Depends a little on the flavour of the bike. French bikes can be a joy to find parts for if they're old enough to use french threading. For headsets, I'd say it's more an aesthetic or convenience choice. If you're fixing it, the nice thing I've found about using cups and bearing bottom brackets as opposed to cassette is that you have more flexibility flipping the spindle or trying different spindle lengths to help with your chainline.

Parts: try here, many of us have spare stuff. Speaking of which, Jeremy, did those brakes work? Parts Unknown in the alley beside Segovia meats on Augusta in Kensington is an option, Bikes on Wheels on Augusta has a parts board back at the shop entrance. I'm not sure how Bike Pirates is stocked for parts. Other than that, talk to the shops with good wrenchs for suggestion (e.g. Cavern). Keith's helped me out with bits and bobs from time to time.

Thanks for the info. The frame is a mid-late 80's Miele so I assume the french threading should not be a problem.

i actually haven't had a chance to tinker with them yet. i'll probably try them this week when i get a spare second...

anyone riding and/or performing satanic rituals and/or interested in brunch this morning?

shopping and laundry and smoking

Where you going shopping on Easter sunday?

Coming down off a chocolate and coffee buzz.

Sh*t I forgot about that

Fast Food is the rule today. Hmmm I wonder if Queen Pita is open ... falafel would hit the spot nicely.

not taking the kids on the bikes to the easter parade??

We're head to Mississauga for my 2nd cousin's(by marriage) 4th birthday, she's a sweet little girl.

In other news....dang I missed it. was it on tv?

Tuft and Pic triumph in cold and snow
Tuft capitalises on two-man break to take solo win

By Laura Weislo in Richmond
Svein Tuft (Symetrics) celebrates
Photo ©: Kurt Jambretz/Action Images (Click for larger image)

Canadian Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) won the inaugural 112 mile US Open Cycling Championships with a gutsy solo move on the ultimate circuit, where he rode away from his breakaway companion Pat McCarty (Slipstream) on the course's steep, cobbled climb at Libby Hill and held the gap to the line. McCarty took second place, just barely holding off Rite Aid's Alejandro Barrejo and Shawn Milne (Health Net).

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?...apr07/usopen07

It snowed before the race and a Canadian wins it....coincidence?

Sounds nice, is it that champagne one with the chrome fork that was on CL the other day? It will probably be mostly standard ie: English threaded BB with a Shimano compatible spindle. If the BB and headset are in good condition, I would continue to use them until they die.

For parts, yeah, like cavit8 said, this thread and the "For Trade" thread in the various forums can often yield good stuff, provided you have something to offer up. The seatpost might be a bit tricky as it is likely 27.0 but they can still be found here and there.


It was a pretty exciting race, I thought the guy who came in second was going to get the bum rush in the last metre but he held on. Tuft was far and away for most of the race, it was very inspiring. That town they were racing in, Richmond, Virginia (I think), looked like a real ghetto. I kept expecting a crackhead to run out and tackle one of the two leaders.

He won because the chase pack was so disorganized. They had plenty of time to catch the breakaway but no team could set up the train and get them moving with enough speed early enough. Pretty sad really, any of the real european teams would have setup a sick 50km/h paceline and destroyed them. At least they are trying to get a road racing series going again in the US though and go Canada for winning. The way he busted away on the last climb was impressive, just wish he had faced some real opposition from the peleton

Yes, the funny part was the announcer's trying to explain this to the viewers without taking away the excitement from the winners. I don't really think too many Americans will be interested in cycling events, sadly.

I still contend that the shorter more aggressive nature of some track events, especially the madison, would be a better way to get North American TV audiences into cycling. Road racing is about strategies that stretch over hours and kilometres and you have the understand why riding with 20 guys in a paceline makes you so much faster then the lead 4.

I still hope it catches on though.

Yeah, the announcer's didn't make this evident at all, the physics behind the peleton. They kept showing the massive distance between the second-place guy and the peleton and would say something like "Can they catch up?" and then, when they had caught up, they just cheered on the second-place guy "Can he hold it?!?!", no explanation or anything.

The scary thing is the best explanantion of the strategy behind a breakaway and a peleton I've seen is in Nasu: Summer in Andalusia. The entire movie is like a primer on road cycling strategy, besides the fact its one of the best pieces of realistic anime in the last decade.

Yep that's the one. I figure I'll take my time restoring it over the summer as parts and time make themselves available. The headset and BB look pretty good considering I pulled them apart last night and they should both be good as new pretty easily.

I just finished my miele and Its currently my favourite bike :)
Mine is about the same age and has English BB. I even had my '04 Ultegra cranks on there for a while when I first got it.

So, today is Easter. The time when hoardes of oblivious trail users crowd onto the bike paths you've had to yourself since Thanksgiving. Sigh.

Most b.b. spindles are not symmetrical (thus one side being longer than the other) If you flip the spindle you may end up putting the cranks out of line with the rest of the bike. Anatomically this can throw your hips and/or knees out of alignment with the centerline of the bike. This can cause problems with joints and ligaments.

I hadn't considered that as a possible outcome. I guess I should just be swapping out spindle lengths rather than flipping them. Good to know.

half-assed reminder:

what: wavelength @ sneaky dee's, featuring yours truly.
cover: pay what you can.
when: performances start at ~10:00. we go on at ~11:00.

More info:
http://www.wavelengthtoronto.com/?q=node/2361
http://www.myspace.com/scarboroughav
http://spacing.ca/wire/?p=1730

anyone have experience with a broken Kryptonite key? My key snapped while locking up my Evo 2000 (long shackle) this afternoon. ****ing sucks. Yes, I lubed the key hole every now and then, but while turning the key today, it just snapped like a twig. And yes, I'm not a meathead, so I'm not using too much force. WTF?!

Oh, I should add that the bottom half of the key is stuck inside the lock mechanism itself.

PS. Darkmother: I saw you go by Yonge/Eglinton twice this afternoon. I was in Starbucks there.

If you take the lock and remaining keys to a locksmith they can get the busted piece of key out for you. What are you lubing the mechanism with? Only use graphite powder to lube ...wet lubes attract dirt and grit inside the tumblers.

Keith, what do you think of the graphite spray? Doesn't the carrier just evaporate a few minutes after application? I've been using that with fairly good results... but curious if the dry stuff would be better.