with half a buzz on last night, i ducked down into the shop to try and make some more progress on the old bianchi i just had powdercoated cocaine white. the fork was already attached, and the upgrade to the cockpit of another bike left a handlebar in the mix for use here, so i knew i wanted to at least throw that on…

great, done. just needs levers and tape.

i also knew that SOMEWHERE in the shop were some gorgeous friction shifters i snapped up at the bike swap a while back. shimano 600s with a beautiful filigree embossing. i dug around until i found them and threw them on…

just by themselves, that’s the most beautiful component on this bike. they look so fucking fly it’s NUTS. i’m very, VERY pleased.

unfortunately, the rest of the stuff i put on ended up being total fails.

waterbottle cage fail…

i actually love those profile cages. i have two of em on an underseat mount on the leader, and one of em on the frame of loos3y(tm), my fixed townie. not only are they super slick-looking, but they are the perfect size for a 24 of PBR. unfortunately, on this particular bike, with it’s vintage lines, lugged steel, and gorgeous color, it does NOT work. so that’s coming off tonight and will be replaced with a more standard cage, probably in silver, if i have one.

front derailleur fail…

i didn’t realize that the new front derailleur i had was gray. i thought it was silver. that’s coming off, too. i think the vintage one that was on the bike when i got it is full-silver, so i think that’s what’s going back on.

rear derailleur — fail? win? yet to be decided…

i thought i had a modern rear derailleur, but i was wrong. this is what was on the bike when i got it. it’s a darker silver than i’d like, but it’s not gray. and it’s vintage, so it fits thematically. maybe it just needs a polish and i’ll be happy, i dunno. more on that later.

the thing with both derailleurs is this — if i fall back on what was on the bike when i got it, it’ll be a complete set, it’ll fit thematically (the bike’s going to remain "vintage-ish"), and everybody wins. if i upgrade, the groupo will be lighter. that’s really the only benefit.

but there’s another factor. i have another road bike, toro, hanging up in the shop, and it has full, modern campy. i would very much love to use that whole setup. it doesn’t matter that i have shimano shifters, cause they’re friction shifters and friction shifters work with any derailleur.

adding to the madness is that it’s very, VERY likely that i’ll be using toro’s back wheel on this bike temporarily, in order to be able to ride it this upcoming weekend. and while that wheel will be a major aesthetic thom in my side in the short-term, it would be much more hassle-free to just run that derailleur along with that wheel.

so i dunno what’s happening, other than more wrenchTime tonight. i hope to get all the rear shifting running, one way or the other, before tomorrow morning.

till then, please enjoy.

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