Where Cecil’s At – ( For Now ):

stage 2 – ten speeds

Ahhh,  hindsight’s a wonderful thing … I’ve now fitted the overhauled steel wheels from the pink mixte onto Cecil to change him back to a ten speed. As mentioned before the rear is a 120mm wide 27″ that slots straight in. Braking feel isn’t as good, they are much heavier and the tyre treads don’t really suit, but I am working on the old rear hub, aiming to get a new alloy rim fitted later, as I also want the mixte running on it’s own wheels again.

The Reynolds tubing and many alloy fittings mean that it is still relatively light, at least.

lezyne micro-drive light

I also had the recent opportunity to buy a Brooks B17 Titanium saddle at a great price, and while I’m yet to do a long ride on it, it looks wonderful and feels fantastic to sit on. The titanium is a very light saddle too.  Now I can’t wait to get lost on it somewhere !

the brown is the nicest standard brooks colour, i think

Two more additions – a Soma “Torpedo” retro style AA battery LED head light and a Lezyne micro-drive USB tail light both of which I will review at some later date.

retro torpedo

led + reflector

My feeling is that this bike will be a great ride when all is properly finished…

the suntour freewheel and shimano mech.

I think that the freewheel’s sound has a big part to play in the enjoyment of coasting downhill – some have a raspy, abrasive sound, but this old Suntour “Perfect” sounds relaxed and easy. The cluster is 28T-14T, not as gung-ho as the original 18T-14T, but much more practical for my location on a hill.

Happy Cycling !

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A Chat at the Lights :

Spotted in Waratah the other day :

“two-wheelers” chatting

Happy Cycling !

 

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Feet First Into Pedalling Enlightenment :

This post may only be of interest to those masochists of you who like pulling old bikes apart and putting them back together again better than they were, but it really is relevant to all cyclists.

My recent purchase of some new MKS pedals got me thinking about pedal quality and how much it can improve a ride.

Pedals, saddle and bars are the parts of a bike that we have first contact with, and since the pedals are “way down there” they are often ignored while collecting all sorts of mud and crud thrown up by the wheels.

 

mks 3000r - an unromantic name for a quality pedal that is serviceable

 

A pet gripe of mine is about pedals that can’t be disassembled or adjusted, and I have noticed the pedals on my beloved Gazelle becoming somewhat loose after only a year and a bit. They are mushroomed together by the maker rather than being bolted together like the nice MKS 3000R ones (above).

 

the gazelle's pedals - no way in ?

 

Gazelle didn’t make the pedals of course, merely chose the supplier, but the point is that it’s something to look out for if you are replacing pedals on your classic and want the new ones to last the life of the bike. These probably won’t, and that’s not sustainable manufacturing …

The MKS Sylvan pedals below have made my road king feel 20 years younger – though the old ones will be serviced, I will keep them for other bikes. The Sylvans have no safety reflectors but they do look clean and work really well, if a tiny bit slippery at first.

 

mks sylvan touring pedal, now gracing the road king - one piece with removable end caps

 

Platform pedals really should be bolted together and have an end cover that is removable in some way for re-greasing and reassembly (or merely re-adjustment).

 

fully serviceable if needed

 

The inside of a proper pedal is much like a front hub axle, but with a fixed inner cone and an an adjustable outer one plus locknut to hold the bearing adjustment in place. Without these things a pedal is a throwaway item.

 

throwaways - deforming the axle ends only holds them together

 

Plastic pedals may have an end cap that allows servicing too, but often the pedals become so scraped around and abused that a new ones are in order anyway … and they are often mushroom-bashed together rather than bolted up (above).

 

wellgo pedals on my old speedwell

 

These Wellgo pedals have lasted pretty well in spite of being unserviceable (I think?) They are compact and for a modern style pedal can look good on classic bikes.

Here are some other examples from my humble pedal collection :

 

left to right - speedwell ladies, mongoose menace, old road king rat traps

 

These three are all serviceable, the alloy Mongoose BMX pedals came up nicely with an overhaul and now run smoothly again. They are well made for a basic BMX bike, and probably need to be !

 

various cheap salvaged pedals

 

May your pedals spin smoothly…

see ya !

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The Most Accessorised Department Store Bike ? :

as it was - abandoned

 

Having just added some new MKS Sylvan touring pedals and a new brass bell to the Road King, I may have to agree that it’s becoming somewhat like Ted Bullpit’s Holden Kingswood (as suggested by Steven Fleming of Cycle-Space recently). For those unfamiliar with the old Australian TV sitcom “Kingswood Country”, it featured a very basic model Aussie car that was polished, accessorised, and worshipped to an obsessive level as a suburban icon.

 

smoooth! --- mks sylvan

 

It’s true that the Road King began life as a humdrum ten speed Woolworths bike, made in Taiwan in 1984. Yet when I look at it now I think of it as a practical long distance semi-upright occasional commuter (c.25kms one way for me) that is relatively fast, non-lycra and fun, yet can carry a reasonable amount of luggage and still stump up as a kind of off-beat classic with clean, straight lines.

 

after the rain

 

Excluding my own labour and the expensive Li-ion headlight (that I can use on other bikes as well), this bike has cost me less than $AUD400 to get to this stage – about the price of a cheaply made entry level bike shop “broken-backed” looking hybrid beginning with “G”, that doesn’t even have proper mudguards let alone a Brooks saddle…

 

not the road king !! - i just polished the brass bell ... teehee

 

A young skater on Fernleigh Track  recently commented “Nice bike – is it new?”

 

in passing..

 

1984 wasn’t the end of the world … and I haven’t finished yet!

 

at swansea yesterday

and yes, the birds are real !

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Eight Planetary Speeds, to the Harbour and Back:

nexus-inter-planetary-8

As a second-attempt follow up to the previous post, I did the same journey today on my 8-speed Gazelle. You would think that it would be slower than the ten speed Road King, as it is much heavier, but that wasn’t the case. I actually shaved 5 minutes off the previous time to the ferry wharf. Delays were roughly the same, so what made the difference? The Gazelle is a comfortable refined ride and very quiet on the road, taking corrugations in its stride.

On the other hand, the old 27″ Road King has a freewheel that sounds like a swarm of bees and a saddle like stone, with the narrow tyres transmitting every corrugation. I think it only feels as though it’s faster because of its harsh directness. It’s still great fun to ride though, and its low speed handling is quite a bit more nimble than the Gazelle’s (perhaps because of the steeper steering angles?).

rough and ready - road king

The silence on Fernleigh Track in some places is such that I like to listen to dead leaves as they rustle behind me in the slipstream, accompanied by the faint creaking of the Brooks saddle, the wind in my ears and the soft whizz of 28″ tyres on smooth asphalt.

solitude - fernleigh tunnel - going home

Anyway, about half way along the track I saw road bike riders approaching behind me, and though I expected them to pass, they took longer than I thought to do that, and I noticed that some were my age or older.

i shot this one over my shoulder

 

Once they had passed I pedalled a little harder to keep up, which wasn’t too difficult. I followed them and kept with them the rest of the way which might partly explain the 5 minute improvement, as I normally ride alone, at my own pace.

climbing - and listening to the leaves - whitebridge

 

still following

After splitting off from the other riders and following Teralba Road from the Adamstown railway gates, I decided to take Everton Street instead of Dumaresq Street through South Hamilton. While Everton is a bit more hilly, it felt slightly safer than Dumaresq, from a dooring and car speed perspective.

held up in honeysuckle drive - around 5mins to 9:00am

Finally straight through the railway gates at Newcastle West, and onto Honeysuckle Drive – perhaps if I had been luckier or faster I could have made the 9:00am ferry – imagine riding for 70 minutes and missing the ferry by 30 seconds! That’s exactly what happened.

i missed the boat - again!

It wasn’t essential to cross the harbour today, so I headed home again via Wickham foreshore – a much longer but more pleasant route …. sigh.

one of the same riders later, near belmont - another over the shoulder shot

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“The Indecision” – a vague little story :

 

 

 

The Captain of the Indecision

plots his course with vague precision -

“Shall we go here ?  Shall we go there ?”

he asks his favourite teddy bear …

 

 

They sailed across the windy shoals,

and bravely ’round the Cape of Souls …

Alas, they hit, the tide was high,

“So who’ll jump first, mate, you or I ?”

 

 Welcome to 2012 !

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Apollo 18 – Another Conversion to Uprightfullness :

as it was !

red rusty !

 

This Apollo “Nouveau Cross” is another one of my rescues from the scrap heap. It’s a steel framed 700C ex-flat bar hybrid, finished mainly in 2-tone white and dark metallic grey with black trim. The bike is fitted with narrow Belgian made alloy rims that were quite straight when it was found, unloved and in a very rusted overall condition. It had obviously not been used for some time as the chain was rusted solid and the gears and brakes were also seized up from rain. It is amazing what you can recycle though, provided it is structurally sound, as surface rust often looks worse than it is in reality. That rusty old bike outside the garage still has a chance – but who has time for that ?

The main problem with this one was the index shifter for the rear derailleur as I still haven’t worked out how to dismantle it without causing damage. I resorted to flooding it with kerosene and vigorous clicking, followed by silicone lube after it dried, but it’s not entirely satisfactory as it sometimes changes up a gear by itself despite all attempts to adjust the cable.

 

the offending index shifter - the bell was temporary as it rang over bumps !

 

Though it typically has too many gears, the 18 speeds at least give it a useful “granny gear” for steep hills and I think that it will become the “trailer bike” when I convert the old child’s trailer that I have into a goods trailer.

 

with bag of tools on the first test ride ...still too low - the bar end thingys weren't the answer

 

I would estimate that it is mid to late 1980s era as I used to have a very similar styled Apollo 26″ MTB around that vintage. Guess the word “Nouveau” gives it away doesn’t it ?

I fitted a spare broad sprung saddle and – after almost going over the flat bars on a bump – I put upright bars on it. However, because the bike is small and the quill stem is so short these bars are still only about level with the saddle!

 

higher bars !

 

The frame size is therefore a little too small for me as the seat post is at max height. The alloy wheels and 35mm x 700 Cheng Shin tyres give it a slightly harsh ride but it has very precise steering, good road grip, and is easy to place. It’s fitted with cantilever style brakes that work very well with new Jagwire brand pads. The Serfas polycarbonate mudguards are aftermarket add-ons and are a little rattly though very light in weight. Everything else is original apart from the cable inner wires and Jetblack hand  grips – the old ones were perished.

 

today at swansea bridge

 

All the bearings were cleaned and re-greased and the paint finish touched up – as I do with all my “rescues”. I use alloy paste polish to bring up faded paint work and this worked really well on the met. grey in particular.

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Some Wildlife on Fernleigh Track :

A little while back the path edges were cleared of vegetation beyond the southern end of the tunnel, and a brush turkey is doing what turkeys love most, digging up the litter. I came across this fellow on my way back from a service at Civic Bikes. The turkey seemed oblivious to passing humans, though he would occasionally run away when no one was near ! Meanwhile,  at least one poor road cyclist had to carry his bike over the pile of litter kicked onto the path !

i can dig it

cross purposes

There is a small lagoon around the Whitebridge/Kahibah area that is frequented by water birds and geese. On this day one was crossing at its own pace :

another pedestrian

I haven’t photographed any snakes or lizards actually on the path but they are there. Here is a Goanna that rustled up a tree as I passed through Belmont swamp. I recently saw a large red-bellied black snake disappearing off the path at the Belmont end, they are fairly timid I think.

"let's go, Anna"

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Out and About Bikespotting – The Sensible Alternative :

I saw this bike today, parked at Belmont Library, and thought what a sensible machine it looked. It has traditional lugged forks on (probably) an alloy frame, a Nexus 3-speed hub gear, very comfortable looking handlebars, mudguards (fenders), and a chain guard. I couldn’t tell how old it was until I got closer, where upon it looked quite new – I have forgotten the brand name, but it started with “S”. It looks like an affordable bike with a bit of style, and apart from the basket and child seat reminds me a little bit of my friend Vicki’s classic red Speedwell, recently upgraded.

This kind of machine makes a lot of sense – encouraging the average non-sporty person to commute by bike could really help in Belmont’s  town centre which is choked with traffic and much easier to get around in by bicycle via the back streets away from the Pacific Highway.

Apparently the Belmont Library is being considered for closure with no replacement to utilise the space for car parking, and I may be wrong, but can’t help but think it has something to do with a certain supermarket giant just across the highway. This is a disgraceful state of affairs for local residents who use this library. This bike highlights another way of reducing congestion in Belmont and keeping the library where it is.

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The Random Tandem – Two-Up Etiquette :

Shopping at Vinnies

Riding a tandem has some things in common with a riding normal bike, and quite a few differences. Communication and co-ordination between captain and stoker are most important, of course. The captain is in charge of steering, balancing, braking and changing the gears, while the stoker plays an important role in starting off and supplying power generally. Because of the need to balance the weight of the bike plus stoker when stopped, the captain usually has both hands on the brakes and the foot – or feet – down.  The stoker is already in the saddle with both feet on the pedals, so they are the bike’s main engine when starting off (apart from gravity down hill). For this reason it’s important that both understand that the pedals must be in position for the stoker to easily start a power stroke after coming to a stop, i.e. not straight up and down nor almost so. It’s the captain’s job to make sure that the gear selected is appropriate, which means thinking ahead if using derailleur gears, as with a solo bike.

Adamstown markets

The captain has the clear field of view so it is their responsibility to warn the stoker of any bumps, obstacles or sudden stops. It helps to keep the pedals horizontal over sharp bumps so that both can use their legs to help cushion the bump if required. Although the two sets of pedals rotate at the same speed it is possible for one person to do the majority of pedalling for a time while the other takes a rest. Taking turns according to how each is feeling can be quite helpful on longer rides. Accelerating or decelerating the pedals suddenly without warning can cause the other rider to lose their footing so it’s best to do this gradually or give warning e.g. “pedal” , “go” or “slowly” etc. I find when changing down derailleur gears it is sometimes necessary to put back pressure on the pedals if the stoker is pedalling hard, to take the pressure off the shift mech. for a smooth change. The gear cables are longer on a tandem so changes can be a little slower too. Stokers should of course give notice whenever they need to shift their weight in the saddle.

Lunch Break

Because tandems have roughly the frontal area of a solo bike but with two people pedalling, they can be quite fast on the flat and exceptionally so downhill – one of the joys of riding two-up is catching (normally) faster cyclists downhill while not even pedalling, then pedalling in top gear to pull past them effortlessly ! Uphill the situation reverses, as the greater weight takes its toll. A good range of gears is essential as you really need to remain seated at all times and of course it’s more complicated for two to dismount and re-start than for solo biking. The granny gear on my wife’s 24 speed Raleigh is around 1:1 and very useful on steep hills. This is one case where more is better, within reason.

Riding solo on a tandem immediately after riding two-up is a really strange experience as one tends to wobble violently along the road, over-correcting the steering for the first few minutes, then after that it all feels normal, which makes me realise that one can get used to riding almost anything once acclimatised.

Hands free !

One final observation … women onlookers usually smile, kids mostly get excited, while some males, often older non-cyclists, sometimes have this urge to shout “she’s not pedalling, mate” which is pretty lame and unfunny after the first (let alone the 327th) time you’ve heard it …

Happy Cycling !

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