After dawdling and dinking with it for over a year, I finally got the last part [1] needed to make the Flaming Meatball ridable, if just slightly not complete. So after work today I put the seatpost and saddle on, and took it out to the parking lot of the apartment for a little bit of a spin.
Holy Jebus, what fun. Also, there are certainly muscles in my legs that haven't been used since last fall. I think a good goal for next winter is to do some riding at least — living in the Midtown neighborhood will mean that I can take less traveled side streets and be safe, instead of having to maneuver down Golfside and Clark and environs, making that a much easier goal. Anywho, nothing seemed to fall off, which was enheartening, since I'm totally faking knowing what I'm doing here. I could feel the rear cog slipping a bit, which is to be expected (my body mass pedling can certainly torque it more than I could with a cog-wrench); I'll need to remember to tighten down the lockring. Also, I really need to get some break cable, at least for the front break. I should also put the clip pedals on the Zephyr (which has been missing pedals since last fall) and put flats on — I'm not sure mastering clips and riding a fixie are the best goals to combine. Some work still needs to be done, and I need to get a rattle-can of clear paint to cover over a few chips in the paint, but it's mostly done.
[1]: Apparently, 25.0 mm seat posts (not 25.4, not 26 and above) is something of a rarity. At least, it is on eBay [2]. Oh, there's a lot of old Campy ones there, but apparently they're all coated with the blood of Tulio Himself and rabid monkeys like to drop more on them than I do.
[2]: Don't worry, the Local Bike Shops get plenty of business from me. In fact, this weekend one of them is going to sell me a decent floor pump with a gauge on it, since the crufty thing I'm using is showing its age, has no gauge, and with Presta valves I can't go steal the pressure gauge out of the car (which goes up high enough for what I put in the three-speeds' tires, but not in this thing).