Sorry, sorry, sorry. Blah, blah, blah. Yadda, yadda, yadda...
Ok, forget the sorry part.
I've been away.
I've been riding,
I've been inventing/destroying/ fixing shit.
I've been a gracious host.
I've been cooking.
I've been mapping new training routes with 10,000 feet of climbing that will kick the piss out of you, believe me...
OK.
I lie..
I went on the mother of all benders because... RYDER WON THE F**KING GIRO!
A forum member over at Weight Weenies asked for some further info on my supercalifragilisticexpialidocious travel bike. As I felt a sumptuously decorated, 18+ pound steel bike probably wasn't the thing to beat my chest too loudly about over there (read," off topic due to embarrassing amounts of philately"), I decided that we'd meet over in my rumpus room of a blog and pick it apart in private. Apologies for my judicious use of links...I'm a lover, not a writer.
This Raysport SuperCorsa
Started life as This (info here)
Along the way this happened...
The First build...
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| All Packed up |
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| Record brake levers, Super Record derailleurs, retro friction shifters and a 7 speed block. Note top tube slopes downward. |
The Nuts and Bolts...
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| Mavic 840 RD with 11-28 8 speed. |
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| Mavic 862 FD. 39/48 rings. |
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| If ever a brake needed to be tuned, it's this pig. |
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| Novatec on Mavic Open SUP 28 x Sapim CX Ray. The ride is plush on Michelin Pro3 Race 25c |
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| FSA Energy & Deda Ti BB. Hollowgram for The Common Man. |
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| had my doubts about the bearings in this hub, but it's still buttery smooth. |
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| Campy 10 speed shifters work beautifully with the Mavic 840 to shift an SRAM PC 970 across an 11-28 8 speed cassette. The key is to run the cable AROUND the guide on the bottom of the derailleur. For really severe grades I pack a Microshift MTB derailleur, Jtek Shiftmate and 11-34 9speed cassette. |
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| In order to correct the geometry, I had an extended base plate machined. I reason that this is viable as there is a 19mm section of constant diameter immediately above the crown. |
The Pretty Bits...
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| Kudos to those of you that cottoned to the frame being a little tall for me. I had a Rtchey stem to match the seatpost, but it was too high, so I use this -10 deg ITM stem. I sanded and polished the hi lites on the faceplate to unify things a bit. |
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| I LOVES me some Ritchey two tone action... |
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| Tour de Java 1958! found in the UK. |
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| Postage Due stamps in various denominations. |
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| 1954 Mt. Merapi eruption. In Indonesia, the volcanoes loom as goliaths. Defining, shaping and often destroying the landscape. |
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| Meterai Tempel are a kind of seal applied to contracts, receipts, bills-of-sale etc. They act as a form of taxation as well and give the right of legal recourse in disputes. |
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| Indonesia, the badminton powerhouse. Thomas Cup 1967. |
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| This is a simple single color stamp depicting (I believe) Arjuna. A beautiful style of illustration seen in comic books of the era depicting the stories of the Mahabarata and many folk and historic tales from the archipelago's rich history. |
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| Soekarno...Sukarno. Where do I start? Check here. Discuss. |
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| Without getting all Rapha, I love the black reveal in this section. Fabulous graphics commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Africa-Asia Conference. |
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| These poor guys? Read about it here. |
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| More work to be done... |
Well...
That's about the limit of the Raysport story for tonight as it's WAAAAAAY past my bed time. I honestly don't know how all this stuff comes together. I love riding. I love bikes of all descriptions. I am into antique bikes as well and through that also interested in Indonesian history.
It's sort of like I shook my head too hard and all these seemingly unrelated things stuck together, but I think the result is beautiful, and it puts a smile on my face when I can share a coffee with some old fellow and he fills me in on some aspect of one of the stories contained in the stamps, then another and so on.
There is another Raysport story too... definitely not a Weight Weenie though.
Night All.
Ruben/Monkeyburger
PS. As usual, In preview the formatting looks like crap. My apologies. I'll try to fix it later...
