Ugh, it was brutal riding out there today! I am not a morning rider, but when better to avoid the excessive heat? I felt surprisingly good going out, but the return route was into a convention oven-like headwind (of course), and there was a bridge out that forced me on a detour which included a long, nasty hill that just sapped the remaining energy out of me!
Unfortunately, hot and humid weather is not good painting weather, but I did receive a delivery of parts to finish some of the bicycles hanging downstairs. Being banished to our cooler basement isn’t a bad alternative on days like this. Currently I am restoring a couple of ‘70s ten speeds that had been just hanging in a garage for way too long - plenty of cleaning and lubricating for both machines! One of the bikes is also in need of new handlebar tape, while the other is being converted from drop handlebars to an upright, sweep-back style bar – some folks call them “cruiser” bars.
Before I get to work, I thought a short tour of the shop would be in order. The first shot shows the workbench on the right and the shelves with all the tools and parts in the background. Sue recently surprised me by buying AND installing an additional fluorescent fixture to hang over the wall clamp (far left, with dark blue bike). I had been working in less than optimum lighting conditions since I installed the clamp on that side of the room, away from the main lights. She was very frustrated trying to learn derailleur adjustments on her bike in the dark, so she decided to take care of the problem right away!
My floor stand (center, with the orange bike) is great for holding bikes with traditional frame tubing, but its clamp will not fit the large diameter tubing often found on modern road and mountain bikes. I borrowed an idea from someone online who built their own floor stand. I reworked his plans to build a wall-mounted clamp (see close-up) that, when faced with larger tubing, can be used to hang a bike from the seat post. In this case, not enough of the seat post was exposed, so I clamped onto the seat tube.
I purchased a pipe clamp and a two-foot section of 1” diameter pipe at Lowes. I filed a semicircle out of two wooden blocks, then drilled holes to mount them on the clamp to make a softer gripping surface. I didn’t want to leave the clamp in the wall permanently and have people keep knocking into it, injuring themselves. So I used 1” thick boards to construct a frame from which to easily slide the pipe in and out. I drilled a hole through the frame and supporting post and use an old screwdriver to lock the pipe in place and keep it from rotating when a bike is in the clamp. I am really happy with the results!
Time to get to work.
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