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@yak
I also now have two more projects on my hands...
My partner is going back into the office in a couple of weeks time and wanted a bike to lock up at the station. She already has a nice 80s raleigh mixte, which to most people would already be a very serviceable station lock-up bike, however since we took it on some cycling tours last summer it's gained a lot of sentimental value and the though of it getting nicked doesn't bear thinking about.
As well as wanting her new bike to be unattractive to thieves, she also wanted something she could use for touring this summer, with a wider range of gears and fatter tyres than her mixte. Ideally, we were looking for something more or less identical to my trek, but in a smaller size, however nothing was coming up on ebay/gumtree. She found a rattle-canned steel 26er (also a trek) with an 18" frame, which I was worried would be a bit on the large and heavy side, but it definitely ticked the 'unattractive to thieves' box. We went to look at it anyway and found that the frame itself was a good fit but she needed a much shorter stem and upright bars. No idea what the tubing is but weight-wise it's somewhere between my very heavy 80s muddy fox and lightweight 00s trek. Anyway, she liked the bike and I liked how much tinkering it would need so it was a win-win.
While we there, I spotted this knackered old steel folder/shopper and immediately loved the look of it. I don't need it really, but told myself it might be handy to have a runaround for going to the shops and locking up at pubs, so I asked to take it for a test ride. The rear brake is more or less just there for decoration, and the rear wheel had plenty of play, but it was so much fun to ride. A voice in my head was saying "buyitbuyitbuyit", and the seller was happy to make a deal for both bikes (still paid way too much for the folder but it brought the price for the MTB down to a steal)