part four

I rode my Strada during lunch at work and forced myself not to shift. The gear I used is very close to what I will be running on the Monte Carlo, and I wanted to see what it felt like. Maybe I should have done this before buying the freewheel, but I got lucky and it is a combination that feels good for going up and down hills. After work, I returned to Freewheel to exchange my tire and chain. The new ones were cheaper! Also, I bought new brake pads.

At home, I put the tire together and cleaned some of the metal components with Naval Jelly and a citrus cleanser/degreaser. They look a lot better, but they're still dull and somewhat rusty. Good thing I don't care about how good the bike looks as much as how well it works.

With the help of more Naval Jelly, I scrubbed the rust right off my handlebars and now they look shiny and new; it makes a huge difference on the overall appearance of the bike. I scrubbed and washed the frame again and then applied a coat of carnauba wax to make it shine a little. I took probably a couple three hours total to clean everything up real nice, and still, the paint job leaves something to be desired, there are spots of rust that I can't remove, and duct tape around the seat tube.

Anyway, it's not going to be the prettiest bike on the road, but it looks a heckuva lot better than it did when I bought it. After cleaning, I reinstalled the brakes (with brand-new brake pads) and thought about reconnecting the brake cables. But it was getting late and I don't have the proper tools, so I called it quits for the night.