My Ye Blacke Death project limps along. Well, limp is a strong term (and a weak term). Rather, it moves slowly. But it’s still moving. I put it on the back burner to work on Crook, since I wanted to ride that one as much as possible before Aids Lifecycle in June. But now that my wee daughter is approaching ride-a-long age, it’s time to get things going.

The YBD project bike is many things:
- it’s an old timey build, angling to be my tweeder
- it’s a Mixte
- it’s a grocery-getter
- it’s a baby explorer when module activateds
- and it’s a fixed-gear

The idea is, ride around with my daughter, do the shopping, mess around… and then pull the baby seat off and have at it on an old-timey ride.

So, the frame is being prepared for painting, and all that’s left to do is disassemble the headset. It was actually recently overhauled and is in great shape, so I’m toying with the idea of leaving it alone (the frame came to me from a friend who built it up as an Xtracycle before going for a beefier build, so the headset is already cleaned up)… that may depend on the details of the powdercoating process.

This Nitto Moustache bar was originally on Fix-e 2.0, then was sold to Lung for a project, now found it’s way back to me again with his blessing, so it’s a perfect fit for the old-timey vibe.

Various needed items, including a Sugino BB, an 8th-inch BMX chain, and so on.
I’m reusing some old road cranks to add to the antiquity.

I was originally going to reuse the stem but I needed a longer one for that baby seat, and also for a funky upright riding position in an old-timey style. This Nitto was the tallest I found. Look at that! 220mm!

Finally, this is the Bobike Mini, which I got from the awesome guys at Long Leaf Cyclery, based on their recommendation. The seat is a European import, and much higher quality than what I’ve seen out and about. It is positioned on the stem facing forward (hence that loooong boy up top) and it’s rad in 33 different ways. The helmet, by Lazer, is really cute.My daughter already wore it for an evening, gnawed the tag, had fun being a mushroom. It’s a funny little miniaturization of a regular commuter bike helmet but with exaggerated foam. Very Super Mario. I’d even paint it such if I wasn’t already going to sticker bomb it.

Anyway, pretty close to being ready. I have everything I need, I think, and next step is paint.

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