Cellidh

I hung up my man-bag the other day... decided that if I was going to carry luggage I might as well do it right. So I got Ceilidh out and wiped her down, aired the tires, mounted my casual panniers with all my accoutrement and hit the road.
Who is Ceilidh? My 30-something Scottish love. Look back in the archives and find the day I inherited the two Wester Ross'; Ceilidh is 035, the black touring rig. Built in the late '70s, silver brazed, lugged, Reynolds 531 tubing, basically all original with Suntour Montech derailleurs, Suntour BarCon shifters, Campagnolo brakes and levers, Campagnolo Record hubs with old Mavic rims, Sugino AT triple crank, Campy headset... don't know the brand of dropouts or fork crown, but I'm looking.
Anyway, she is a joy to ride. The Buick geometry means she's stable as can be, and flows well in traffic. Twitchy is not in her vocabulary.
Now that I'm spending more time with her, the question of aesthetics arises. Her baked enamel finish has a number of chips, and steel does what steel does naturally, so I realize I must either repaint her completely, or do some major sand, polish, and touch-up. Touch up would be less expensive, and I wouldn't be without for any real length of time (not like I don't have something else to ride). But it wouldn't stop all the existing rust, and would continue to look slightly shabby.
If I do get her repainted, what colors? At present she's black, with very pale blue lug edges and cutouts. I was thinking a forest green with gold accents, brown leather and duck on the accessories, and bits of brass as needed (like the Crane bell on there now). The original decal designs are available as a graphics file online, so I could have them printed in a matching gold...
Indigo with silver accents would be another possibility, but the green, gold, brown just feels so bloody posh.
Ponder, ponder.

Wednesday

A typical afternoon at Mellow Velo; drinking IPA, visits from dirt-jumping fools and a former World Champion, broken bikes to be fixed, fixed bikes to be broken, an '80s Univega in mint condition to be assembled...
Yeah, I'm occasionally jonesing for the full-time gig. But not that much.
For the Wester Ross fans, I'll be riding 035 in on Saturday to get it pimped for commuting. Chatter around the shop says a number of old-schooler's are going to stop in to see it. It's not every day a 30-year old British touring bike roll in to the shop. Hopefully the boys will have a camera going.
Now if Pi would surface and let me know what country she's in...

And no, I still haven't had a cigarette.

Wheel Goes 'Round

There are a number of reasons why I am enjoying my "wee dip" back into the shop scene, the boys at Mellow Velo being several, the addition of Art - an exponent. But the customers are a kick in several directions. Many are new to me, just folks and tourists, but occasionally I'll hear something to the tune of, "JC? You came back to the bike industry?" That usually gets a shy shrug from me. Something to the tune of 'busted.' (For the record, I'm only a hanger-on that gets paid to stop drinking. Any skill-sets I still have are a bonus.)
Today was one of those flashbacks, as well as a reunion with a family from Skate School, and some of the random "past life experiences" that inevitably happen when I spend too much time in any bike shop here.

And then there was an attempt at "arté"...










Late edition edit:

Wester Ross Update

As I have Monday off, and 'the boys' have so kindly (and foolishly) decided to open, I will be resurrecting Wester Ross 035 JSC on Monday. My own stand, my tools, off the clock, but in the view of the populace and tourons...
What a classic commuter; a touring bike from another age, another generation. A machine already filled with history.

The Snowball Effect

It's a good thing I like building wheels...
When I got the Wester Ross collection, there was a spare set of wheels for 035; Record hubs on some bad-weld Weinmann rims. I clipped them immediately for use on 321. Then I put my brain in gear. The spare hubs are 40-hole.
Frame 321 was designed for a 26 x 1-3/8 wheel (hard to find a decent rim these days). Some research uncovered that the newly-popularized 650b rim will work. The ERD is only 5mm smaller, and the only readily available rim has an 11mm brake surface. Yeah...
Of course, it doesn't come in a 40-hole version. But it does come 36. The wheels on 035 are 36. I can get rims for 035 in 40-hole.
Anyone else realize the snowball's rolling down the hill?
So on top of the wheelset I'm getting ready to lace for the "sports car" project, I have two '70s Campy-based wheelsets to build.
Good thing I have three built sets in storage in case another project rears it's ugly head.

like a certain road bike frame...

Wester Ross

In the course of nine years, John Connell and Fergus Forsyth built a total of four-hundred seventy-eight bicycle frames (477 traditional, and one tandem). They were steel; mostly Reynolds 531, lugged, silver brazed, and finished with a baked enamel. They were, and are, classic bicycles. I have the honor of owning two of them; #035 JSC, and #321 FGF.
I inherited them from my good friend Ed Campbell on the condition that I get them rolling and love them as they should be loved. Not a difficult condition in my book.
#035 is a touring rig with "Buick" geometry. I haven't gotten the protractor on it yet, but the first word that comes to mind is "relaxed".
#321 is presently a bare frame, and is more of a bomber, what they used to call a "ruff-stuff" bike. Yes, it pre-dates mountain biking by a few years.
Over the next few months I'll be fiddling with these toys, and I'll try to keep you updated as I go.

Confessions of a Relapsed Bike Junkie

Their are cyclists, and then there are bike junkies. Cyclists ride for one or many reasons, and generally revere their equipment to some degree. Bike Junkies, on the other hand, collect, rebuild, fiddle, modify, and let bike culture absorb into their skin like DMT in the '70s. They are, in general, as helpless (and hopeless) as any other addict. Sometimes they can walk away from the need, the itch, but it always lingers over their left shoulder like Death in a Casteneda novel.
This isn't just "personal opinion" on my part, it's the voice of experience. I managed to walk away from the "industry", and the personal addiction for several years. Then I became a "cyclist" for a while. Then I fell off the wagon. Hard.
Over the next few posts, I'll detail my rise to Bike Junkie, my reformation, and my relapse. I'll also be chronicling the restoration of a '70s Wester Ross, the building of an '80s Wester Ross, the pitfalls of riding in Santa Fe, and the joys of fixed gear cycling.
Comments are welcome, but please leave your attitude at the door.