Oh My Heart! a Backflip!!

Photo dump time of my shenanigans today, I'm pretty proud of it. I guess maybe this ends this blog. Whatever will the world do???

And you're going to pick me up how? On that dumb bike?

It is almost a bike! Ove the past week or so, I replaced the bearing cups in both the headset and the bottom bracket. The headset bearing cups had quite a bit of chrome pitting, so I replaced those and figured I might as well do the bottom bracket cups while I was at it. I also had the darn gold nipples replaced on the Pro Class rims to chrome nipples. Now the real Cru jones bike had the hard anodized Pro Class rims on it, but these rims are expensive and tough to come by in really good condition, so I was lucky to find these chrome ones when I did. So it won't be exact, but it will be close...and I like the look of the chrome anyway. Maybe if I ever run into a good set of the hard anodized ones I will switch them out in the future.

It is getting pretty close to being done. If all goes well I may have it completed this weekend, assuming I have time to throw everything together. Just a few more parts to add:

Bob, the name is Bob, not Blob. Smart-ass.

I suck at blogging. Luckily no one is reading this, otherwise I might feel bad about it.
I have removed all of the decals from the frame and forks. It took many hours and my fingers were sore for days, but it is done. I also got some blue mongoose grips for the handle bars.

I got the cranks I was waiting for so I have most of the parts I need to start building the thing, but before I do that, I've got to get the headset bearing cups popped out and replaced. The cups that came with the frame have some chrome flaking off so I need to replace them. Unfortunately I don't have the tools necessary to pop them out, nor compress the new ones in. I'll probably have to run the frame down to a bike shop and have them do it.

I also still need to replace all of the nipples on the rims. I am not looking forward to that, but I am doing this for the greater good.

God, what I wouldn't give to go ass-sliding with you right now.

Alright! Well I have made some pretty good progress since I first started this blog. I've been kind of lazy about updating it, so I'll try and get this up to speed.

The first few parts that I managed to get ahold of were the crank, power plate, and chainring.

Now the only original takagi 44t chainring that I could get my hands on had been anodized gold...which obviously does me no good! Luckily I have a friend in a metal shop with a sand blaster. Combine that with an NOS blue pro class power plate, and we have the beginnings of my replica!

The second obstacle was the pedals. I managed to get some old used SR-468 pedals, but they didn't spin so well. So I have torn them apart, and am in the process of rebuilding them. After some cleaning and some new bearings they should be good to go. All in all, it is coming together faster than I anticipated. I have a mongoose stamped bottom bracket and headset en route as well as a few other parts: seat clamp, seat, pads, etc..

The frame itself is in pretty good condition. I will need to strip the decals, and will probably give it a vinegar bath to get rid of the little bit of rust it has. It could also use with a nice polish job.

If this is done by Halloween then my costume is already picked out for me.