I should put a web page of all the Bridgestones I've hacked. It started with the RB-T (new canti post, extra wheel clearance, S&S, bb repair, rear cable hanger), then another RB-T (Kogswell forks, front rack, powdercoat), then an RB-1 (bb repair, canti posts for 650b, rear cable hanger).
Here's the latest. The old MB-2 has suffered through about 5 years of xtracycle'ing. Now, it's going to be a single speed cruiser. Think 26" wheeled BMX. Just lovely. The Softride stem is great, it's been a while since I ran this set up, and I dig it. I just might put a Thudbuster on there to smooth out the rear too.
I'm running 36/18, which puts me right in the chilled-on-flats speed. And I'm pretty sure I can muscle it up the Highdrive Trails if I pick the right route.
Glen replaced the vertical dropouts with horizontal dropouts (with hanger). The new dropouts came out of an old Trek whose front-end hit something solid. They fit just about perfectly into the existing slots.
This last picture is not really related. Glen's neighbor gave him this bottle of magic gunk that does actually appear to be magic. It's a gel you can spray on metal and it stops heat. After we had a few beers Glen announced that he wanted to try something. He got this bottle of magic gunk out and sprayed it on a chunk of scrap steel then heated up the end of the steel to a red glow.
This picture is Pat smiling as he holds on to the other end of the steel rod. Without the gel, Pat's finger tips would be smoldering, but clearly, he's smiling and we didn't drink enough beer to make him not feel the pain. Eventually the gel gave out and the rod heated up. So there's that. Glen and Pat were both very impressed.
Pat, John, we must really dwell in a sub-sub category of bike nerd. I can't believe there were no comments on this incredibly interesting post.
ReplyDeletePlumbers use that gel when soldering pipes close to the wall or other things that shouldn't be heated up.
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