Junkyard Wars Bicycle

I corrected my previous post; as it turns out there are 435 members of the House of Representatives. It's not because I can't add, it was because I was including Puerto Rico in the population count. I thought it was ok to do that, but apparently they're not really a state yet, sort of the way the U.P. isn't technically Wisconsin.

Anyway, as I mentioned a few days ago, I managed to destroy my bike yet again. So here's what's left:

• Blue Sun Tour frame, old, struts slightly bent from my first crash.
• New, chromed out Sun Tour fork, replacing demolished fork, hacksawed down to fit.
• Original back wheel with a Wal-mart mountain bike sprocket cluster and freewheel.
• Original rear derailluer, put back after a brief flirt with Wal-mart mountain bike derailluer.
• Araya front wheel, replacing devastated original front wheel.
• One brake set (rear) with salvaged mountain bike brake pads.
• No forward derailluer, as the original has been completely destroyed.
• No chain guard, as it was bent beyond use inexplicably.
• Pacific Girl's mountain bike handlebar, replacing roadbike bars.
• Single trigger shifter and brake for rear brakes and derailluer, from previously mentioned Pacific Girl's mountain bike. Works beautifully. Forward brakes removed due to pointlessness.
  
• Same handlebar wrap.

I put this together on Sunday, and it really works beautifully. The straight bars are very long, which makes the bike very easy to control precisely. They'll be nice in winter, when it's a shade slippery. I did all of this precisely because this bike is so beautiful. And at $550, it's a bottom-of-the-line Cyclocross bike; I challenge you to find a CX bike for cheaper.

Between the sticker shock of a new bike, and how very much I enjoy tinkering, I had plenty of motivation to fix the one I had up. And I think there's something charming about having a bike that's got about the same luck as I have.