Them's The Brake Breaks...

I rode the Red Menace III to the coffee shop, on Saturday, and got back to the house around 11:00.  I leaned the bike up against the garbage can, as I opened the door of the shop building.  The tires were a little low on air, and I figured I might as well pump them up.  As I swung the door open, the bike rolled forward and fell on its right side.

SNAP

A big big snapping sound is never good, in a situation such as that.  Sure enough, when I picked the bike up, the brake lever on the right-hand Campagnolo Ergo shifter was dangling by the cable.  The "carbon" (plastic) pivot had snapped.

I popped it back together, but it was not usable.  GRRRRR!

I ended up replacing the broken unit with an old Dia-Compe lever and a SunRace thumb shifter.  That works really well, but I'd rather have another Ergo Shifter, just for the cosmetics.

  If I can't find a Campy Ergo, I will eventually replace the brake lever with an aero version, and I'll find a nicer thumb shifter to replace the plastic one.

In the meantime, the bike rides great, and I have enjoyed riding it back and forth to work these past two days.

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Film At 11:00

I would put up a post, but Google is not letting me upload pictures, right now.  Hopefully, later on, I will be able to get some photos up.

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What's That On Jon's Blog ... A Bicycle?

 Yeah, I do still mess around with the push-bikes, a bit.  This is a 1988-ish Specialized RockHopper, converted to 700c wheels.  I got the Kinesis cross fork at Velo-swap, so that the brakes would line up with the bigger wheels.

 The drivetrain  and shifters are a mix of 8-speed Campy stuff, including the first piece of Campagnolo equipment I ever bought; a Racing Triple crankset and bottom bracket. 

I had this bike built up, a few years back, with 26" wheels, and the Campy equipment, but I cannibalized it for wheels, handlebars, etc., when I got my Bridgestone XO-2.  The carcass has been hanging in the shop building for a couple of years, awaiting inspiration on my part.  I have three different 26"-wheeled runabouts, so I didn't want to build another one.  That's when I decided to convert it to a "cross bike".

I found this brake adapter at VeloSwap, as well.  It has no identifying marks on it, so I don't have a clue where to find more.  I do have a second one, as well.  I am considering taking it to a machine shop and having a few made.

The brakes are the Tektro cantis I originally bought for my Fuji Tourer. They would not work with 700c wheels on that bike, so they ended up on the shelf ... until this past Saturday, when I finally got around to finishing this build.

I also made some aluminum cradles for my pump, attached to the water bottle cage bosses of the downtube.

I rode it to the coffee shop, Sunday, then did some adjustments.  Today, I rode to to work, and back.  Other than the fact that the seat keeps slipping backward in the seatpost clamp, it works really well. 

I also have a riser stem on the way, to get the bars a little higher in relation to the seat.  Right now, they are almost 5" lower than the top of the saddle.  Kinda reminds me of mountain biking in the 1990s.  The bars are fine for the 8 or 9 miles to work, but I have a feeling that my neck would begin to complain within about 20 or 25 miles, if i got out on a real ride.

The cream Schwalbe tires were the first ones on the hook when I was setting up the initial build, last month.  I like them, quite a bit, but I may put some Ritchey cross tires on it, eventually, just because I think they are a bit better as an all-round tire.

It's been a while since I have had a "magic bike" in the stable, and even longer since I built one.  I think I will keep this one...

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I Got The Music In Me

And it's gotta come out!

The past few weeks have been filled with rehearsal, rewrites, and hours of practice in preparation for going into the recording studio to lay down the tracks for the CD.  This past Friday, we managed to record the entire thing in one marathon session of recording, mixing and mastering.

Now, I have the master disc, and I need get the CD duplication done and finish up the songbook.  In the meantime, I am going round and round with myself about the packaging.  Do I really need to get slick covers printed up?  Should I hand-produce them in a limited-edition, making each one a unique piece of art?

Also, I am trying to get posters made for out December 5th show at Herman's Hideaway.  I made some funky, hand-drawn posters and had Kinko's run them off, today.  But, I am waiting to see if Steve's future son-in-law can do something with the artwork I started, last week.

Busy, busy.

Not a lot of bike riding going on, other than the occasional commute.  I need to remedy that.

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