Building Back Better
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house some cooking was going on, but not a whole lot else. Out in the garage, though, was a flurry of activity, there was bike building and a fiddling with gears.
Not that the bike building was ever intended as a Christmas gift mind you, I had simply made up my mind about what to do with that old mountain bike taking up space - I'd get it in good running order and donate it to the refugees from Afghanistan living here in town. Months [?] previously I heard that the settlement organization was looking for bicycles so the new arrivals would have a reliable means of transportation. Then, at the beginning of December, I had heard they were still looking for donations.
So, here we were Christmas eve day, raining, cold, and the time was right. I bought some new cable, put on some new brake pads. The brakes were hooked up and worked just fine for what they were. But then came the shifting, and the moment I realized that the derailleurs originally on this bike were no longer available - the front one finding a home on the gravel bike, and the rear one being put on a friends' bike to make it rideable again, and the road der stand-in's just would not do the trick.
And that is where it remains - not on the stand, mind you, but unfinished. If anyone has an old front "d" for a triple chainring set up, and / or a nine-speed rear "d" you're willing to give up for a little cash or trade let me know and I'll get this thing done and donated lickity split.
gettin' started
progress, parts still in the bins
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