I received new brake cables and a whole selection of ball bearings in the mail today. Unfortunately the tool that I need to remove the freewheel looks like it won't be here until next Monday.
Didn't get anything done on the bike this weekend but my goal is to get the frame painted next week.
One step closer. Turned out okay, I rushed it too much.
Spent the day polishing out the rims spokes and hubs. They cleaned up decently well. I contemplated painting them black but decided against it.
After new bearings and getting the axles back in place I retentioned the spokes and trued the rims. Only broke two of the original spokes. Thankfully I had some spare spokes and nipples left over from the green bike that were the correct size.
I'm going to tie and solder them just have to pick up some flux and wire.
Nick Comstock said:One step closer. Turned out okay, I rushed it too much.
Is that a custom color, or just something you had around?
In reply to sleepyhead :
Just something that jumped out at me at the Lowe's. It's a Rust-Oleum color and I couldn't even tell you the name, top coated with their matte clear which is more satin than matte but it's pretty even.
Tied and soldered the rear wheel. Probably won't do the front unless I run into trouble down the road.
After some consideration and some input from bikeforums I've decided that instead of upgrading everything all at once I should put it back together the way it came and actually commute on it for a while. In particular to get a feel for the gearing that I would typically run. So I cleaned everything, installed new bearings and put it back together. I did change from caged bearings to loose in the headset and bb.
Things that I'll need to purchase to get it back on the road. Tires/tubes, shifters/shifter cables, pedals, grips and a saddle.
I was messing around with the lights. Standard 6V 3W headlight, LED rear taillights and a little bottle type Dynamo. I really didn't like that Dynamo, too noisy. As the headlight uses just a standard flashlight bulb and LED retrofit bulbs are readily available I picked one up and switched it out. The new bulb is good for 9V. I remembered I have a 7.2V battery pack for an old remote control car so I charged it up and tested it out.
It's been running steady for a little over six hours now. I think this is going to work out okay.
I'm going to pick up a small waterproof box that the battery will fit in and mount it to the mounting location in the frame for the bottle generator.
I'm a roadie on weekends, commuter during the week. My roadbike is aluminum with carbon fork and rear. I bought a singlespeed steel bike instead of a rental car for errands on a biz trip and had it shipped home. Definitely the lowest tech and price of my four bikes...but its now my go to on a daily basis. Steel is so compliant and lovely for my commute. No question my road bike is faster on hills and longer rides, gravel bike has its place. But steel is real. Truth.
Made some progress. Shifters and brakes are on and adjusted. Grips and seat are on. Still need tubes, tires, chain and pedals then it's ready for the road again.
And the tank is back together!
Still have to tidy up the battery and wiring for the lights, just threw it on so I could test ride it around the block tonight.
It rides nice. The handlebars are way too low for me. I'll need to get a longer stem for sure. Shifters work really well. The freewheel will need replaced as I can't put any power through the 14T sprocket without it skipping. But I knew that beforehand. Just wanted to get it back together to see if my knees will allow me to ride 16+/- miles per day.
Went with some Kenda Kommuter 26x2.00 tires. LBS had them at a decent price. New tubes a KMC chain and some metal caged shin killer pedals finished up the build.
I plan to do a test ride to work this weekend. Looking forward to getting some miles on it.
It looks great.
But my back hurts just looking at those handlebars.
Nick Comstock said:And the tank is back together!
Still have to tidy up the battery and wiring for the lights, just threw it on so I could test ride it around the block tonight.
It rides nice. The handlebars are way too low for me. I'll need to get a longer stem for sure. Shifters work really well. The freewheel will need replaced as I can't put any power through the 14T sprocket without it skipping. But I knew that beforehand. Just wanted to get it back together to see if my knees will allow me to ride 16+/- miles per day.
Would it make any sense to pick up a "riser bar" instead/in-addition to a taller stem? Generally past-years Aluminum riser bars are pretty cheap around the web, so you mightcould shave some weight and add some height in a nice combination?
In reply to sleepyhead :
I'm planning to go with a butterfly/trekking bar. The only reason I reused the stock bar, and many of the stock components at all, is because my knees are a question mark. I have partially torn meniscus in both and after years of not being able to ride a bicycle at all I've been pain free for a while now. Enough to ride around the neighborhood with the boy for an hour or so without suffering any consequences, but a 16 mile round trip every day is an unknown. So the decision was made to put it back together with only replacing what was necessary so I can test my knees out before I go crazy replacing components.
In reply to Nick Comstock :
oic, guess I missed the point of trying butterfly/trekking bars in the future.
sorry to hear about the knees...
although, I had a prof in college who was ex-Navy fighter pilot who had bad knees... and took up biking because it was the best way to get exercise with low-pressure on them. I reckon as long as you can spin and not jam hard on the cranks, you should be good? Especially if you get the seat/crank positioning tuned right.
Good luck, hope to hear things went alright this weekend.
Finished up the wiring for the lights and mounted the battery. I ended up just zip tying it to the bottom of the rack. I can just charge it on the bike.
Took it for a shortish maiden voyage of about five miles. Had a couple of teething issues. It was really reluctant to shift in to the 14T sprocket. I had to let a little tension off of the cable. Then about the miles in I started noticing the seat post was slowly sinking into the frame. Which is why I turned back. By the time I got home it was slammed all the way down. I cleaned the post and really cranked down the clamp bolt. Hopefully it holds.
I'm going to ride it in to work in the morning to see how the route is.
Mission accomplished!
Took a different route home. It was much slower and harder. Won't be going that way again.
The bike did really well. Had the handlebar clamp bolt loosen up and a fender mount bolt as well. Did a nut and bolt when I got home to snug everything up.
My legs and knees feel great. No issues whatsoever. Just normal burning in my legs from not being on a bike for a while. That'll get better with time.
Surprisingly it was my arms that made me get off the bike on the way home. I'm putting way too much pressure on my hands and it wasn't long until my fingers started to go all tingly and numb. My pinkies are still numb and tingly now, about nine hours later.
I've moved the seat back in the rails as far as it will go. I'm hoping that's enough to take some pressure off my hands.
I asked about this issue over on the bike fit section of bike forums and a guy posted that this setup would be much more comfortable; 
I don't know about more comfortable, but my goodness it looks so much better. I might do that just for the looks. Who cares what the body feels like 
Okay, it's the day after and my fingers are still numb.
While my knees are not painful, and they didn't complain at all during the ride, they are what I would call tender or raw today.
I think it's best to build into this slowly. It may turn out that I just can't do it. But I'm not going to give up until I just absolutely can't do it.
In reply to Nick Comstock : platform grips spread the load over a much larger area of the palm, greatly reducing pressure on nerves through wrist up to fingers.
I run the black Ergon style grips above on my flat bar bikes, they're great. But they won't work on a butterfly bar.
Whoever told you that low bar setup was more comfortable is wrong, but I agree it looks cool. If you are young and flexible and the bike is fit perfectly to you, sure, that can be okay, but with an older off-the-shelf bike it's unlikely that's the answer. Also, it puts you more face-down, and when commuting I prefer head-up for situational awareness.
Careful about sliding the saddle all the way back unless you check pedal-knee alignment. That could put you out and since you've already got knee problems it could be bad.
I'm trying to get back t riding regularly and you're right, arms are a limiting factor. I've got to start doing some push ups or weights for it. Oh, and actually riding!
Great job making the commute. The first time is always the hardest. Just take it easy and don't power the big gears until your knees have had time to adjust.
In reply to ultraclyde :
The problem was I couldn't take my hands off of the bars at all. Now I can take my hands off and easily keep right on pedaling. If you're taking about KOPS then yes I dropped a line and checked it wasn't too far off and it's actually a lot closer now than it was.
It was chilly this morning. Mid fifties if I remember correctly. Still in shorts and a t-shirt but any colder and I would have needed some extra layers. Beautiful weather on the ride home mid-seventies and sunny. Couldn't ask for anything better.
I rolled my ankle at work today so I wasn't looking forward to the ride home. It's swollen and a little tender to walk on. But it didn't bother me too much while pedaling. I think I'll take the motorcycle tomorrow anyway because I don't want to push it and delay the healing process.
More teething issues when I checked the bike out after getting home today. Noticed the headset was slightly loose and when I went to loosen the locknut saw that it had split. So it's probably not the best idea to ride it until that gets replaced anyway.
There are a couple blocks near downtown that are paved with bricks and the bike takes a beating. Plus the rest of the route is pretty rough. I'll definitely find the weakest parts of the bike in short order.
Still thinking about bar options. Right now the bar has an 8cm drop from the saddle. And while I'm not having any pain or discomfort from the bars anymore I feel like I would rather be a little more upright for better visibility. Still debating.
I ordered a new locking nut and a 14-28T, 7 speed freewheel.
I also had an idea. About a year ago I bent the handlebar on the green bike trying to hop up onto a curb. So it needed a new bar anyway. This Wald 803 handlebar is pretty much a direct replacement for the one that is on it.
So I ordered one and I'm going to try it out on the tank to see if that's the direction I want to go. Should put the grips two inches higher than the saddle. If I do end up liking it I'll buy another in black to go on the tank and put the chrome ones on the green bike. If not it'll at least give me an idea of which way I need to go.
Got the new headset locknut installed and the New freewheel came in as well. 
I had to adjust the shifter cables tension and the stops a little but it works perfectly. I also had to space out the fender stay bolts a little as it was making contact with the chain on the small sprocket. 
Years ago I bought some saddlebags from Tractor Supply Co. They are actually meant for horses. I modified them and used them on my old motorcycle for a couple years. They've sat in the garage unused since I got new motorcycle. They are a little beat up and sun faded but they are a good size for the bicycle so I set about mounting them.
I found some plastic clasps that have little reflectors in them so I picked up two of those to replace the regular black ones I'd installed when they were on the motorcycle. I cut some webbing to size and riveted then to the bags so that the top of the bag sits on the rails of the rack. The bags had D rings on the inside that almost lined up perfectly with the rack supports that go to the dropouts. So I modified some picture hangers and riveted them so the D ring goes around the rack supports then hooks into the picture hangers to secure the bag to the rack supports so they're not just flopping around at the bottom.
I also picked up a cheap bottle cage and a mirror.
Looking really purposeful, but that saddle looks like it'll CHAFE!
Can't wait to see it with the riser bars on it!
In reply to the_machina :
They came in late Saturday. I installed them but need to get some grips. I ordered chrome but received black so they'll stay on the commuter and I'll have to get some chrome ones for the green bike. I'll get pictures tonight after the grips are on.
Looks like I'll be testing it out all this week because the motorcycle is going to have to go into the dealer. I'm hoping I'm not too berkeleyed but I have a feeling I'm super berkeleyed.
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