Gilbert's Re-Reincarnation: A (bit over) One-Year, 1,000-mile Review

This was going to be a "Farewell and Safe Travels, Good Gilbert" post but I am thankful to say we will not be parting ways for a long time.

58 Years from 1958: This Isn't Even My Final Form!

I have recently completed many updates on Gwendolyn, my trusty 1958 Raleigh Sports. It may seem strange that the bikes that I ride the most such as this one, The Ross, and Gilbert, are ones that I seldom write about anymore when you see how many new projects have been coming my way. The Lotus will probably end up going this way, too. I think it is because these are my most-ridden bikes, I make it a priority to get everything working right at one time, only taking them out of service once in a blue moon to perform a large batch of updates or general maintenance. And, as I wrote in the last post about the Lotus, once everything is dialed in, there really isn't anything that grabs my attention.

The Small-Wheeler

Just as Lovely Bicycle! wrote in her article years ago, "The handlebars look like antlers and somehow the bike seems to be always smiling. Just a friendly little reindeer, waiting for you to ride it..."

2Pake

Behold, my first custom build intended purely for sale, my first entirely "modern" bike, my first bike assembled on film, so to say, and the first bike I have assembled from the ground up in one day, which I think is worth mentioning since none of this came as a kit that was supposed to fit together out of the box. I'm just surprised that everything fit together perfectly and I didn't have to wait for different parts to arrive.

The 200-Mile Shakedown Ride

Exactly three weeks ago, I got my 1981 Lotus Excelle mixte to the point where I could ride it and sort out any bugs that came up.