Something old something new powder coated orange and anodized blue. Ask not what your handlebar position can do for you but where it will be tomorrow and will there still be opportunities for mind changing in the near future. What you hear me saying is, is there plenty of steer tube to play with and headset spacers the size of Texas with loop d’ loops of cable housing and flip flop handlebars that go hi-flyer or low-rider? Is there still room to move? I’m keeping my hands off the hacksaw for a while. It was a conservative maiden voyage around the neighborhood last night as the sun went down, but I finally rode it around like a little kid that got a bike for Christmas and then had to wait 4 months for his dad to assemble it. I’m relieved that this rather unusual mish mash of parts came together. I'm also relieved that it fits through the door in one piece. And now I’m tweaking clicking aligning and tightening. T-25 torx torque torqued. I haven’t completely left the early 90’s but I’m dabbling in the world of 31.8 clamp diameters, mega XO external bottom bracket bearings and these things called disc brakes. This bike is still clearly me with a vintage 600 derailleur and a thumb shifter. However there is only so much one can do with a lower limit screw and a six speed thumb shifter SIS all indexed out. I’m familiar with the feeling listening understanding of friction shifting but I can’t pull 8 clicks worth of cable on a six-click clicker friction or not. It's like feeling growing pains thirty years later, like finally making the awkward step from 126 to 130mm OLD. That's right, it's old. I like single-speeds and I've always been comfortable hitting just two or three of the seven or eight cogs to choose from on various personal bikes but this is a rig that really needs all 8 speeds on its widespread 11-32 cassette.
If anyone out there is still listening I’m asking you to dig through your milk crates full of bike parts and I will gladly pay you Tuesday for an 8-speed thumb shifter today. Perhaps I could take it in trade, offering in return a one-of-a-kind T-shirt and some verbal praise. Peace be with you.
jumbo pilderwasser sticker courtesy of Chris Murray
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