stripping the fork

i stripped the paint off the fork using a spray i got at home depot. i was nervous about it, but just took the plunge and it worked out quite well. even the chrome that was originally there came out shinier.

i will be stripping the rest of the frame probably next week.....

single speed

So....this is my thought around making it a single speed. the rear cassette was not coming off in the usual way. the lock ring tools i had would not fit in this cassette as it did not even have any splines. so, what i ended up doing, and what appeared to work really well was using a monkey wrench to hold the larger cog steady while i used a chain whip to get that first cog off. then, the next two just pulled off, and then i had to use my monkey wrench system to remove the cog you see in this picture, and then the last two cogs slid off.

instead of going out and buying a new single speed cassette, i just took the larger, threaded cog and put it back on the hub, which i am hoping will work out fine. it will give me a ration of 52/21.

article in the red deer advocate

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/news/local/Wellness_Ride_hits_the_road_56337987.html

On August 29th, 2009, Canadian Mental Health Association, Central Alberta Region, held its first 100km bicycle ride fundraiser. It was a great success and stay tuned for information about next year's ride

Got most of the parts off. looking for a creative way to remove headset, fork and bottom bracket as this bike precedes the tools available

trying this

hey there....new to the blogging sphere. i'm starting so i can archive some stories about bicycles and my recent foray into restoring and repainting old steel road bikes.

just picked up my first old bike, a 1975 sekine. looking forward to making it a single speed with a sweet new paint job.

well, let's see how this goes....