miss raleigh, 3ttt, the peugeot decision

well she is now almost done
i have some new pads to try out for her, and if they are ok i will buy a second set and she will be on then listed on the bay asap.
the autosol did the job. so did the rust remover. needed a fair bit of elbow grease but she has come up really nicely.
i will do a shoot with her in he full glory this weekend and then she will leave the nest.
shame. she is quiet an amazing bike and it will be sad to see her depart.


3TTT stem
will be shipping shortly. its a 22mm so it will fit the pug. happy about that. also shipping is the new headset. peugeots are now here to stay

hugo blow out

hugo decided he would blow the back tire on the way home tonight from the station. unfortunately i didn't have all the gear to do a tire change on the fly so i had to get a lift from karen and the boys. not good. it has made me re-think the whole station ride.
maybe i do need a mountain bike? just for durability
i am going to look more at 2nd hand ones for pricing. ahhh. just what i need. another bike idea. FFS

the SHC and the malvern were at the MA so i am trying to get them this monday, along with the REPCO. man if i get the repco we will be talking major cash upgrades. i bet it is gone though

ebay or die!

i am pushing ahead with more ebay sales. i still need to work out some kind of commuter that will take me to the station successfully. hugo has back wheel issues along with the front brake. i need to either

a. source a new back rim.
b. source a long reach front brake
or
c. purchase a track wheel set
d. buy another bike!

lol. i have my eyes on an 2 x old malvern star. if the ebay auctions go well i could end up with one. the whole french treading etc on hugo is a problem that i am finding increasingly more frustrating. with less than no budget it is silly for me to try and source items that are so unique they only become available at random times, and when they do, i will have to bid/pay higher premiums to ensure i will be able to get them.

one of the malverns is hand pin striped. the other is on ebay here. fat chance i will get it with such a nice groupset on it. i reckon it will go for over 300$

new balls for hugo

after the "skaters are little shits" incident:

scene: richmond skate park
issue: the grind ramp stolen
result: leaving just the dyna bolts exposed - man so dangerous
problem: back wheel/gatorskin deciding to slam it on the side wall, instant puncture, causing the side bead to break, creating flat spots in the tire... ffs

hugo hit the road a little earlier than expected. the spindle isn't right. i did take him for a ride after the build over the weekend - he did 17km to the golf course and back - but the premature beginnings of his station run have made the spindle issue a priority.

today i purchased 26 x 1/4 ball bearings so i will repack the BB over the weekend and hopefully it will fix the issues of tightening and loosening spindle play. the bag of bearing looks like some kind of new fangled drug with metallic ball bearings covered in a white grease.

tarini unveiling

damn its been about a week since i posted last. can't believe how quickly time goes. basically i took tarini into work last wednesday to show the fellow bikers. i took a few images very quickly during lunch whilst waiting for the food, and since then i have been spamming pretty much everything i can with the bike. i did a few photoshop massages to the images one night, i also had a few images of the bike whist riding it to the station from my N73. the original images are shit but with the photoshop doctor brought in they are looking nicer now.
it is quiet amazing how good the bike looks with a little bit of work with the doctor. i love the moss on the ground under the image so the second time i brought the NEF's into photoshop i played more with bringing them out. they highlight the green really well
so here is the combo of shots





the weather is still shit. raining all the time so i am getting very frustrated with hugo. i have to get the bastard on the road so i can get to the station. i have now been about 4 bike stores looking for bloody hub spacers. i have only got 4 x 5mm ones so far and a set of shit BMX wheels for the trouble.
it is funny to judge a bike store on its hub spacers availability but is also such a good test of who gives a shit, who knows there shit, and who has attitude to book. clarence street cycles were great. the guy spent about 10 minutes looking for some and couldn't find any but was seriously apologetic. city bike depot i rang, they said they had some, i walked for 35 minutes, and no f^#%ken luck, they just sent me to clarence street, and the guy had a real attitude. the bike store at castle hill industrial area were nice but only offered me to shitty BMX rims that need to be trashed with spacers on them.
i think now my best bet is to go to the serious LBS at springwood. i know the guy has a draw full of them, he has shown me, so that is the plan now.
i am still concerned about the redishing of the wheel. i have a couple of options i can either take it and have it done, or possibly sell some more shit and buy some dedicated track wheel set. the more i think about it the more i think that may be the best option. would be simple and straight to the point.
who knows!

Saturdays are bike days

seen in sydney update. on friday on my way back to the silver ghost the intrepid traveller had been stood up by someone. it brought a smile to my face after what was a short working week but the first for the year.

LBS - i have now completely moved across to blackmans penrith as my LBS. lifecycles for some reason just never really felt that friendly even though it was where i purchased scottie from. todays bring homes were:
1 x 15T 1/8 track cog
1 x VIP bottle cage clips - these are for hugo to run the 25 watt total halogens
1 x 16T 3/32 track cog - again for hugo.
3 x single chain ring bolts - FREE

i did/was planning on taking the boys down to SOP today but again the weather has the better of me once again. because of the weather hugo is now my main focus. i need to get him up and running so he can take over the bad weather day commuting to and from the station. he is 80% complete but is in need of 2 more single chain ring bolts and a new chain. i am thinking i will put the brakes only on hugo and running the tarini without. he now has the wheel set from tarini in place and i was trying to get hold of a lockring remover that would fit the cassette but as it turns out i can't get hold of one so i am going to have to take the wheel to Blackmans to have them remove it.

going to blackmans is sad. i just wish we were a little more financially stable. i would love to upgrade scottie to a new MTB and pass him on to karen. not going to happen anytime soon

it has been a little while but...

holidays do that to you. hugo is moving along... lol. no actually he is hanging up next to me.
Progess check:

bottom crank axle (that $10 bargin) - i think is bent - ffs.
tourney cranks are on... the above still needs to be confirmed
i will have to get to the bottom of the crank issue. right now it look like the crank arm is possibly bent - not the cranks or spider to the sprocket. i will need to pick up a socket to undo the crank bolt on fb so i can spin it on that and test for crank spider arm straightness.

stem has come up a treat after has been fully wirebrushed, 000 steelwooled and now polished. looks smick as. i am really appreciating the "old school" feel now. headset has been fully overhauled and re-greased. the lock nut is very pitted but again, personality is becoming very apparent

bars, chopped! to the bullhorn look. not a perfect job by any means. i am indecisive as to whether or not i should actually leave the bars chrome/pitted at the stem or black enamel spray then. i think the latter.
i know i will be wrapping them with some toshi black cloth

Hugo's a day away

well it is only one more day at work, then holidays. on saturday lachlan and i will be doing the drive to bundeena to pick up hugo. aidan has a party to go to... but i just know lachlan will be the dood who will always be tinkering with bikes, you can see it in his eyes already. i have had much thought about hugo - i know what i want from him - what he should look like etc. i imagine he will be almost identical to this


my issues will be the rims. deep v's machined or not - or possibly hillbricks, and cranks. now there is a big problem. i am unsure what the BB will be. it could be a french thread, but i do need to sort out cranks asap as well as wheels. i think the xbox will go. i am kinda not interested in it atm. i need to think a little more about it all. money is always the issue.

fixie project now complete - lol

well to day dawns the era of fixie heaven. i have now brought the second bike to complete the puzzle. thing is, i needed a second bike to work on whilst i continue riding the first bike to the station. so here he is. hugo the peugeot.



one of the main reasons i wanted a peugeot was that you can still purchase the decal sets on ebay. at this point i am really not expecting to go that far down the restoration path. i am more interested in this style of fixie. the more "research" i have done the more i realised i really am taken by the natural old-skool road/touring frames. i guess if i wanted a track frame... i would velo.

the first thing will be to pick hugo up, introduce him to fb, then start the long process of stripping him back. bottom bracket cleaning, frame cleaning etc. can't wait!