Litespeed Adventures

Hello All,

Well, the new Litespeed frame and fork have safely arrived at our favorite Sacramento area bike shop, Carmichael Cycles. Shop manager Steve Loebach is a very dear friend and a key member of our Sunday cycling posse.

Jett and I brought Fujigirl to the shop this morning and held a pow-wow/strategy meeting with Steve this morning.

We are going to rob from the Fuji:

1. bars
2. seat
3. wheels
4. rear derailer
5. all components

We are replacing:

1. pedals (will get Shimanos like Jett's so we can more easier share bikes)
2. crankset
3. front derailer
4. cables


I have a correction to post. The reason this Litespeed hung in a shop for 5 years... When the inexperienced bike mechanic assembled this bike, he screwed in the bottom bracket without first applying "ti prep." He got the bb in 90% of the way when it came to a full halt. Then they could not remove it. Stuck in both ways! The guy we bought the frame from rescued the bike and took it to a special shop where they literally cut the bottom bracket out.

We were a little worried about the threads, but Steve checked them out and thinks they'll be fine. And even if they aren't, Steve has an "English tap" and can retap the threads! Hooray!

Okay, one little glitch... We realized today that the front "badge" or medallion on the frame is missing. We have 2 little holes where it is supposed to be attached, so it is clearly missing. How to find one? Must hit the internet, I suppose.

My camera is on the fritz and in the shop. Once it is liberated, we'll post some snaps of the Bella...