The Hard Rubbish Gods Must Be Crazy :

OK, so I’m on a Monday morning mission on the purple Giant and I pass a rusty looking bike under a pile of junk that’s been thrown out.

“Ahh, not another K-mart MTB” I sigh, while blindly riding past, mind elsewhere and biking some distance from home.

Strangely though, a minor emergency happens a few hours later, and I am in the same area in the van … “I wonder what was that bike ? Well, I might as well have a quick look, mightn’t I, though I suppose it won’t be there  now ?”

Still there, and oh, it’s a Shogun “Samurai” flat bar roadie – in Tange Infinity 4130 Cro-mo steel, and looks to only have perished tyres, dry grease, surface rust and a seized chain as it’s main issues !!

I gave many humble thanks to the Hard Rubbish Gods — they had somehow kept it safe from the scrap metal cruisers — and I’m on my way home.

woohoo … a new project !

The bike is complete except for pedals, has a shimano RX100 groupset (one down from 105 ), 54 or 55 cm frame with unicrown cro-mo fork, and the weird  and “eccentric” biopace chainrings. It’s 14 speed with revoshift shifters, and grey coloured light alloy 700c wheels that have unreadably faded decals.

 

these crazy oval rings should be fun to try ….

The seat, stem, bars, brake levers and shifters are a bit underwhelming, but the headset is a nice looking Tange. The bike is quite light in weight.  Tange ‘Infinity’ is a mid-range, seamed and tapered, quality Cro-mo tubing from all reports …

another view- the welded stem is rather ordinary, methinks

tange headset and shimano rx100 dual pivot calipers look decent

a bit of fashionable period advertising 

So now it soaks up some ‘PB blaster’ while I contemplate its future.

not bad, if not  R531 !

Ahh, so many bikes, so little time …. teehee.

 

 

 

 

 

Q : What’s Purple and Eats Grass ? :

A :  My Giant Boulder 550 with 50mm tyres and 1:1 first gear ratio.

a jack of all trades

I haven’t been previously able to settle on a format that I really like for this ’90′s model Cro-moly ’4130′ framed MTB, ( now actually an STC -  or  “suburban touring commuter” ). I hope I have nailed it this time, all I really need are some V-brake levers for the drop bars, some bar tape and perhaps a change of pedals.

The additions/modifications since last time are :

Remove VO Belleville bars and  welded stem, fitted Nitto 10cm alloy stem and Win “Kusuki” randonneur style steel drop bars (originally from the pink mixte). The VO bars made riding it an awkwardly upright experience. Wrong choice by me !

Fitted salvaged steel guards from an old Apollo step through – they are almost too narrow for 2″ tyres !

swanky cateye rear reflector and apollo guards

Added a better quality Brooks “team pro” saddle taken from the reworked Repco – it was too unyielding and hard for that bike…but ideal for the softer ride of this one.

I’ve always liked this Giant bike since rescuing it as a frame only, but it’s been low on the list of cycling priorities, really a spare parts bike. Now I think it will finally get a lot more use. The frame is unfashionably large (60cm) as you can see from the long head tube, but the advantage of this is that the lowered position of the seat – for my height – means that the handlebars can be kept at a level where they feel almost like an MTB flat-bar when holding near the stem yet allow a good position for headwinds or faster riding in the dropped section.

And who cares  anyway, if it doesn’t look fashionably “bum in the air” . Also, I don’t know why stem shifters aren’t more popular with pre-”brake shifter”  bikes, because although they are associated with cheap 70s sports bikes I find them quite  easy to use compared with ‘thumbies’ or downtube shifters. This model originally came with twist-grip shifters.

that’s a long headtube – salvaged alloy v-brakes replaced original cantis

I don’t know whether a modern MTB would convert to “semi-road” quite as naturally because this bike was born at the time of styling crossroads, and looks somewhat ‘normal’ with its more slender frame tubes and rigid fork. Styling wise, that’s how I like bikes to look, and to have a horizontal top tube as well … so I would recommend this conversion for older MTBs only – but then, who knows, I’ll bet someone out there has done a similar thing to a 29er !

It’s relatively heavy so accelerates somewhat slowly, is very manoeuvrable at low speed, calm and stable at moderate cruising speed. Riding over rough surfaces, grass and ruts are almost a pleasure as compared with my usual high pressure 27″ tyres. Top ratio 48x14T, low ratio 28x28T and a triple ring with 6-speed cluster gives plenty of range too…

a versatile one for the road

NB – With the the current brake levers I can only brake from the drops, so they will be replaced with something nicer and more appropriate.

MTB’s – if you can’t beat them for versatility, why not join them, as they say ? ….

Too Far Gone :

Here’s a couple of wrecks found in my travels through Swansea, a town that is almost at sea level and prone to storm/tidal floods. I actually wonder if Swansea will still be there in a hundred years, what with the sea-level rises predicted.

dragged from the undergrowth

Anyhow the bikes are fine examples of the effects of salt on steel and alloy. The steel rims had rusted away leaving hub and spokes, and the stepthrough was completely un-salvageable. Even the intrepid recyclist walked away…

check the chainwheel holes – and walk away

shame about this one – nice,  though it’s nothing really special

I managed to save a nice Sakae Ringo 60mm stem from the Univega, and an alloy Hsin Lung (Taiwanese) drop handlebar. Sadly the duralumin cranks were no good. I got the left one off, but the threads on the right were too far gone. That’s the down-side to square tapered alloy cranks – once those internal threads are gone the crank puller can’t do its job. Ah, well.

this SR stem cleaned up OK

The only way I was able to save the alloy stem is that it was  inserted only just above the wedge so wasn’t electrolytically corrosion-welded to the steel steerer as is usual – amazing ! Lucky the previous owner didn’t injure themselves though…

yikes !

Here’s a sneak preview of the Repco on the header shot, that I’ve been re-working. To be featured next time.

forever swansea …

Twine-ing and Dining – The Rixen Kaul Front Basket :

caprice, with new bars and stem

Due to the complete lack of carrying capacity on my wife’s refurbished Raleigh Caprice, I was asked to get a front basket for it. The Rixen Kaul seemed well made and reasonably priced, with a clever quick release stem fitting – but Oh ! – what an ugly chunk of black plastic that “Klickfix” stem bracket is !

Otherwise very practical, the bracket as it comes is an unsuitable style for a classic bike such as this.

the dreaded bracket

Wicker baskets can be a bit of a cliche these days, I know, but they are also functional and useful things too.

Anyway, thinking there are ways and means, I decided to give it the twined treatment to visually break up the enormous black lump. First step was to wrap the arms in sticky double sided tape. This doesn’t have to be perfect as it only serves to hold the twine in place for shellacking.

twine and sticky

There are two methods I use to fix the ends of the twine, one is to start the wrap so that the first length of twine goes onto the tape to lie perpendicular under the later windings of twine  – you can’t do this at the end of your string, of course !

in this case i went from the ends to the centre

So in that case I will either wedge the twine tightly within the last turns of itself ( though the sticky can often ‘let go’ when wet shellacking ) or more usually, I use a tiny drop of cyanoacrylate (superglue) to fix it in place.

Once that’s done, I check that the twine windings ( twinedings ?! ) are all tight and fairly close together and, if not, I squeeze them together or may even rewind them. Then I “first coat”  them with shellac, allow to dry and repeat till satisfied with the colour.

first coat

Amber shellac is a good match for the honey coloured saddle on this bike, which now has its bars changed from riser to swept back, requiring a ‘new-old’ stem to take them, and new cork grips were added, these changes made to improve hand comfort.

the finished bracket installed

I would note that with a decent classic bike like this, I carefully keep the old parts together so that it may be returned to original later on.

You’re never going to get a perfect appearance with a big bracket such as this, but I think it’s a definite visual improvement. The twine could be made to cover more but there would always be some plastic showing.

The job would then be much more messy and less enjoyable, also  giving a ‘forced’ look to things .

That red quick release button is clashing-ly bright. It would look much better on a red bike.

all done !

The wicker basket appears well made and strong, though the metal support ring woven into it is visually somewhat heavy-handed. It also sits quite high, potentially obscuring the ground view directly in front. There are handlebar and head tube bracket options if  these would be more appropriate to your bike.

Picnic ready !

The Imperfectionist – My Repco Traveller :

on a test ride

Repco is a long standing name in this country, mostly known nowadays for its automotive products, and as far as cycling goes they once had a range of 10-speed bikes ranging from this model right up to superlight and triathlete chro-moly racing bikes. Of course the exotic models are much more rare, though there are plenty of Travellers still getting around.  The Traveller was the basic “pressed steel everything” model, and exists today in name as a vastly different freewheeling single speed commuter – a cheap, aluminium framed, department store bike selling for around $100.

This bike was bought for twenty bucks with a straight 58cm frame, a lot of component rust, and without me initially knowing what I would do with it …

a nice touch

So then, thinking how to approach a rebuild, given that I already have both a ten speed light roadbike and a heavy-ish commuter that I’m reasonably happy with. Keeping things simple I have opted for a five speed by removing the front deraiileur and small ring, sacrificing low gear but retaining simplicity and some flexibility.

wall flower

I have to confess, I like my gears, I can only ride single speed for so long before I start to pine for them. I’m not greedy about it, I mean, an uphill gear, a neutral gear, and a downhill / tailwind gear and I’m pretty happy. A few more than this is a bonus but only until overkill is reached …

With my resto’s,  a lot depends on the parts that I have on hand… and my ‘semi – conservation’ style may not appeal to the perfectionists … I like to keep some character or imperfection here and there.

These are roughly the steps involved in this case :

Frame : Basic lugged hi-tensile “1020″ steel, some surface rust, some scrapes on the paint and decals though the overall condition is not bad. Finish is a slightly metallic black with silver lettering on the decals which have started going opaque. I personally dislike new paint jobs on original frames, as uniform “perfect” paintwork lacks character and the bike can easily become prettily anonymous.

another person’s take on the humble traveller – as a commuter

Removed all fittings and bearings for overhaul or replacement, and to access, clean and inspect the frame. Fish-oiled the inside of tubes, steel wool and phosphoric acid converter on the rust spots, lined the lugs gold (always nice on black) and touch-up the worst scratches by hand, including the silver decal lettering where scraped off.. Clear coat the paint areas to regain some lustre and conserve the finish.

Wheels : Original Femco steel rims, very rusty chrome on the front one, replaced with a Shimano/Araya overhauled steel 27″ Q.R. Nutted rear cleaned up nicely with some TLC and I fitted new gumwall tyres.

Stem : Heavy chromed steel stem swapped for Nitto Dynamic 10 alloy 100mm – a beautiful looking stem makes such a difference. I overhauled the original headset as it was reasonable.

synthetic cork is comfy but lacks the looks of leather

Bars : Unappealing rusty chromed drop bars replaced by the unused steel drop bars from my Malvern 2-star coaster braked bike. These have an old-fashioned deep drop and an unusual dappled finish, courtesy of some brutal rust removal and clear coat. I had some Serfas brand spongy black bar tape which I twined on the inner end and fitted with home made “shellacked wine cork”  bar end plugs. These give a bit of character and don’t cost.

Luckily the frame is relatively large so the bar drop relative to the seat height is not too bad for me, though I am stretched out a bit.

Cranks and bottom bracket :  Removed the bolts holding on the small chain ring and guard, keeping the original 52T chain wheel and crank. Replaced the original square BB with a slightly shorter used square tapered to help with the chain line. Tried to get the chain wheel as close to the chain stay as possible so I could use first gear 28T cog with the large ring. It works well without chattering. New SunTour 5-speed chain fitted. MKS Sylvan pedals fitted to replace steel rat-traps.

team pro – hard, but a free pedalling shape

Saddle and seatpost :  I kept the original chromed 25.6mm seatpost. I find the variation in seat post width really amazing on older bikes e.g. 25.4, 25.6, 25.8 then into 26′s and 27′s, unlike say, with 1″ quill stems, there are so many slight variations  … and you really need a snug fit with these. The saddle was a throwaway plastic  item on base model bikes of this vintage, and a Brooks is always called for, of course ! I happened to have a spare team pro model on hand. These are as hard as rock to begin with, but even then, they are still more comfortable than plastic…

Brakes :  As I have no suitable light replacements, the heavy steel callipers have been retained for the time being, fitted with new basic Jagwire road pads. New cable inners fitted. Recycled Dia-compe alloy road levers of a similar vintage with the “suicide” levers removed.

Derailleur :  Original Shimano “Skylark” rear derailleur replaced with a better quality used Shimano. (The models were all named after various birds at one time ).

living green

A Quick Ride :

The bike is heavy-ish, but fairly comfortable, and much more stable than my smaller, lighter Cecil Walker.

Sure, it would be better if a little lighter – alloy cranks, brakes, wheels and bars would have helped here. The 5 gears work well on the flat, but are a little limiting on steeper hills.

The ride is rough, but I think softer tyres would help here. More testing to do … well, someone has to do it !

night ride

Watch Out, There’s Mamils About :

a small gathering of mamils

Riding past Speers Point Park on Sunday, wondering how come, if two thirds of our population are overweight or obese, there are so many Middle Aged Men In Lycra ( MAMILs) about on their road bikes ?

some mawils ? too …

And women too – were they all attempting to reduce the burden of medical bills on our society by getting fit ? That’s got to be a good thing …

I would add, however, that some men just shouldn’t wear the clingy stuff until their tummies shrink a bit more …

Apparently, it was all in aid of “Loop the Lake” an annual cycling event for Lake Macquarie, the largest (I think) saltwater lake anywhere … ( is it 85km around? ). Not too many photo ops. for me though, as there weren’t many classic bikes to be seen on this day. All modern roadie stuff as you might expect.

your typical mamil apparatus

As we rolled on by, I wondered about those riders who ride everywhere on the road when there are perfectly good cycle paths in parallel. I suppose it’s faster ? Guess that makes me a MIMIC ( Mildly Indifferent Man In Cotton ) as I prefer relative peace to the cut-and-thrust of the main road, unless I have no other choice.

Though the cycle paths can also be obstacle courses sometimes, the views are usually better ..

the slow lane …

 

And so it was then, that we joined the families on a day of slow cycling to the art gallery bazaar, and back again.

plenty of parking at the gallery …

fellow commuters

busking

See Ya then, on the path well travelled !

 

 

The King of Bing and the Queen of Brrring :

the crane suzu

What a magical pair of bells – I won’t say too much about the Crane Suzu lever strike brass bell as I’ve covered it before, but the Crane Riten rotary brass bell is another beauty from Japan. When new it’s the queen of bling, as the finish is golden and shiny, but this soon mellows (unless polished every day! ).

Perhaps not as loud as the Suzu, the Riten has that same magically crisp hovering decay on top of the traditional “Bring bring” bicycle sound – you can’t help but smile on hearing the queen of ‘brring’.

mmm … just like mother used to make

Possibly the finest sounding currently made bike bells there are. The Riten has both halves in brass and an all metal mechanism, just like they used to make before plastic took over. Unless someone steals it, you’ll probably never need, or want, another bicycle bell.

flying saucers ?

Happy Cycling !