May 23, 2005
One Less Fixie
Seeing as how, as part of my "one front wheel" scheme, I have sold the stock Bianchi Pista wheels, I needed to sort out the replacement wheels. Birthday-boy jimg supplied two washers to accomodate the thin fork ends of the Pista (he compared them to the substantially-thicker Sub-11 fork-ends on one of the frames hanging in the workshop, and I realised that the Pista is a poseur bicycle indeed): these washers enabled the 120mm Phil flip/flop rear wheel to fit securely on the Pista. The front wheel, however, posed another problem entirely: the tyre, stiff as an leather saddle, refused to seat on the rim. One vise, two tyre-irons, and several sore hands later, it was in place, but we managed to puncture the inner-tube in the process. I suggested shelving the works until daylight: I'll ride either the Reparto Corse or the Kogswell tomorrow. I did sell the wheelset for a fistful of dollars and a nice "One Less Fixie" sticker, which I suppose would look perfect on a car (ah, yes: the web site advises "these really look best on your h2").
If I had this bike, I would eat more pizza from Arinell:
P.S. I love chain-guards.
