I just rebuilt my track bike that I hadn’t ridden for ages. The bike turned out to be an ultimate collaboration of generosity from my bike friends including Yugo, one of the BMX riders representing Susukino, for the frame and main components, Sam for the back wheel, and Jonny for the pedals.
The major reason behind the resurrection is my injured left ankle. It’s been exactly one year since I got bone necrosis there, which still feels as bad as day one, but I finally realized I ought to maintain the muscles or I’d put myself in a downward spiral.
It was just a simple, quick work to rebuild it thanks to its simplicity. I only had to replace the front tube after it blew up, put a new chain on, and bolted in some BMX pedals lying around instead of ones with straps that are currently on my friend’s stationary bike. All the rest is the same as four years ago.
This photo is from four years ago. One day I noticed a massive collection of dust inside the steerer tube partly due to the minimal gap between the tire and fork crown.
This much.
The issue here is not just extra weight and dirtiness but also saltiness. The snow melting agent scattered all over the road in winter is, to put it simple, salt. As a result, automobiles in snowy areas corrode at an astonishing rate from the underside. Bikes can’t escape this fate, either. So I had to protect this princess raised in tamed velodromes from the evils in the outside world.
Voila! As all old timers familiar with tubular tires know, cork has always been good friends to bikes.
After some trimming, job done. This trick is also useful for other types of ride such as downhill bikes. You can adjust the diameter of the plug with a knife if necessary. Or, it should also be fun to travel around the world looking for the ultimate wine that has the perfect size cork plug.