Getting back into cycling

[look 171]

Otto, that frame is looking damn good. I love the color. I was going to paint my 72 911 Signal Green instead, the guys convinced me to go Viper Green so there's that.

Those King hubs do look good. I think part of the reason is the anodized colors. I am old fashion. Neither black or silver for me.

[sc_rufctr]

"Trolling Otto"...







https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tjsvt7BGr8V0obW6W1NYZGiZXwXYd_at/view?pli=1

[otto_kretschmer]

Thanks,

I couldn't find replacement hoods for a pair of Cane Creek levers and I was thinking of making them out of leather.

I got too much stuff on my plate

[CurtEgerer]

otto - beautiful build! I love the attention to detail you've put into this. I'm curious how tall you are to fit a frame like that? What is it, a 62 or so?

[sc_rufctr]

https://www.ciclibarco.it/

[Otter74]

That's some beautiful detailing there - what's the frame? Looks like the same lugs that my Vendetta has.

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

The little details...

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Otter74

That's some beautiful detailing there - what's the frame? Looks like the same lugs that my Vendetta has.

Not sure of the manufacturer (I've had that photo for a while) But it was made in California & custom. There are literally dozens of really good custom manufactures near Chico, California.

An older video from Paul listing some of them.



Meanwhile...

[jim72911t]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Not sure of the manufacturer (I've had that photo for a while) But it was made in California & custom. There are literally dozens of really good custom manufactures near Chico, California.

An older video from Paul listing some of them.



Meanwhile...

That Paul Camp is event was fun but a ton of work. Each of the framebuilders who participated was a brilliant craftsperson in their own way. And they were all super cool, and great riders. Miss that place.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by jim72911t

I was the one who originally started anodizing my Paul parts pewter, way back when. When I would make a prototype, it would go on my bikes raw at first, and then, as the project got closer to production, I’d do pewter to distinguish them from the stuff customers could buy.

i have Paul's brakes on most of my Retro BMX builds and modern BMX bikes and love them.

I like Chris King hubs and had them one tome or another as well as White Ind. and Campy. This was a time when I was chasing grams and racing so everything counted. I now just buy the wheels, Zipp, Envy and such. whatever hub they come with, I am sure they are good as long as its their top of the line wheels. I had carbon hubs failed on me so the fancier you go, that means lighttnd always the possibility of them going bad due to the lack of materials. King hubs are normally pretty good. The question I have for you is, does a hub like that matter in terms of performance too you? If I am building a set of traditional wheels like you, Shimano Ultegra hub or DuraAce will be laced to that set of wheels. Not fancy King or White Industry or any of the smaller mfg hubs. The performance envelope is negligible. Oh, want to get fancy, get ceramic bearings.

I have King hubs on my Cannondale Jeckle, no issues and I have King headsecats on almost all my Retro BMX and modern BMX bikes.

Looking at green frame, I would get a old school set of Campy hubs (been running them on my competition BMX bikes since the 80s)
I miss my old school steel road bike, Campy equipped, someone made me a offer that I just couldn't turn down, plus, it was the friend I got it from and he said that he regretted letting it go. Honestly, he is the only one who I would have let it go to.

[otto_kretschmer]

Still some tweaking left to do. I borrowed the seat from the Cannondale and the front tire rubs a little on the fork so I need to get the torch out again and I'll probably have to paint the fork a third time. I need to add a little bit of material on the dropouts so the axel rests farther away from the fork crown.

I have a set of ridiculously short for me cranks, 165mm. I'll swap the 175mm on the Cannondale for now.

Otherwise the bike rides nice.

[sc_rufctr]

"Nicely Done" Master Otto

[Otter74]

I’m a big fan of Paul brakes. I have two sets on two of my daily rides - a set of MotoBMXes on my Rawland cSgon, and braze-on Racers on my Rawland rSogn. (The bikes are basically drop-bar and Albatross-bar versions of each other.) I’ve been using the MotoBMXes for at least a dozen years in all seasons in Chicago and they require essentially no maintenance - all I do is replace pads periodically. The sealed pivots are what make this possible and overall they’re great. The Racers (operated by Campy Ergopower brifters) have been similarly great.

Meanwhile, Monday before last was New Bike Day for me. I came over with a strong hankering for something modern a couple of years ago, and after thinking about what I wanted to use it for (fun rides at home, brevets, travel bike, bike for riding in mountains on trips and on dirt roads on trips; riding to and then up the Tolland Road to the pass at Rollins Pass in Colorado would be a perfect case) decided a modern gravel bike of some sort would be ideal. On my recent road trip, I picked up a Canyon Grail AL 7 in Sandpoint, ID on my way to Glacier National Park:

[sc_rufctr]

Heads up... If you own a Shimano equipped classic bike these are still available. "Made in Japan" but they're not expensive (~ $50ish USD?).

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/sora-3500/BL-R400.html

[otto_kretschmer]

Here I go again...

The tire is rubbing on the fork and I'm in the shop again. I'm going to beat this bicycle into submission. Thank G.. its steel because steel is so forgiving.



The fork is made by Sunlite. I wouldn't call it trash but its not top shelf either. Probably something you would find on a bicycle sold at Walmart. If I used 700cX23 tires I wouldn't have to do this but I wanted a fatter tire so here I am, torch in hand.

[otto_kretschmer]

So I had the age old question that has faced man since the dawn of time..

Do I weld or braze?

I was stumped for half hour at least. I took metal away and I need to fill the holes.

I probably should have welded but I decided to get the brass out. Either will work so it was a coin toss.

I need a TIG

[otto_kretschmer]

Its looking better but still ugly. Tomorrow I get to paint the fork again.

[sc_rufctr]

Just quietly, You're way braver than I am Mate.

Keep banging away. You'll get there.

[otto_kretschmer]

Its just steel. If the fork was aluminum or carbon fiber I would be looking for a new fork. If this was an engine mount of a Cessna I would weld and maybe dye penetrant.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

Its just steel. If the fork was aluminum or carbon fiber I would be looking for a new fork. If this was an engine mount of a Cessna I would weld and maybe die penetrant.

sounds naughty

[otto_kretschmer]

For some reason my fix reminds me of one of those lessons learned we had in class in college. It was Japan Airlines flight 123.

Flight 123 was a milk run from one island to another in Japan. The 747 probably did it a couple times a day. The plane was configured into a cattle car configuration; short flight with as many passengers as possible.

So one day on a landing the plane had a tail strike. Thats when the pitch is too great and the plane drags its azz on the runway. It was a hard hit and the aft bulkhead of the pressure vessel was damaged. Boeing inspected it and their engineers came up with a patch and a crew did the repair but someone didn't follow the instructions and the faulty repair was hidden from inspection.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_123

The bad repair took years to fail but it did eventually fail, some 12318 flights later.

There was only one row of rivets holding the two bulkheads together.

When the bulkhead blew out, they lost the vertical stabilizer, all hydraulics and cabin pressurization. The pilots sorta flew the plane for another 40 minutes with only the throttles.

Supposably the guy who was in charge of the actual repair work was Japanese and was so remorseful that he committed suicide as a way of apology.