Shimmering

There's a row of poplar trees at the bottom end of the school playing fields. Standing 20 to 30 metres tall, they catch the wind with ease. There's something mesmirising about their sway, an indication of something bigger. I don't mean to suggest a higher power, I'm comfortable with explaining what surrounds without recourse to gods, but their scale draws attention to my insignificance - an infinitesimal blip in the universe's existence. On that scale, I'll soon be gone, as will the Earth. Anyway……..

Pub bike, pub bike, yes, pub bike. Although, is it really a pub bike? I can't help but make my bikes a little bit more special than something I'd leave locked up outside, shunned by the thief but devoured by the elements. I'm starting to think, “Is this the bike for the world tour that will never happen?”.

Shimmering: to make a shim. Pushing down hard on the handlebars made them rotate. The bolt on the stem was as tight as it could go and the handlebars clamp area the right size for that of the stem (25.4 mm). With a screwdriver, I had prised the stem clamp area open a touch to thread the bars through - did this misshape it? A homemade shim to the rescue. The starting kit is a tad expensive for a bit of aluminium but comes with free beer inside:

A trim to the right width:

Wrap around the bars, tighten the stem clamp, push down on the bars, and no movement - job's a good'un. Before setting up the gearing, I needed the bottom bracket cable guide attached. I had a Shimano one lying round but with no rivet to press into the shell (which isn’t threaded to take a grub screw), plus the holes of the two didn't line up. Glue then:

Immaculate paint job by a previous owner

Once dry, I'll finally gets the gears set up.