The Significance of the Triumph Bicycle

     I can be a bit of an impulsive person.  If the hammer of erratic decisions strikes me just the right way, I am prone to act hastily and without putting too much thought into things.  This figurative hammer struck me yesterday, at work, and today I purchased a customer's bike:  a 1984 Triumph Spitfire road bike.

Shortly after buying it.
Taken April 7, 2014

     I'm not going to lie, virtually the only reason I wanted the bike was because it had the name Triumph on it.  What is the significance of that?  Well, on his famous 1965 album "Highway 61 Revisited", Bob Dylan is wearing a Triumph Motorcycles tee-shirt.  And in 1966, it was a Triumph motorcycle that Dylan wrecked, dramatically changing the course of his music and his life for the proceeding decade.  A Triumph motorcycle was, in a way, the cause for The Basement Tapes.  Having a bicycle made by the same company was too enticing to pass up.

The infamous album cover, which sparked the even more infamous interviewer's question about the significance of motorcycles.
Source

     After I gave the kid his money and started stripping it down, however, the ringing of that impulsive hammer began to fill my ears and a small pit formed in my stomach.  The frame was damaged.  I'd asked the kid if the bike had been in a wreck and he had said no, but it's very obvious now that it had been.  The non-drive side seatstay has an obvious bend in it.  Upon further inspection, I also discovered that the entire back end is tweaked at least 3 millimeters to the drive side.

A little hard to see, but the non-drive side (left) seatstay has a slight bend in it.
Taken April 7, 2014

     But this is not terrible news; in fact, it is a great learning opportunity for me.  I am always singing the praises of chromoly steel, and one of those praises is that it is repairable.  It's time for me to put my money where my mouth is, and see if I can repair this frame.  I think I can, but I have never done anything like this so it will be a learning experience.

The head badge looks good but it has been torn from one of the rivets.  I will probably be JB-Welding it back on.
Taken April 7, 2014

     As for the bike itself, my plan is make it a single speed.  Anyone who knows me might be rightfully surprised.  I am not quiet about my disdain for single speeds, especially fixed gear bicycles.  But any good bike mechanic should have one and this is a great opportunity to put one together.  I will of course give a more indepth post after I fix the frame.  In the mean time, I need to build my wheels.