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SRAM chains have been good. I replace a lot of Z chains with PC830, which is essentially the old Sedisport. That chain was a marvel.

The quality has nosedived. I have fixed bicycles professionally for over 45 years and hardly a day passes without me installing at least a few chains, and I’m often replacing KMC chains due to poor performance. Although this didn’t used to be the case, it has always been the case, at least since...

I would absolutely counsel you to not use a KMC chain. That’s an unfortunate failure, but no cause for alarm yet. Stick with the Shimano chain.

Yes the SC bikes were lugged, unlike the Chicago bikes (save the Paramount, which was later moved to Waterford, Wisconsin). Many were made with True Temper tubing. I rescued one from my dumpster years ago. It was originally purchased at Alan’s in Oceanside. I still ride that bike regularly...

I agree, far more important is the quality of the bearing, and you can’t go wrong with SKF, for example. I remember when Bullseye pulleys stopped using high quality German made bearings and substituted inexpensive substitutes. They looked identical but failed before long.

That’s a 27” frame, the largest they made and quite rare. Inexpensive bikes like this in the US commonly came in 19, 21, 23, and 25 inch sizes. High end bikes were sized from around 47 to 64 cm sizes in 1 cm increments. Remember the steerer tube was unique to each size frame. Thus, it’s easy to...

This is a nice frame. A Japanese built S-10S, it put Fuji on the map in the US in the early 70s, thanks in large part to a stellar review in Consumer Reports. IIRC the bike sold for about $220 at a time when a Peugeot UO8 was about $150 and a Cinelli Super Corsa under a thousand. Back then we...

That bike is from the late 80s. I could be wrong but it looks like one of the last US made Schwinns built in South Carolina. Giant started building for Schwinn in the 70s and by the time the above bike was built was making most of the bikes Schwinn sold and virtually all Specialized. I’m...

It will work, but it certainly isn’t ideal. I wouldn’t do it for such a tiny gain. A 50x11 is a really big gear already. You’ve already got a 16t jump, which is huge. Do you have a compact FD now? Assuming you have a 110mm BCD on your crank I’d buy an aftermarket chainring for sure if I were...

That is as good a goal as any I’ve heard and I salute you!

IsoFlex Topas NB 5 was the old Campy grease originally sold in small round containers and later in squeeze tubes.

Campy grease was the best available for cup and cone bearings. It was made by Kluber and rebadged. You can still get it from Kluber and it’s still expensive. There are many readily available bicycle greases that work well. I prefer a white grease, so often use Finish Line. Maxima makes a good...

There is no dipping in paraffin that can approach Boeshield. If you completely strip a chain and hot wax it, you’ll get adequate performance…for a little while. Boeshield offers very good performance for a reasonable time. It also can be used on a not pristine chain. It’s a great product.

Me likee. Great pick up!

I assure you, I am not one of those people.

I concur with the Woodsman guess. I own a NIB High Standard and a Luger and it’s neither of those. The Woodsman is one of the finest pistols ever made and I’d love to own one. It’s funny what can imprint on your psyche but ever since I read a great pulp book called The Name of the Game is Death...

Yikes! The Sig P320 can fire itself! (According to the completely disinterested and wholly objective Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post.) it sounds just as dangerous as the Audi automobile that can accelerate on its own, and cannot be stopped. Like something from a Stephen King (talk about...

Boeshield is immeasurably better than White Lightning. I absolutely would not repair that trike, and my motto is safety third. But that’s a lost cause.

Yes, that would be the challenge: coming up with a substance that could absorb an impact as EPS does but slowly rebound to do it again. It never thought it would happen but then when it was actually released with approval I thought, look out! But it fizzled. I do remember the Skid Lid. They sold...