Finally got the ol’ Paramount ready for Viers to level up. The wheels/tires/bars/stem change saved some weight, but more importantly diminished significant rolling resistance, fits him much better, and added much needed stiffer wheel response for attacking those climbs we love to ride so much. Clinch Mountain is next in the crosshairs but i hear he is setting goals for the Mountain Empire Pink Ribbon Century this year. Clinch is about 3000ft of climbs, but MEPRS is 12,000+ and that means its TOUGH….. i should know. Cody is in on it too and i feel there may be more of my pack harboring the same ambitions. Id love to see PT and his Bridgestone cresting the bigger climbs with us. Tipton , im sure, is down for the suffer-fest. Our rag-tag bunch is going to have to spend more saddle time in these Great Smokeys training this year. I’m looking forward to it!!!!!

Another ride leaves the nest. Tange 2 Focus road touring bike. Tasty original build + tasty 27” tires + my own little touches = one seriously fab rando. All that was once matt tarnished metals now shines bright.

Guess who’s got his steed back on the streets of East Tennessee?!?!? Thats right, so keep an eye out for this dude on your local roads. Should be easy enough to spot him. He’ll be the guy on the flashy Paramount desperately trying to gasp for oxygen while in the middle of telling an absurdly dirty joke or two.
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Guess who’s got his steed back on the streets of East Tennessee?!?!? Thats right, so keep an eye out for this dude on your local roads. Should be easy enough to spot him. He’ll be the guy on the flashy Paramount desperately trying to gasp for oxygen while in the middle of telling an absurdly dirty joke or two.

After some time spent scrubbing the gunk out of this bike the beauty in this vintage classic had no choice but to show itself. Looking at the before and afters of the front end is gratifying. The polished 3T Record stem really sets it off. I couldn’t believe it when he said the next project might include lugged carbon. You just never know with this guy and thats what makes it all the more interesting.

      I got a project in from Mike today. He has a way of sniffing out vintage steel. I’d like to acquire that skill. But, my skills are on the other side of the wrench. This tasty piece he brought in is an early 70’s Mirella. It came in barn fresh all Campy Nuovo Record equipped with Universal Mod.61 calipers. This bike is sweet! Its light. I love how it is all original. And boy, does it need some attention!!!! Consider this a “before” picture set. Its not getting totally restored, but im about to get real thorough with it.

I put the sentiment of the Bridgestone aside as I rode the Pogliaghi in its new configuration today.

*I aligned the dropouts and hanger for the new wheelset. I find that it takes some time for my 80’s steel to settle a bit after spreading or cold-setting frame spacing. The Bridgestone went through a similar period going from a 6 speed hub to an 8. This time i went 7 speeds to 9.

*I’m still on a mid-weight tube set……. sorta. Columbus Matrix steel is what the sticker says. That means its acutually Columbus CroMor (the name was changes shortly after entering production). What does that mean? It means that the grade steel on both bikes is the same. Its double butted chromoly (where my 4130 derrived from). The Japanese steel on the Bridgestone was nice, but the CroMor is Columbus’ highest grade chromoly tube set. These tubes are typically used on light frames with versatile demands that can take a lot of wear and tear. Its the lightest chromoly, and lighter than the heaviest Cyclex steel (highest grade). Its perfect for loaded touring and cyclocross frames. By the way, SL is the stuff ultra frames are made of.

*The Poglighi also has tighter, more traditional Italian racing geometry. It’s all about tucking that back triangle. 

*The biggest upgrade one can make on a bike is a personal wheelset. Different wheel builds will have more effect on the overall characteristics of the bike than any other component. This time around im going for a non traditional approach with some PBO (fibre spoke) Spynergy XAERO wheels. They absorb a lot of vibration, which leads to less vibration related fatigue in the long run. Downside is that they flex a bit when im attacking a climb , and i climb a LOT. They are around 225g lighter than the XeroLite XR-1 wheels on the Brigestone which is good for climbs. That may not seem like a lot, but the fact that the weight there is rolling energy multiplies the weights impact by a very significant amount. 

So thats pretty much it. Oh and Dura-Ace. 

I love working on bikes almost as much as riding them. Its when it all comes together and great mechanisms from times past come back to life, as eager as ever to work together and take the rider out on the road, that i find my satisfaction in the work. When it is a bike of my own that i have given attention to, the satisfaction multiplies. Thats the way i feel about the Bridgestone right now. I gave it the bi-annual overhaul it always gets. As usual the grime cleans away and all the chips in the paint are revealed. Even so, old school gruppos clean up well and add to the vibrance of a well used and well cherished frame. I know its not an SLX tubed, and that some of its gouges leave it a bit more vulnerable to corrosion, and its only ‘kinda light’, but i put most of the nicks in it myself. I wipe the road grime off the bottom of the frame. I brought  it back from the dead and accumulated over 7,000mi on it since. When i got this bike it was a gift. I almost died in a crash and my roomate had this bike donated to me from his brother-in-law while i was bedridden and trying to gain the energy to recover. I crashed a Cannondale and hadnt even heard of a Bridgestone bike.  It was in bad shape. The rims were shot. Every bolt head was stripped. I had some P.T.S.D. about bikes that haunted me. My brother was diagnosed with cancer at the same time of my crash. He fought that disease head on and lost with valiant effort. He encouraged me to fight through my recovery as well. I don’t know why i recovered and he didnt, and maybe there isnt a resolution to it in this world anyway. What i do know is that the encouragement from mostly him is what i used to drive me to not only sit up on my own again, but to learn from my experience and not be driven back by the fear of it all. Iv’e overcome the P.T.S.D. and the Bridgestone was a valuable tool in it all. The frame was in pretty great shape, but everything else was shot. ( id say a home mechanic didnt own a metric set) At one point i remember having to saw through a Cinelli stem to salvage the 26.4mm clamp bars (that im still riding). When i look at it i think ‘boy that Bridgestone sure has come a long way’ and it reminds me that i personally have to.

So, here’s a toast to that bi-annual reminder. 

Goodbye 2010 and good riddence 2010 Rippers. This is a video i showed to SE Racing after a frame failure on a Ripper Fixed. They claimed it as an honest part failure and gave me a 2011 P.K. Ripper fixed under warranty. The new changes seem to make a big difference. The tube diameters, wall thickness, and materials have all been changed and it looks like i should be able to fit a 35c slammed all the way in on the rear, which is more than i can say for the old one. I saw a build riding 38c and i wonder if it would take 40c????? Either way im gonna ride the hell out of it until a nice steel steed falls in my lap. Posts with the 2011 model still to come. Damn aluminum.