The bottle opener goes to...

Julian and his Bikes and Beers crew..

this was a fun Single Speed race that starts with a Le Mans potatoe sack race to the bikes and ends with sudsy beverages all around...what better home for the bottle opener?

On the update front, thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement last week during my heart testing.  The heart cath showed that the initial testing was a false positive and despite my history, everything looks good on the inside.  Both docs were adamant that I slow down a bit and lose some weight if I want to see another decade, so Christi and I are talking and looking at making some schedule modifications to allow us to enjoy life a wee bit more.

I was able to get back into the shop by Tuesday and got a fair bit of work completed.  All the steel bars are finished in fabrication and are que'd up for their respective finishes. 

Kalten and I worked on Ti bars today, will likely finish them up tomorrow morning while it is still cool.

I also pulled three restos out of the bin that have been lingering for multiple years...Eric's Potts, Noah's Ritchey, and Jude's Trek.  Figure if I gotta spray paint this week, might as well knock off a bunch of work.

Noah's Annapurna came to me with a suspect hole in the bottom of the seat tube...

after stripping the frame and checking it all out, there was a total of 11 holes throughout the seat tube (7), down tube (3), and chain stays (1); all located within 3" of the bottom bracket, yikes.  

I replaced the lower portion of the seat tube and methodically drilled and closed the smaller holes in the other areas, then set to work rebrazing the bottom bracket area.  It's a little intimidating trying to match the fillet work of the first and one of the greatest fillet brazers of mountain bikes in the industry.

She's been all media blasted inside and out and will be ready for her pearl white finish and another 30 years of dirt duty.

cheers,

rody