What’s been in the stand…

One of my favorite sayings is “those who know don’t say and those who say don’t know.” That saying has retained its original feeling, but has been paraphrased from the original by Lao-Tzu, a 6th century B.C. philosopher, considered the father of Taoism. The original goes more like: Those who have knowledge don’t predict, those who predict don’t have knowledge.

I have a hard time posting something just for the sake of posting something. I have an even harder time with things like Facebook (even though I’m on it) and Twitter (which I’ll never, and I can say that with some authority, be on). I try to make posts here informational or humorous even in their ranting – posts that are or should be fun. You won’t find much of anything about my personal life because it’s none of your business.

So why the diversion into philosophy? It’s been a while since I posted something and thought it was about time to put up some pictures of some things that have passed through the stand.

First up, a really neat Schwinn Sting Ray in nice condition right down to the original rear slick tire.

Next, a custom reach adjust on an old Shimano 600 brake lever, courtesy of Charlie Cunningham.

This old Potts (or was it a Ritchey?) came in with some bottom bracket problems. It was a little (c)rusty inside the bb shell.
One of the cartridge bearings was missing the ball bearings. That’s the inner race on the axle, the outer race on the work bench and the seals. No bearings – yeah, it felt a little rough.

Fresh bearings and it’s like new all over again.

This one is for the mechanics out there. You all know what I’m talking about because when it happens you call over the other mechanics (the sales guys just don’t understand so they aren’t included) to show them your feat. It could be that you’re building a wheel and you reach in the spoke box and grab what feels like the right amount of spokes, count them out, and the count is the exact amount you need. Or like in this case, you need to cut a steerer tube at 215mm, you clamp the steerer in the vise, fit up the tubing cutter to where you think the 215mm mark is going to be, measure it and find that you’ve got the cutter blade at 215.25mm. It’s little things like that that make a day memorable.
And finally, sometimes there are BSO’s that come in. But they leave my shop as actual bikes that function nicely and get their riders from here to there safely.

(What’s playing: Wanda Jackson It Happens Every Time)