I have collected my rebuilt Stinger! Hurrah!
Yes indeed, the Flying Banana is reborn as the Flying
Irth[1] and is a very fetching shade of metallic red.
Several worthwhile improvements, the frame is a better grade
of alloy and is reinforced around the headset; the headset
is larger; the steerer is telescopic with aluminium top end
and bars (and allows a better turning circle than the old
one); the small idler has a mechanism to allow fine tuning
of angle. Overall the finish has improved since the original
yellow frame, and the rear geometry which never felt quite
right on the blue frame (it always seemed to ride higher
than the original) is now back to how it was on the yellow
one - I think. That might be a delusion, of course.
And of course it rides like a dream. I went for a five
minute test run at the shop and came back half an hour later
:-)
The Hope brakes seem nicer than the Julies. Metal levers
helps the feel, of course. I'll see how they go with wear.
And the covered seat (as per current spec) is better than
the exposed foam type. All in all a much more refined and
finished-looking machine.
I am now busily engaged in cluttering it up again with all
the odds and ends with which it is customarily festooned
(e.g. lights, computer, Air Zound).
[1] Flying [Insert Red Thing Here] = Flying Irth.
Guy
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May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
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