On Thursday, I figured I would stop by the recycling yard and see if there were any other bikes on the leave and take rack. Sure enough, Christmas came again!
The fire department in town stores all the bikes that the town and RCMP haul in as stolen, lost or whatever and hold them for about 6 months. After that time, if they haven't been claimed, they take them all to the recycle yard and leave them on a bike rack where anyone can come and take whatever bike they want, and people can also leave their old bikes there for someone else to enjoy.
This is the story behind my fixie. I left it there in the spring of last year as I just didn't seem to have the desire to maintain it. Later in the fall, I decided i wanted to try building up a fixie and wished I hadn't gotten rid of that bike. My first place to check for a frame was the recycle yard and sure enough, some one else and adjusted everything, put on new brakes and I guess they also just gave up on it. At sweet last, it was mine again.
Thursday of last week, I scored 3 bikes!!!! What does a guy need with 3 bikes?? Well, while fiddling with the gear ration on my trek (now single speed) I broke my chain braking tool (weird) and couldn't re-install the chain. I thought that I may as well take everything down for a good clean up and maintenance. When I got the chain wheels off, I saw clearly that they were egg shaped! Not good for a single speed. It explained why the chain would be slack and then tight in one revolution. I thought it was just not concentric in the way that it was bolted to the crank arms.The Chain wheels are bi0pace and I was fixing to start an ebay search for them or something, but instead I saw 2 bike that had the exact chain wheels as what I needed. On top of that, the bike had some other decent components on them.
The third bike. Well, it's a lugged Raleigh mountain bike that was actually big enough to fit me. I'm not that tall - 6'2" - but I do find that I am much more comfortable on taller bikes. On top of this, it has horizontal drop outs and Tange steel frame, lugged!! Sounds like it was made to be fixed! I've been looking for a while for a frame to do a fixed gear with 26" mtb wheel for winter riding. My other fixie, with 700 X 23C doesn't lend itself to bad road conditions and being on anything other than pavement or asphalt. So, here is my new project bike!
While down her in Great Falls, I'll check out some pawn shops for parts and bikes. We come here several times a year to hit the American shops that we don't have at home (read: Target) and there's a great hotel we stay at in a pool side room every time. The reason that I come down is for FAT TIRE amber Ale. I have a few at the bar everyday and take back my legal limit in bottles everytime we come.
I really like the time we spend here, but right now, I'm pretty anxious to start into these bikes and in particular, the new fixie. Rough life, having to suffer through a relaxing get away long weekend, while waiting to get into my favorite hobby.
LG. Life is Good.
Jerome.
No comments:
Post a Comment