I thought I'd better give an update on my bicycle refurb project. I have an obsession with bikes (among other things..!) - old, pretty vintage/Dutch style bikes specifically. As much as I love bikes, if I'm to be honest with myself, I love the IDEA of them rather than the RIDING of them, so to speak. I have a beautiful replica vintage bike, a purple lowrider, which is gathering dust as we speak for lack of use. That said, I do live in a city which really doesn't lend itself to bike riding - most of the year it is sweltering hot, the roads aren't set up for bikes, motorists seem to have made a mission of how many cyclists they can possibly kill, and the terrain is extremely hilly. So a trendy and relaxing ride to work on my purple low rider is actually more hot, sweaty, and exhausting than enjoyable, sadly. BUT - this bike I'm refurbishing is actually a genuine old bike, and much lighter than the imitation one I currently own. So, I'm hoping the refurb project will reignite my love of actually riding.
The bike in question is my mother's - so she'd kill me for calling it vintage, but it's a 1983 Speedwell Classique. This is where we're at with it so far (it needs new parts and a new paint job):
The boyfriend and I pulled it apart the other night, and he attempted to teach me how to use tools and about bike parts - such a bad idea. I intentionally went anti clockwise instead of clockwise and kept calling the parts by all the wrong technical terms just for amusement. By the end, I think his patience was wearing thin.
Next time you see this bike...I hope it's not in pieces in a plastic box!
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