You can see it on the left there, where the brake arm oughta be. Below, the piece stuck in the brake arm; the bolt defied my best efforts to remove it (and, since it spins freely, I couldn't drill it out):
Well, it required a new fork, and a new brake, and a new star nut, and I might as well get a new crown race... and I've been thinking a shorter stem might be in order. The parts came yesterday, and I spent a completely delightful couple of hours removing the old fork and installing the new. The steering tube had to be cut, of course, and since I can only use a hacksaw for butchery, I cut the steerer with a pipe cutter. It takes a lot longer, and I had to file the end because the pipe cutter raises the metal a bit at the end, but it was better than a sloppy cut. I left the old noodle-side of the brake on, and only used the new cage-side (if you look at cantilever brakes, you'll see the difference). The springs weren't identical, and I had to adjust for the different tensions, but that took little doing... and if it becomes an issue, I'll just replace the other side of the brake.
I had a bit of a problem with the stem cap, which is used to set the tension on the steerer. The plastic stem cap had a dispute with the new star nut, and tension wouldn't set right, but I borrowed a metal stem cap from one of the other bikes and it's adjusted now. I've got a cheapo stem cap coming, because once the tension is set, the only thing the stem cap does is keep the wildlife and weather out of the steerer tube. So that's all fixed...
... but that's not what I really wanted to write about.
I built the Krakow Monster from parts a few years ago as a project. Part of the plan was to build it with low-end components, to prove that I could do it and make a bike I could take on club rides that was not all the latest-and-greatest. I built it up with downtube friction shifters, a saddle that I had bought because it was the last of one that I had liked years ago, and a derailleur that the folks at Rivendell Bike called (and still do) "The best-designed cheap rear derailer in existence". They said, "Indexes 7 or 8 speed, frictions up to 9." Since I was using friction shifters with my 9-speed cassette, it worked fine.
I was planning to put Shimano M324 pedals on, which have SPD cleats on one side and are flat on the other, but my local shop had these Wellgo pedals (which I can no longer find online) that were knock-offs and in-stock, so I mounted those.
Well, the bike went well enough. But I never loved it. One year, I only rode it once during the whole year.
At the same time, I started lusting after the pretty bikes some of my friends had: Ricky G's purple Cinelli, which you've seen on this blog, or any of three or four of Laura OLPH's bikes. The turning point came when I went to the last Philly Bike Expo, and started gettin' giddy over this thing:
Now, it's lovely... but I have no more business with that bike than I do with a classic car. I'd always be afraid to ride it and ding it up.
So when I came to my sense, I decided that the thing to do was to try to make the Krakow Monster into a bike that I'd love. So the first thing I did was to replace those downtube shifters with the Gevenalle shifters (like I have on the Yellow Maserati, my titanium bike; I was always groping for those downtube shifters anyway...):
They're just indexed downtube-style shifters mounted outside of the brake levers, and I love 'em. You can see everything that's going on mechanically*, and when they're adjusted right, the shifting is as crisp as a saltine (I've used Sram and Shimano sets, so I have a basis for comparison).
*(I have no interest in electronic shifting or bike parts that hide the mechanical workings. I want to see everything that's going on; I love looking at how the parts work together.)
Using these shifters meant I needed to mount the cable-end adapters on the downtube shifter bosses. Initially, I put 'em on with the barrel adjusters at top... but the line of the cable then crossed the line of the downtube in an unpleasant way, so I switched 'em. The cable line isn't exactly parallel now, but it's far better.
Well, now I had indexed nine-speed shifting, instead of friction shifting, and that poor Altus derailleur just wasn't up to it; it complained when it was on the smallest cog, and rolled rough. And it just wasn't a pretty beast.
The cage on the Altus is steel, and while it didn't rust, it did oxidize, as you can see from the top picture (that's the cleanest I could get it with degreaser and a scrubber). I replaced it with a Deore, which is no showroom model either, but is somewhat better-looking, and which handles the nine speeds without complaint, even with the 11x34 spread on the cogset.
I rode it, and it was better... somewhat. That saddle that had been the apple of my eye years ago, now had become
I'd put a Selle Anatomica on the Yellow Maserati a few years ago, and that was great. It's leather, and needs maintenance and protection. I bought their rubber saddle on speculation last year, but it turned out to be too hard, so I got a leather seat (these things are modular and parts can be swapped that way) and put that on the Monster.
Much more betterer.
Remember those pedals? The M324 knock-offs, flat on one side and SPD on the other? Well, the SPD side was hard to get into and sometimes treacherous to get out of. The excellent Ricky G heard of my plight, and offered me a pair of Origin8 Ultim8 pedals that had come on his purple Cinelli; he had removed 'em to put on his favorite road pedals.
Well, they are just the thing. Easy to clip in and out, and flat on the other side, and there's a lovely conic section in the pedal axle where it screws into the crank. I'll give 'em back to Ricky when he asks, but I'll get another pair just like 'em, if I can.
The pump I carry on the Monster is the Road Morph; it's one of the closest things you can get to a floor pump that you carry on the bike. It's a great pump... but the mount that comes with replaces one of your bottle cages. Most pumps have a mount that sits behind the cage and mounts off to the side. Well it tuns out that the Road Morph does, too; you just have to be ridiculously persistent in your searches to find it. I'd been using a bracket for another pump, but that mount was broken and didn't fit right. Now I've got the right part.
So with all these changes, I've taken the Monster out on a couple of rides, and you know what? I really like it. It's heavy, for a road bike... but I've got it geared low, so it's good for all except the hilliest rides (the chainrings are compact 50x34, and with the 11x34 cogset, I can get 1:1 pedal-to-wheel if I need it. Peter G called it "tricycle mode"). And the weight hasn't been a problem on my most recent rides with it.
Further, that shorter stem I mentioned above should make the position a bit more comfortable. I'm no longer a hotshot in my fifties; I'm an old guy now.
I've also started to use paraffin to lube the chain... but that will be another long post.
I think the next thing to do to like it more is just to ride it more. I've made a resolution to ride it when the weather is iffy or on any ride rated below a B (that doesn't include Al P's Team Social Security rides; his C+ rides are faster than my B rides). And now it's a bit better suited to my riding style and comfort, I expect you'll see more of it.
I'll continue to drool over the pretty bikes that other people ride. But I don't think I'll be saddled with jealousy the way I have been. I've got two bikes that carry me well.
It's never enough - the proper number of bikes to have is "just one more" - but it will do for now.
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