Watching the days go by...

This whole "no riding" thing is starting to get to me. It was pretty nice all weekend.
I worked out, and threw the football with the Junior Management. Just not the same...

I did get to play with bikes a little bit though.
Tear down, overhaul, clean, rebuild...
The Eriksen came by the house, and in the midst of fettling it, I was reminded why it's such a nice frame.
There's no dicking around with it. It just accepts parts easily. No grinding. No tapping threads. No thinking about how to affect a fix.
It's just...right.
The old parts came off, and were placed in a box, to be used later on Dean's beater bike...a Ti Dean.
The King InSet headset was indexed. Everything apart and cleaned. The top bearing was crunchy, so it came out, and got an oil bath, followed by a heaping helping of SRAM ceramic grease.
It's once again smooth. "They" say a King H/S cannot be rebuilt. Yeah...okay...

And the new D/A 9000 BB? Yeah...that's smooth design. Same size as the BB shell. No fuss, no muss.
I'm about halfway done with the overhaul. The new Ultegra 11v is going on without issue.
I know that D/A is the benchmark, but the new Ultegra mechanical is super nice. Good fit and finish, and MUCH lighter than 10V Ultegra...especially the cassettes. And honestly, it's all most of us (99%) will ever need.
It'll be done in a few days. I'll post pictures...

Rouleur posted an opinion piece about Lance. It's dead on the money.

 Gosforth 953 Stainless. Stock. Off the peg. $1350-ish...shipped to the US. Add a King headset, and an Enve fork, and you're STILL under $2k. Bargain.
One could add an Ultegra kit, decent cockpit, and nice wheels, and still be just a TICK over $3k. FOR A STAINLESS BIKE!!!
But you go ahead an go buy that Tarmac...

Same deal with this Genesis 853 frameset. WAY oversized 853. Big fork. <$1500 frameset. Again, $3k for an Ultegra bike. Crazy talk...

1982. Brompton wanted Raleigh to buy them, and their designs. Raleigh, in their politely British way, declined.
Today, Raleigh is no longer a British company, while Brompton is going strong. Seems that it worked out for Brompton.

I'm not here for the cash!!!

Essen and Druivencross were last weekend...



Druivencross


Essen looked like a fun course. Flowy.
Druivencross looked heavy. MvdP ain't care. At the end, he was RAILING corners like he was racing a kermesse.

Have a happy Monday! 18 shopping days left...