Meet “Barney”, The 1898 Glenwood
 

After 6 weeks of intense reconditioning, the barn find Glenwood went out for short shakedown cruise downtown to showoff a little bit. Overall, this has been a tremendous learning experience that has stretched my abilities. How the bike survived 122 years and ended up in my shop is mostly due in part to a very good friend and bike scout fanatic and the rest is just plain miraculous. The bike is wearing new spokes, tubular cyclocross tires and new handcrafted wood grips coming from Germany. I have had a significant push forward by the good members here and The Cabe. Here it is, a preview with better pics to follow. Thank you for reading, offering info and following along.

Here is Barney, the amazingly intact barn find:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2cb6d84e3.jpeg

wow, super nice. can't wait for an extended ride report and glamour shots with flowers in the spring

I think it is interesting also in the timeless look and lifetime of the steel, lugged, diamond frame design

I've been following along, and I can't believe the condition of this thing. Amazing! You must be thrilled.

How's it ride?

I want to know when Rudi is gonna fix the saddle? ;)

Nice find, good job.

Nice reveal! I followed your other thread as well. Just, wow. This is about as C&V as they come.

Waitaminit - at first I cringed at "Barney", thinking "Barnard" would be more fitting for such a stately black ride. But you were thinking of its contemporaneous human namesake, right? I see what you did there....

Glorius! Elegant! Amazing! So unique to be timeless!

Pick tires for the ride. Assuming 700c? (edit: maybe not?)
What's the original wheel size?

Lovely. Bonus to learn that it isn't a tacky shade of purple. :D

The tire size is our standard 28” that have carried through to modern use. I was excited to find one of my sewups stretched over. The wooden rims came with 1.5” knobbies and it now wears Challenge Limus Pro 33mm.

And I didn’t need a Campy NR pat. 76 derailleur. :D

Barney is a 'scorcher'

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...55a10c20d5.jpg
Henry Ford 1893

The ride is very smooth with the 33mm tubulars. Riding it is a whole ‘nuther deal. The chainring is a bit steep. It is a fast bike, very light and nimble but it is not quick like we are used to with multi gears. The coaster brake has a fresh film of grease on it so at the first ride it was needing a walk down that first hill. It’s a fun bike to ride but not a comfort bike.

Have you weighed it?

Using the digital bath scales it weighs in at 25.5lbs.

Indeed! :lol:

Thanx for posting that pic. Bicycle history is rich in heritage and intrigue.

It looks like it!


So good to see it so close to done! Seat will be along soon I presume?

Seat looks perfect to me!

I'm a bit concerned regarding the bent over valves. Are those tires already glued on?

Hell of a transform!

What's up with the spokes on the front wheel? Specifically the ones towards 8 and 4 o'clock respectively, are they just old, or can you not tighten down spokes fully on wood rims?

Never built a pair of wood rims, so genuinely don't know.

Nice bike, & nice work, restoring it. 👌 I lost track of the other thread a bit, but that’s from having a run of bad luck, with flats, & cold weather. 🙄 I’m back up to speed again now. 🙂

Interesting. Considering the one piece crank and the coaster brake, that seems rather light. I'd love to test ride something like that.

Seat: Has been glued in certain places as opposed to stitching. The 122yr old leather objected to that. It is installed and I’m in the process of adjusting. :D

Wheels and spokes: I implemented a x2 using 14ga spokes from Wheel Builders supply, great people there. Nipples were a bugger. The wood rims need 19mm (3/4”) which are not easy to find. I settled on 16mm, measured accordingly and began the relace. Spokes took a slight angle to them as they were torqued. The angle of holes and the thickness of the wood was a challenge. The 16mm spokes are trued from the topside, tire off. It is what it is. This is a parade bike, very occasional rider.

Yes, the back valve stem is off center. I’m cool with that. Here is a pic of how I finished the schrader to presta fit:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ad69a7268.jpeg

Man I can't get enough of those wooden rims, you did a great job of bringing the beauty of that wood back to life

The fact that the original wooden rims are still serviceable and ridable--- is a miracle in and of itself. They are beautiful wheels! :thumb:

They are, thank you brother.

It looks like it found the right home! Looks great! Have you thought about sending out some of the parts for nickel plating?

Interesting question! I was compelled to something between preservation and restoration. I decided to keep it as is mostly, the wheels getting the full restore. It was just too nicely preserved by storage the past 100 years. If it had been a rusty mess then it would have had a full resto, chrome and paint.