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I’m kind of binging on bike building right now. This is me indulging my bike-loving-self. Read it, you pervert.

I can’t stop futzing with the pathracer. I pulled off the knobby tires as the frame/brake clearance wasn’t so good after all, and slicks work better for commuting anyway (Continental Gatorskins, steel my beating heart!). A longer stem makes those flipped promenade bars a bit less back-breaking, and makes the whole bike look long as sin. The 61cm frame already looked like it had about a yard of top-tube. Also, it turns out the frame (which I got after I kicked the shit out of my old one under warranty) is missing the rear eyelet braze-ons of the original. So long fenders, so long rear rack, so long dreams of comfortable commutes in the rain. Dear Quality Assurance Dept., bite me.

My poor dear Atala is sitting on the wall at the shop, missing its front wheel, seatpost, and saddle. That bike was never meant to bear the beating it’s received over the past few weeks. I had intentions of savoring it as a sunny weekend bike, the kind of jewel you take out to give birds reason to sing. Instead I’ve ridden it every day, rain or shine, made it my commuting mule, like a monster! When I hurriedly built it up, after my fixie frame failed, I only built the rear wheel and stole the front from my other, now-defeated, bike. But now that my fixie is back in action, I have but one wheel to swap between two bikes. It’s a tragedy, oh yes! One of these days I really ought to build up a front wheel for that thing, I’ve got all the bits ready, just not the time.

Honestly though, two bikes isn’t enough for me, I dream of having three. Today at the shop I pulled a seemingly decrepit Centurion Super Le Mans out of the basement. After stripping it of the unfortunately worn and rusted SunTour Sprint components (made back when SunTour stood beside Shimano and Campagnolo at the top of the market) it became clear that the frame was in pretty good shape.

Sure, the paint was chipping off the chromed fork and seat-stays, and there were some spots of light surface rust, but the underlying cromoly steel frame was in pretty good shape. In addition to being my size and as real as steel can feel, the frame (thanks to being designed for now-obsolete 27” wheels) has wicked clearance. I could stick 700x35 tires on there and still be able to fit a finger between the sidewall and chainstay! That might sound kind of gross to someone who doesn’t know much about bikes, ew ew ew.

I’m considering stripping the frame by hand or sandblasting, and then asking Paul if he’ll help me braze some canti studs on there. Throw on a wheel set with those orphaned knobby tires, a crankset, some brakes, and my randonneuring bars and this old steel steed could be the on-the-cheap entry to cyclocross I so desire. Luckily the ‘cross season just ended, so I’ve got about ten months to fitz and fiddle and figure this build out. Until then, I’ll just delight in theses vintage ‘cross photos, taken back when it really was uphill both ways.