Look Who Received A Makeover! – Bike Snob NYC

Again in March I despatched my Milwaukee again to Ben’s Cycle for refinishing:

Whereas I don’t hold observe of these items, since receiving it again in 2015 it might have been my most-ridden bicycle, since a street bike with long-reach brakes (technically medium-reach in case you’re pedantic) is up for just about something. Nonetheless, as a consequence of this heavy use–and naturally my very own caustic perspiration–it had developed a case of the bubonic plague that erupted from beneath the powder coat:

Since sending it off, I returned the Vengeance Bike to Basic Cycle. I additionally gave the Litespeed to my elder son. That left me with the Normcore Bike for all my Fredly endeavors, and I attempted to inform myself I didn’t thoughts, since that is all anyone actually wants out of a street bike anyway, proper?

Then, yesterday morning, the UPS man arrived, and guess what he had?

Even earlier than unpacking it I knew that the once-utilitarian Milwaukee was now one thing particular:

You may’t actually admire a bicycle’s end till you get it within the daylight, so I held the fork to the window and tried to get a way of it:

The “sick” is for “phantasm,” not “sickness:”

Although within the parlance of the younger individuals it’s fairly sick.

I’d been telling myself that when the body lastly arrived I’d take my time assembling it, since I needed this to be my “good” street bike, and it’s not like I don’t have a number of different bikes to journey within the meantime. However, as quickly as I opened the field I knew I needed to get it collectively RIGHT NOW. So I proceeded to take action in my typical rushed, workstand-less trend:

Even in my haste the care Ben’s had taken with the body didn’t elude me. The surfaces have been confronted, the threads have been clear, they usually’d even fitted new cable guides, stops, seat clamp, and bottle bolts. I’m not sure, however primarily based on the drips you see on the cardboard I’m guessing in addition they handled the within of the body.

Since I’ve been obsessive about friction shifting these days I’d put aside a pair of Rivendell Silvers in anticipation of this second. I additionally had a cockpit from one of many many iterations of the Ironic Orange Julius Bike that I hoped I might graft proper on there:

See?

Alas, the cable lengths have been all flawed, so relatively than cope with unwrapping and re-wrapping bars, slicing new housing, and all the remainder of it, for expediency’s sake I figured I’d simply put all of the outdated stuff proper again on there and make any adjustments additional down the road:

This proved to be a reasonably simple operation, and earlier than too lengthy I had every thing collectively. I used to be even in a position to reuse all of the outdated shifter and brake cables. (Sure, a refinished bike at the very least deserves new cables and housing and bar tape and all that stuff, however keep in mind, I’M IMPATIENT.) Then I lastly took it exterior for a check journey, which is once I started to completely admire what I had:

Come on, that’s a handsome bike:

It’s wonderful what a little bit shade can do:

Sure, in an ideal world, I’d match it with silver elements to make it into extra of a contemporary basic, and I actually reserve the suitable to try this in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later. I’ll additionally freshen it up with new cables and tape, perhaps when and/or if I do my friction shifter retrofit. However within the meantime this’ll just do high-quality, and there are nonetheless loads of little particulars to entertain the attention:

I’d additionally recommend that the worn components assist carry the sparkly bike right down to earth:

As does the blending of Shimano and Campagnolo:

I’ve been utilizing Campagnolo-splined wheels on this bike for fairly awhile now with good outcomes. Loads of individuals use Shimano wheels with Campagnolo drivetrains, however I’m one of many only a few individuals who does the other, since Shimano-splined wheels are ubiquitous and there are like a gazillion cassette choices, whereas there’s completely no motive to hunt out Campagnolo-splined wheels in case you’re not already utilizing Campagnolo shifters. The truth is, it’s so uncommon that in case you do an Web search to seek out out whether or not it would work, nothing comes up. So in case you’re doing an Web search questioning in case your Campagnolo 10-speed wheels will work with a Shimano 10-speed drivetrain, I can let you know emphatically that the reply is “perhaps,” because it’s been working simply high-quality for me.

I think in some unspecified time in the future I’ll additionally replenish a few of that beneficiant brake clearance with extra rubber:

However for now anyway I plan to journey it precisely as is:

Till now I’d have stated there’s nothing extra enjoyable than a brand new bike, but it surely seems there’s, and it’s a newly painted (or powder coated) one, because it seems utterly totally different, but it’s nonetheless precisely the identical bike you’ve at all times recognized and beloved.

Anyway, I believe the end turned out nice, and I look ahead to ruining it.