Winter Bike

The weather is getting colder, it's almost time for the Milwaukee Santa Rampage, and the snow will soon be falling here in Madison, Wisconsin.  In the past, my steel Bottecchia with cross tires has worked great during winter.  However, I have had a few things sitting around in the garage that need to get some use.  One is an old Trek 1000 frame that I traded my dad for, and the other is a wood fender I got from a good friend for helping out with his wedding. 

I took the old Trek frame-which was black with pink writing and had lots of stickers on it and I razor bladed all the stickers off.  Then I sanded it and sprayed it with a black primer.  I intended to paint black over the primer but like the way it looks with just primer so I am going to try that for now and see if it stays.

After painting, I went to Dream Bikes Madison and picked up two Bontrager wheels, rear gears, and a studded cross type front tire and a conti in the back with groves.  Because of the chainstays, a cross tire will not fit this bike in the back.  I also had to dice the rear brake and used the brake hole to attach the rear wood fender.  The front tire has a few millimeters clearance only but it fits.  The rear fits fine.   I put on a red rear reflector and my planet bike one watt headlight.  I kept the handlebars and shifting same as it was with shift levers on the down tube.  The young man working at Dream Bikes Madison was friendly and helpful.  I brought in the frame and he added some spacers to the rear wheel to make it fit. 

In addition to the wheels, I also picked up the brown Bontrager seat at Dream bikes.  The bike rides nice although the studded front tire may be a bit of overkill.  This will be a fun ride in the snow/ice.