Frankenbike begins to stir

Naturally whilst I was away the lurid pink bike in the garden bacame a talking point amongst friends and visitors. Thanks to Ian for applying his insight to dub it Frankenbike – it will of course become Frank when it hits the road but the project has a fine new identity.

The stripdown went pretty well considering I’ve never done one before. The internet is such a help when you don’t know how something comes apart. In younger days with a Haynes manual and a failed starter motor there was a lot of guesswork, grazed knuckles and “overrunning engineering work” when the last resrt of the inexperienced was to hit it with a hammer.

Of course, special tools help so I picked up a crank puller and chain whip for about thirty quid. Again, having taken a pic of the crank on my phone the technician at the shop was able to give me the right one and avoid the awful schlep back and try to exchange it when the tool doesn’t fit.

So now the frame is stripped, Nitromors is doing its worst and the other stuff is in a big box waiting to see if it is good enought to be re-used. Still thinking on the frame colour, black with gunmetal forks appears to be the current trend, but a deep blue may be an alternative. That’s one to sleep on for a bit.

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