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02-26-21, 05:10 AM

#46

Geepig

Senior Member

Join Date: Sep 2020

Location: Eastern Poland

Posts: 744

Bikes: Romet Jubilat x 4, Wigry x 1, Turing x 1

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Where do I start? The old plan was to build BigR and Zenit to sell, and then let the friend have Danusia, but all this has gone out of the window. BigR will still be sold, gaining the high rise handlebars from Zenit and maybe the steering stem from Danusia while losing the steering and handlebar clamps to Tigger and Blue. Danusia has a big weld, so it is staying with me, Zenit is going down the country road, and that leaves the friend getting Blue. Best can wait, as can its switched gear changers and triple sprocket crank.

There is just so much cleaning to do, even for stuff going into storage, as you can often spot potential problems like cracks that might mean extra work later. I removed the crank assembly from BigR some weeks ago because I could feel significant slackness in the BB. Rather than a seal there is a pressed aluminium dust cover, which is only so-so effective. The bearings are sitting in my special dish waiting to be washed and could all be replaced cheaply enough - the only difficulty is that the outer cone on the sprocket side is friction welded in place. If anything happens to the crank, cone, sprocket or shaft then the whole unit has to be replaced. It clearly pays to keep the bearings cleaned and greased regularly.

Luckily Blue has a nice set of chrome mudguards on the shelf, as well as a front basket ready to slot on. All I need is a set of LED lights and maybe a bell - all of which is a lot less preparation than required for BigR as I have been working on Blue since last summer and BigR has been on the road / in a shed since 1997. Everything needs overhauling for BigR, but since Zenit and Danusia are essentially minimal parts consumers, and I still have parts left over from Tigger, there is plenty to pick and choose from.

3-speed Falcon freewheel. At last, I have taken a better picture of Zenit’s three speed hub, and you can see that they just bought hubs with fewer than the maximum number of sprockets possible. Things like this makes you realise just how whiney many of us in the West can be, talking incessantly about how much more their bike needs...

In other news, I had a very low speed crash on Tigger in the snow, when the front wheel slid out in a turn and we all rolled onto my side. I had BigR’s grippy pedals fitted, which would have been perfect if I were wearing my normal riding shoes, but I had deep cleat boots on - and I was hence unable to slide my foot off the pedal to correct for the slide. So there I was, lying in the snow, realizing I needed other pedals for boots, like Danusia’s or Tigger’s old ones, or a better technique. Danusia’s look perfect, are light, but they are not rebuildable and are noticeably worn. Next time out I first lifted my foot from the pedal when I felt the front wheel begin to go.

Zenit will get a bit of a clean and lube, and various minor fixes such as the tires and tubes, and will then be transported to its new home. I still need to fit out Zenit with baskets to do local shopping, but that is way down the line at the moment. It is also getting 5 speeds, but I might later change this to 3-speed once I build a new wheel because with friction lever systems I tend to choose a gear and go. Then there are my ideas for low mounted baskets to make shopping safer with a ton of spuds and cabbage on board. While I will be keeping the stem mounted friction gear lever for now, and the desirability of 3 speeds, Best’s switches are always there for a future that does include 5 speeds and potentially more than one gear up front.

As always, Tigger benefits, this time with a lever clamp for the steering so we can leave that 13mm spanner at home, new bar grips and the pedals I have already mentioned. What is more, if the rust on Danusia’s wheels is just surface then I plan to sand them down and paint them properly during the warmer months. They will then be used to replace my current winter wheels, one of which is going on Zenit.

One of my new levers that came on BigR. They are quite expensive even secondhand, and it is cheaper to harvest them off a bike you buy to renovate. This one is on Blue, the other is on Tigger.

On our second visit to the cottage the other day, some members of the seller’s family were also there - mostly to decide what of the (lots of) scrap farm iron in the barns that they could sell or discard. They had assumed that we would want everything cleared from the property, and were pleased to discover that we actually wanted the furniture and bedding in the house, saving them from the sad sorting of a dearly departed’s belongings. We are looking for continuity, and since I come from a rural background I want locals to wander on and off our property (I could easily toss a stone from the front gate and hit either cottage on each side). There is a bit of a field out back, and it was clear to me that the locally-living cousin who still had farm equipment in our big barn had turned the land over for the spring - so I suggested that he could continue to farm the field and store his stuff in our barn, as there is nothing quite so sad as a barn that is no longer a barn, like a bicycle without wheels, only much, much larger.

Another ace in our pocket is that, in this land on the border between Polish and Ukrainian cultures, is that wifie’s name is ‘Grzesiuk’ and the sellers are ‘Stasiuk’, classic cross-border names, and the leader of the district council is also a Grzesiuk. We are talking calling card names here - and a common question wifie gets is ‘Are you related to the Grzesiuks in Chełm?’

I found a Romet Turing 2, technically referred to as a ladies’ bike but which are just as often ridden by men in the countryside. It was in the big barn, very rusted but a good project, even if it is on 26 inch wheels and lacks foldability. I even found the owner, the father of the cousin, and he agreed I could have it. I know I said that I wanted to stick with 24 inch wheels, but the pairing of a Jubillat/Wigry shopper with a Turing is so common in the rural landscape that a pair even appear in my first post.

Later I realized that the Turing might make a better bike for wifie than a Jubilat, especially useful given my decision last week not to rebuild Danusia to bike status. It will certainly need a pair of 26 inch rims, but much of the rest is compatible with the Jubilat.

Another friend, influenced by my enthusiasm for Romets, has announced that she has one, probably a Wigry (on 20” wheels), doing nothing in her father’s basement, and since we have so much barn space she would like to store it there so that she can use it when she comes to visit. The more the merrier I thought, and I know that I will get to both service and ride it.

26” wheels, 20” wheels - so much for my 24”-only wheel plan!

#romet #rower #bicycle #wigry #jubilat #shopper #poland #polska