Welcome, jerks.


Yeah, I got the fever. Three or four years ago, a rabid, red-eyed zombie sank its rotten teeth into my arm and thus I was infected with a peculiar strain of irrational obsession. Since then I have breathed, eaten, and slept bikes and almost nothing else. Maybe a vaccine will be invented, or maybe it'll simply pass, but until then I'm a slave to my compulsion to buy, transport, take apart, degrease, scour, lube, polish, assemble, tune, tighten, align, wax, buff, and yes, ride, ride, ride these magical two-wheeled machines.

So, the idea is, on this page I'm going to post pictures and perhaps stories of bikes that I've refurbished and ridden or ones that are in the process or recently completed. Maybe it'll expand from there. We'll see, I guess.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Specialized (Giant) Sequoia

No, the "Giant" in the title of this post does not refer to the bicycle manufacturer of that name but instead to the size of the '85 Sequoia that I recently came into: 62.5cm, or 64cm measured center-to-top. Okay, so that's not the biggest bike I've ever seen, not even close, really, but it's certainly the biggest that I've ever ridden, or rather attempted to ride. I'm only 5'9 1/2"--yes, I always include the half inch--with a 34"(or so) pubic bone height, so even with shoes on I can barely, I mean barely, straddle this beast. So much the better, because if it were smaller I might be tempted to keep it for myself, and I can't afford to have another bike of my own. I'd be tempted because, compared to the last Sequoia that came my way, the paint on this one is fantastic. Plus it came with most of the original parts. And, boy are they beautiful now that they're all cleaned up. You'll have to pardon the lack of bar-wrap as I was all out and too much in a hurry to snap these photos.

 





 A note on these brake hoods: I'd struggled in the past trying to fit the commonly available Cane Creek-branded Dia Compe hoods to various non-aero levers with little success. I always had to cut away a part of the hoods on the bottom and then pad the lever body with bar-tape to fill out the too-big hoods. Then, upon installation, the hoods would begin to split along the seams half the time. Yuck! I will struggle no more, since I've discovered these Gran Compe hoods. They fit many levers (Superbe, Gran Compe, Shimano 600) much better, they stretch without splitting, and they look great. In fact, I'd hesitate to let the secret out if it weren't for the well-known fact that virtually no one reads my blog.


In my pompous opinion, these Specialized "flag" cranks can keep pace with the best of them (C-Record, Superbe Pro, etc.) in terms of quality of finish. And yet one hears very little about them and they remain reasonably priced when you can find them. Their versatile 110/74 BCD format adds to their appeal in my book.




I'm in love with the finish on these Saturae (Specialized house brand) C20 rims. Just gorgeous.




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1 comment:

  1. eduardoFebruary 22, 2015 at 2:33 PM

    Great looking bike! where did you find the Gran Compe hoods? I just got a Sequoia, same year, 58cm. Not as clean as yours though. Please share your source for hoods!

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