New House Blog: Episode II

In Episode II we start showing you the actual work we have completed.  We are starting off with the small jobs that we want to complete before the house is tented for termites (they're very popular in the Silicon Valley).  Here we go.

Door Knob/Deadbolt Replacement

We decided that it would be a good idea to replace the door locks.  Two reasons for this are that some of the old locks are/were finicky and required a certain amount of key-jiggling; and we don't know how many spare keys are floating around out there.

Here are some pictures.

The old front door lock.

From the inside.

The new front door locks.  Sadly we can't show you an inside picture because said picture did not turn out very well.

 Putting in the new locks was slightly troublesome, because whoever put in the previous locks didn't drill the holes quite large enough, so we had to do a little carving out and applying force to make some of it go in.  In the end, however, it all did go in and all of the locks work as advertised.

Here are some more pictures.

The second door's old locks, from the inside.  As you can see, they're painted to the door for added security.

Same door locks, from the outside.

The new locks, from the outside.  As you can see, they're a different finish from the front door locks.  This is intentional.  We liked both, so we got one set of each finish.

From the inside.

Join us again for our next exciting, action-packed Episode, in which we will see some more inside pictures and maybe even some more outside pictures.

Good locks make good

bIsh

New House Blog: Episode I

As the title suggests, this series will be talking about our new house and our progress toward making it move-in-able.  Technically it is habitable now, but there are several items we want to correct and fix and spruce up before we move in.

First things first - we bought a new house.  By "we" I mean Becky and Me.  By "bought" I mean that we now have a mortgage (for those interested we got a 4% fixed).  By "new house" I mean that the house was built in 1971, but it is a house we have not ever owned before.

Here are some pictures to keep you interested.

This is the front.

This is the back.

This is part of the huge back yard.

The house is 1710 square feet, 2 stories, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1 garage, 1 kitchen, 1 fireplace, no basement.

In the episodes that follow this one we will be chronicling our journey from purchase to move-in readiness; our repairs and spruce-ups.  Pictures will be provided.

Home sweet

bIsh

It Is Alive

As of Sunday, September 11, 2011, the bike is complete and on the road.  This was the final build session for this bike.  The previous post left off with only one item incomplete, at least as far as basic rideability is concerned - the derailur cables.  After I installed both derailur cables I added a few stickers, the rack, bottle cages, and a small seat bag.

I had a lot of fun with this build, and I learned some new things.  I've been riding it these past two weeks, and I really like it.  On the road it's nimble and lively.  The front end is very quick to maneuver.  All shifting is spot-on, and braking is excellent.  There's a slight squeal from the front brakes during hard stops, but I think it's just because the pads are not properly toed-in (should be a quick adjustment when I take the time to do it).  I also discovered that I have the rear brake and front derailur cables routed incorrectly - I accidentally ran them through each other's mounting points.  Everything works, but I will probably correct this some time soon.  On to the build and the finished product.

The derailur cables:

 As with the brake cables, I decided to use Jagwire Hyper cables and housing.  These are, like the brake cables, coated cables with lined housing and nifty gold-colored cable end-caps.

This photo shows the rear derailur all cabled-up.

In this photo you can see the two deraulur and one brake cables.  As mentioned above, the rear brake and the front derailur cables are in the wrong mounting brackets.

Here you can see the cable routing at the front.  The Jagwire cables came with little rubber boots to stop the housing from rubbing on the frame and marring the paint.

The built bike:

Here it is, folks - the built bike.  The frame was advertised as an 18" frame, which I understood to mean 18" from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the top tube.  When I measured it, however, it turned out to be only 15" from bottom bracket to top tube.  The advertised 18" measurement is from the bottom of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat collar.  It's okay, though.  I like its compactness.

The same bike with a few stickers.  The Ascent stickers came with the frame, and I assume that is the brand.  The Jagwire stickers came with the cables. (I use the plural "stickers" because there are two of each - one on either side of the frame.)

From the front, looking toward the back.

The final finished product:

The bottle cages are Blackburn Mountain Cages.  These are the strongest, beefiest cages I have ever encountered, and they're light. These two particular cages have been with me for at least 17 years, and they're still in great shape.  I don't remember exactly why I chose that color when I bought them.  Since these cages are still available new I may get a couple in a more subdued color - probably black.

The rack is a Blackburn Mountain Rack.  It has been with me for at least 20 years, and it is showing signs of its age.  Some paint has worn off, and it's not quite as straight as it once was.  It's a basic rack, and it has served me well.

The bungee cord was found on the side of the road.  I used to find all kinds of bungees in various colors and sizes on the side of the road.

The seat bag is by Speicalized.  It's just large enough for some tire patches, a wallet, a spare bungee, and maybe a phone.

The donor frame:

This is what's left of the poor donor bike.  Anyone need a frame for a project?

And that's the end of the build.  Or is it?  (Did someone say, "upgrades"?)

Happy Riding to you.

bIsh

It Goes And It Stops

Saturday, September 10, 2011, is the date of the second-to-last build session for my new old bike.  This session was concerned with braking.  I installed new brake pad inserts, adjusted the shoes for proper rim alignment, and installed both brake cables.  The front derailur cable that you might see in the pictures below (and in the previous post) is only temporarily connected, so I do not count it as being installed yet.

There seems to be no industry standard for brake post placement.  Every time I have had to replace a fork I have had to readjust the brake shoes for proper rim alignment.  The same is true when moving brakes from one frame to another, and when replacing wheels with new wheels of a different make.  I suppose, on the one hand, that it is not that big a deal these days, what with the proliferation of disk brakes, but there are still people out there using rim brakes, and at least one of us wants some kind of standard.  Enough said.  On to the building.

The brake shoes and cables:

 The brake shoes are Avid Rim Wrangler shoe inserts.  One thing I really like about V-type brakes is the option for shoes with replaceable pads.  Adjusting brakes shoes is not my favorite thing to do, and this design feature allows me to replace pads without having to adjust anything.

The cables are Jagwire Hyper brake cables.  These are coated cables with lined housing and nifty gold-colored cable end-caps. I was planning to transfer the cabling from my donor bike to the new bike, but there was trouble with housing lengths, cable lengths, and a severe shortage of cable/housing cutters.  Along with new brake cables I bought a new Park cable/housing cutter.




That's it for this build session.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with
bIsh

It Keeps Going

Labor day, Monday, September 5, 2011, was when build session #4 took place. As you can see, my updates are a few days behind the actual build sessions.

When we left off last time the bike was technically rideable - I rode a lap around the parking lot - and mostly adjusted to fit me.  It had the majority of its drivetrain, but no brakes.  During this build session I added the brakes, some cabling, and all of the handelbar accouterments.

While building, I was focused on installing parts and not on taking pictures, so all of the pictures you see were taken after I was done building for the day. Because of this the photos will not necessarily show chronological progression.

On to the build.

The brakes:

The brakes are Shimano XT V-Brakes.  I would have preferred to use Avid brakes, but these are the brakes that came off of my donor bike.  They are good brakes that have never given me any problems.  If I recall correctly, I got these brakes several years ago for free from one of my brothers.

The brake levers:

The brake levers are TekTro Quartz levers.  I don't know what that means, but they, like the brakes, were given to me free of charge by one of my brothers. They're nothing special, but they do their jobs and I can upgrade them later if I'm so inclined.

The shifters:

Yes, I know this isn't a good photo.  The shifters are Grip Shift 8-speed shifters. As mentioned in my previous post, I have been a big fan of Grip Shift since its first appearance on the scene, many years ago.

The grips:

The grips are ODI Lock-On grips - 90mm length - with a Yeti grip pattern.  The shorter length works really well with my Grip Shift shifters.  These grips go on easily, lock into place (via allen screw), and are a breeze to remove.  I like the Yeti grip pattern because it has that big fat Yeti pad right where my palms rest. It also has smaller Yetis around it that are good for gripping with my fingers.   At some point I will probably replace the red color with blue - to match the other blue accents on the bike.

The bar ends:

The bar ends are old-school Onza bar ends.  I know that bar ends are less common today, and some people say that running bar ends on a riser bar is out of fashion, but I love my full-size L-bend bar ends.  They give me multiple hand positions that come in handy at times.  I also know that it's uncommon to see taped bar ends, but I like to tape mine.  I like the padding and extra grip. Yes, the tape is kind of grungy - it's been on there for a while.

 Here you see the bar with all of the aforementioned accouterments.

This is the progress thus far.

Closer and closer to the final
bIsh

It Continues Some More

Build session #3 took place on Sunday, September 4, 2011.  I feel like I got a lot accomplished during this build session, and the bike really started to take shape.  I installed the following parts: fork, stem, handlebar, seatpost and saddle, both derailurs, wheels, crankset, pedals, and chain.

We left off last time with test fitting, marking, and cutting the steerer tube. This build session began with cutting the handlebar.

A few months back, as part of my previously-mentioned (in the previous post, that is) desire to introduce a more upright riding position, I purchased a riser handlebar to replace my flat bar.  I didn't pay enough attention when ordering and ended up with a bar that was 685mm wide.  This translates to about 27 inches (26.9688, to be a bit more precise), which is significantly wider than my flat bar.  I lived with it for a while, but didn't really like it, so I decided that this would be a good time to cut it down a bit on each end.  Conveniently for me, the bar was already factory-marked for cutting. I chose the furthest-in cutting marks and cut away.

Cutting metal pipes (steerer tube and handlebar in this case) is step one of a two part process.  Step two is filing and/or sanding down the cut end of the pipe to get rid of burs and any sharp edges.  The end result should be a smooth surface that is safe for handling.

On to the photos and comments.

The fork:

The fork, as mentioned in a previous post, is a Surly 1 1/8" unicrown fork with threadless steerer.  This is what it looked like after cutting and sanding.  I have included the small piece of pipe that was cut from it.

The Stem:

The stem is an Easton EA50 with 9 degrees of rise and a 31.5mm clamp.

The handlebar:

The handlebar is an Easton EA50 Monkeybar, with a 31.5mm clamp size.  This is what it looked like after cutting and sanding.  I have included the end pieces that were lopped off.

Here you see the handlebar installed.

The seatpost and saddle:

The seapost is a generic post, 32mm in diameter.  The saddle is a Specialized Body Geometry.  Nothing special, but they do their jobs.

The wheels:

The front wheel is a Mavic Crossride, with 24 flat spokes.  It is a standard 26" wheel, and it is still true after nearly 4 years of riding.

The rear wheel is a Mavic Crossland, also with 24 flat spokes.  Like the front wheel, it is still true after nearly four years of riding. Unlike the front wheel, however, it is not just a standard 26" wheel.  See this older post to for more details, and to read about my rear wheel/tire saga.

The bike is finally on its own two feet.

The crankset and pedals: 

The crankset is an FSA with 22, 32, and 44 tooth rings.  Crank arms are 175mm in length.  This crankset and the bottom bracket were sold as a packaged deal, which turned out to be quite convenient for me as it meant that I could be fairly certain that they would work well together.

The pedals are Performance brand metal platform pedals with toe clips.  I normally run feet belts, too.  Yes I am aware of modern clipless pedals, and I have tried some, but I have never felt the need or desire to buy them. 

The front and rear derailurs:

 The front derailur is a top-pull X-9 from SRAM (I'm still not sure how SRAM is pronounced).

The rear derailur is an X-7, also by SRAM.  The cassette in the picture is an 11-32 8-speed, branded by SRAM.  Do you see a pattern here? I have been a big fan of SRAM products ever since the very first generation of Grip Shift shifters.



The chain:

The chain is by SRAM.  I don't recall the model or number.  It is silverish.  I do not use the Power Link that comes standard with SRAM chains - I still break and unbreak chains with my trusty Park chain tool.

Progress thus far.

For this build session I brought Daisy out to the garage instead of Satchmo. She is generally calmer and less skittish (and quiter) than Satchmo, so I thought she might enjoy the experience more than he did.  She stayed in her carrier for a bit, then came out and explored a bit.  She spent most of her time either behind bike wheels in a corner or behind a stack of boxes.

Remember that it's right to tighten and left to

bIsh

It Continues

It's been about a week since my my previous post, and there have been two more build sessions.  This update deals with the build session on Thursday of this past week, Septermber 1, 2011.  Parts and comments will be added in roughly chronological order.

First, a little more background.  I am tired of leaning over when I ride, so I decided to give myself a more upright riding position by raising the handlebars up a bit.  The problem was twofold: the steerer tube on my bike was cut short; it is extremely difficult to find a 1" fork these days (it is next to impossible to find a 1" stem (I have been using a 1 1/8" stem with a shim)).  1" used to be the common size, but everything is 1 1/8" or larger now.  Thus, it made sense to me to get a new frame with a 1 1/8" head tube and get a new, uncut fork.

On to the build.

If you recall from the previous post (if not you can peruse it now to refresh your memory) I got as far as test fitting the fork and headset.  It seemed to me that the next logical next step was to install the stem and handlebar so that I could put on the wheels and get the bike standing on its own two feet, so to speak.  Before installing said stem and handlebar, however, I had to remove them from the donor bike.

The donor bike:

The left side

The right side

The donor bike was originally a 1994 Bridgestone MB4 (that was about the last year Bridgestone bikes were sold in the U.S.), purchased new for roughly $450.  Since its purchase so many years ago it has been basically rebuilt, one piece at a time.  The original parts include the frame, front derailur, bottom bracket, crankset, and some of the bolts.  It has served me well for a long time.

The first step of disassembly of the donor bike was to remove everything from the handlebars and then remove the handlebars.  The next step was to remove the top cap and the stem.  I also removed all cables at this time.

Time to test fit the stem and mark and cut the steerer tube.

The photo shows how things stacked up.  I marked and cut the steerer tube and called it a day.  It may not seem like much progress, but it's one step closer to the finished product.

The stem:

The stem is a 1 1/8" Easton stem.  I believe it is 9 degrees of rise, but I don't recall the length.







I brought Satchmo out to the garage with me again for this session, thinking that he might be more comfortable on a second visit, but it was much the same: he meowed for a while, then settled down behind a stack of boxes.

Disassembly is sometimes part of assembly.

bIsh

It Begins

What begins?  The building of a new bike.

My trusty commuter/street bike is over 17 years old now, so it seems like a good time for an upgrade.  Instead of simply buying a bike, however, I've decided to build one from scratch - that is to say, starting from a bare frame.  This bike will be a combination of new and old parts (primarily for budget reasons).  The old parts include the wheels (including tires and tubes), pedals, cassette, rear derailur, seatpost, saddle, stem, handlebar, brakes and levers, shifters, and as much cabling as I can reuse.  Everything else will be brand-spanking new.  I will be doing all of the work myself, except for installing the crown race.

This blog will be a journal of my build over the coming days and weeks.  This entry is also the first update.

Yesterday I installed the first components - the headset (using my own homemade headcup press), the bottom bracket, seatpost collar, and the derailur hanger.

The frame:

I selected a generic aluminum frame from a trusted online bike retailer.  This frame is 18" in size, and it includes a replaceable derailur hanger and mounting points for my rear rack.  It is white.

The headset:

The headset is a Cane Creek 40 - 1 1/8" in size.

The bottom bracket:

The bottom bracket is an FSA with external bearings.  This style seems to be the way the industry is going.

The seatpost collar:

The seatpost collar is a Salsa, non-quick-release.  It is blue.  I like Salsa products, I like the blue, and I don't anticipate a need to adjust my saddle height a whole lot once I've set it.

The fork:

The fork is a rigid 1 1/8" Surly.  It is black.  As this will be a mostly on-road bike I opted not to spend the extra money on a suspension fork.

I decided to bring Satchmo into the garage with me for this first build session, thinking that he would like to explore in the garage, but it wasn't as fun for him as I had hoped.  He was quite meowy at first, and he assumed a defensive/scared/submissive posture as he sniffed around for a bit.  Eventually he settled down and hung out behind a pile of boxes.  I may take Daisy out to the garage for the next build session.

That's it for now.

Remember to always
bIsh

About A Cat

I have now joined the ranks of cat owners. About 2 weeks ago I purchased, from the local animal shelter, a 2 month-old kitten - Domestic Shorthair, tuxedo pattern. I've named him Satchmo, and he is very vocal. Right now he's cleaning his little claws, the way cats do, and he just finished giving himself a bath. So far he's been confined to my room, and the hallway joining my room. As soon as the rest of the place is cat-ready I'll be letting him visit, and eventually he'll have the run of the place. Satchmo is an indoor cat, very zippy at times, a very good climber, quite curious, and good at figuring out how to get where he wants to get. Yes he's fixed, and no he's not declawed. Scratching is a normal part of a cat's life, and if you're not prepared to deal with it, well maybe a cat isn't right for you.

Some who know me might ask, "Why a cat?" I like cats. Cats are self-cleaning, and easy to clean up after, they're somewhat self-entertaining, and they're fun to watch and play with when they get into hunting/pouncing mode. I like cats.

Cats. Cool.
bIsh

Bish For President

I just today realized that I'm now old enough to run for President. I wonder if I can get on the '08 ballot.

Vote for
bIsh

Of Pizza Trees

Maybe on the wild pizza trees of legend you might find fresh, whole pizza, in pizza season, but what I'm told (by someone who knows) is that today's modern pizza trees mainly produce the ingredients separately. And you know that calzones were merely pizzas that hadn't fully bloomed yet. Someone got the idea to pick them early in the hopes that they wouldn't spoil so quickly, and he (maybe she - records are sparse) discovered the calzone. But today's pizza trees, as I was saying, no longer produce whole pizzas. The well-tended ones produce dough at the ends of the branches, where the pizzas used to bloom, and they can be tapped to get the rich red sauce inside. White sauce, and others newfangled types of sauces you find on modern pizzas, does not come from the pizza tree, although I did hear a rumor that some geneticists were working on trees that can produce different types of pizza sauces.. Pizza crust mix comes from the bark and the dried leaves of the pizza tree: you need both to get a proper pizza crust mix. Some brands, however, dilute the mix with flour to try to stretch it out and get more profit. I've also heard that the best pizzerias feed their trees tomatoes to get an even richer, tomatoey-er sauce. And I think I read somewhere that some can be cross-pollinated with olive trees to produce their own olives.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's
bIsh