Very true, she said

…as she picked up the wheel and spoke.

I have been garaging and I'm tired out.  Often I spend half an hour tidying or throwing stuff out before I go at a task, then I spend another half an hour fiddling with not-task-related stuff I came across in the process, like my very first mountain bike accessory, at the bottom of a crate under piles of wood.  It was a little bag, and it must be 35 years old now.

 I was actually checking the stock of spoke nipples that I liberated from the old front wheel of my laid back touring bike, because I was going to re-use them while rebuilding the front wheel of the torpedo.  I can build a wheel from scratch in an hour or two, but it takes longer when replacing parts piece by piece and each has to be carefully and separately lubricated.  With a new wheel I can just dunk all the spoke threads in the linseed oil at once and whack it together.  Truing is an art and takes time too.

What was wrong with this wheel is the hub, which is a drum brake, and the lining had two high spots, making the braking pulse and jerk.  The whole reason for rebuilding was to detension and retension the spokes in case the drum was being pulled out of round.  With the wheel all trued and tight, I did the best I could at sanding and sanding the lining, but in the end it didn't help much.

Interspersed with lunch and tea I eventually got the machine all back together, but good grief it really did take all day.  I will maybe test it tomorrow.