vp's Cogworks: The Marin and Beyond

While I'm waiting for parts to arrive for the Marin, there's another project cooking. My specialty, a mid-90's, steel, 700C monstrosity. I'm building it up for a friend, who needs something indestructible and comfy, yet not too slow. And it shouldn't be very nickable either.

I've found this Genesis trekking bike for cheap. It's naturally thief-repellent (=ugly as sin).

Good:
Pretty good Tektro brakes and levers
Deore RD
1 1/8" Ahead steerer
Nice and strong wheels with cassette hub
Rear axle is not QR, so a wee bit harder to steal

Not good:
Hi-Ten frame
Tyres are long gone
Cranks are heavy, riveted and he'll definitely not need a triple
Ugly, rusty cockpit
Wrong size seatpost, smaller diameter

Bad:
BB was extremely stuck (of course). Tried with an impact wrench, it didn't work (350 Nm torque, my ass).
However, I did get it loose with my breaker bar after some fiddling. Since it kept slipping, first I had to fasten the BB tool against the BB cup using a threadless headset spacer, an M10 DIN9021 washer and an axle bolt. 32mm socket over the tool, lots of leverage, a few menacing snaps, and it was loose. And the best part, the threads are immaculate!

Referring to the derailleur pics below, this bike has seen a looot of grime. Cleaned up nicely though.

Here's how it's gonna be:
Cockpit: 100mm 17° stem, narrow riser bars, Shimano STIs
Seatpost: 27.2-29.2 shim and a new clamp
Drivetrain: 1x7, 12-28T cassette, Deore RD and my old 700CX crankset with a 46T narrow wide ring (chainline is going to be proper garbage, might change this later)
Tyres: 700x38C Maxxis Overdrives (these came off my Marin Redwood)

Excited about finishing this, although this bike is the complete opposite of exciting.

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