weight.
Front seal on one side crCked, and when I contacted Cane Creek about spares, they said none were available. No spokes, either.
Rode them for several years on a few different bikes, but my concern about parts for maintenance eventually soured me on them.
Sold them to someone as part of a complete bike package and they were justifiably thrilled with the looks and performance.

jamesdak 

Yep, I knew nothing about these but did a bit of research before buying with the Campagnolo parts, which are what I really wanted. The rep seems to be they are pretty tough despite the low weight and totally unsupported by Cane Creek now. I found others have been able to source spokes with no problem. I think any issue will be like what you ran into with repair parts for the hubs if needed. But since they will be one of around 30 wheelsets in use, odds are I'll get a long time out of them. If they don't work out I still have at least one set of adaptor spacers that will let me custom make a Campagnolo 8 speed cassette that fits on the modern wheels. Fingers crossed all goes well.

bark_eater 

I may have to live to 120 to finish all these projects, but I'm set on shift cables...

Murray Missile 

When I got my new Raleigh Grand Prix in 1971 from Wheel Goods Corp. they gave me "The Handbook of Cyclology" and a Raleigh catalog. I tormented myself with both drooling over the Raleigh International I had REALLY wanted but couldn't even come close to buying and all the goodies I wished I could get for my Grand Prix. I've been searching for copies of both for years. I did get a later edition of the Wheel goods "handbook" a couple years ago but I recently snagged the 1971 edition just like I got back in '71 complete with the August 1971 price list the same as the one I had and the unused mail order form/enevelope in mint condition. It came today.

Drillium Dude

Negotiated a fair price for these on Ebay (despite the rear brake's bit of non-standard hardware), probably for spares. Short reach, recessed. Pretty sure I'm going to tear them down, and swap the steel pivot bolts out to replace the alloy/Ti versions on the Colnago.

Clean:



Cleaner maybe than those on the Medici. Hmmm...maybe swap complete? Might have to think about this.

DD

smontanaro 

Where'd you find them? I got boxes of Clarks brake and shift cables a few years ago from the old Niagara site. I'm down to almost nothing now, and can find nothing for sale except in quantity one or two, which makes them expensive over the long haul.

bark_eater 

Came across them on Ebay, listed by a high volume industrial surplus seller.

jamesdak 

Another piece closer to a full Superbe groupset.

Germany_chris

darkmoon

A friend's translation has been done!
Dino Buzzati al Giro d'Italia 1949
English translation is available, The Giro d'Italia : Coppi VS. Bartali at the 1949 Tour of Italy, Nov. 12 1998, from Velopress.

JohnDThompson 

These didn't come in the mail, but I was cleaning out some old boxes in my basement and came across these. I'm wondering if it's worth the bother of scanning them and putting them on-line, like I did for the VAR catalog on Sheldon Brown's site:

Mad Honk 

I think they are great reference materials and would be nice to have an archived version that can be accessed by the C&V community. Smiles, MH

Andrew_G

Many web bicycle shops are now having an end of season sale. From Excel Sports in Boulder, CO I just bought three Vittoria Corsa 700x25 clincher tires for $39 each. My tires have a manufacturing date code of 230321 (23rd of March 2021, i.e., last year's tires). There are a few ink/glue marks, which I've not seen on my other Corsa tires, but the marks are otherwise trivial. Note that USA suggested retail price on these tires is now $80- $85 (!!). If you buy three, you get free shipping (USPS Priority Mail).

sjanzeir

(Allegedly) photochromic, (proven) polarized shades to replace my practically free Aliexpress ones the which already cracked in the few times that I wore them - which isn't really surprising given that they were just SAR16 with free shipping!