Why am I doing this?

I bought my first touring bike in 2014. I was interested in bike touring, but I knew very little about bike construction and maintenance. The bike was used, put together by my local bike shop.

I loved this bike. I began to ride more and more, longer and longer distances. I rode up and down mountain passes, commuted to and from work, and pushed it up and down steep gravel forest roads.

As I rode, I began to notice mechanical problems that I slowly learned how to fix. I discovered that the bearings were installed upside-down in the headset, so I learned how to take apart and replace the headset. I also learned how to replace the brakes, and soon the bottom bracket as well.

A couple years into owning the bike, I learned that it had a small warp in the frame. Its previous owner had apparently gotten into a pretty bad head-on collision, bending the down tube slightly up against the head tube. I was advised to keep an eye on it. Steel is strong, so there was a good chance the frame would maintain strength for a good while.

My luck timed out in October 2022. I began to notice eerie creaking in my headset. Thinking the bearings needed cleaning, I took apart the headset, cleaned all of the pieces, and put it back together. It still creaked. As I was re-adjusting the headset, I discovered a crack in the frame. The crack almost entirely encircled the down tube, right along the warp in the frame. The creaking I was hearing was not worn out bearings, it was the sound of cracking steel. I took a deep breath and gave up on adjusting the headset. This sort of frame defect was not worth repairing, especially since the components on the bike were well-loved, and the frame wasn't quite sized correctly for my body anyways.

Throughout my time riding this bike, I got more and more interested in bike construction and maintenance. I began to daydream about building up my own bike, selecting my favorite components and learning how everything fits together. I never actually took steps towards doing this, because it was an expensive thing that I definitely didn't need.

...so I guess now is the time? It's pretty clear that biking brings me a lot of joy, and if I do this right, I can build a bike that will last me the rest of my life. To be continued...

my bike's final joy ride: a gorgeous spin to my favorite bakery and a ride along the Mississippi with the fall colors