Name those mail boxes...

Took a bit of a long lunch today and saw these for the first time this year: 

The view from the top!

The New Project - or - Stop buying BMX bikes

A while back, during a late night drunken conversation, I was regaling Natalie with stories of my days of 20" riding. After a bit more conversation, and a little encouragement, I decided to build up a dream bike of mine: a 22" top tube BMX bike.
   The top tube length is how BMX bikes are measured, and for a tall gent like me, the longer the better!

Not that long...

There are several bikes with a 22" top tube; two that are readily available (not custom builds). The  Avent Neo and a Macneil Deuce Deuce. 

Avent                                        Macneil

"But Adam, these bikes look exactly the same!" Yes, ALL BMX bikes look exactly the same. I guess there's no reason to change a solid design (see 'Redline introduces full carbon BMX frame' from a few weeks back).

   I decided to go with the Macneil because it's slightly cheaper, and more importantly, it's steel, and will hold up to some abuse on the trails. Shortly thereafter, the planets aligned and I found a sweet deal on a frame fork and headset on bmx-forum.com.

Also available not blessed by Jesus

So, welcome to my new project! I was lucky that the seller included a fork and headset. It also has some fun new features like a 14mm dropout, meaning a 14mm axle will have to be used, and a Spanish bottom bracket. I've never built anything like this, but keep an eye out for updates as it comes together!

Single Speed: Flat bar back to a road bar

After riding the cross bike so much, road bars are starting to grow on me!  I decided last night to toss on a set of road drops and brakes that were laying around. 

The old set up

Man, taking grips off is about the worst thing ever. These grips are lock on, so it's just a simple matter of loosening a couple allen bolts and they slip right off, very slick! I would be hard pressed to put regular grips on any bike I thought I might have to ever change again. 

   A few considerations were cable housing length and cable end type. The flat bar brake levers used a mountain / BMX style cable, with a barrel on the end that was perpendicular to the cable. The new road levers use one that is parallel to the cable. The two are not interchangeable.

Two types of cable end

Additionally, the housing required was less for a flat bar. It pretty much went from the brake straight to the lever. With drops, the housing runs under the bar wrap and along the handlebar, and it needs to be about 12 inches longer. I bought new rear brake housing, and shortened the old rear housing for the front. 

New set up!

Decided to go with grey for bar tape - have to say, after double wrapping my bars for so long, a single layer of bar tape feels really thin! Probably have an update to this post about unwrapping the bars, adding another layer and re wrapping them! Stay tuned!

Project Book Shelf: part 2

Today, the exciting conclusion to Project Bookshelf. We have all the pieces cut and ready for assembly.

The outer parts, ready for the shelves

Close up of the pocket screw connections

All the shelves in place!

Tangerine Orange

Then, disaster struck. I was minding my own business, brushing my teeth or something and and noticed that the heater took up more space than I'd measured for. This meant that the bookcase was too wide to fit the space! After a lot of planning and scheming, we decided to take the whole thing apart and move one side in 3 inches. This way, the shelf was still 100% functional. 

The change that had to be made

Taking this thing apart was a lot easier than putting it together. It took like 15 min to get it nearly entirely disassembled. The decision to rebuild it wasn't taken lightly, as it took another 2 days to get it back together. But, with a little more time, it came back together nicely! (Max cameo)

All fixed!

The last thing we did was fill the holes with wood putty, sanded it and gave the whole thing a second coat of paint. The paint went on really great, and the color really pops!

In place

In use

This was exactly what we had planned for the space! A nice tall work surface, spaces to fit the 6 boxes, and then some flexible space for various things. We talked a lot about buying something to fit this space versus making something,

(Awesome) WTF of the day

Saw this guy riding a super commuter earlier today. This, form his description, is a Chinese bike company that makes commuters based on British designs.

Fully enclosed drivetrain

The cool things on this bike were the pictured enclosed chain, an internal shifting hub and some very full coverage fenders. Very utility - exactly what I'd expect to see a lot of in a place like China where people often commute by bicycle. 

First ride on the New Cross bike

I have been riding my project cross bike to work for the past few weeks, and it's working great! I finally put a front derailleur on and was able to take it for a real ride! I went up the Boulder Creek Path, up Canyon and then up 4 Mile, over Poorman and down Sunshine. Great day for a ride!

Snow on the Creek Path

The creek path was pretty icy and snow packed, but not terrible. Wouldn't be a cross ride without a little hike-a-bike. The rest of the ride was awesome! It's a little brisk, and a little windy, but go ride your bike!!!

Project Book Shelf: part 1

We have this funny little space in the second bedroom, previously filled with an ill fitting desk. After some planning, it was decided that the desk had to go! Soon, there will be a perfectly crafted book case to organize the many things about the room!

The space and the plan

These little fabric boxes we have will fit into most of the spaces in the bookshelf, and the top is going to be tall and large enough to be a good work station for various things. (read: costumes) 

To The Home Depot!!

This would be the first of 5 trips for this project (so far). The cashier said the daily record was 7, and I resolved to not come back that day and if I needed to I would just stop working and start drinking. I picked up this great tool so set pocket screws:

Pocket Screw Jig

The best way to connect the boards edge to edge is with a pocket screw connection. This sweet little tool helps you drill the perfect holes for this kind of connection. In action:

Practice piece

The arrows are where the screws went in. This was also the perfect reason to buy a new saw. This thing has a 12" capacity, a laser sight and the ability to cut a variety of angle cuts. I was so excited to use this thing I cut EVERYTHING with it. 

Look out Max!

The nice thing about this saw versus my circular saw or hand saw is that the cuts are at a perfect 90 degrees and consistent! Once set up, the cutting went pretty fast (sadly). Even Natalie got in on the action!

The top 

This is the top all screwed together. After that we sanded it to make it silky smooth. Not shown is the same process used on the legs. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of Adam and Natalie vs. the cluttered apartment!