Spring is in the air and a young man's fancy turns to, uh - riding. Yeah, that's the ticket. Took a day off work last Friday and squeezed in a 2 hour mountain bike - nice. Commuted to work today, usual 34 mile round trip - all good. Time to break out of the winter slump and get some real miles in. Oh yes.
Budding trees and runny noses also means spring cleaning, and my eBay garage sale continues - all proceeds to build up Ian's new bike, code named Project Access - which also may require dad (that be me) scoring a new bike to hand some parts down. An even trade of dough, old stuff for new stuff, is always cool for the family budget and allows guilt free upgrades - no?
This week's selling action......
Like new vintage wheelset. Performance hubs (appear to Sansin), Araya RM20 rims, 36 spoke, 130mm spacing, freewheel compatible - complete with Shimano 6 speed freewheel. Six speeds - count 'em. Sold !!
1999 Ellsworth Truth frame, Fox shock and Chris King headset. Bit of a bidding war on this one. Sold !!
Vintage Scott SE cantilever. SE stood for "Self Energizing" - as in some widget buried in that black Cylinder-O-Mystery drove the pads deeper into the rim - kind of sucked in by the wheel rotating. Anyway, a few watchers on eBay, a few questions - no sale. Listed once again, will see what happens.
Shoe covers for toe strap pedals. Total old school in new condition. Sold !!
Vintage "Deer Head" logo Shimano Deore derailleur. Sold !!
Vintage Ringle bottle cages from the '90s - remember these? 27 watchers on the item, a few questions about shipping - then no sale. Weird. Listed once again.
Funky vintage Campy crank. A few watchers, questions about shipping - then nada sale. I relisted for another week.
Very cool old school Suntour XC Pro pedals. My Craiglist sale from the other week fell through. Listed 'em on eBay. Sold !!
This week's eBay update now officially over. I'll pull a few other vintage goodies from the garage on list 'em on eBay in the next few days. It's been fun digging this stuff out and watching the online action.
I made a little progress on Project Access over the weekend. Cane Creek headset cups pressed into headtube, Shimano LX crankset and BB now in place. Ibis seatpost now installed, providing a safe clamping area. New chain and SRAM cassette await something to be attached to.....
Still a few parts missing, but not for long.
I've reached critical mass and want to get this project done. Final decision time, been dragging my feet - finish purchasing parts for Project Access - or pick up a bike for me and move my old XTR, Fox fork and Mavic ceramic rims to Ian's frame. Will decide by the end of week.
Being Family Guy is crimping my usual XTR level of fun - and I can live with that, since there are more important things screaming for dough. I've been looking at mid-priced level 29er hardtails, including a Scott Scale 29er today at REI. Not a bad deal for $1500, though the graphics are bit garish for my taste. XT rear derailleur, Rockshox Reba SL fork, mixed in with some lower level parts. It also felt a bit heavy.....
I've also been watching this on eBay. Used, cool Trek 69er built up with XT - nice bike. I've demo'd this when available from Trek - since discontinued. 26" rear wheel and 29" front wheel....
I've also spec'd out a Niner off the Colorado Cyclist site. Not a bad deal, though still well over $2000. I'd dig one of these, but don't think I can swing that at the moment....
Enough bike pondering and wondering for today. I need to hit the sack - thanks for reading....