Pages

Wednesday, January 3

I stand alone today

As with most things I do, another project done that didn't go as (sorta) planned but caused less damage than expected while also still being poorly timed.

A wise person would not be doing any improvements on a bike room that still isn't a bike room but is in all actuality still a screened-in porch.

No one has ever accused me of being wise.

I have an issue with impatience.  I see a problem and want to either attack it immediately or sweep it under the rug... and then glue the rug to the floor.  Once I realized that my soon to be bike room was going to be crowded when I sprawled my work stand into full standiness ready, I thought about proper solutions.  "On brand correct" work stand sponsor Topeak, whilst offering a multitude of freestanding solutions, does not make a wall mount clamp.  I looked at my options, and it was either some chintzy Harbor Freight bullshit or a high dollar Park Tool shop quality clamp.

Meh.

So I looked at my old work stand that I've had since long before Ultimate became Feedback Sports and put on my thinking cap.  Once again, I had to head to the local hardware store to stare at things that do things that aren't the things I want the things to do.  Plumbing and electrical and general hardware.  Friendly employees approaching me as I walk the aisles with 2/3 of my work stand in one hand and a tape measure in the other.

Lots of "You're trying to do what?"

Why can't I just be the guy in the hardware store saying, "I need a toilet part for my toilet that does what a toilet part should do when it's not broken?"

Anyways, get something that's close to what I want, grab the super long pallet that came with the new siding they slapped on the old place that the tree fell through, pull off a board, commence to cutting according to my "plan," go to mount the stand to my wooden "creation," and...

Nothing works.  The boards are too narrow.  The clamps don't reach far enough.  It's all shit.

Meh.

Disheartened, I head to the big box hardware store to wander their aisles.  I end up finding larger clamps, and with some head scratching, I come up with a new "design."

The end product is not pretty.  I'm sure my dad would have made it out of cherry or walnut and wet sand finished it with 1,000 grit sandpaper before staining it with cheesecloth.  Probably ten coats.  It would have taken him five years to build it, and four and a half of which would have been doodling on napkins.

I'm not my dad in that respect.

It does what I need it to do.  It takes up zero floor space in my tiny room, and will probably get used a lot more than it did in my much larger bike room... because back then, I was too lazy to set it up for minor repairs.  It was just as easy to flip the bike and work on it using that half-assed thing I built awhile back.

It also has the added benefit of folding up super tight to the wall, which is buneo, because if everything works out, the bike room will occasionally be used as an actual room room.

Of course, I realize that when it comes time to install doors, windows, walls, and whatnot, I might have to take this down and reinstall it... but at least I won't after go through the process of making it a "thing."

A thing that was almost swept under the rug before the gluing of said rug down to the floor.

5 comments:

Matt Mc said...

I would like a 10 minute ride in your brain.

Anonymous said...

That thing could hold a broom or a small table top. More than bike function there my friend. Spot on!

hellbelly said...

I have that same old Ultimate and that's a solid way to shoehorn it into a not so large confine. My bike repair/maintenance abilities are fair at best, but I do like to be able to walk around both sides of the suspended bike. Generally this means setting things up out on my patio, but the weather of late has been less than conducive to these sort of shenanigans.

Anonymous said...

looks like tongue oiled pallet wood.
nice.

glen said...

well done!