New York August NYC Meet-Up 2021

[Calzone]

I got my second tire shipment and mounted a pair of Schwable Marathon Supremes on the "Newsboy Cruiser." The tires are slicks, but the tread is as if a rear tire on a Ninja motorcycle, but the tires are only 1.6 inches wide for that Newsboy profile.

WOW. What a pretty bike with the polished Titanium frame looking like chrome with a vintage Koski chrome fork with a long 2 1/2 inch trail that suggests retro and from perhaps the 1950's, even though the bike actually is 1980's. It definitely looks like an old bike.

The bike is a looker for sure, and upon closer inspection is basically a two-wheel mountain bike museum loaded with all retro parts that are no longer available. For sure this bike is already mucho crazy.

Then I picked it up thinking it might be porky because of the new tires. Not. Definitely under 20 pounds and perhaps 18-19 pounds without a chain. I have a Ti 8-speed cassette that is a 12-21 on it now (corn cob) but I think I will switch it to a 12-25 tomorrow and install a chain.

Tomorrow "Maggie's" bike gets delivered and I saved $200.00 because I will assemble it myself. It's a 7-speed step-through design with a hipster spin on the styling. The rims use 26-inch tires and I wonder if Maggie would want me to upgrade the tires, or install latex tubes for lower rolling resistance. I have a spare pair of Schwable Marathon Supremes, but that's about $150.00 worth of tires, the latex tubes are not inexpensive either.

BTW the rubber on the Marathon's is soft like racing tires. They call this soft compound ADDIX.

Sunday is an expected delivery of a set of Mavic CrossMax wheels that are retro wheels that go back in time when tubeless began and are still rim brake, but these wheels I secured might have only a few hundred miles on them. Pretty much almost NOS.

This tubeless wheelset will be used on the Newsboy for a somewhat Fat Tire bike with Hans Damph tires I have that are 2.35 in width. I have an old Rock Shox Judy SL that I upgraded with a set of green "Speed Springs" so I will have the option of adding a suspension.

So far two bikes in one, but a third option is as a 2x1. I have a spare White Industry Eno hub and a spare old school Mavic rim that can be built into a single-speed wheel, but using a Paul's Component "Melvin" chain tensioner I can use a front derailleur to have a 64 inch/52-inch two-speed bike to beat up that will weigh almost nothing. Should accelerate and climb like a Mo-Fo.

So eventually three bike in one.

Understand that if I need a new White Industries hub that I have to wait 3 months to get one from them directly. The alternative is get on a waiting list, or buy on Evil-Bay.

It might take some time to get wheels built to utilize my XTR 11-speed stockpile. With the 9-speed I can try and get a new freehub body and get my 8-speed wheels redished, but I have to choose between my Newsboy or my road bike. Right now I leaning towards the Newsboy because I can still get road wheels custom-built for rim brakes.

So I have a bike shop set up in my basement by the washer and drier. Tomorrow the temperature is suppose to hit the mid 40's. I hope to go for a ride on the Newsboy by lunchtime.

Cal

 

[Range-rover]

Okay who's getting a Leica M11?

 

[Calzone]

Okay who's getting a Leica M11?

Bob,

An interesting camera, but I'm happy with what I already own. Besides I'm so busy with the house, bikes, and guitars at the moment.

Actually, photography has been put on hold for a while while I mind my business.

Wednesday "Maggie" had announced in Publisher's Weekly the announcement of her new book under an imprint of Random House. It created a buzz.

A new bathroom sink that got delivered has a retro style with a bridge-like facet that is rather cute. Looks like a style of a century ago, but is brand new. A heavy cast iron kitchen sink also got delivered. Jack HVAC came by but because of the expected cold decide not to remove the radiator in the kitchen just yet. Found out that my gas meter is not big enough to handle my boiler, and a moratorium prevents me from doing oil to natural gas conversion

It seems the simple ranch up the block just sold for the asking price, which is a lot more than what we paid for our house, even though it is about the same size as far as square footage goes. I mention this because the value of my house that we bought just over a year ago is valued almost $100K more than what we paid.

Also on Wednesday the bike I bought Maggie as a Christmas present got delivered. I assembled it and we went for a short ride. Then I went onto Washington Avenue and headed south into rolling hills. The gearing on the Newsboy Cruiser is perfect. Had to do some fine-tuning, but it is a fine bike. I ordered a Third Eye Chain Watcher, something that was invented over 30 years ago that helps prevent dropping your chain. The rolling hills are a great way to build strength and to do intervals. If there was not for the snow on the gravel path that is Montrose Station Road that is on Blue Mountain Preserve I would have explored that section as far as a section to sprint for a workout that is a series of rollers that cuts across the 1500 acres.

I like this because Washington street is an unbusy road that is but three blocks from my Baby-Victorian, and it would be EZ-PZ to do a meaningful workout for my heart and legs every day once the temperatures get milder.

A new stem for the Ti IBIS arrived today, and tomorrow the new carbon fiber bars are expected to be delivered. Sunday delivery is an old Mavic wheelset that was barely used that is UST for tubeless tires to build out the fat tire convertible part of the Newsboy.

I weight myself after dinner at Maggie's sister's house. Without Rolex, wallet, and keys 150 pounds exactly on a digital scale. I likely have about 5 pounds of water weight, so I gained back some of the weight I lost over the summer. At 5'10" everyone says I'm skinny, and the only one who calls me a skinny bitch is me. LOL.

I'm going to start demoing the ceiling, perhaps this weekend. More bike work. Although I'm working I'm relaxed and free from stress, as things are moving forward.

Eventually, I'll get back into photography.

Cal

 

[Range-rover]

Wow you've ben a buzzy, glad to hear everything working out good for your both. Talking about weight I gone back up to 177 pounds again which everyone
is pleased, my cousin even calls me a fat bastard now because I weigh more than him.

 

[Calzone]

Wow you've ben a buzzy, glad to hear everything working out good for your both. Talking about weight I gone back up to 177 pounds again which everyone
is pleased, my cousin even calls me a fat ******* now because I weigh more than him.

Bob,

Glad you are returning to normal.

Over the summer I likely went down to 135, but I was about 158 at my heaviest. The 135 was like when I was 15 years old. I'd like to stay 145-150. I hope this will be my new normal. I can tell you about 5 pounds is likely water weight from salty foods over the holidays.

CAL

 

[Range-rover]

Someone Stared out that one word above, I thought we had freedom of speech in this country but it depends where
you go I guess.

 

[Calzone]

Bob,

Kinda funny how I can call myself a skinny bitch and I don't get censored. LOL.

With the cold, the storm, and the sloppy conditions I'm so glad that I don't have to commute anymore.

Started some weight training. I wondered if I could do a set of 50 Pushups, so I'm glad I have some base of strength, got a third set to do.

New Mavic wheels got delivered today, real beauties in near NOS condition. These wheels make the Newsboy look sinister and evil with the radial spokes that are bladed. I'll be running these 9-speed with Dura Ace 12-21T. I have a pair of Maxxis Cross Mark tires that are exceptional for hard-pack, but only dry conditions that came with the wheels. These tires are 2.1 wide, and my Newsboy tires are only 1.6 inches. A very different look and almost Fat-Tire. Anyways what I like about the Cross Mark tires is they are low rolling resistance.

The weather has been dreary lately. Glad I can stay at home.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

7, 8, and 9 speed Shimano freehub bodies are all the same size. The difference is in spacers. There is no dishing required as the OLD is always 135mm. With newer fat bikes, this has changed, but you're not going that route.

The cross levers are so cheap these days because they were only in fashion for a year or so. They pull on the cable housing itself instead of the cable and can cause increased wear and flaring/binding of the housing end. I've had two sets and gave them away. You also have to take into account the brakes that you're using. cross levers are designed to be used with road bike levers which will pull enough cable to make a road caliper or a very well set up cantilever. With the cross lever you don't have the option of dialing in much, if any modulation. They were a kludge band-aid for folks who didn't feel comfortable riding on hoods or in drops on a CX bike. One thing to keep in mind is that CNC'd aluminum might be lighter than the high-end Shimano goodies, but much of Shimano's LX/XT/XTR line is forged. In 30 years of working on mountain bikes, I've never seen an XT cantilever break but I've sold plenty of folks on good old fashioned boring Shimano after their high-zoot brightly anodized hollow cantis came out of adjustment and were pulled into the wheel only to be snapped off right at the frame boss.

As for your hubs and rims, why not build the wheel/s yourself? You have several bikes, so that means you have a truing stand. You can just enter the hub make/model and rim into one of many online calculators and it will give you the appropriate spoke lengths for 2X, 3X, 4X. Then choose a side to build, pick your starter hole and lace it up. Once you get it laced, you just tension the nipples using your fingers ad no tools. Once you can't pinch the nipple at the spoke and turn it, then you grab the spoke wrench and start working in 1/4 turn increments. Building your own wheels is the way to save money. Back when I was wrenching full time, the labor alone on a custom wheel build (which includes calculation and sometimes custom spoke cutting) was $75 to $100.

A few tips: Only use brass nipples, aluminum will corrode no matter what you do. This is not a place to save weight. Get the good Park Tool spoke wrenches, there's a reason they are the standard in every shop. Use good moly grease on your spoke threads, not spoke prep or locktite. Use only stainless steel spokes, either straight or double butted. Stick with 14ga on the rear and maybe 15ga on the front but the weight weenie days are over. Strength actually is more important in a mountain bike wheel and you won't notice the few grams of extra effort necessary to move the wheel from stopped. You won't go fast enough on a mountain bike to notice any difference that lighter weight nipples and spokes make, but you WILL notice it if your wheel doesn't hold up. Only use 3X lacing on the rear and don't go radial on the front, you can pull apart your hub flange easier with radially laced wheels which are a tiny bit lighter but offer no flex. (this does not apply as much to factory built wheels with hubs made for radial lacing.)

Right now I'm building up a 1995 Stumpjumper with a full XT M735 group. It's a little older-school than the frame/fork but I prefer top-mount thumb-shifters to anything that came after. The first series rapid fire trigger/button shifters worked well 25 years ago but not as much these days. Plastic wears down and eventually won't hold the ratchet wheel or the dogs.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Saw a Bald Eagle tacking back and forth playfully in the wind this morning. I dropped off "Maggie" at the Train station so she could head into the city to get her haircut.

The last time I cut my hair I did it myself. My hair reached my waist, but I got a glob of "Great-Stuff" spray foam insulation in it, and pretty much Covid Lockdown prevented me from getting my haircut so I did it myself. Currently, I'm letting the buzzed sides that were the result of "shaving accidents" grow in. My guess is I likely look a bit feral, wild and crazy, but I don't care. The buzzed sides are pronounced like a bald guy with an industrial/commercial "toilet seat" on his head, except I have a 4 fisted ponytail.

So when you think of the buzzed sides, I likely started the trend decades ago, and it was just a progression of shaving mistakes that became hip. LOL.

The arrogant chin beard and mustache is just because I'm lazy and don't like shaving.

Today I'm going into my basement to sort out some tools. Also, I need to find this small torque wrench to properly secure the $203.00 handlebars made of carbon fiber. They are crazy lite at 180 grams. They are on the Ti IBIS that now looks pure evil. The new Mavic CrossMax wheels are also sinister and aggressive-looking. With the Maxxis Cross Mark tires (2.1 wide) the Newsboy becomes an urban fat boy, but these wheels were purchased to be an off-road fat boy.

I'm so glad I don't have to commute and work anymore. The weather has been bitter, gloomy, and snowy. Staying home and living in my happy bubble is really great. My basement is a warehouse for music gear, bike parts and bicycles, tools, printing hardware, and photo darkroom equipment.

Cal

 

[Nokton48]

Mornin Cal and All,

Kinda Happy Happy with this new Overhead Shooting Stage. 8x10 Norma, also Avedon looks down from below with his 8x10 Norma. 165mm F8 Norma Super Angulon lens. I can even suspend this from the ceiling joist if doing a really big wide set

8x10 18x24 Sinar Norma Overhead Shooting Table 165 Norma SA by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[Calzone]

7, 8, and 9 speed Shimano freehub bodies are all the same size. The difference is in spacers. There is no dishing required as the OLD is always 135mm. With newer fat bikes, this has changed, but you're not going that route.

The cross levers are so cheap these days because they were only in fashion for a year or so. They pull on the cable housing itself instead of the cable and can cause increased wear and flaring/binding of the housing end. I've had two sets and gave them away. You also have to take into account the brakes that you're using. cross levers are designed to be used with road bike levers which will pull enough cable to make a road caliper or a very well set up cantilever. With the cross lever you don't have the option of dialing in much, if any modulation. They were a kludge band-aid for folks who didn't feel comfortable riding on hoods or in drops on a CX bike. One thing to keep in mind is that CNC'd aluminum might be lighter than the high-end Shimano goodies, but much of Shimano's LX/XT/XTR line is forged. In 30 years of working on mountain bikes, I've never seen an XT cantilever break but I've sold plenty of folks on good old fashioned boring Shimano after their high-zoot brightly anodized hollow cantis came out of adjustment and were pulled into the wheel only to be snapped off right at the frame boss.

As for your hubs and rims, why not build the wheel/s yourself? You have several bikes, so that means you have a truing stand. You can just enter the hub make/model and rim into one of many online calculators and it will give you the appropriate spoke lengths for 2X, 3X, 4X. Then choose a side to build, pick your starter hole and lace it up. Once you get it laced, you just tension the nipples using your fingers ad no tools. Once you can't pinch the nipple at the spoke and turn it, then you grab the spoke wrench and start working in 1/4 turn increments. Building your own wheels is the way to save money. Back when I was wrenching full time, the labor alone on a custom wheel build (which includes calculation and sometimes custom spoke cutting) was $75 to $100.

A few tips: Only use brass nipples, aluminum will corrode no matter what you do. This is not a place to save weight. Get the good Park Tool spoke wrenches, there's a reason they are the standard in every shop. Use good moly grease on your spoke threads, not spoke prep or locktite. Use only stainless steel spokes, either straight or double butted. Stick with 14ga on the rear and maybe 15ga on the front but the weight weenie days are over. Strength actually is more important in a mountain bike wheel and you won't notice the few grams of extra effort necessary to move the wheel from stopped. You won't go fast enough on a mountain bike to notice any difference that lighter weight nipples and spokes make, but you WILL notice it if your wheel doesn't hold up. Only use 3X lacing on the rear and don't go radial on the front, you can pull apart your hub flange easier with radially laced wheels which are a tiny bit lighter but offer no flex. (this does not apply as much to factory built wheels with hubs made for radial lacing.)

Right now I'm building up a 1995 Stumpjumper with a full XT M735 group. It's a little older-school than the frame/fork but I prefer top-mount thumb-shifters to anything that came after. The first series rapid fire trigger/button shifters worked well 25 years ago but not as much these days. Plastic wears down and eventually won't hold the ratchet wheel or the dogs.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Right now the bottleneck is getting hubs, especially if you go with Chis King or White Industries hubs. I'm on the same page as far as building for strength. I just bought 3 Sun Ringle Envey 24 inch rims, basically BMX rims that are welded and not pinned. They are 36-hole so they will not be skinny puppies. On the IBIS's the chainstays are only 15 1.2 inches and basically you have the rear wheel tucked in right underneath you and the front wheel has little weight on it.

I also have one 32-hole Envy that I could use as my light wheel. A friend who was a great wheel builder wired my spokes for additional stiffness and strength. I have a White Industries ENO eccentric that I think will allow me to use this discontinued Arrow Racing 2.1 that has square shoulders and aggressive side knobs. This tire really is like a 2.25 or 2.35 in width.

What makes sense is to buy a wheel stand, tools and begin building. The nice thing is that I'm a skinny bitch who only weighs 150 pounds, even though I'm 5'10."

Also since I'm upgrading to 9-speed I think I can gift you a pair of short cage Sun Tour rear derailleurs that come from the age of "Micro-Drive." I'm into recycling... PM me your address again...

On the Ti IBIS I'm using a Paul's Neo-Retro Cantilever on the rear, and a Paul's Touring Cantilever that is designed for tandem use on the front. The "Duplex" lever is like a Cross lever in design. It also has the movable pivot as well. Should work fine.

The Ti Basso (early-early Litespeed rebranded) can fit aggressive tires like 2.35 Schwable Hans Damphs, and I am dedicating a set of 9-speed XTR shifters to this bike and using XT 11-34T cassettes and a 42/32/20 (Micro-Drive) on a vintage Grafton crankset. When is the last time you saw a Micro-Drive triple? The brakes are old Grafton Speed Controllers, and the front brake is now all pitted because it is a magnesium version. This bike has the old Paul's Moon-Units which are smaller than the new ones, also a different design. The skewers are purple "Ti-Sticks."

I even have a Judy SL that can fit the Ti Basso that has been freshened up with a pair of vintage green Speed Springs (light weight for 135 pounds).

The old steel IBIS is getting a truck build-up. I'm a big fan of Middleburn cranks because they are stiff and built for Trials duty and use. I bought two NOS 29T Duo inner chainrings that I intend on using as a direct-mount single chainring/spyder which will allow 16.57" to 63.27" gear using an XT 11-42 11-speed cassette. This bike is being utilized for exp[loring "Rock Gardens" at Blue Mountain Preserve and will have rock crawling gears to remind me of when I used 4-wheel drive low in the Jemez Mountains in my Jeep Scrambler.

So instead of being a hill-billy with a half dozen cars, I have tricked out bikes instead.

Know that the steel IBIS is now 35 years old. I bought it new and it was my first mountain bike. Currently, the flouresent orange powder coat has blisters and rust so it looks like a retro spattered paint job that IBIS made popular back in the day. The reason why I refinished the steel IBIS is that I wore a good amount of the original paint off the frame, and I picked the loud rager because I did not want to get shot by deer hunters by accident. Basically, we were at risk because the narrow single track we rode on was basically deer trails where long handlebars or bar-end were a liability, and terms like "Bark-Burn" on your shoulders from brushing trees. Pretty much scabby shoulders because you wove through trees on narrow trails in the pine barrens.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Mornin Cal and All,

Kinda Happy Happy with this new Overhead Shooting Stage. 8x10 Norma, also Avedon looks down from below with his 8x10 Norma. 165mm F8 Norma Super Angulon lens. I can even suspend this from the ceiling joist if doing a really big wide set

8x10 18x24 Sinar Norma Overhead Shooting Table 165 Norma SA by Nokton48, on Flickr

Devil Dan,

You win the prize for large format crazy.

All this bike talk has me wanting to grab a Linhof, and go scouting to take remarkable shots. The key of course is being at the right time when the light is great.

On one of my Maggie" walks, we discovered an antique gas station that is getting remediated. Pretty much has to be made not toxic.

The bikes are promoting and will become part of my photography. I might have to get an 8x10. BTW because I'm a lazy slacker I love to contact print. The key though is making great negatives.

BTW my favorite Avedone shot was the one of Any Warhol at the MOMA Avedon Retrospective. Viva, one of his crazy groupies, caught him in an elevator and she emptied a 38 into his tourso. Wahol pulls up his shirt to show off the bullet scars. The portraits were life-sized...

I already found a subject for a new book. There are these houses that have commercial storefronts added that are kinda FUGLY in capital letters. Not too far from my Baby Victorian is one that still is for sale. Basically, the entire front yard is a storefront. Very strange looking, but I love it. Would make a great artist studio and the studio would also be great for a gallery. Call me a hill-billy, but I like it.

Devil Christian says he can see me having an art gallery...

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I don't know if it's still there, but the owner of People's Bicycle bought my 1996 Specialized M2 S-Works FSX back in 2013 (after the burglary) and I've missed that bike since.
It was spec'ed out with some things that are "unobtanium" these days. A set of almost one-off TWP (Two Wheel Parts) CNC hydraulic brake levers that pushed fluid to a set of Magura HS22 with Ti hardware (the HS33 upgrade.) The bike had a Kooka "splash" crankset driving the pre-compact drive 48/36/24 chainrings. Shifting was all XTR. Front hub was a Ringle Bubba in blue anodize and the rear was XTRM950, first black hard-ano version. Shifting was Grip Shift 800 Xray that I had massaged into working perfectly. The rims were Campagnolo Kilimanjaro (they don't even exist in catalogs these days) and the tires were IRC Yeti FRO. The fork was the S-Works Judy FSX that Rock Shox made specifically for Specialized. It was the lightest 100mm suspension fork on the market at the time of its debut.
When I drove it up to Beacon, I was asked to put it on the stand and the owner asked his newest guy to give the bike a check up. the new guy looked at him and at me and didn't know what to do!
I hope it's still rolling somewhere up in the Hudson Valley. At this point it would be a museum piece of mid-90's bike history and blue anodizing lust that a 20 year old had.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

I don't know if it's still there, but the owner of People's Bicycle bought my 1996 Specialized M2 S-Works FSX back in 2013 (after the burglary) and I've missed that bike since.
It was spec'ed out with some things that are "unobtanium" these days. A set of almost one-off TWP (Two Wheel Parts) CNC hydraulic brake levers that pushed fluid to a set of Magura HS22 with Ti hardware (the HS33 upgrade.) The bike had a Kooka "splash" crankset driving the pre-compact drive 48/36/24 chainrings. Shifting was all XTR. Front hub was a Ringle Bubba in blue anodize and the rear was XTRM950, first black hard-ano version. Shifting was Grip Shift 800 Xray that I had massaged into working perfectly. The rims were Campagnolo Kilimanjaro (they don't even exist in catalogs these days) and the tires were IRC Yeti FRO. The fork was the S-Works Judy FSX that Rock Shox made specifically for Specialized. It was the lightest 100mm suspension fork on the market at the time of its debut.
When I drove it up to Beacon, I was asked to put it on the stand and the owner asked his newest guy to give the bike a check up. the new guy looked at him and at me and didn't know what to do!
I hope it's still rolling somewhere up in the Hudson Valley. At this point it would be a museum piece of mid-90's bike history and blue anodizing lust that a 20 year old had.

Phil Forrest

WOW. I knew some racers who were sponsored by Specialized, and actually one of them looked like Ned Overend. It was kinda funny the confusion that created.

Back in the late 80's and 90's was the pinnacle of boutique bike components. There was custom everything. Most of those small companies are not around anymore. Ringle though merged with Sun.

It is kinda cool, and in a way, I feel like Jay Leno with his car collection, except with bikes. Jay has more cars than he needs, so I too am spoiled. I have a stable of all old bikes, all pre V-brake.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

In today's episode of "Baby-Victorian" Calvin got all filthy tearing down a sheetrock ceiling in the kitchen.

He says, "The kitchen looks a lot bigger with the floor stripped and no ceiling, but they only used 1/2 inch sheetrock where they should of used 5/8ths."

A surprise is a plumber in the past cut deeply into a joist for a drain run. That will have to be remediated.

Calvin was clever to break up the sheet rock into portions that are not too big or heavy. Using heavy-duty contractor bags he will try to dispose of the demo ruble a little at a time over the course of weeks to avoid a dumpster fee.

Next is the plaster ceiling in the dining room...

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I'm in the process of building a large stockpile of bike parts. I have Phil to thank for promoting 9-speed and 9-speed chains for durability.

It was about 4 years ago that I stockpiled 11-Speed XTR that I bought on closeout. Currently, I'm expecting a delivery of more 11-speed XT 11-42T to add to the stockpile.

We live in a time of shortages along with inflation. I know the boutique bike parts makers like Chris King, White Industries, and Paul's Components are backlogged with orders. 12 weeks leadtime for a White Industry hub...

So I've become a hoarder. I'm also loading up the truck as they say. I have mucho Dura-Ace 9-speed cassettes that I secured years ago on EBAY before we were taxed. Now these cassettes are going for big and crazy money.

So I am also a speculator of sorts. I'm buying now so I don't have to pay later.

So maybe later this year I might have that new Santa Cruz Model "F" built to 1934 specs made of all old wood of that era. My "Hog" all mahogany Model "F" has a full body dark sunburst, but the new 1934 Model "F" will have very light sunburst only on the top. Richard Hoover calls this light burst "Buttered Toast" so I'm calling my dark burst "Burnt Toast."

I was told that only 8 all-mahogany Model F's were ever made. A 1934 version of an "F" is my own invention. How cool is it to have two different models of the same guitar: one built to 1929 specs; and the other to 1934 specs.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

You're going to have to "sister" that joist. I had to "sister" a floor joist under my bathroom...the redneck morons who remodeled this place in 1975 cut about 2 feet of it off to run the drain line from the toilet. Toilet's wax seal never worked until I got under the house and saw what they'd done. Ran 2 X 6's on both sides of the joist over to the foundation sill and screwed them to the joist to hold them in place. Then, drilled thru the sistering 2 X 6's and the joist and bolted everything together with 1/2 bolts and built a support for the end in the center of the crawl space.

A question Cal-when you say "cassette" do you mean the rear gear cluster on a multi-speed bike?

Trust me, in any old house, you're going to find crap like that joist as you update it. The idiot's that worked on this house in 1975 screwed up the wiring, the plumbing and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[jszokoli]

Cal,

1/2" or even thinner is typical for ceilings. You try hanging 5/8" board above your head...

As was said, your never going to stop finding stupid things people did in your house. My house is just a little newer that yours and like yours the 70's were a decade of really shoddy work.

Ugly stuff, badly done stuff. You name it, it will take years but there will come a point where you don't find stuff ever time you turn around. And really, you are lucky from what you say as the original construction was good.

Just imagine if the whole house was built by the clowns that cut that joist...

Joe

 

[Calzone]

You're going to have to "sister" that joist. I had to "sister" a floor joist under my bathroom...the redneck morons who remodeled this place in 1975 cut about 2 feet of it off to run the drain line from the toilet. Toilet's wax seal never worked until I got under the house and saw what they'd done. Ran 2 X 6's on both sides of the joist over to the foundation sill and screwed them to the joist to hold them in place. Then, drilled thru the sistering 2 X 6's and the joist and bolted everything together with 1/2 bolts and built a support for the end in the center of the crawl space.

A question Cal-when you say "cassette" do you mean the rear gear cluster on a multi-speed bike?

Trust me, in any old house, you're going to find crap like that joist as you update it. The idiot's that worked on this house in 1975 screwed up the wiring, the plumbing and a bunch of other stuff.

MFM,

I saw in an episode of "This Old House" where in the past a plumber sawed through a joist to install a drain line, but the horror of seeing a full 2x8 butchered like that. I feel terrorized.

In the basement I see massive full sized 2x10's, in the ceilings on the first floor full sized 2x8's, and in the attic full sized 2x4's. Anyways this is the good of "THe Good, The Bad, And The Ugly."

Jack HVAC told me the gas meter we have is the tiny version and it would have to be upgraded to a larger meter to handle a natural gas conversion to my wonderful Crown Furance that has a tankless hot water feature. Jack's thinks sticking with the oil is best for now because there is a moratorium we have to deal with. The insult is that a gas pipeline runs through the frog ghetto in my back-backyard.

So far I see that the electrical is all above board. The engineer that did our house inspection said it was unusual that every circuit in the house was labeled in the breaker box and over the decades he never has seen this. Then to have a 100 amp service in the garage...

There are only 13 houses on my "Avenue," and recently a plain 1955 ranch that is about 1400 square feet sold almost immediately at full asking price. The market is so-so tight. Already it is estimated that the value of my house went up $98K in a little more than a year. Pretty much we caught a falling knife, secured a low-interest rate, and bought at the lower knee of a curve. Besides that our Baby-Victorian has low taxes, remarkably low.

Interesting to note that the 1955 ranch has taxes that are 50% more than mine just because it is a newer house, even though it has about the same amount of living space. Both houses have two-car garages, but mine is detached. I would say my property is more private, and also I border state land, where the ranch has a rear neighbor. Although the ranch is on 1/3rd acre, and mine only on 1/5th acre the footprint of the Baby-Victorian is smaller and the lay of the land is more useful and spacious.

The cedar pergola set me back $5K with the $335.00 for the building permit. Ouch... Donald Trump instituted a 20% tariff on Canadian lumber and a 25% tariff on Canadian finished/manufactured wood products. Realize that this is only a 10x10 pergola that partially covers a 10x14 patio of pavers.

"Maggie" has this cool vision of setting up bushes for privacy, but I will say hedges that can partition and create a wall on two sides. Presently climbing roses will kinda roof in the pergola into a very cool outdoor space that is very near the kitchen micro porch.

Devil Christian is helping me expand my living space without increasing my taxes. He says attics are considered storage spaces, and a heated and insulated garage is still a garage. I will try to sell to the city that the conservatory is just a greenhouse that shares a wall with the garage.

Also don't tell or show the building inspector my landfilling operations and micro retaining walls that are underway.

On geared bikes I think the term cassette came about for the cluster of gears on a rear-wheel because even though they were a set of cogs and spacers originally, that today they are assemblies that also include clusters of cogs that are held together by a spyder for weight savings. Perhaps people started calling them a cassette because generally all the cogs and spacers get installed as a stacked assembly of cogs and spacers, but maybe the term cassette came about because more or less the whole assembly gets replaced.

Some helpful advice from Snarky Joe is that chains are cheaper than cassettes, and exchanging cassettes is expensive. Moral of the story is to replace stretched chains before they cause premature wear of the cogs on the cassette.

Then there is Phil's advice about the durability of 3/32 of an inch chains that are used on the retro 6-7-8 and 9-speed bikes, although 9-speed chains have thinner side plates with 10,11, and now 12-speed chains even thinner still. "Moo," said the Pig. This is where biking can get expensive, but better preventive maintenance can somewhat curb drivetrain replacement costs to some extent. In the past I spent more time riding than doing maintenance I should of done.

So the bikes themselves are all old and retro. Pretty much that's my style. They kinda stand out in a loud way though, also my style. If my steel IBIS had a motor it would be like a Jeep Scrambled set up for "Rock Crawling" with low gears, big tires, and heavy-duty everything. Not a "Skinny Puppy," as they say. Meanwhile, the Ti IBIS is more like a Porshe 911 crossed with perhaps an Audi RS 5 set up for performance with 11-speed XTR.

The Ti Basso is a "Newsboy" with a retro 1x9 XTR drivetrain that is convertible to a fat tire (2.35 Rocket Ron or Hans Damph, both made by Schwable, "the Leica of bicycle tires") 3x9 XTR made easy by having a separate wheelset.

Then I have an old painted titanium Basso (rebranded Litespeed Classic) that has a blue fade over grey bead blasted frame that is clear coated by Rainbow Cycle. Muy-retro 8-speed, but set up with a titanium mountain bike straight bar with XRT lever shifters over a road Dura-Ace.

So my hill-billy style is not having a yard of old cars and trucks, but multiple bicycles. It would be one thing to have just one old retro-cool bike, but to have a stable of old retro bikes is another. Some would call it crazy.

Meanwhile, Maggie loves her old 630 (SixThreeZero) Every Journey step-through 7-speed touring bike. Pretty much designed for hipsters, but she looks cool on the bike. She is not great on the hills, LOL, which is kinda cute. She weighs about 105 and the bike is about 35 pounds. My Ti IBIS and Ti Basso road together likely weigh less then her bike. LOL. Oh-well...

So "Maggie's" daughter has a code name, "The Creature" because I'm obsessed with Jane Austen novels. The the Grand Daughter is known as "The Creature Junior," or C.J. for short. So the new name for the new Grand Kid whether a boy or girl will be "The Critter" or T.C. for short.

Yesterday we had a visit from C.J. Today the house is quiet. LOL.

Been breaking in more the "Hog-F." I humidified the guitar today, and I still have to do the Santa Cruz OM.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

1/2" or even thinner is typical for ceilings. You try hanging 5/8" board above your head...

As was said, your never going to stop finding stupid things people did in your house. My house is just a little newer that yours and like yours the 70's were a decade of really shoddy work.

Ugly stuff, badly done stuff. You name it, it will take years but there will come a point where you don't find stuff ever time you turn around. And really, you are lucky from what you say as the original construction was good.

Just imagine if the whole house was built by the clowns that cut that joist...

Joe

Joe,

For smoother walls and ceilings they use 5/8ths, especially for 24-inch centers. Pretty much 1/2 inch sags under its own weight, even with 16-inch centers.

As much as I'm wine-ing overall my house hasn't been hacked too badly. The crap I'm getting rid of is getting the "one and done" treatment, even though it is going to cost mucho. Good thing the house is small...

I know how heavy sheetrock is from building out lofts in SoHo back in the day. Brutal I say. Anyways luckily the ceilings were made of stamped tin so pretty much the rock was only for the walls. One loft had 20-foot ceilings BTW. Imagine part of the loft was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a small private workspace, and then above that a bedroom, another bathroom, and a balcony workspace that overlooked the living room which was 40x40 with 20-foot ceilings.

Back then I was scrawny and weighted 135 pounds, presently I'm 150, so basically I looked like a speed freak or a crack-head and people were generally afraid of me because back then I was also kinda jumpy. A double sheet of rock likely was half my body weight.

This loft was on Broom Street. SoHo was still an undeveloped area. If you needed food to had to go to Spring Street or Chinatown.

Every tradesman who sees the Baby-Victorian points at the full 2x10's and the wonderful electric work done. Jack HVAC says too bad I don't have an 8-foot ceiling in the basement because he said we would replace the entire heating system with a groundwater heat-pump system. 8-feet would be required for the duct-work. Anyways he still likes the radiator manifold and layout of the oil system we have.

Anyways everyone kinda says we got a really great house. Like I said, "Good thing it is not huge" because things are adding up. A tiny bathroom sink for the kitchen that has a built-in backsplash and has this bridge facet with pour-sill-in knobs was almost $1K. It goes with the old toilet we are going to keep that I call the "Squaty-Potty" after is the inventor on "Shark-Tank" who came up with this stool that tucks under a toilet that helps you evacuate more efficiently (available at Walmart). The toilet is low and small, unlike the more modern tall thrones they make today.

I think we were fortunate to find a hundred-year-old house that was not gut-renovated and destroyed. I'm uncovering history here, and in a ways I doing "Anthropology" but instead of it being the study of man, it is the study of a rather dumb man who did things poorly and cheaply.

Cal