This morning, I successfully ran a full mile carrying my bike. Thus far, I've just been lashing the folded bike to my back with some old nautical line. With this milestone past me, it's time to look for a proper frame. The local Army/Navy surplus store was more or less a dry hole; more and more, it seems like these stores are less "surplus" and more "new stuff that looks military-ish". I don't particularly want to order online, because I prefer to support local businesses, but when local businesses don't carry what you're looking for...what else is there? Should I pedal twenty-five miles to another store that may not even have what I want? It would be a good workout.
Shortly into the running portion of today's bike carry, I ran past my local bike mechanic. I feel very positive about this guy; he's friendly, he seems pretty diligent, he does good work, etc. He's always wearing a smile. I keep thinking about ways to help bis business out. I don't have a lot of bike work myself that needs doing, and some of it seems beyond his scope. I'm sure something will come to me.
I continue to enjoy disassembling various bike hubs and cleaning the parts. It's almost like working with clockwork, but somewhat less delicate. I find myself wondering how difficult it would be to make replacement parts in titanium, to get a lighter, stronger hub. It may even be possible to drill out holes in some of the parts, in order to make them lighter. Then again, even converting the entire hub to solid titanium would probably only save about a pound. I think I'll content myself with rebuilding hubs for now.
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