Resurrectio

Once in a while I get to do a project which is especially enjoyable and rewarding. When Mike came in and rode the Rivendell Hillborne, I'm not sure if he was aware of the connection between Rivendell and Bridgestone but the test ride was an eye opener for him. We started talking and he told me he had a Bridgestone X0-2 in his garage, and we discussed fixing that up to make it ride like a new bike. The bike had been a little neglected but was generally sound.

The drive train was shot and he needed new chain, bottom bracket, crankset and cassette. The rear wheel had been replaced recently but the front wheel and hub were fine after cleaning and lubing. We also put on new tires, a new Nitto stem so he could raise the handlebars, new brake hoods and bar tape. Not too bad for a well used 17 year old bike.

First though, we stripped the bike and he took it to a local painter to get the frame powdercoated. I think the color he picked is great.

Facing the head tube

After facing the bottom bracket shell I cleaned up the threads.

New drive train and Schwalbe Big Apple tires

I bought the "Resurrectio" decals from rivbike.com

The finished bike looks pretty good, I think.

I really like the shape of the original Nitto handlebars.

The thing that's so satisfying is working on a product which was made to last the first time and  is still worth putting some time and effort and money into 17 years later. He paid as much to fix the bike up as he paid for it new, and now the bike is good for another 17 years.  That seems like a good definition of value to me.

There are more photos on Flickr