Wednesday, January 03, 2007

You See, I Have These Hubs and.........

Wheels are a big, big deal to us cyclist, (duh! Mr. Obvious here!), but to me they are not only important, but fascinating. One of my favorite things to do is build a wheel from component parts. You take a bunch of stainless steel wires, an aluminum hoop, and a hub assembly which are all pretty useless on their own, and combine them into a marvel of engineering that can be ridden thousands of miles. How cool is that! Maybe I'm wired a bit different than most folks, but I get excited about that kind of stuff.

Of course, it takes skill and patience to do it correctly and have a wheel that can literally go thousands of miles. That and quality components. That's a key too. You have to put some initial thought into it, or you could end up with a pile of crap again! I guess I like that part of it too. The thought and choices that you make previous to the build. The whole process, really.

So it is that I find myself looking into several things concerning wheels right at the moment. One of the projects is going to be the building up of the special Surly "Jim Brown" annodized hubs that I did, in fact, get after all. I have a dilemma though. New hubs, special color, no current bike that matches. Oh crap! Now I "have to" get another single speed 29"er! I mean, what else can I do to have the hubs work out? (We cyclists are sick-sick-sick!)

So, I have had this little idea for a frame for a long time. Maybe I might have to look into that? Maybe I'll look into a brown Karate Monkey........hmmm.......choices. Brakes, cranks, handlebars, stems, and seat posts. Uh-oh! Here we go again!

Maybe it's the pursuit of "The Build" that's so enticing. Maybe it's "aquisition syndrome" at it's worst. Maybe it's a need to create something from a pile of parts, I don't know what it is. I know what Mrs. G-Ted would say. She would say, "NO!" Hrumph!......... I guess I might have to agree with that sentiment.

But I have these hubs and.....................

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