Neglected But Not Forgotten - Part 2

Test riding after all the leaves got frozen off the trees!

 Just yesterday I posted about a couple of my bicycles which I had left sitting for far too long without a ride. Well, those aren't the only two bikes with that issue! Far from it! I have a LOT of bicycles, you see, so it becomes a bit of an issue to throw a leg over all of them in one calendar year if  I have review stuff to do and , well, ride all this gravel around here. Someone has to do it! 

Yesterday I had to do a bunch of parts swapping in regard to review stuff for RidingGravel.com.  As long as I was down there in the Lab, I figured that I should just keep the ball rolling, in terms of digging out old bikes to ride, that is. 

I also wasn't real motivated to get out in the country, since we started out the morning at a balmy temperature of 19°F. It was pretty cold! So, a morning full of parts swapping and maintenance was undertaken with an afternoon of short test rides on tap as well. That started out being a RidingGravel.com specific task and then I worked on the bicycles I am featuring in this post to get them up and running. 

I just haven't gotten this out much this year for whatever reason.

So, the ol' Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross was first of those neglected bikes I worked on. It really didn't need much, as it was basically good to go when I parked it last, way back in late Winter! I think it was then, anyway. 

I had snagged the B-Rad rail off of it which I had used to increase the water bottle capacity on this bike. That went on my other Black Mountain Cycles bike, but this left the Orange Crush with only one cage. I just had to re-install the original orange cage and that was taken care of. The tires were flat due to neglect, so a refresh of sealant, new valve cores, and some air took care of that issue. 

I noticed that the old, out of production front bag has a frozen zipper on one side. I can still get into the bag, but it is kind of a hassle now. No biggie. That bag has been on there almost ten years now. I figure with all the dust and gravel road riding I've done with that bag on there getting this much out of it is good. Plus, maybe I can get that fixed. No rush on that though. 

I had to replace a couple of stolen components to get this one going. (I was the thief!)

The other bike that had been side lined too long was the Snow Dog. I stole the seat post and saddle off of it to put on my pink MCD for Gravel Worlds. So, I traded posts back and swapped saddles as well. 

It's getting to be time for this rig to be ridden back and forth to work and maybe out in the country, but I still am not 100% on those Milhouse Bars. I may swap those for some flat bars at some point. Not sure yet..... 

So, there are two more bikes ready to go. Think that's it? HA! I've got some bicycles I've rarely ridden in years I really should get out and, you know, find new homes for them. Time will tell. I still have bikes to get to that I do ride, sometimes, so stay tuned....