Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Bike Of The Week: Sentinel Sophmore




I have no idea what this brand is about. Can't find anything about it on the web. Odd that it was sold in Council Bluffs but is an unknown? I tried no less than 3 times to buy this bike from the local Goodwill, but every time I went in to ask them to sell it to me (Usually $5.00) the old hag at the counter would say, "It's not in inventory yet, we can't sell it!" So I waited for a dark night, Homecoming last year, and just hopped on it and rode it home! That's right! It had been converted to singlespeed by somebody and just needed to be finished off. So I took off the brakes, ditched the drop bars for a cut down and flipped riser bar, and steel wooled the chrome rims to a nice shine. I Dremmeled the big ring off and there you go. Another free bike. Added the most comfortable grips I have ever used. They are from an old reel mower and are the style most commonly called "Coke bottle grips" because of their resemblance to the iconic pop bottle's profile. They come up under the palm of your hand at the center and taper down to the bar to about a 1mm thickness. Had to have the set-back post to make it fit decently. Free from the City of Boone with a pile of bikes the guys at the city shed gave me:) I guess it's not a totally free bike because I did pay for the seat. $2.99 at Ames Goodwill. Add the cost on my soul for stealing and it's still cheap! Later!

3 comments:

bontrag said...

Now that is a seriously laid back seatpost!

Captain Bob said...

You're not going to believe this but I was working the late shift the other night at the Goodwill store. That's right, I left work to gone home and my ride was gone. I always leave it out front and have never had it stolen before.

Crap! That was a long walk home!

:-)

Travel Gravel said...

Captain, You better talk to the lady who works days! She would have sold me your bike if it would have been in inventory! LOL! Really, I can't find out anything about Sentinel. I tried Old Roads, Sheldon Brown, First Flight Bikes. Nuttin'! Do you know anything about it? I should try to get up a better shot of the shop sticker. Don's Big Wheel in Council Bluffs. That red Schwinn is going to be breaking hearts! Looks good. Later!