So, you read all these things about how when you go from a 27” wheel to a 700c wheel, you’ve got to get longer-reach brakes. I thought I measured, I did! But I got the wrong ones. And I can’t return them for reasons, so now I have some über long reach brakes. I’ll find a project for them eventually, but it’s annoying.

Anyway, I’ll write a sappy post about the bike someday later. But I’m v. excited about the project: I’m upgrading Alia’s 198? Panasonic DX1000 from a downtube 6-speed to a brifter 8 speed, with better wheels, ultimately wider tires (another thing I fucked up: the internal rim width is too narrow for the tires I wanted to put on there, but now it can be a new wheelset for my road bike… well, anyway, I got the wrong thing again, live and learn and all), and most importantly, eventually it will have better brakes. For now simply swapping from the ol’ Dia Comp ergo brake levers to the brifters has made a big difference so far as braking power goes.

I’ve been doing the work over my lunch break, and so haven’t gotten around to updating the shifting yet, but hey, it’s a process. Also one of the pedals is crazy fucking stuck. But that’s another story for another day…