Last night I took a nice spin around my neck of the jungle on my favorite city bike; my fixed gear. I've been riding my Bianchi Pista since August of 2004. Yesterday evening I wiped all the winter salt from the frame and took it out for a joy ride around my neighborhood and fell in love with the bike all over again. Although it rides great, it's drivetrain is a bit shotty. I'm running a 48 X 16 set up and the teeth on my chainring are completely whooped. There are no flats at the peak of each tooth, instead the flats have worn away to severe points. This also makes the bike a bit noisy. With a proper drivetrain this bike is dead silent. So, I believe I will be replacing the chain and chainring this weekend. The 16T cog on the rear hub is practically new so that's all good. My major concern with this bike is the frame. During the last bottom bracket replacement, I noticed an considerable amount of rust dust built up in the bottom bracket shell. I really need to spray the inside of my frame with Frame Saver. I suppose some internal rust is to be expected after riding this bike to work through rain and snow over many years. 
5 comments:
Nice job. I admit it I've been known to spend good green on bike parts to replace still seviceable ones just for the fun of it. Mostly now I just swap around my used stuff between my collection.
I like steel frames. Unless your tubes sat wet with water inside for months on end how much rust damage could be present? Not much I'd say. My steel Yeti is 14 years old and it is still rock solid. Although it stays pretty dry these days I once had to chase it down a drainage ditch before it floated away. There is many many older bikes than that still rolling today.
That said rust scares me too. Thats why I like ti.
Cheers
Hey dude! How'd the "Rim" trip go? I've been super busy at this new place of employment and still trying to get a feel for the place. That being said, its been nice to get home at a decent hour and get an extra hour in the morning to boot. My trip to the mountains has been postponed for a while yet I'm inching to get out on a trail. So, how about telling me about your trip to give something to hold on to if only in my mind.
RCT:
Yeah, I am hoping everything is fine inside those beautiful tubes! Still, I'll give her a spray. I'm looking forward to the drivetrain overhaul this weekend.
GTS:
Hope the new job is working out for you. Sounds like it is! I blogged about the West Rim Trail a couple days ago.
Mike,
Dude, I must have missed that blog. Been super busy. I'll have to check it out. Just Googled your Bianchi Pista... it sure must have paid off working for that bike shop you told me about... I mean ouch... I can't even come close to touching that bike. (My mom use to tell me I had Champagne tastes champagne taste on a beer budget - she was right.) I was at the Jacob Javits Center all day today. Checking out mfg's for the med products we're producing. That's about as much hiking as I'll do in the near future. Hope all is well with you. Say to my friends at KRC!
Say hi I meant to say 8-)
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