My Own New Old Peugeot

I just scored my own dream Peugeot.


Based on the tubing, decals, and components, my guess is that this is a 1974 UX-10. I'll just get straight to the porn...

That headbadge!






This is the imprint on the saddle.


And of course, the tubing...

The Old SU200

The Everything Bike is one of those mythical creatures. Many talk about it, some work towards it, and few achieve it. The Everything Bike is often heard mentioned by cycling n00bs. Usually, people want ridiculous combinations of factors: criterium maneuverability, touring bike durable, hill climber lightness, and commuter stealth. My goals are a little more in reach.

• ability for wide gearing
  
• wall climber for pulling loads uphill
  
• ability to attach a trailer, clearance for fenders, transverse saddlebag, and snow tires
  
• disc brakes for all-weather stopping
  
• light enough to get there in a reasonable amount of time
  
• maneuverable enough for dense urban traffic
  
• stable enough riding with no hands for at least a few blocks
  
• ability to mount whatever I need to mount without jumping through hoops of fire
  

My SU200 has long been my Everything Bike.

Heavy Hauler:


Winter Whip/All-weather Commuter:


Touring Bike:


Generally Usable Bike (notice the light mounts on the fork):


Short of spending a few thousand dollars on a custom frame, nothing else has (or could) come close. Granted, I have spent quite a bit over the years trying out this, that, and the other thing. If you look closely at those photos, you'll notice a lot of various small changes. I now have a solid idea of what works for me and what stands up to long, hard use.

I'll discuss some of these items tomorrow.

My "New" Everything Bike

I'm getting a new bicycle. Here it is:


Interestingly, I've had this bicycle for quite a few years now and through lots of mileage. My 2006 Trek SU200 is getting a whole new refit. It's getting what it deserves.

Wait, why some crappy, chunky aluminum frame? Because it fits me and I don't just mean physically. I've gone through quite a few different whips over the years and nothing compares when it comes to all-around platforms.

The SU200, in my opinion, is the most underrated production frame. Period. Inexpensive enough to abuse with impunity. Versatile enough to love completely. Durable enough to ride hard and put away wet. Nothing else comes close.

There's almost nothing stock on it currently, but now the SU is going to get the treatment it reserves. Tune in tomorrow for more of the continuing adventures of This Old SU200.

The New Smoker

As promised yesterday, here are the directions for building a serious trashcan smoker.

I had originally built an electric smoker, but there were some factors that led me away from doing so again. For starters, my apartment at the time was on the third floor of an apartment building and I had no balcony. That meant I had to run an extension cord out my window to the ground floor.

More importantly, however, was the fact that my smoker would not get hot enough to smoke anything in a reasonable fashion. I would use the smoker to put a smoke flavor on the meat and then finish them in my oven. The smell in my tiny apartment would linger for a week. Furthermore, I had to leave my smoker outdoors, so wrapping it in insulation was not an option.

The solution was fire! By using a propane burner on low, I could put a lot of smoke on the meat, with very precise temperature. Purists may bristle, but engineers and chefs will recognize the need for consistency.

This trashcan smoker is my test smoker so that I can dial in my techniques and recipes. Soon, I will build an offset smoker so that I can get cooler smoke and anaerobic environments (which present a whole now danger: botulinum). But this smoker will serve most people perfectly for years.

This project involves fire, flammable gas, metal, cutting, power tools, cursing, boozing, and subject matter not approved by the MPAA. I suppose I should warn you that there are hazards involved. If you act like a moron, you can get hurt or seriously killed. I am deliberately leaving a lot of the instructions vague because if you don't know how the hazards involved can be mitigated, don't go messing with fire. Wear protection. And I don't mean condoms.

What you need:

• steel trashcan with lid
  
• two Weber 18.5 inch steel grates
  
• cheap propane burner (like from a camp burner or turkey fryer kit)
  
• cast iron chip box
  
• six, 1/4 x 2 1/2 machine bolts
  
• six, 1/4 nuts
  
• 12, 1/4 inch fender washers
  
• drill
  
• 2" metal hole saw
  
• measuring tape
  
• thermometer, something like a meat thermometer, but a remote oven thermometer is even better (more on this later)
  

Note: there is a lot of shrill hype about the zinc in the galvanized trashcan. The trashcan is never heated to the vaporization point of zinc. Additionally, you get a smoke coating on the inside of the can from the first test firing. And finally, as a little more paranoid measure, don't let the food touch the side of the can. You don't want to let the food touch anything anyway because that would be a place with no smoke.

First, wash out the can. I used a dish brush and biodegradable dish detergent. The idea here is to get out the nastiness leftover from manufacturing and shipping.


Start by measuring the diameter of your trashcan. My can was about 20.5 inches in diameter. Remember that number. Make a mark near the top of the can that is on the vertical line where you want a rack mount (don't worry about height yet). Now, taking the diameter measurement, measure out that distance on the circumference two more times. This will give you three points on the outside of the can that describe an equilateral triangle in your can.

Determine where you want your racks. If you want to smoke large turkeys, or ribs standing up, I suggest 9 inches off the deck for the lower rack and another 12 inches above that for the upper rack. Measure 9 inches off the ground along the outside of the can, in the same vertical line as one of the three marks. Measure another 12 inches above that. Mark each point. Repeat for the remaining two vertical marks. Drill. Insert screws and fender washers.


Using the hole saw, create one hole on the side of the can, near the bottom. This is for the gas hose. You must do something with the edge of this hole otherwise it will chew through the propane hose. Create another two holes near the bottom of the can. These are to let in cool air to develop a decent draft and help control the temperature. I made the mistake of putting these holes on opposite sides. This allows a cross-breeze to form in the smoker. If I did it again, the lower two vents would be next to each other.

Now for the burner...

Assemble the burner (if necessary) and place it in the bottom of the can. Run the hose out the hole you made for it.



We'll test fire the smoker now, but don't plan on being able to do food immediately.

Soak some wood chips, place them in your chip box, put the chip box on the burner, and light the burner. Turn the flame down as low as it will go and stay lit. This may require some jiggering and hacking on your part. Put the racks in the smoker, replace the lid, and monitor the temperature.

The idea here is to make sure the smoker can be controlled over a range of 160 to 225 degrees. This is a good range for a variety of foods and impatience levels. Also, we want to coat the inside of the smoker with a protective layer of smoke.

I highly suggest a remote thermometer for the smoker, one with a wireless transmitter and receiver. The model I bought was the Redi-Chek.


This is not a great thermometer because it tries to do the thinking for you. But it is wireless, has a temperature alarm, and a long probe. This is invaluable for being able to watch a movie or otherwise wander away from the smoker and still be able to babysit the temperature. Additionally, if it is raining outside, you don't have to keep running outside to check the smoker.

I also bought a Weber piezoelectric igniter. This way, I don't have to try to stick a lighter in there. Just turn on the gas, hit the button, and away we go.

This is a work in progress, so there will be many more developments as time goes on.

Hittin' the Smoke Again

I built another smoker. Finally. The last smoker I built was stolen, which is simultaneously galling and flattering. But now, the trashcan smoker rides again!

I originally got the idea for a trashcan smoker from Cruftbox. The problem I found with the hotplate heat source was that there was no way to get my smoker to a solid 220 degrees F. I couldn't even reach 160 except in the summertime. So I decided to go with a propane heat source. The first time, I gutted a fish fryer. This time, I used a burner/turkey fryer kit.

Wayne Myer Trashcan Smoker v3 is a little more involved than the first iterations. I'll give you the full rundown and my general guidelines tomorrow. But I'll leave you with a pic in the meantime.

More Sutra

This is part 3 of my long-term review of the 2008 Kona Sutra.
You can find part 1 here.
And part 2 is here.

There are some other odd tidbits with the Sutra. The third set of water bottle braze-ons is on the bottom side of the downtube. It's nigh useless. I think I might be able to fit a Topeak Morph in there (most righteous mini pumps ever, IMO).


The fork is a bit of a compromise. Then again, all of engineering is balancing compromises, so maybe I should just shut up. The Project Two fork seems a bit flexy. I've had steel forks that could soak road buzz without deflecting visibly under braking load. However, despite that, the fork is cushy and the front-end geometry is such that the bike behaves well with a heavily loaded handlebar bag. I can ride without hands as slowly as 8MPH and still track straight.

The Sutra ships with Shimano 525 disc hubs laced 36h to Mavic A317 rims. I like these rims and I despise these hubs. I have put these wheels through some abuse: jumping over potholes, not jumping potholes too well and squarely smacking them, jumping off curbs, and carrying watermelons. They have not been in for a truing and are still reasonably true.

This is the third bike I have had with the 525 hubs and the hubs always fail, despite regular maintenance. Despite monthly adjustments of the cones (by me and by professionals), some bearing slop develops in short order. The upside is that, if I was a wasteful person, I can replace the whole wheelset for about $150. The downside is that I keep trying to maintain these hubs. Some Phils or Hopes are in order.

I would prefer room for 45mm tires. I know I am wandering into the realm of wishlist here, but hey, I can dream. If this is going to be my everything bike (and it just about is), I would like to be able to fit fenders and studded snow tires. As it is, I am "stuck" having to keep a couple extra bikes.

In all, the Sutra is a nearly top-notch platform with only a few niggling issues. It's just a bottle short of a six-pack for my needs. I suppose I'll stick with it for a few more years.

What's Wrong and What's Right with the Kona Sutra

This is a continuation of my post regarding the highs and lows of the 2008 Kona Sutra.

The Sutra is too much bike for what I want to do. The Sutra is a loaded tourer, through and through. The ride is cushy, the position is a good balance of taking in the scenery and getting a cruise on, and there are braze-ons just about everywhere. For a compact, rigid frame with mountain-bike inspired geometry, it soaks up the road nastiness with aplomb.

But I don't need something this hefty for my riding. A randonneur frame is obviously more my speed, but good luck finding those with disc brake mounts. Also, the Sutra is just plain heavy. If this frame were a girl, I could slap her thigh and ride the wave across the state. In commuting kit with fenders, pedals, handlebar bag, and lights, the Sutra masses in around 45 pounds. It speaks of durability. Great if you're trying to cross a continent with all of your belongings, but it sucks when you just want to get to work. On the upside, pushing around this heavy bike has made me quite stronger and faster, especially when I jump on my light(er) and nimble fixie.

Why disc brakes? It's a quasi-religious argument, bolstered by my local weather. I ride year-round, in rain, snow, and ice. There is no substitute for disc brakes for foul weather riding. Herein, the Sutra shines. Because the Sutra has both disc tabs and cantilever posts, I even have a choice if I want to invest in the changes. The modulation is confidence-inspiring. There are big hills and oblivious traffic in my commute, so modulation is a plus.

My biggest beef is the hooded rear fork ends. The damn Breezer droputs make it so that the only trailers I can use are either a BOB or one that connects to my seatpost, such as the CycleTote. Why these miserable dropouts get so much use in bicycle manufacturing, I have no clue. They're ugly (IMO), limiting, and thin.


Mounting fenders on the Sutra is a nightmare. The upside is that Planet Bike has got ya covered in this department. They had the foresight and intelligence to include mounting hardware to accommodate disc brakes with their Cascadia fenders. The standoffs allow the left stays to clear the brake calipers.

The downside is that, with the Sutra, the racks don't play well with the fender mounts and stays. The standoffs don't cooperate with the racks because the Sutra only has one set of rackmount/fender braze-ons. This has resulted in some jury-rigging, but it works. For the rear rack and fender, I stacked a few bolts and washers. If I had a Dremel, I would have just cut the spacer that Planet Bike provided.


To add insult to fender installation injury, the positioning of the rear braze-ons means that the lower rear fender stay is not long enough to allow sufficient clearance from the tire. So, another jury-rig is in order. I used another piece of heavy stainless wire (cut from my previous SKS fenders)(we won't discuss them, except for: they sucked). Some silver wire stitches it all together.


By using the lower fork mount for the front fender, the front rack and fender can be friends. This actually works out for the better. The one downside is that the fender stays now protrude past the top tube. Nothing a little hot, steamy Dremel action can't fix! Once I borrowed one from a friend, that is...


I'm picking apart the Sutra here. And will continue to do so. But I want to emphasize that I really love my bike, but I am fully cognizant of its flaws. There will be more tomorrow.

You can find Part 3 here.