With the stress of finishing up my dissertation and applying to postdocs I did whatever I could to find some helpful distractions. I started working on vintage road bikes, particularly French ones. Working on bikes is a great distraction because, when compared to academia, it is a pristine domain of success and failure: if something breaks, it’s broken. If It’s fixed, it works. If you mess up, the bike lets you know, and the bike never lies.

Motobecane Mirage

I first started fixing up bikes when a bike mechanic friend found an old Motobecane Mirage in an alley of Hyde Park. He said it was in such a condition that he wouldn’t even bother donating it overseas, which I accepted as something of a challenge. Not knowing anything about how to fix bikes, it started me on a journey and obsession that has brought me great joy.

The hardest part was removing and installing a new bottom bracket for this bike. Motobecane, contrary to many other French bike manufacturers, used a unique bottom bracket threading which provokes a great deal of confusion, even among seasoned bicycle mechanics. It took trial and error to find the right size bottom bracket, with the right threading but I did. And it works great.

In the course of fixing up this bike, I actually found the identical make and model (probably year too) and purchased it. I restored it with all the original parts, even the old-style cottered crankset and french bottom bracket. And it is a perfectly unfashionable cream color.

Schwinn Traveler

After restoring the French bikes, I had built the reputation in my circle to the point that I started being given bikes that people had that they didn’t want to have to spend the money or time fixing themselves. A friend gave me their old 1977 Schwinn Traveler. When I removed the bottom bracket, there were loose bearings but a new set of bearings in a retainer cage and it works great. It’s very blue but it looks just like it did in ‘77, minus the gum wall tires and with mismatched pedals.