Progress

Whereas at this time last night I was pretty dejected and resigned regarding actual success, I am cautiously optimistic at this time this night.  As of now, I think there's at least a 50/50 chance the wheeliebike could still roll in November.

One of the big obstacles as of last night was how to deal with what I thought was a pretty messed up der hanger.  It was not only the alignment, but I believed the threads were all messed up.

I told you previously that I didn't see any way of getting this bike on the road without some help from my friends and the friend that came to my rescue today was Glen.  He loaned my this tap . . .

. . . and this other awesome alignment tool.

The way it works is that you screw it into the der hanger and then rotate it around the tire and just compare the clearance.  When you want to do some adjustment, the tool is your lever.  Holy living hell, who owns shit like this?

Glen, that's who.

Damnit, Glen, you got me off dead center and moving forward.  Thanks, man.

I can't see any need for a front der on this flatlander.  It would only add weight on the wrong side of the rotational axis.  If I need a different chainring I can always do a manual adjustment.

I "repaired" the saddle during the GU game tonight.

The lion's share of today's effort had to do with the stupid-ass combo brake/shifter gizmo.  It wasn't doing what I thought it should be and I made the mistake of taking it apart and there were a million pieces that didn't want to go back together and there was this epic struggle and in the end, I think I persevered, but OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard continues to screw with me.

It is my opinion that a front brake is totally unnecessary.  For generally the same reason that the front der is not.

Wheelie dreams still continue to invade my conscious and subconscious mind, obviously.