I is a mechanic now!!!

All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

In case you've been ignoring me, I have had a project. For quite sometime
now I've wanted to rework The Tank, my steel Giant HT with a pos RST fork,
center pull brakes, quill stem, comfort seat and other timeless wonders.
I've been setting aside parts, including some AMB donations.

So picture this. I'm out in the shop with my nice Salsa apron and Park
workstand, a box of bike tools leftover from Mr. Adventures
build-a-full-campy-roadbike-while-in-college days, and a copy of Zinn. Also
picture that I don't know wtf I am doing. So I read everything two or three
times, stand there for about 20 minutes, and then tentatively tackle the
task at hand for that evening. I just about had an anxiety attack cutting
all the old cables off. I gently dismantled everything; I did not have to
bring in manpower to undo anything, I am happy to say! Whew, that was
intense but you have to start somewhere.

One of the goals of this project was to spend as little money as possible,
as this rework has now turned into "trail worthy bike for college kid" for
my son to take to Flagstaff with him. The Tank has always been a hair too
big, so it should be just right for him.

So here's what I did. The only part I did NOT do was put a new threadless
headset on. I replaced the pos-rst fork with an old Judy that was laying
around the shop that came of Mr. Adventure's bike. We now have some nice
xt-v-brakes, courtesy AMB. We went from a 7 speed cassette and shifters to 8
speed cassette and shifters, brake & shifter levers also courtesy AMB. I
replaced the old quill stem, again with hand-me-downs from Dad's bike, with
a nice shiny Ritchie stem. A mtb saddle was installed to replace the old
comfort saddle. I got rid of the bear trap pedals and put some flats on.
Put a new chain on. The bottom bracket was toast, and I found a replacement
for $9, installed that and torqued it properly. Last but not least, new
cables and housings, and adjusted everything. Oh, got rid of the bar ends
and installed new grips, too.

The only thing I asked for help on was removing the old bottom bracket, it
took me a while to figure the whole cartridge thing out.

I did have a little trouble with the brake adjustments. When I switched out
rear wheels, from one that was so screwed up it would not true to one that
was basically OK, that helped a lot but they were still really mushy. The
front brakes were very mushy but beyond me at that point.

I bought my mechanic friend a mocha, and he went through it, just to check
my work. The brake pads required a little master mechanic tweaking as did
some little tiny spring doo-hickey, but he said my drive train was " just
about dead on". VBG.

The only parts I had to buy were headset, flat pedals, new chain & 8 speed
cassette, bottom bracket, cables & housing. Everything else was either
laying around or donated.

Penny

"small change" wrote in message
...
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.


this thread would be useless without pics
http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/pen...wrenchette.jpg

no comment on the reflector, he'll need it for around town ;-)

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:19:10 -0700, small change wrote:

http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/pen...wrenchette.jpg

Wow, you even have the shop apron!

no comment on the reflector, he'll need it for around town ;-)

So this is for the kid? I know you've been planning this but I wasn't sure
what for.

Nice work!

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address

"small change" wrote in message
...

"small change" wrote in message
...
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.


this thread would be useless without pics
http://www.specialtyoutdoors.com/pen...wrenchette.jpg

no comment on the reflector, he'll need it for around town ;-)

Very nice... well done!

And I like the apron.
___
Slack

small change wrote:
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

In case you've been ignoring me, I have had a project. For quite
sometime now I've wanted to rework The Tank, my steel Giant HT with a
pos RST fork, center pull brakes, quill stem, comfort seat and other
timeless wonders. I've been setting aside parts, including some AMB
donations.

So picture this. I'm out in the shop with my nice Salsa apron and Park
workstand, a box of bike tools leftover from Mr. Adventures
build-a-full-campy-roadbike-while-in-college days, and a copy of
Zinn. Also picture that I don't know wtf I am doing. So I read
everything two or three times, stand there for about 20 minutes, and
then tentatively tackle the task at hand for that evening. I just
about had an anxiety attack cutting all the old cables off. I gently
dismantled everything; I did not have to bring in manpower to undo
anything, I am happy to say! Whew, that was intense but you have to
start somewhere.

One of the goals of this project was to spend as little money as
possible, as this rework has now turned into "trail worthy bike for
college kid" for my son to take to Flagstaff with him. The Tank has
always been a hair too big, so it should be just right for him.

So here's what I did. The only part I did NOT do was put a new
threadless headset on. I replaced the pos-rst fork with an old Judy
that was laying around the shop that came of Mr. Adventure's bike.
We now have some nice xt-v-brakes, courtesy AMB. We went from a 7
speed cassette and shifters to 8 speed cassette and shifters, brake &
shifter levers also courtesy AMB. I replaced the old quill stem,
again with hand-me-downs from Dad's bike, with a nice shiny Ritchie
stem. A mtb saddle was installed to replace the old comfort saddle.
I got rid of the bear trap pedals and put some flats on. Put a new
chain on. The bottom bracket was toast, and I found a replacement for
$9, installed that and torqued it properly. Last but not least, new
cables and housings, and adjusted everything. Oh, got rid of the bar
ends and installed new grips, too.

The only thing I asked for help on was removing the old bottom
bracket, it took me a while to figure the whole cartridge thing out.

I did have a little trouble with the brake adjustments. When I
switched out rear wheels, from one that was so screwed up it would
not true to one that was basically OK, that helped a lot but they
were still really mushy. The front brakes were very mushy but beyond
me at that point.

I bought my mechanic friend a mocha, and he went through it, just to
check my work. The brake pads required a little master mechanic
tweaking as did some little tiny spring doo-hickey, but he said my
drive train was " just about dead on". VBG.

The only parts I had to buy were headset, flat pedals, new chain & 8
speed cassette, bottom bracket, cables & housing. Everything else
was either laying around or donated.

Penny

Well done! Bravo!!

Mike

small change wrote:
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

Half Cent (and half Mr. Adventure) goes to college with the bike his mom
built.

Roomy, "Dude can I borrow your bike?
$0.005 "Sure, don't fu6k it up"
Half hour later Roomy returns.
"Thanks dude. Sweet ride."
$0.005, "Thanks, my mom built it up from parts just lying around."
Roomy, "Your mom!!! Dude, that's so pimp!"
$0.005, "Yeah, did you get the beer?"


Too cool, WTG Penny!



Shawn

"Shawn Curry" scurryfifenynteam@comcastdotnet wrote in message
...
small change wrote:
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

Half Cent (and half Mr. Adventure) goes to college with the bike his mom
built.

Roomy, "Dude can I borrow your bike?
$0.005 "Sure, don't fu6k it up"
Half hour later Roomy returns.
"Thanks dude. Sweet ride."
$0.005, "Thanks, my mom built it up from parts just lying around."
Roomy, "Your mom!!! Dude, that's so pimp!"
$0.005, "Yeah, did you get the beer?"


Too cool, WTG Penny!

Funny, Shawn. Except for one part, he doesn't drink, at least not since his
roomie was either peeing or puking in the trash can or on the floor, I don't
remember the story exactly.

I've thought more than once that I need to take some black primer to that
chrome Ritchie stem. Anyone have some "huffgoose" stickers?

Best part, I'm not afraid to work on the Kona now.

small change wrote:
"Shawn Curry" scurryfifenynteam@comcastdotnet wrote in message
...

small change wrote:

All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

Half Cent (and half Mr. Adventure) goes to college with the bike his mom
built.

Roomy, "Dude can I borrow your bike?
$0.005 "Sure, don't fu6k it up"
Half hour later Roomy returns.
"Thanks dude. Sweet ride."
$0.005, "Thanks, my mom built it up from parts just lying around."
Roomy, "Your mom!!! Dude, that's so pimp!"
$0.005, "Yeah, did you get the beer?"


Too cool, WTG Penny!


Funny, Shawn. Except for one part, he doesn't drink, at least not since his
roomie was either peeing or puking in the trash can or on the floor, I don't
remember the story exactly.

I had neighbors like that on both sides when I lived in the dorms. :-p

I've thought more than once that I need to take some black primer to that
chrome Ritchie stem. Anyone have some "huffgoose" stickers?


Best part, I'm not afraid to work on the Kona now.

Excellent. There are lots of good riders on poorly tuned bikes out
there because they can't fix or even recognize problems. Being able to
do it yourself adds another layer of enjoyment (*always* riding well
tuned equipment) to the sport.


Shawn

small change wrote:
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

In case you've been ignoring me, I have had a project. For quite sometime
now I've wanted to rework The Tank, my steel Giant HT with a pos RST fork,
center pull brakes, quill stem, comfort seat and other timeless wonders.
I've been setting aside parts, including some AMB donations.

So picture this. I'm out in the shop with my nice Salsa apron and Park
workstand, a box of bike tools leftover from Mr. Adventures
build-a-full-campy-roadbike-while-in-college days, and a copy of Zinn. Also
picture that I don't know wtf I am doing. So I read everything two or three
times, stand there for about 20 minutes, and then tentatively tackle the
task at hand for that evening. I just about had an anxiety attack cutting
all the old cables off. I gently dismantled everything; I did not have to
bring in manpower to undo anything, I am happy to say! Whew, that was
intense but you have to start somewhere.

One of the goals of this project was to spend as little money as possible,
as this rework has now turned into "trail worthy bike for college kid" for
my son to take to Flagstaff with him. The Tank has always been a hair too
big, so it should be just right for him.

So here's what I did. The only part I did NOT do was put a new threadless
headset on. I replaced the pos-rst fork with an old Judy that was laying
around the shop that came of Mr. Adventure's bike. We now have some nice
xt-v-brakes, courtesy AMB. We went from a 7 speed cassette and shifters to 8
speed cassette and shifters, brake & shifter levers also courtesy AMB. I
replaced the old quill stem, again with hand-me-downs from Dad's bike, with
a nice shiny Ritchie stem. A mtb saddle was installed to replace the old
comfort saddle. I got rid of the bear trap pedals and put some flats on.
Put a new chain on. The bottom bracket was toast, and I found a replacement
for $9, installed that and torqued it properly. Last but not least, new
cables and housings, and adjusted everything. Oh, got rid of the bar ends
and installed new grips, too.

The only thing I asked for help on was removing the old bottom bracket, it
took me a while to figure the whole cartridge thing out.

I did have a little trouble with the brake adjustments. When I switched out
rear wheels, from one that was so screwed up it would not true to one that
was basically OK, that helped a lot but they were still really mushy. The
front brakes were very mushy but beyond me at that point.

I bought my mechanic friend a mocha, and he went through it, just to check
my work. The brake pads required a little master mechanic tweaking as did
some little tiny spring doo-hickey, but he said my drive train was " just
about dead on". VBG.

The only parts I had to buy were headset, flat pedals, new chain & 8 speed
cassette, bottom bracket, cables & housing. Everything else was either
laying around or donated.

Penny Well done even the best have a hard time with anything that gets tight due to cranking,rust,or a mechanic that used a inpact gun.

small change wrote:
All done! Wrenchette in training has completed her first bike.

In case you've been ignoring me,
Penny

I wasn't ignoring you I was trying to change a flat! ;-)

Nice job Penny!

Jimbo...where did I leave that left handed screwdriver...(san)