Spring is a time of rebirth. Trees bloom. Flowers…also bloom. And mammals (humans included) copulate, resulting in offspring–excluding of course the sorts of people who don’t produce offspring and instead complain about other people’s offspring being too noisy on airplanes.
Spring is also a time to tend to one’s bicycle fleet, and to welcome new hatchlings. For example, having appropriated the “Eye of the Tiger” bike:
I turned my attention to its spawn:
And this weekend I fitted it with new tires as well as a new saddle and seatpost:
The new tires were necessary as the originals were old and also loose-fitting, resulting in tire creep. Hopefully the new tires, the new rim tape, and the Schrader tube with threaded valve and locknut will solve that. By the way, the Schrader tube with threaded valve and locknut should absolutely be the new standard for all non-tubeless applications, and the fact that they aren’t is proof that the Presta-industrial complex is manipulating everything from behind the scenes:
The saddle and seatpost were just to class it up a bit, and I was particularly excited to finally use that post–a 26.6 (I believe, I’ve already forgotten) which I bought by accident many years ago and have been sitting on (metaphorically speaking of course, because literally sitting on it would send me straight to the ER) ever since. It’s a really good thing it happened to fit this bike, too, because I was this close [indicates tiny distance with fingers] to building an entire bike around it just because.
Plus, I potentially have two (2) new bike projects pending for myself, which has me beaming like an expectant mother. (Yes, expectant mothers do more puking than beaming, but I’m trying to create a mood here.) Like many bike dorks, I have way too many used bike parts I’ve been saving hoarding, and in both cases I will endeavor to use as many of them as possible in lieu of obtaining new parts. In anticipation of these projects, I’ve been taking inventory, and for the flagship project I’m piecing together sort of a post-vintage drivetrain:
Complete with nine (9) speeds:
And a whoppping three (3) chainrings, because everybody knows triples are the new single-ring:
In true “Mudbunion” fashion I’ll of course control it all with friction shifters:
Yes, those are 10-speed Dura Ace bar end shifters with a friction mode, a component so rare even Grant Petersen himself was not aware of them.
Hey, I don’t need any new bikes, but as a semi-professional bike blogger it is my responsibility to acquire them so that I can continue to provide you with quality content. Or at least content. Or at a bare minimum, shitty smartphone photos.