Wednesday 5 September 2012

Warp and Weft

Grabbed a few minutes fettling today . I'm concerned that my wheels wont get done on time / in time , whatever . So , as tonight is ' mum shopping night ' and the wheels are at my mums , I would capitalise on available time .
One of the rims polished up a treat with some Autosol polish , but I still had one to do before I could take it for building . It's a bugger to do with the spokes in place .
I got away from work , ' handy ' , as we say in construction . Just I was leaving I phoned Mark at the shop to see what the deal is with turnaround times , and that . He said its not normally more than a few days , so in all honesty , I didnt need to rush .
 I said I'd see how it goes .

Got to my mums well in time .

Polished said rim . Dead good .
No pic , but get this . Using the detail palm sander thing , I removed the velcro backed sandpaper , and just placed a folded bit of terry towel on it . It kinda stuck to the hooky bit of the velcro . To this I applied a copious amount of Autosol . About a 1" squirt . And turned it on .
Dead good .
Probably used a bit more polish than if I'd done it normally , but in about 10 mins , possibly less , it was gleaming .
Oh , did the hubs , too . Just regular with the cloth .

My concern with the wheels is this . IF they arent ready in time , I havent really got a spare set. The other day I was looking at a similar ( little bit newer ) , ( '90 ) , pair of wheels . Real nice pair . Ooer missus . Araya rims . Black . RX-7s . Similar in profile to the 7Xs , bit narrower , 1.5s.  Stainless spokes . Dead nice Suntour XCPro hubs . Wobbly . Hmm .
Curious hubs . Early cassette . Probably in response to shimano . Get this though ... Sealed bearing on the non-drive side , loose ball behind a cone IN the cassette . By the look of them it appeared they were the problem . Another job then .

So , I get to the shop . Wheels ceremonially handed over . Pleasantries exchanged .
Shop's ready to shut . Last minute as usual , see , no need to rush . I follow mark into the back office , and there on the floor are 4 full cards of loose BBs . Mix of sizes .
OK , long story short . 38p pack of bearings fixes wheel . In fact , there's enough left to do another .
Got back to my mum's with them . 5 min job .
Brill .

Never mind the quality , feel the width .


Here , a guilty pleasure . John Tomac from before he was properly famous , test riding an SE Shocker .
Possibly my favourite magazine cover of all time .


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