Friday, July 2, 2010

Back in Black

I've been risking life and limb with every test ride, due the fact that my rear tire is beyond bald. There was  significant amount of cord showing (check out the cross section).  So for Father's day my lovely wife gave me a new rear skin (OK I did the shopping).  In addition to the useless rubber, the rear rim is blessed with fluouresent green and purple showing through the two layers of poorly applied flat black   Might as well pull the tire and clean up the rim.  Check out the edge of the rim for the previous color samples. 

It was a total pain to clean and sand, thanks to massive amounts of chain lube and globs of paint.  I think the last coat of black was rolled on.  I also had to clean up the gouged edges of the rim where somebody had ridden the bike on it's side.  Honestly it's still not that great, but is a whole lot better.
Here it is with the new tire, a sport-touring dual compound that will last a little longer with my mild riding habits.  Nice to have some tread to use.