Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this pile of parts is going to turn into something substantial. At this point I just want them to take up less space; they’ve been sitting around for weeks and partly blocking a pathway.

* * *

Got the springer fork painted this morning, too. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Building out a bike from an old J.G. Higgins frame has been a constant process of discovery. It’s a pre-war frame, and tolerances were pretty loose back then… The head tube is cylindrical, but not really round; the bottom bracket adjustment will never be a perfect balance between bearing-grinding tight and meth mouth loose; the seat post — the seat post! That’s the current challenge.

Nobody makes 5/8″ seat posts any more. Nobody in the bicycle world has pre-fabbed a tube that converts a 5/8″ post to a modern 7/8″ post (Wald has a 15/16″ conversion that can be hacksawed). Bleh, so, no easy answers. But, there’s a solution — have a machinist take a 7/8″ tube and use a lathe to remove enough material to create a 5/8″ shoulder.

Must. Be. Patient. Progress comes in incremental, stuttering steps.