decisions, decisions …
This rather anonymous looking grab shot of hard rubbish shows some remnants of a once loved Apollo 3-speed ladies bike (model Geneva?) that I came across on a recent ride. It was one of those solidly made steel frames with the attractive enamelled metal Apollo head badge. I was able to save the wheels and guards but they were all I could safely carry in one go. That’s the downside of finding such things while riding your bike. The upside, of course, is that you can cover a lot of ground this way without wasting petrol.
Sadly, when I returned not too long after, the garbage crushing pickup truck had only just beaten me to the frame, making me then wonder if I had made the right choice. Well, you can’t argue with a council garbage engineer, so there was really no point further asking !
Hard rubbish days here really are a matter of luck and persistence, what with the amount of scrap metal trucks circulating well before the official pick-up, and I don’t often have free time for this kind of fun nowadays either. A bike with cargo trailer would be ideal for this activity, even if a little slower in the ‘search’ mode.
The frame was minus forks but the classy looking cotterless steel crank set had been neatly wrapped in plastic for storage and was rust free. Anyway, the rims are an interesting 27x 1 & 3/8″ size that will also take 1 & 1/4″ tyres.
Made me think that those wider 27 inch tyres could have been nice riders, were they still available, like the 26″ x and 28″ x 1 & 3/8″ still are. The rear hub is a good Shimano 3s that may yet come in handy, though the shift apparatus and selector rod are missing. The shiny steel guards will also be usefully recycled…
