Bikeless Day 3

I dropped the Stumpy off at West End Bicycles during lunch on Friday. The bad news: the shock has to be sent off for repair. This will take atleast a week, more likely two. The good news: it will almost certainly be under warranty.

I left work early to look at getting a backup bike: either roadie or hardtail. I didn't really find what I wanted off-the-shelf. No one stocks a bike spec'ed like I want: a mid-range (not top of line) frame with near top of line components (XT or Ultegra).

Of course shops don't stock this way. They stock with lower components to keep the retail price down. In some cases you can move UP the line in frame and DOWN the line in components. This of course allows a higher zoot bike frame (by name) at the minimum of price.

From sales viewpoint this makes perfect sense. For me it doesn't. I'm shopping components and frames not so much price. I couldn't find what I wanted in stock... There's no point in waiting weeks for a custom spec'ed bike, or time to have the components I wanted upgraded. Disappointed and dejected I slithered home.

Lo and behold a deal arose for a hard tail bike that is sort of my dream bike. Not sure if the guy want's to part with it for a reasonable price, but I'm finding out on Monday.

MOOPS!
Call me Bubble Boy! I finished up the painting bubble Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. My friends cracked jokes about the lumber yard being out of popcicle sticks... har-har!



Look at my expert joinery...



That's a joke! This only going to stay up temporarily, so who cares what it looks like?!

Before I could hang the sheeting, I needed some light. I placed the lights to eliminate shadows. Shadows make it tough to tell how thick the paint is being sprayed on. I ended up with four dual-lamp flourescent fixtures on the ceiling and two on the side. I think I'm going to add one more on each end, too. Now the garage space is lit up like a TV studio!



Next comes the plastic sheeting...
















Here is a little trick. When you put the sheeting on the "ceiling"; first staple it all the way down the side of the garage like this...



Then work back across the ceiling toward the center. If you don't, it's almost impossible to get the sheeting straight while working with it over your head.

Here's the finished bubble outside and inside...









I haven't framed in the exhaust filters yet. They going out the garage door. The problem is, I need to get the car in and out of the bubble through that garage door too. The filters will have to be removable. Some head scratching yet to be done!