Grant's 60cm Cheviot

85cm PBH

If I hadn't ridden Vince's 60cm Betty Foy many years ago, I wouldn't have bought a 60 Cheviot. But..it's great. I had a green one before, but a pushy customer from Ukrain rode it and insisted I sell it to him, because we didn't have them in stock.    Best current derailer in Shimano's line, I think. No front derailer, but I manage OK with the 34 x 36 low gear. A 24 is on there, and I've finger-shifted it to the 24 a few times.

I like the idea of centerpulls, I like how they look and all, and rigged them on this bike. The superlong straddle wire on the rear one reduces the mechanical advantage or something, and by modern standards, the braking in back is _________. It took no time to get used to, and I ride this bike down really steep hills with cross-traffic at the bottom, and no problem.

My route to and from work gives me hilly options, and I'm trying to stay fit as I age, so I do intense hill sprints a few times a week, and I time 'em. Cheap digital watches are great for that.

I will replace these home-maders with some of our new Dutch grips...but these work fine.

You can get flexible hose-ing like this at Ace Hardware and probably Amazon, too. I hate the stock fender-stay caps. They're fussy, they make you cut the stay just so, and the old way, with just single stay caps, was easier. This is my workaround, and it's easy.  I forget what internal diameter the stays take, but we have some around here.