The Stripping continues and it is a serious pain in the A**. Today marks the second day of me trying to strip the paint from the bike frame. By the looks of things I have another couple days of sitting down and stripping the paint until my drill gets to hot and begins to slow down.
As the build goes on, I have been learning more and more about not just the bike but also the local biking community. I wish I could say that everything I learned about the local biking community was positive but I think we all know better than that (nothing is all positive or all negative) I have run into this on the various forums (and not just biking but all the forums that I have been on) When I asked questions about parts on the bike I would usually get several really good and informative answers mixed in with comments like (the whole thing is junk and not worth your time / You cant have a good bike unless you spend a lot of money)
Editors Note: Left of sanity makes a very valid point in his comment below, after reading this post I realized that I was putting forth a negative overall opinion of the Local Biking Community and that is not what I meant to do. Overall the biking community is a fantastic group of people. In general I really enjoy the time I spend on the forums. I have yet to have a bad experience on the forum, (lets face it I posted about looking for a beater bike I could strip down and the next day I had someone on the forum offer me one for free) So while I am focused on this one aspect of all forums, please understand that there are many more positive aspects than the one negative I have chosen to bring to the forefront.
Editors Note (7-16-10) The Paragraph that was here has been deleted on examination and comments of those involved I realized that what I said was said in the heat of passion and was far harsher than was intended. on re-reading it I find that it really does not properly express the point I was trying to make and came close to being down right mean to people who didn't deserve it.
I know what you're thinking, You are thinking that this doesn't have much to do with TEP The Evil Project but it does. I have long had the belief that you don't need hundreds of dollars to have a decent bike to ride around the city and on the trails. So what I am going to do is keep a running total of the price of the bike. The next bike I build TEP2 will be a road bike
In Related news, I am going to try and get down to Free-Ride for volunteer night, I am hoping that I can pick up some long forgotten Jedi Bike knowledge. For those who don't know Free-Ride is "not a traditional repair shop, where you drop off a bike and someone fixes it, but a bicycle educational facility. There is that old saying “if you give a person a fish they will eat for a day but if you teach them how to fish they will eat for a lifetime.” That is our basic philosophy at Free Ride!" (at least that is what their website says.) So I will be heading down there on saturday as well to put in some volunteer hours to help out and pick up some tips on the bike I am building.
Running total on the bike so far:
Price of original Bike - 0$ (was giving to me)
Hours so far - 4
I am looking forward to finding out more about this and the people who run it.
The way I interpreted the messages on the forum is that they cautioned you against spending money on that frame or on a new crank, because the frame is inherently blah.
ReplyDeleteI would like to go on the "highly recommend free ride" wagon. Have you looked into their build-a-bike program? It seems right up your alley. Maybe you could start off your road project that way?
Good luck and keep up the posts
LOF
ReplyDeleteYou are true for the most part, but at least one person in two different comments never addressed the problem his only response was 'that frame isnt worth fixing up' and when I responded that the reason I was fixing it up were things other than value he said I needed to go buy a good bike.
im not faulting him his opinion but it reminds me of the computer people who, when asked, what software will I need for my PC to do (insert action) and their answer is
'get a MAC' which not only doesn't answer the question but also makes the responder look like stuck up. "im to important to take the time to actually answer your question but I'll take the time to put you down instead."
when someone (me) is trying to learn an attitude like that is 4 times less than helpless.
Just Sayin
Oh and tomorrow's post is about Free-ride
ReplyDeleteHey Dback, you asked about bike art? It's an aluminum frame, yeah? Can you weld, or do you know an Aluminum welder? There's one (I've never personally used, but it's on my List Of Repairs) over on Jefferson, just past Turners Dairy (near the new Community Garden), a house with a sign out front.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if your art project requires a little modifying in that category, don't shy away! The first thing that comes to mind is a chair, but it would required the aforementioned welding (or you could put on hinges and make it collapsible!). The next thing that comes to mind is a chandelier or candelabra. Maybe I've been watching too much H&G network.
Free Ride is a magical place - you'll love it!
ohhhhh..... you meant art on a bike, not art OF a bike. heh.
ReplyDeleteRhinestones would be awesome, but probably not really your bag.
Buttons could be cool: http://artcar.blogspot.com/2008/06/button-king-art-car-covered-in-buttons.html