The Great Bicycle Build Part 2

My younger son and I are tearing down a perfectly good Lemond Zurich bicycle with derailleur and totally rebuilding it as a 3-speed.  I was fond of my old Raleigh 3-speed decades ago, and I suppose that I want to relive my youth.

We are building wheels this Thanksgiving break.  The back wheel will incorporate a Nexus 3-speed hub.  Holding this weighty little hub in the palm of your hand makes you feel like an a real mechanic.  (Real mechanics among my readership may be forgiven if they scoff at my presumption.)

Here is the hub.

Here is the Lemond Zurich before radical surgery.  My living room makes a good bike shop.

After surgery:

 New parts will be added over the coming weeks.

My son is instructing me in the fine points of bicycle mechanic work.  His instruction usually takes the form of presenting me with a task to undertake or a problem to be overcome.  Then, when I consider what needs to be done and am dismayed that some specialized tool appears to be required and consequently am discouraged because I lack this specialized tool, my son will disappear into the garage and return with the tool.  For example, when one wants to break a chain for easy removal, here is the tool (the L-shaped part at the left, that is) needed to push out the rivet that holds chain links together.

Here is the tool needed to remove the crank.  There is no graceful way to remove the crank without this handy tool with its interior and exterior threads.

Despite my usual inhibitions about mechanical things, I am enjoying learning new techniques and tools for bicycle building.

[This is my first blog post after upgrading my 13 year-old Pentium computer to a nifty little Mac mini.  Nobody can accuse me of being an early adopter.]