Lazy ride

Went on an extremely lazy and short ride to the bank and to the local Goodwill, and took this photo to commemorate it. The picture makes it looks like I'm in middle of a open field, but I was actually right off of a pretty large boulevard. They just have this strip of undeveloped land for the electricity towers.

1984 Alpina Ultima (4/22/12)

More Smartphone Camera Fun

I took these on the way back from work at the Union Station, using the Camera 360 app with the Sketch effect. Thanks to the super vibrant color of the flowers, I think they turned out pretty cool! I've included both the regular picture and the same pictures with effects.

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

1984 Alpina Ultima - @ Union Station (2/28/12)

MEGA UPDATE! Part 1 - Univega Alpina Ultima

I have been trying to find a good place to take photos of my bicycles around my new house, but haven't been quite successful. So the bicycles in the next few posts have been ready-to-ride for as long as a few months ago. I am not too pleased with these photos, but they've been accumulating on my hard-drive so I thought I would post some.

I've made some small changes to the Univega Alpina Ultima to make it more suitable for my commute to work (and HOPEFULLY very short tours someday):
First, I got rid of the drop bar and put on its original Nitto flat bar and slingshot stem. The bike is already a bit big for me, and the riding position with the drop bar gave me back aches when I ride with my backpack. The flat bar gives me a much more up-right riding position. Plus, the the stem is pretty cool looking.
With the new bar set-up, I put on Shimano BL-M730 brake levers (it has rubber hoods) and the original grips. The bike originally had Suntour Power thumb shifters , but I over-tightened and broke the left shifter's clamp (I was very disappointed at myself), so I put on Shimano Unishift thumb shifters. The the Unishift thumb shifters' got the ratcheting mechanism, and they work quite well.
I got rid of the SR MTE-100 since it weighed more and I wasn't really take advantage of the lateral adjustments feature anyhow. I replaced it with a SR TCO (supposed stands for "Tall Cool One") Sport seatpost taken off from a Trek 930. You can tell that the bike is big for me when you see how little of the seatpost sticks out.
I also replaced the saddle with the Avocet Touring saddle. I rode the bike to work in rain once, and the San Marco Anatomica saddle started falling apart too much for me to ignore it any longer. And lucky, the Avocet saddle has been very comfortable.
Couple other small changes were in the inner tubes and the chain. The previous tubes were super thick and were quite heavy. I kept them on because I thought it would protect against all the debris on the road, but I think they really added to the rotational weight of the wheels (this may all be psychological). But it feels like climbing hills got a tiny bit easier after I replaced them with regular inner tubes. I took off the old Dura-Ace chain since it was stretched, but I didn't have any chains long enough in my used parts bin for the bike's lengthy chainstay. So right now, the chain is an inch shorter than the calculated chain length. However, I never do big chainring to big cog gear combination, so I haven't had any trouble shifting.
The latest change has been the Bushwacker panniers. I just got them off ebay about a week ago for $9.99 + $12.95 shipping. I haven't put them into real action yet, but I hope they'll be a nice addition for my commute.
I also put the Blackburn Mtn Rack back on. I re-tapped the rear dropour braze-ons as suggested to me Erodstrom (by the way, you should also check out his blogs: Lugs & Bugs and Rebuild-Re-Cycle), and got some stainless steel bolts to fasten the rack. The only concern is that the panniers look a bit too close to the brakes.
What I need to get now are bigger toe clips for the pedals, and fenders. I'm still kicking myself for passing on a huge sale Velo-Orange had on a 650b/26" fenders a few months ago. I didn't realize how important fenders can be on a wet day.

So, here are some pictures:

1984 Univega Ultima - Drive-side. No rack/panniers yet (1/20/12)

1984 Univega Ultima - Drive-side. No rack/panniers yet (1/20/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Front view (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Look at that clean fork crown (1/30/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Waiting for the Metro on my commute to work (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Waiting for the Metro on my commute to work (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Metro in the background (2/1/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Drive-side; with rack/panniers (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Cockpit (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Nitto slingshot stem (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Shimano racheting thumb shifters (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Univega grip (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Look at that angle/rake! (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Joytech hub (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Seat cluster; Avocet Touring saddle; SR TCO seatpost (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; side view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; top view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Bushwhacker panniers; rear view (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Stainless steel bolt (2/3/12)

1984 Univega Alpina - Not too much clearance between the pannier and brakes (2/3/12)

1984? Univega Alpina Ultima: Initial Build

I finally got to building up a bicycle to ride. I had taken apart all my bicycles a few months ago with plans to overhaul and build them back up, but found the disassembling to be much easier than reassembling. But now that I have settled in to the new house and new job, I spent some time to build this one up.

If I remember correctly, I got this bike in the same bulk lot as the Specialized Stumpjumper in the previous post. I kept this one because it fits me (it is actually a little bit too big). I wasn't able to find too much information about this model other than some info on the 1983 catalog. Some of the components that were on this particular bike matched the info on the catalog, but many did not. Therefore, I'm not quite sure what year this is from. The date codes on components do suggest that it's a 1984 model.

From the 1983 catalog, this appears to be Univega's top-of-the-line ATB. It's got a pretty relaxed geometry with long wheelbase and high bottom bracket. Back when I bought this, I was trying to learn more about bicycle touring, and this bike seemed to have enough braze-on's to make it into a light tourer. It actually came with flat bars, but I've replaced it with drop bars and the accompanying stem, brake levers, and shifters.

I actually almost damaged this bicycle while putting it together. I tried to test-ride the bicycle in front of my house without connecting the straddle cable wire for the front brake. I got too excited and tried to go over a small bump, and I think it caused the wire to get stuck in the spokes, pulling the brakepads in with it, and instantly locking up the front wheel. I flipped forward with the bike, luckily only spraining my ankle and scraping my right elbow. However I did damage the Dura-Ace 7400 brake levers that I had put on this bike originally, and had slight bent the brake bosses. I am really have been hating myself for making this stupid mistake. But I was able to bend back the bosses, and align them sufficiently for me to reinstall the brakes. The Dura-Ace brake levers were unfortunately beyond repair.

I'm planning to put a Blackburn rear rack, but the previous owner had damaged one of the braze-on's thread because he/she used a screw with the wrong thread pitch/diameter, so I'm going to have to find a solution for that. It's also going to need a new saddle soon, since this one's all cracked. The current wheels/tires can be replaced because they're making bike pretty heavy. But overall, it's got some interesting/rare components. I think the original rear derailleur may even have been Suntour Superbe Tech (but the bike didn't come with it). If you look at the picture with rear derailleur cable stop, you can see that the original cable stop that's brazed onto the chainstay is actually facing inward. The 1983 catalog shows the same thing with the Superbe Tech's unique cable housing routing.

Here are the specs:
Frame: 51cm seat tube; about 31 inch stand-over height; no indications about the frame material - the '83 catalog states welded double-butted chromoly main tubes and chromoly stays; three sets of bottle cage braze on's; Suntour rear dropouts
Fork: No indication of fork material - '83 catalog states chromoly with aero type crown
Headset: Tange MTB-225; Dia-Compe brake cable stop
Crankset: Takagi XT triple; 26-36-46
Pedals: Shimano PD-MX15 w/ generic resin toe clips
Bottom Bracket: Suntour MB-V w/ sealed bearings; Vx taper
Front/Rear Derailleur: Suntour LeTech (The rear has 3 pivots; the front is "top-normal," as in it goes to the biggest chainwheel when the cable is relaxed)
Shifter: Suntour bar-end Power shifters
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace
Handlebar: Nitto B115
Stem: WIN alloy riser stem
Brakes: Shimano MC-70
Brake Levers: Aero Gran Compe (no hoods); Forte in-line brake levers
Saddle: San Marco Anatomica 371
Seatpost: SR MBE-100 w/ "longitudinal adjustment"; Sakae seatpost quick release
Rims: Araya 26"
Hubs: Front Joytech sealed; Rear Specialized w/ 6 speed Suntour freewheel
Tires: Cheng-Shin Electra (pretty darn heavy)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Drive-side (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Front view (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour Le Tech front derailleur (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Takagi Tourney XT (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Shimano PD-MX15 pedals (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour Le Tech rear derailleur (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Seat cluster; SR MBE-100 seatpost; San Marco Anatomica 371 saddle (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Aero Gran Compe brake lever (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Dia Compe cable stop; Tange MTB-225 headset (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Head badge decal (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Cable stop(s) (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Bottom bracket cable routing (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Rear view (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - SR MBE-100 seatpost (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour MB-V bottom bracket (9/7/11)

1984 Univega Alpina Ultima - Suntour dropout (9/7/11)

Out with the old, in with the new

During the last couple of months there's been some changes in my stable of bikes. I recently sold the SR Apine Sport for $125. I returned it to its original 12 speed, using the original Shimano Altus LT drivetrain. The buyer was quite happy about how clean it was. Here are some pictures I took for record:

1980 SR Alpine Sport - With the gears and the derailleurs added back on (4/11/11)

1980 SR Alpine Sport - Shimano Altus LT rear derailleur (4/11/11)

1980 SR Alpine Sport - Shimano Altus stem-mounted friction shifters (4/11/11)

I also sold the frame, fork, and a few parts of the 1991 Trek 6000 for $35. I was thinking about turning into another single speed, but decided to sell it because there was a big scratch on the drive-side chainstay from chainsuck. I kept the Suntour XC Ltd parts and the wheelset though.

1991 Trek 6000 - How it looked when I first brought it home (1/16/11)

1991 Trek 6000 - What I sold (2/16/11)

I also bought/sold a few other bikes, but most of them weren't very noteworthy. I did pick up a pair of Suntour bar-end shifters and a few other parts from a beat up 70's Centurion Super Lemans. I also got hold of a 1984 Specialized Stumpjumper. The Stumpjumper is too big for me, so I've taken off the parts and am planning to sell the frame and fork. I'm also planning to sell the Schwinn Cimarron frame and fork. I had planned to build it up to be a commuter/light tourer, but I picked up a 1984 Univega Alpina Ultima that's in a much better condition. I've forgot to take pictures of these bikes, so they will come in a later post, hopefully.

Here are the new bikes for which I do have the pictures to show, though. First is the 1987 Terry Despatch for my sister. My sister's only about 5'3" with not very long legs, so it's quite difficult to find a vintage bicycle that fits her. (And I wanted her to have a lugged steel bike, but I can't really afford to buy her a new one). I already knew that Centurion made some of their Ironman models with a 24 inch front wheel to allow for a very small frame, and had missed a couple of chances to buy one at a reasonable price. I also knew of Terry bicycles made for small women, but I just assumed for that the company wasn't so old. So when I picked this one up for $125 on Craigslist, and was pretty surprised that it wasn't gone by the time I contacted the seller. I was told that it was ridden only a few times, and it seems to be true. There are nicks and scratches, but it's overall clean for its age. It's got Tange 1 tubing, Suntour Cyclone 7000 drivetrain, with about a 27 inch stand-over height. More details on this bike will follow after I give it an overhaul.

1987 Terry Despatch - Drive-side view (4/5/11)

1987 Terry Despatch - Front view (4/5/11)

The second bicycle is the most recent addition, and it's a Univega Alpina 507. I don't quite know the model year yet since I didn't have time to look at the parts' date codes or the frame's serial number, but it's most likely from the early 90's. I picked it up at the Goodwill auction for $71 (although with the gas prices now, it probably cost me more like $100). I bought it because it's a got decent components (Shimano Deore LX/XT), and it had bosses for racks and a third water bottle cage under the downtube. I am thinking I could turn this into another commuter/tourer. From my quick inspection, everything seems to be in a decent condition. There isn't much information on this model on the internet. But from one picture that I managed to find, the Rock Shox Judy XC fork it has on now may not be original. I don't have any experience with suspension forks, so that aspect of the bike will be a new learning experience for me. Also, the rear shifter/brake lever was a Shimano Acera and made for V-brakes, so that will also need to be changed. It's made in Taiwan with Formula 969 double-butted chromoly. I couldn't find anything on this tubing, but the bike seems sufficiently light.

Univega Alpina 507 - Drive side (4/18/11)

Univega Alpina 507 - Front view (4/18/11)