My Ride #5 - Finished!

And just in time too!  Finished it today (excluding some wiring), and this past Wednesday was my last day of work.  I'm very grateful for being able to use the shop here yesterday and today, despite the fact I wasn't really working here any more.  Now to determine what's happening with it before I leave to Canada on the 29th (and then Sweden at the end of August).

-Gazelle Primeur Special - In this case, very special I'd say.  The result of some 2 months of slow progress, hours spent after work in the shop, gradually curating parts and working out details, and also going through the time consuming (internal) debate as to whether or not to make the bike a belt drive bicycle.  I'm pretty happy with the results.

-Very classic - Also grateful to my colleague Bas for taking these nice studio shots for me

-Rear fender detail - Part of my choice on this type of bike, was how I like how the rear light and reflector are so nicely integrated into the rear fender

-Quality components - Part of my going away present from work, the Brooks B232 Team Pro Saddle

-Quality and timeless - another part of my going away present from work, the Brooks Plump Leather Grips

-Nostalgia - part of the look, the Basta Horseshoe lock

-Detail shot - just beautiful (if I do say so myself)

-Custom Gazelle - the polished logo I had made through Shapeways rapid prototyping

-Classic beauty - in my eyes at least (lots of work, especially on the fenders, as not everything went hunky-dory according to plan, with stuff coming back from the powdercoaters with holes, as the sandblasting went through the rest, so things had to be adjusted - add onto that other new components that didn't fit as they were supposed to, needing some extra finishing up to make it all work)

My Ride #5 (a work in progress)

I  ordered a Joep bike back around September/October last year (see the My Ride #4 post back in July '10), but they've since had some issues with the company that was building the frames for them.  Think part of the issue may be the company started to build very similar bicycles themselves shortly after, and then there came a conflict of interest (or so I've interpreted and extrapolated thus far).  Very unfortunate for Joep, and his Joep/Arie bicycles here in Utrecht, as that leaves him with a waiting list of people wanting his bicycles, and he's trying to find a solution asap, with no guarantees on delivery dates for the next batch of bikes.  Since I'm leaving back to Canada sometime in the next 2 months, and then at the end of the summer off to Sweden for 2-3 years, I asked him last week about it, since I really still want a bike, but am now on a timeline, and he can't guarantee delivery, whether I might not be better off to buy an older bike and fix it up to about the level of a Joep bike.

So, this past weekend, I picked up a Gazelle Primeur Special, from I'm not sure when, but it had the frame geometry I was looking for, which was surprisingly difficult.  2 days work so far (not full days, just spare time on the weekend) disassembling the bike.

-Gazelle Primeur Special - as bought, in the shop at work

-already more Puur - surprising the difference it makes visually by removing the luggage rack and skirt guards

-raggedy saddle be gone!

-an exercise in minimalism?

-close to just the frame

-removing that lock was a bit of a trick, figuring out how it was mounted on there, and then removing it without destroying it or the frame

-just the frame - but it's still got the headtube cups, and bottom bracket (either we don't have the tools to remove those at work, or I just couldn't find them or not sure what they look like)

-rear wheel dropouts - ok, so part of my plan, to tailor the bike even more to what I envision to be the ideal bicycle, is to also convert it from chain drive to belt drive.  To do so will require making a split in the rear seat stay, or rear dropouts somewhere to allow the belt to slip through, and then figuring out a mechanical fastening system to mount in there to make it solid

Schindelhauer has a nice and elegant solution.

I'm thinking I might look at making 2 aluminium (so they don't rust) plates that mount on either side of the dropouts, that will bolt together, sealing the deal.  Sketching is still in the preliminary stages on that one.  Hopefully it's do-able (which I'm not sure of yet either).

My Ride # 4

My 4th bike since in the Netherlands (#1 - Sparta - met with an accident a while ago, and is in need of a new front fork and front wheel, #2 - Gazelle - I ditched at the last place I lived, as it ended up not being a good bike, and I didn't feel like doing anything with it, #3 - Koga - my candyapple red Singlespeed turned white fixie project bike, is currently under maintenance)

-#4 Montague Boston - my folding fixie (so far adjustments include knocking 12cm off my handlebar width, removing the rear brakes, switching the wheels from bike #3 to this one - I plan on getting new wheels for bike #3, and putting on the new orange Fyxation Session tires)

I've enjoyed these new wheels for a few months now, coming in super handy over here as it works great for covering distances, rides well, and cost nothing to take in the train (conventional bikes require a 6€ day pass for a bike, and can't come on the train until after morning rush hour).

Next up:

-fix the Sparta back up (and possibly sell it)

-(quite) possibly buy a Joep Bike after vacation to replace my city bike.

-#5 (too be) - Joep Bikes - I really really want to get the dark grey one with the brown tires