650b update, emily’s first real bike and ride, encouragement to christine
so i have about 60 miles on the trek 650b project, and after some minor adjustments, and the installation of the headlamp, it’s about as perfect as one could imagine. the only thing that remains to be seen: how it feels at the end of 100+ kilometers. if i were to have someone build a custom bike for rando riding though, i would sent them this one to copy. 
still need: fenders, thats it.
emily’s boyfriend steven found this old puegot mixte in the trash. we spend way too much time fixing it up, scraping off rust and repolishing stuff. she wanted the shifters moved off the downtube, so i mounted the old simplex shifters to some new barcon mounts. we bought some french city bars from velo-orange, as well as cork grips and simichrome polish. new pads, cables and housing, and a lot of elbow grease later, and the bike was back in order. it has full fenders, internal wiring for the lights, and enough inherient beausage to not feel like a museum piece. she rode it 3 miles to the bar last night and 2 miles to school this AM, so thats a good start.
i have more pictures of the process. i’ll post them soon.
on a tuesday ride with the boalsburg bikers, we encountered a rather idylic scene: an amish farmer cruising along with his kids skipping along behind him. six mules pulled the equipment, which i forget the name of.
encouragement for christine: my new purple bike has downtube shifters, just like yer new white bianchi. i am used to friction shifting, but the whole reaching down thing is a whole new level of adjustment. but its getting easier. just stick with it. its worth it. maybe 100 miles to master it. thats not much. it took alot more than that to learn how to ride a bike right?
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That trek is clown town.
wow, i didnt know it was THAT clown town. i thought maybe more like krusty the clown. it def needs new paint. but i want to get some braze-ons done before i repaint it. ya heard?
thanks for the shoutout, james. the shifters and i are becoming friends (did a 20 miler with minimal pain after i figured out “my gear”). however, around town i save myself the headache and ride it like a single speed. works like a charm.
Red, yellow, purple, green, blue. Those are the colors that are on that clown and your bike.
Honestly, I think it’s the purple and yellow bag that puts it into clown town territory. I like the idea of the 650b project overall, especially wooden components.
starmer,
the frame is purple, not blue. which i know doesnt help my case. the bag is pure farce, i mean its supposed to be over the top retarded. riding this old bike, with the ’standard diameter’ tubes convinces me more than ever that you should build up that falcon.