"I've never seen that before" - seldom a welcome phrase!

   I've recently completed two custom projects that were very different than my usual builds. The first was a Georgena Terry bicycle conversion for a female friend who is short of stature. For those unfamiliar, back in the 1980s Georgena began building prototype female-specific frames that addressed the anatomical differences between men and women. She eventually formed a thriving company specializing in women's bicycles, clothing and accessories. There is plenty about the Terry bicycle story on the internet, and there is no need to repeat it, but here is a short, interesting Vimeo feature on Georgena.
   Kathy had a Terry bicycle years ago and sold it when her kids were young, I'm only assuming because she was just too busy to get out and ride anymore. Not that she totally lost the cycling bug, because a couple of years ago she purchased a Trek e-bike and was commuting to work regularly.
   Now that the kids have grown, she was interested in going full pedal power again and turned to the brand she knew worked best for her. She found a Terry "Prism" bicycle from the early '90s (for an amazing 45 bucks!) on craigslist and expressed an interest to me in modernizing its setup.
   This model had the distinctive smaller front wheel that allows the frame to be of more traditional geometry, as the head tube does not have to be shortened in order to compensate for standover height. The bicycle was equipped with mostly Shimano Exage 6-speed components from the era, which included downtube shift levers.
   Most of the conversions Kathy and I spoke about were fairly standard procedures for me. Because it is pretty hilly in our area, Kathy wished to increase the gear capacity, and she also wanted to change to brake/shift levers (brifters). I noticed a 6-speed gear cluster on the back and assumed (yeah, you know what happens when you do that) a 7-speed freewheel with a bigger maximum cog would take care of that problem. Kathy mentioned a bit of a tweak to the brifter search, in that she wished to include a set of short reach levers to help her small hands more easily apply the brakes.
   Normally finding a set of Microshift R7 levers, which come in a short reach version, shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the global shortage of bicycles and parts caused by the pandemic made the search a real headache. I found dozens of resources for the levers, only to come up with "out of stock" notes attached to online catalogs. I emailed or called a small handful of places that hadn't mentioned stock status on their sites, and they all responded with an apology for not updating that their shelves were also empty.
   Finally, I hooked up with Spokes Bike Lounge in Berkeley, California, and chatted with the manager for a while about "the biz" before he confirmed they had a couple sets. "A couple?!!" I exclaimed. I was not too happy with the price I was quoted, as the tax and shipping was outrageous, so I settled myself down for a "I will get back to you" reply.
   Realistically, if we didn't want to wait until (at least) next spring for the supply situation to normalize, and faced with really no other options, making the decision to pay up was pretty simple. The fact that Kathy had only paid $45 on a complete bicycle certainly made sinking a bit more money into this project easier to swallow. I called Spokes back and ordered, thinking that, at least, the shipping would be expedited.
   HA! The first package was lost somewhere in Post Office Purgatory, so about a month
went by between my original purchase, Spokes offering to replace that order and the eventual delivery of the levers.
   I have to say, the Microshift levers seem to be a really nice product, and if you are counting at home, this is the fourth different brifter configuration with which I've had experience. Much like SRAM and Campagnolo, these levers have a paddle behind the brake lever with which to activate the shifting, but the "downshifting" is done with a small lever that sticks our a bit on the outside of the shifter body (indicated by yellow arrows in photo on right).
   The real problem with this gearing conversion came with my misidentifying the hub/gearing configuration which, with a 6-speed system, would usually be a screw-on, freehub cluster of cogs. It turned out to be a product which had never seen before!
   The Shimano Exage rear hub had the company's Uniglide system, an early attempt at the freehub/cassette design. Unlike modern freehubs, which have an independent lock ring to hold the cogs in place, the last 1/4-inch or so of the Uniglide splined freehub cylinder has threading (yellow arrow in photo below) onto which the smallest cog would tighten to keep everything together.

   This system works fine, but the 6-speed cluster certainly isn't compatible with our 7-speed levers, and finding these obsolete parts is difficult and expensive, anyway. I did see some online videos on how to convert the Uniglide hub to Shimano's current Hyperglide system, but that is a little over the top for this project.
   I'm letting Kathy borrow one of my Campagnolo freewheel-compatible rear wheels until I find her something that matches her front rim fairly well. The catch is, since her Terry bike has 126mm rear spacing, and I squeezed in my 130mm-wide wheel, she has to avoid being in the smallest cog, as the chain will rub on the seat stay. When I purchase a wheel with the appropriate 126mm hub, all should be well!
   Below are photos of the "finished" bike (see the lead photo above, as well), with her original wheel installed for aesthetics, since my Campy wheel has a black rim:

   My other custom build was requested by a gentleman in the East Harlem section of Manhattan. Matt had a friend that was once a bicycle messenger and his desire was to find a great bike which would inspire him to get out and exercise regularly. He told me that, although he is now in his seventies, Bernie would want a racy bicycle that included some "comfort conversions". Above all, Matt said, the bike had to be lightweight, as Bernie would have to take it up some stairs to his apartment.

   I told him about the Klein Stage Comp bicycle hanging in my rafters, which had clearance for some wider tires, and Matt liked that it also had a triple chainring setup for plenty of gear range. After agreeing this was the way to go, we worked together for a few days selecting some swept-back bars and a nice-looking synthetic leather saddle with some cushioning. I also found some cool leather wrap bar grips to match.

   I took a drive up to NYC to drop-off the bike yesterday, which conveniently included a second bicycle delivery to a customer in Brooklyn, and met Matt in the community garden attached to their high-rise apartment. I buzzed the intercom to ask Bernie to come down, and although I couldn't see his smile behind the Covid-precaution-mask, I could hear the excitement in his voice when he opened the door.

   One of the first things he did was lift the bike, and I was so glad to see him shake his head in amazement and say, "Oh, this will be easy!" Matt and I were a bit startled when he put his foot up on the pedal and quickly swung his leg over to start off down the street, especially because I hadn't lowered the seat, and we were afraid he might catch himself and fall, but never underestimate a nimble cycling vet!