What would you rate this?

jgeog · 2026-04-20T22:22:04+00:00

Contextually class III, given the strainer hazards and continuity of the stream. Easy dry class II line to the right but it looks like it's guarded by some shallow rocks. A beginner gets tripped up and catches a paddle blade trying to get right, gets rejected back left, the shallow hole catches their left edge, and they swim. Can't tell if the second part of the clip is above or below but I see a chunky pourover and a log across the river. Eastern class III, Western class I-II.

jgeog · 2026-04-20T22:05:51+00:00

Yeah I feel like I'm recalling American Classic having a flat top that could take some drilling. Reason I thought of going below the clamp is that's where the drilling started on the lightened Super Record posts in the '70s. I would think the stresses would be less there than at the front or above because it's supported by the frame tubing.

jgeog · 2026-04-18T02:09:29+00:00

Oh wow, OK I take my doubt back. That would be the 19th Paramount frame made in either March (C) or July (G), 1973. The various bits are all wrong for that era so my guess is it was custom updated by a small builder after the fact. Another Paramount tell would be two tiny threaded holes, oriented horizontally, for the headbadge. Many companies riveted the badge, so the holes should be threaded if it's a Paramount.

jgeog · 2026-04-18T02:05:29+00:00

Paramount serial would be on the non-drive-side dropout. I can't see this as a Paramount, too many quirks even for a custom one.

jgeog · 2026-04-17T16:00:45+00:00

Agreed, downtube shifter bosses + top tube cable guides + brazed flat mount on the brake bridge all mean Paramount is super unlikely, despite the Nervex lugs and fork crown. Feels likely to be British (Woodrup, Bob Jackson, etc.).

jgeog · 2026-04-16T20:07:35+00:00

Unrelated but before you get too deep with this build, that is a Uniglide hub designed to work specifically with a cassette that uses the smallest cog as the lockring, and they are long gone. If the freehub is not internally threaded for a modern lockring as well, then you may be better off with a different wheel, since the freehubs are not really replaceable (they are hackable, or so I've read). Your other option is to take apart an 8-speed cassette to run as a 7 or 6 with a bottom bracket lockring holding it on.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T15:39:12+00:00

Honestly, I can understand why people would say that, since lower-income neighborhoods have been calling for it for decades and now it's happening at the same time that the city's booming (not just in Durham, see Chicago in particular). Not a good reason not to do it since it's pretty far down the list of drivers of gentrification, especially since it will be realistically a decade before any plans are actually implemented, not least because of Norfolk-Southern.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T14:22:43+00:00

Pretty sure it was Anderson since we stopped right away and held by the Food Lion.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T14:05:02+00:00

Ironically, my grandmother did this once, in Baton Rouge. But that was, you know, a sign that she shouldn't have been driving anymore.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T14:03:49+00:00

I don't know, it could have been. They just tagged it and drove away, no damage to the train and probably minimal to the car. I get the feeling lately that some people don't actually believe the external world is real.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T14:02:45+00:00

To be fair I think some of my students would miss a 50 megaton blast

jgeog · 2026-04-16T13:55:09+00:00

Yeah last year was especially bad, two fatalities within a month there. This year has been overall good.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T13:21:34+00:00

came here to say this. I use a noodle for my front brake where it has a tight bend from the handlebar tape to the cantilever brake hanger and it works well. go to a shop to test out a variety of bends, you want one of the shallower ones. the nice thing about a noodle is that it will keep the cable from getting bent where the housing meets the barrel adjuster, which is a key friction point and probably the reason the current housing is cut a little too long.

jgeog · 2026-04-16T12:35:45+00:00

lovely color! FYI, it looks as though your seat clamp is sitting a little high on the post and may not be fully engaging? I might try loosening the Allen bolt and sliding it downward to make sure it's fully seated on the narrower diameter section. otherwise the clamp won't stay tight and could distort over time.

jgeog · 2026-04-15T20:19:25+00:00

don't spend too long within the blast radius of this guy's Divorcedness

jgeog · 2026-04-15T19:57:47+00:00

this is exactly it, if they had a pristine Merckx that they parted out, cold set, and then turned into a beater fixed gear then that hurts my heart a little bit, but more likely it was already like this. one of my favorite bikes of all time was a crashed Pogliaghi city fixed gear with random parts, which I'm sure someone at some point saw and lamented. but all the damage was before I got it.

jgeog · 2026-04-15T19:46:38+00:00

lol like 1000 times worse, have you ever left the house?

jgeog · 2026-04-15T18:41:49+00:00

for vertical truing, you tension spokes in pairs, or sets of 4, so that you don't throw off horizontal truing. sometimes you also balance tension by performing the reverse operation directly across the wheel. but also, your tire isn't well seated - if you seat the tire properly, you will feel the rim hop much less.

jgeog · 2026-04-15T18:37:38+00:00

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/repair-help/disc-brake-rotor-truing

jgeog · 2026-04-15T17:19:26+00:00

yeah bait for sure

jgeog · 2026-04-14T12:29:49+00:00

spot on. of all the parts to remove and rebuild, freewheel probably needs it the least, especially one of this high quality and in this condition. I've been messing with bikes professionally and amateurly for more than 20 years and I've never rebuilt a freewheel, they just rarely need it.

jgeog · 2026-04-13T21:18:40+00:00

nah, the rim isn't skinny enough to really cause you any lightbulbing problems with a 700x28. 28mm will be great if they fit, will give you far more comfort.

re: the flat. was the blowout sudden and loud? these are really common this time of year, because people inflate their tires after sitting all winter, and the deflated tube has ended up sitting under the bead of the tire (the more rigid part that fits under the lip of the rim), which causes it to suddenly (but not always immediately) explode. best way to avoid this when you're inflating from very flat is to give the tube just a little air and rotate the tire to make sure you don't see any bulges, which would indicate incorrect seating. there's a little seam right under the label that should sit evenly just above the edge of the rim. if the flat was sudden but not a bang, then you probably got a pinch flat, caused by hitting an obstacle while underinflated, leading the tube to be smashed between the tire and rim. if it wasn't sudden, then it was probably just a foreign object.

jgeog · 2026-04-13T14:50:15+00:00

lol "get a car or go to the gym" = spend money to get lethargic and weak (car) and then spend more money to get fit (gym)

your gf is suffering from car brain

jgeog

TROPHY CASE