Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra

1988 Fuji Opus IV

This bike is probably the prettiest I have ever had my hands on. This 58 cm Fuji Opus IV is in near perfect condition. There are just a few touched up spots on this Feather S145 Cr-Mo frame.

Here is where it gets sketchy. The 1988 catalog shows a white Opus IV with a Shimano Sante group.

This beauty is charcoal. The front and rear derailers are Suntour Superbe. It sports a Sugino Super Mighty crank (which is a work of art with "drillium" alloy) and seat post. The Nitto Pearl stem and 155 bars are pristine. I would assume all this equipment was original.
The wheel set is definately not original. Ambrosia 700c rims laced to Campagnolo Record hubs. This will be one bike that will be hard to let go.

Lawrenceburg-Dillsboro Station Ride Report

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We all met at Cyclops Bikes at 7:30 Saturday. The weather forecast was for a 10% chance of rain until after lunch. That's all we needed for a quick ride to the Laughery Creek and back before the shop opens at 10:00 (sharp).

We started down the levee and along the Aurora-Lawrenceburg trail. This is a great connector to Aurora and I can't imagine riding a bike down 50 to do the same thing. The trail had been cleared of all flotsam and debris but there was a fine coating of mud on the low parts. We traveled along the trail, through Lesko Park in Aurora and survived the short stretch of 56 to Laughery creek. That stretch of 56 has got to be the roughest road in the county even after the patch job. The bike trail or lanes along 56 can't come soon enough even though it is probably one light year away.

Immediately after hitting Laughery Creek Rd. it started to rain, steady. It was warm, about 65 so we weren't miserable, just annoyed. This road has great views of Laughery Creek and the low parts were covered with the same muddy film. We were all sporting brown stripes up our back sides. We decided to take a right onto Cole Lane to cut our trip short but missed it somehow. Being without a map (how can two boy scouts leave home unprepared?)we take a right onto 262 which took us close to Dillsboro. We crossed 50 and carefully zipped down the hill to Dillsboro Station and took a right onto South Hogan Rd. We followed Hogan Creek past our favorite dog to Chesterville Rd. We kicked it up a notch and followed Chesterville to Lower Dillsboro, through Aurora and then home.

We were all wet, covered with muddy drops and gave our bikes a well deserved bath. I have always been concerned about rain on past rides. I think next time I will be less so. Riding in the rain on a warm day was actually kind of fun.

1953 Frejus Touring Bike

1953 Frejus 10 Speed

This is a really cool old bike that my wife's uncle gave me. He saved his money and bought it in 1953 for $400, which was a pile of money in those days (and still is in my house).

It rides like a dream although I would never ride it too far as its 54 cm frame is too small for me. The rear cluster (15/23) and chain rings (50/47) is more of a racing set up so about one hill would kill me. It's one of those things that I will just keep and never get rid of.

Lightweight steel with chrome lugs, Campagnolo Gran Sport groupo, Frejus pantographed crankset, Ambrosio stem, alloy bars, Belilla brakes and levers, Ideal leather saddle, Frejus fenders, Pletscher rack and working generator lights.

I know it is in rough shape (the paint and chrome oxidized while hanging in a garage in florida) but there is just something cool about an old bike.

Removing a stuck seat post

I drug the Centurion out of the shed and on first glance it didn't seem so bad. I was ready to go and then came a few weeks of out of town work, Christmas and New Years.

I went to remove the seat post and ugh, it is stuck. Now I have removed seat posts before but only to save the seat post. I heated the seat tube while destroying the paint and the post came right out. I wanted to save both the seat post and bike frame on this project.

I gently spread the seat post clamp ears with a flat bar and poured some ammonia down the seat post. Ammonia will disolve the corrosion that takes place with the aluminum and steel galvanic reaction. I took a large adjustable wrench onto the seat post top and tried to turn. Nothing doing.

I then got into my plumbing kit, used the propane torch and heated the aluminum seat tube. I figured the expanding of the aluminum against the steel and the following cooling and contracting would loosen the corrosion. (You have to wait until the thing cools because while hot the post is even tighter against the steel seat tube.) I waited until the post was cool and again used the wrench. It came loose like it was nothing.
The stuck seat post could have been avoided with a little greasing every now and then or maybe even greasing it up in the first place. This makes me think that I should take every bike I own, remove the seat post and spread a little grease so this will never happen. Maybe another day.