The Bike

The on-wheels member of Five Cent Fiddle rolled into Clemson aboard the old white & blue bike that the owner of Hendersonville Pawn gave to him.  The roll out of Clemson was about a zillion times awesomer.  Here's how it happened:

Harvey stopped at Bike Street in Clemson to get a wheel trued up and to see about new brake pads.  There, he met W, who was very helpful and the conversation turned to the FCF adventure.  W thought this was a pretty groovy way to cross America and he said it was too bad that we weren't in town longer because he could have built Harvey a bike from scratch.  Well, turns out this troupe has no time frame and no plans!

So the next morning Harvey rode old blue (a good bike but not a 1,000+ mile roadster) for the last time on the way over to W's house.  And for the sunlight hours he and Harvey built a new bike from scratch.  Sturdy frame, double-walled wheels, caliper brakes to stop the fully-loaded 90 pound bike, 29 inch wheels that roll over anything, fixed front 7-speed in the back for easy hill climbs, a modified skateboard mounted on the rear to increase gear-carrying capacity, etc...  The fee rendered hardly even scratched the cost of the parts; W is just that awesome of a guy.  Harvey didn't know much about bikes so watching W build it was very educational as well.

We can't thank W enough for this gift; it's a blessing every single moment of every day.  In fact, each piece of the bike has it's own story.  Here are the details, written by W himself…

This is the list of parts on that bike and their origins…

Frame/fork: originally purchase by my life-long friend Stan after returning from veterinary school in the Caribbean and wanting something to ride around New Smyrna Beach, FL. He gave/traded it to me for some brakes I still need to send him. I used it for transportation while working at the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Then I brought it with me to Clemson, SC intending to use it as a second mountain bike or a transportation/cruiser bike for the shop.

Wheels: came on a mountain bike I got in 2009 for casual riding while I built my next racing bike. They saw cruising action in Orlando, I used them on my commuter in Seattle for a few months, and then I used them again for cruising/ commuting in Winter Park, FL downtown Orlando.

Cranks: came from a Haro mountain bike I got for jumping, riding down stairs on campus, etc., in 2005 while attending U. of Central Florida.

Seatpost: came from a Trek mountain bike I got in 2007 the first time I lived in SC.

Handlebars: I traded a lunch for them while working at Bike Works in North Orlando. I can't fully remember what the lunch was.

Stem: came from my friend Emily's new bike. I built it up and she needed a shorter one so I swapped her and ended up with the one you now have.

Grips: came from Stan when I traded him a Raleigh 29er frame for a blue steel frame that I had previously traded him. The grips matched well so he let me have them.

Rear Rack: while working at a different shop in Anderson, SC in 2008, a customer brought in a tandem for repair and he told me to remove the rack. He said I could have it. I have used it on various cruisers and commuters ever since, Orlando, Volusia county Florida, Seattle, Downtown Orlando, Clemson,SC.

Derailleur/shifter/cassette: I can't remember.

Skateboard: got it on a great deal on SteepandCheap.com. Got tired of skateboarding on it. Used it to make the platform for the bike rack inspired by the Surly Big Dummy (look it up... Harvey would love it!)

Tires: a customer bought a bike a few months ago and wanted different tires... those were traded in for credit. Then I bought them from the shop.

Brake levers: came from Harvey's existing bike and I'm sure have a fantastic story of their own.

 - FCF

Olive has had fleas off and on for months, we've exhausted most measures and thank goodness it's finally getting a little better

Meadow has exhausted everyone's backyards for months; trotting the better part of 15 miles daily, she's still getting fatter (though, to her credit, it's probably muscle at this point)