So the big secret is I saved up some money and bought a race bike. It should be delivered soon, but in the meantime, it's taunting me from afar via Twitter. 

Wow, so much has happened in the past month, and I haven't had much time to blog (otherwise you would have gotten an update by now!). Anyhow, let's turn back the clock and look back to a quieter, simpler time...one day before May 2010 Los Angeles Critical Mass...

GoFast was in a semi-ridable state. All parts attached. Brake cables installed, rear derailleur cable installed. I was still in need of a solution for the front derailleur. To refresh your memory (I can't remember if I even told this story) the shifters I bought were indexed, which, in the end, meant I needed cable barrel adjusters on both the front and rear derailleurs. However, I needed something to clamp the cables and barrel adjusters to the downtube with. A twitter friend (@jhvu) suggested I use the clamp from a downtube derailleur and screwed the cable barrel adjusters onto it. 

So I rode the bike from work to the Bikerowave in Venice/Mar Vista, and got there just as they were opening. An excellent and knowledgeable mechanic named Mike was there, and I explained to him the bike build project, and what was left to be done. I explained to him the solution for the front derailleur, and we set to work digging through downtube shifters for a clamp that would work. And what do you know??? We found one. 

However, since I only had one cable barrel adjuster, we decided to put that on the downtube clamp for the rear derailleur, and the one I had ordered online would be used on the front derailleur once it came in. So I left on 7 gears instead of 21, but all I had to do was install. The clamp was on, all I needed was another cable barrel adjuster (which isn't a common used part to come by). In addition, while there, I re-routed my rear brake cable, trued the rear wheel and installed some new spokes, AND Mike taught me how to use a presta valve. And the total bill? I think it was about $27. Plus my friend @cyclo_astro came by with beer and cupcakes for all. It was a pretty awesome night, when I left the bike was totally ridable, and I had learned a lot. 

I also want to give Mike a HUGE shout out, because not only was he helping me, in my needy state (I was building a bike, for god's sake), and like 10 other people throughout the course of the night, sometimes answering questions from 3 people at once. I'm just saying, a guy that knows that much about bikes...totally hot! 

Below are pictures from my night at the Bikerowave, which I will be visiting again soon to re-true my rear wheel and another secret project I will unveil soon. 


If you click on the first image, it will open the slideshow so you can see the captions on each pic.

Since my visit to the Bikerowave, I have changed the tires to higher quality (yeah those barbie tires last like a day), and I'm changing the color scheme slightly--have decided to go with black bar tape instead of pink. What can I say, it's a continual work in progress.

Here's an update on the progress of GoFast. 

First: spent an evening cleaning handlebars bought at Bikerowave swapmeet. Attached integrated shift and brake levers and PINK bar tape. 

Then I spent an evening screwing in the rear derailleur (it just screws into the frame, ain't that easy!), screwing on the front derailleur, and not installing the chain. (From previous post you know I spent a couple of nights on the chain.) I also attempted to install the brakes I picked up at the Bikerowave swapmeet, but discovered they were recessed and not nutted. So that was a set back. 

Oh derailleurs and shifters...

After a few days off (mostly due to work schedule) I dove back into the bike assembly by tackling the last major assembly: cables. I picked up the appropriate cable housing for both shift cables and brake cables, and the cables too. I easily attached the cable to the rear brake, but since I hadn't found a front brake yet, left that one off. I thought about pilfering the front brake off the Death Machine, but took the advice of a friend and waited to see if I could get the derailleurs working. 

Well, it turns out that not all shift levers and derailleurs are the same. There is this thing called indexing. Of course I understood the principle of friction shifters, but this indexing thing was new to me. With some guidance from the online cycling community, I discovered that (after many hours trying to adjust the tension on the front derailleur) that I needed a cable stop with tension adjuster and the clamp from downtube shifters to attach it to. I haven't finished this component yet, but hope to tomorrow. However, I moved onto the rear derailleur, and after some adjustments, clicked through the gears while turning the crank arm and will wonders never ceased! It shifted through all the gears. Woohoo!


Following are just some random pics, including the state of my living room. 

I wish I had taken pictures along the way of the whole chain fiasco. So here we go:

Step 1: Order a pink bicycle chain from a seller on eBay. 
Step 2: Buy chain break tool from Catalina Bicycles on 3rd Street and Catalina.
Step 3: Watch tutorial on how to use a chain break tool on www.BicycleTutor.com. 
Step 4: Completely disregard tutorial as follows:
a) Tutorial says to turn handle of chain break tool until pin comes almost all the way out but not all the way.
b) Drink glass of Diet Pepsi and Bicardi Select Rum
c) Break chain
d) Don't take rear wheel off
e) Spend an hour fighting with rear derailleur, chainring, and chain
f) Get fed up and leave for next day
Step 5: On 2nd day of chain installation, realize that you're an idiot and take freewheel off. 
Step 6: Begin to put chain together, stop paying attention because you're watching Star Trek, and push pin all the way through the other side
Step 7: Smack yourself upside the head
Step 8: Use needle nose pliers to hold pin while hammering pin back into chain link
Step 9: Repeat Steps 6 through 8 three times.
Step 10: Take a deep breath, pay attention, and push pin into chain link slowly and successfully. 

End result:

I actually ended up taking out a few links after this episode too. So it doesn't quite look this loose anymore.