Chris Fruetel: preeetttyyy biiiiikee

Sorry guys, but this post is a bit more of a reflection than it should be. But you know where I'm going with it! The new bike is built! and she's BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't ask for a better bike! I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I personally picked the colours and the parts by hand, and didn't ride (or even build!) it until I had all of the componentry collected. This invovled a trip to Toronoto, many phonecalls, much research (sometimes to the point of obsessing) into the parts, and some vanity too. I put the bike together, and kept the wheels off of it for a few days, just so I could admire the craftsmanship, and not be able to ride it during exams. I don't have 29inch tubes anyway.
Then after a few days I decided to *try* to put the tires on tublessly. I put the tires on, seated the bead nicely and pumped very fast on the floor pump. POP! They sealed. hmmm. let it be for an hour...They had lost air, but retained a startling amount. So I dug out my old bottle of stan's juice (some goopey white stuff that you put in the tire to fill in leaky holes) put in a scoop, resealed the tire carefully, got my housemate Jordy to hold it vertical while I wailed on the pump. POP! I dashed up the stairs to the bathroom with a tub, filled it up and threw my wheel in.
That doesn't make sense, does it? Why you might ask? Am I really being mysterious? Or is it common sense that you'd see bubbles come out of the tire where the holes and imperfections are? Maybe the latter. I do miss the river I used to do this in though, a bathtub is much less glorious. One or two bubbly spots became apparent, so I shook the fluid in the tire over to the spot and it sealed. Astounding!