bicycle photo diary: February 2011

I finally got around to finishing my first single speed conversion today. I got this bike from a Goodwill auction for $66.07. I was planning to flip it, but when I saw how clean the bike was compared to its age (inferred from component date codes), and that it had stamped rear dropouts without a derailleur hanger, I decided this bike was going to be my first single speed.
It was a 12 speed geared with Shimano Altus LT derailleurs and Shimano stem shifters. I had recently scored some nice parts from the same Goodwill (which will be shown in a future blog) that I considered putting on this bike. However, the original components seemed to have been barely used, so I decided to keep them on until they need replacing. (You can see the full specs below). The only thing I changed was the bottom bracket spindle, pedals, chain, tires/tubes, and all those twine. It's not a necessarily a light bike, but from my test ride it's got a pretty good ride.
It took me a couple of weeks to actually take everything apart and put it back together. This is the first bike I had done such extensive overhauling, and I even tried a few new maintenance techniques.
I took all the components off and washed the frame and fork with dish wash soap and water. Then I finally got to use the Boeshield T-9 that I bought from Sears a while ago. I sprayed it inside all the tubes and stays, including the fork steerer and blades. It didn't look too different other than being a bit more glossy, but I hope it'll do its job in protecting the frame from rust. Then I even waxed the frame and the fork with Turtle Wax. It seems to have put on some shine at the time, but after spilling shellac on the frame, I'm not sure if it still shows any effect. I saw a few blemishes on the paint (which there is surprisingly few despite being 31 years old), so I went to Walmart to find a matching nail polish. I now have a sizable nail polish collection from my past attempts to touch up paint job on my bike, but I never had one that matched so perfectly as this time. It's "Gunmetal" by Sally Hansen. I also painted the flutes on the crank with the nail polish. I put all the parts back together with fresh grease, which was painstakingly slow.
I got to try another fun experiment waxing the chain in a crock-pot. I read instructions on the EcoVelo website, and used a spare Crock-ette (a very small crock-pot) with Yaley's Taper Candle Wax and Yaley's Natural Beeswax. It looks great so far, but I will have to see the actual effectiveness as I ride the bike. I also gave the cloth handlebar tape (which was on the bike already) three coats of shellac. The red twine on it is actually unnecessary, other than for looks. I also cut up an old cotton suede flannel and wrapped it around the suicide levers, and gave it 4 coats of shellac.
Since this post is getting ridiculously long, I'm going to wrap it up by saying that it's a very nice looking bike with interesting components, and I am very much looking forward to getting to know its ride.

Here are the specs, finally:
Frame: Unknown material; 49cm center-to-center; stamped rear dropouts
Fork: Tange; Tange dropouts
Headset: Unknown chrome steel
Crank: SR Silstar 165mm 52t
Bottom Bracket: Tange cups; Hatta 3N spindle
Seatpost: SR 26.0mm
Saddle: Kashimax Sport
Stem: SR
Handlebar: Alps Industries Road Champion
Brakes: Shimano 500 center-pull
Brake Levers: Shimano Dee-50
Hubs: Shimano; 6 speed Uniglide freehub rear; 21t cog
Rims: Araya Satylite 27 x 1 1/4, single-walled, Schrader valve
Tires: Performance Nova 27 x 1 3/16
Misc: Cat-Eye cloth handlebar tape, 3 coats of shellac; bell by Bell; Cat-Eye reflectors; lots of hemp twine