Room for yet one more view? I think I get as much pleasure from building up a bicycle from scratch as I do from riding it. There is something very soul satisfying about assembling a machine that is so elegant and yet so functional. And keeping it up is just as satisfying to me.
It's the same as when I build an amplifier. I start with a bunch of parts that individually are not more than a collection of antique junk and when I'm done, Pres is in the room playing "Polka Dots and Moonbeams".
If life gets too fast for me to have the time to enjoy those feelings of accomplishment, I'd better get off the merry-go-round and figure out where I took a wrong turn.
Phil "mixin' grease under his nails with a little jolt of 120AC just to let him know he's still alive" Sieg Knoxville, Tennessee
Steven Willis wrote:
> How about another view. I think it is great that you fix your own bike
> that is how I got started but for every hour you spend fixing your
> bike that is one less hour riding. Some people around here, given the
> fast pace of life, would rather have that hour riding not fixing their
> bike. I have finely given up changing my own oil for that reason. Have
> fun and keep that Campy peanut butter wrench it still sits in my tool
> box and yes I have spread peanut butter with it and even stirred my
> coffee too. Steven
> Steven Willis
> 1778 East Second Street
> Scotch Plains NJ 07076
> 908-322-3330
> http://www.thebikestand.com
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <WesOishi@aol.com>
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 1:11 PM
> Subject: [CR]why cranks strip
>
>
>> Many of today's rider has never stripped a VW plug hole, let alone
>> repacked
>> a BB. I've seen guys strip a pedal hole by trying to screw the R hand
>> into the
>> L hand crank. Also, the length of the pedal wrench allows some to exert
>> gargantuan torque to the poor alloy crank arm. The rental bikes at
>> the Encino
>> Velodrome are constantly subjected to pedal changes, turning threads
>> into
>> mush. I read that Manchester Velodrome's bike are all fitted with
>> Look, so the
>> rider has to use Look shoes.
>>
>> My first tools back in 1975 were a Campy peanut butter wrench and a
>> BB tool.
>> It never occured to me to "take it into the shop". I find that some of
>> today's new riders are less interested in the bicycle, and how it
>> works. Back in
>> the day, most of us repaired our own sewups and maintained our own
>> bikes. Many
>> a rider today can't seem to change a flat successfully. One guy
>> started a
>> club ride with six CO2 cartridges. I'll stick with my Zefal, thank you.
>>
>> Wes Oishi
>> Los Angeles