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Hi, Jim,

I updated my commuter this summer as I get ready for the (hopefully rainy) winter. Here are the changes:

- Mafac racer center-pull brakes to replace the non-descript BMX brakes. These have reach ranging from 58mm to 70mm, which is great for these old frames that have different reaches for the rear and front - blue lugged fork donated by a Nishiki mixte that my friend had and a fitting stronglight headset. I stuck my foot in the front wheel a year ago and bent the original fork a bit. It was bent back so the fork ends were aligned, but the curvature of the fork legs are just different enough that the fenders cannot go on correctly. Since I am going to commute on my bike through the rainy season, I thought I should fix that problem. The fork was for 27" wheels which gives me plenty of clearance for my 700c front wheel

- Sugino old double 110bcd cranks with 40T/34T chainrings. This replaces the octalink 9-speed dura ace cranks I had on it. The crank arm is 170mm which is better suited for this application. The cranks turned out to be a pain because it required a bottom bracket with 122mm spindle length. However, the frame has italian threading so I had to improvise a spacer to put on the 118mm italian bottom bracket (Shimano UN54) i got. It worked and I have really great Q-factor

- I put on a surly dingle cog (17/20T) to replace the 18T fixed cog that was on it. So far I haven't left the 40T/17T combination.

Donation is on the way,

Franklyn