One last nut

The guys at the Bicycle Garage are my heroes! They were able to order a fairly difficult to find special nut. Yay. http://bikegarage.com/


I'm still waiting for the second odd nut to come in.

Almost Finished!

The superfly project is near completion! NYCbikes did not send two highly specialized bolts needed for the rollerbrake. At least I have a part number.

I went for a test ride yesterday and I can't wait to have the bike finished.

Wheels!

Yay! I picked up my wheels yesterday from the office. Although I am still disappointed because of the 42 day shipping delay, I'm pleased with the product. The Ebay listing did not say the wheel set included a shifter, which I bought separately or the rollerbrake. I'm glad the brake was included, 4 speed nexus hubs/rollerbrakes are not often sold in the US.

Anyway... here is a picture of the parts. Amazingly enough I was able to put this thing together with only a bit of assistance from Joe.

NYC Bikes & my Wheels

I purchased wheels from an Ebay store on July 24th. The shipping label was finally printed on August 29th, but I wonder if they actually mailed the package. For the first time ever I have convinced Joe to leave bad feedback for the seller. Just in case you are in the market for any bike related parts avoid NYC Bikes http://nycbikes.com/ . They will not answer your emails, calls, or give any reasonable & consistent explanation for their delay. And to top it all off… NYC Bikes refused to offer a quicker method of shipping because they have already “lost money” on shipping because they gave us a combined shipping rate. Joe and I have purchased several bike parts and a few bikes over the years and we have never experienced such poor customer service.

Parts Inventory

Used Parts:
Frame
Seat post
Stem
Cranks
Bottom bracket
Saddle
Front brake
Pedals

Not used parts:
Fork
Wheels
Brake levers
Headset

Still need:
Handlebars


Extra Parts that will be donated to the Bloomington Community Bike Project:
Set of drop handlebars
Seat post
Stem

Removing the bottom Braket

Well, that was tough... I wimped out and had my husband break it loose, but I did the rest.

Including Cleaning it...


























The Finished Product. Woo!

Another nice frame

This is currently on eBay. This is the same frame that I am building. The bid is at 172 with 3 days to go. I would suspect the bike will go for about 350, there are not many of these around for sale.

Someone contacted Joe asking if we wanted to trade the superfly frame for a single speed mountain bike. We said no, the offer was crazy considering these frames are hard to find.


Update: it went for 325 + 70 shipping.

Fork-update

The fork turned out well, considering the fact that it was spray painted! I can't seem to get a used headset from the bike shop. There is a bike project in town that might have a few of my needed items. I already own a used set of cranks and foresee that it will be easy to obtain a used seat post, handlebars, pedals, and brake levers.

Our Stable

My bike:

Cannondale R700

I should get a new picture, the bike now has Campy Veloce shift levers. The Shimano 9 speed levers were too stiff for me to shift. The mechanism on the campy is much more wrist friendly.





Our tandem:

Cannondale Road Tandem 2


We purchased this bike in November 2007 and we love it. We are currently commuting 9 miles daily on this bike. I am hoping to have the Superfly finished for fall & winter commuting.









My Husband's bike:

CAAD8 Frame, various components. The frame and many parts were purchased from Ebay. The steerer tube obviously needs to be trimmed! Joe is using the 9 speed shifters that were cast away from my bike.

Fork

I purchased a plain unpainted cyclocross fork and painted it black. A cyclocross fork was needed to keep the axle to crown length close to the original suspension fork. Otherwise the steering geometry would have been affected.

At first I wanted to paint it yellow, but the automotive store only had pastel yellow. In the end black is probably the best option, since it would be difficult to match the yellow. Ultimately if I am unhappy with the bike, I'll find someone to reproduce decals and have the whole thing painted professionally.



I'm still waiting on the wheels, grrr it will be four weeks this Thursday. The wheels are black Deep-V with a 4 speed nexus internal-gear hub.

A Green Bike

I have decided to keep the original paint and simply perform touch up painting. The major idea behind the decision is keeping the bike green as possible.

The frame is used and I hope to build up as much of the bike as possible with used parts. I do foresee having problems locating a used fork and the generator hub I want for a front light.

The hub will generate electricity for my lights and will replace the need for electricity and batteries. These benefits should offset the purchase of new equipment. I do plan to search for a used option, but

I need to have the bike together before October for the winter commute.

Acquisition of the frame

On June 19, 2008 I won the Ebay auction for the frame. It arrived while my husband and I were away on vacation, thus delaying immense joy until 2:30 am on the 4th of July.

I have not decided if the frame and fork should be powder coated. The fork will need to be purchased and will likely not be the same color yellow. Part of me wants to paint the frame a metallic burnt orange, to match my current bike, if I do this the bike won't really be a SuperFly. But, I love the shape of the frame, not the name.

I need to think about this.