Sandstrom

Hi Everyone, just recently joined as I have just gotten back into riding regularly after a 10 year hiatus (into my 50s now). I do a lot of errands, grocery shopping etc. with my bike and love how I often won't have to start my car up for days and days. This seems like a great site with a lot of great folks and experience so look forward to learning.

I used to commute to work when I lived in Connecticut and wanted to try and get back into it as I have been missing the fun and tinkering with my bike. I used to ride an Aluminum MTB but have always kept my eyes open for an older steel bike with fenders as I've always kind of wanted one.

A 1986 Schwinn World Traveller (Giant Built) came up on the local CL in excellent condition so I jumped on it. I know, I know, it has the silly Positron setup but it does work great and only required a small adjustment to the front derailleur to work perfectly. I was originally thinking when necessary, I would get a replacement cable when/if failure occurred but I might actually shift it over to a standard friction setup so am keeping my eyes peeled for some appropriate components in case they pop up. I am thinking If I am lucky I can find a nice used rear derailleur and replace the shifter instead of paying 30+ for the cable and then making myself crazy getting it installed and adjusted/working properly.

I also came across a beat up and worn Brooks B66 that needed some frame repair and a new cover. Having just enough experience with leather work to be dangerous, I attempted my first saddle re-hang and so far I am loving it. I decided not to dye the leather as I really like the natural look, just giving it several applications of beeswax to darken/soften the look of the raw leather. I real happy with how it looks and am hoping my work holds up over extended use. If nothing else it was a fun project and I learned a bunch. I benefitted from others experiences reading posts on this great site.

I tried to include some pictures in this post of the saddle but I guess I need to reach 10 posts for that.

Anyway, thanks for reading and all the great content you all provide to this site every day!

Brian

Homebrew01

Welcome to Bike Forums. Plenty of sub-forums you might be interested in. Browse around.

coopman

Welcome Brian.

xiaoman1 

Hello Brian,
Sounds like you are a tinker which is what is needed to keep our old steeds on the road...post a few more times and then you will be able to start a thread on the saddle you worked on.
Best, Ben

Sandstrom

Thanks for the welcome everyone! Hopefully I will stop reading so much soon and start posting

coffeesnob

what area of ohio are you in?

Sandstrom

Hi—I'm in Cincinnati

coffeesnob

Home of the big red machine. Loved them when they were the big red machine. I have always heard good things about cincy. The times I was there were fun mostly in riverfront stadium, I grew up in dayton

slow_runner

Gidday Sandstrom, welcome.
I am just new here myself and have found the site to be a terrific resource with a helpful membership. I will be returning the favour whenever I can.
Keen to see the work on your Brooks and the results, appears an interesting project.

Sandstrom

Yes, this town seems to have an unlimited capacity for stadiums for sure! Have visited Dayton several times the Wright-Patt Museum is fantastic.

Sandstrom

Welcome yourself! When I was married one of my brother in laws was a Kiwi, a fun bloke. Yes the members here seem top notch, I reel very inexperienced as I read a lot of the content on here but am learning a lot. Will post some pics of the saddle as soon as I reach the required posts...

nomadmax 

Welcome from Germantown.

Ferrouscious 

Welcome from the Dayton area!

Fixit

Hi Brian! Looking forward to seeing your leather works in pics. I've been wanting to wrap some toe clips and water bottles in leather, just haven't found time yet.

Sandstrom

Thanks for the welcome!

Sandstrom

Thanks friend from the very near north!

Sandstrom

Ok, Let's see if this works, Here are a couple of quick snaps as the saddle was "sunning" itself after a coat of beeswax:

slow_runner

Nice work there. Question; why did you not use malleable copper rivets as theywould appear to be easier to peen/pein flush with the leather surface.

Sandstrom

That was my original intent, the issue was with the nose. I hadn't accounted for the sheer thickness of the replacement leather, it was nearly (if not literally) double the thickness of the original. As a result the edges did not come down nearly as low as the original. If I had used the copper ones I had, they would have come right up to the edge of the leather which I wasn't keen on.

I also probably should have gone with one size smaller tubular as these were probably a bit long. I was again concerned due to the weightiness of the leather. I could have trimmed down the heads of the copper rivets but just decided to use these which were a very close match to the originals.

I will likely end up re-doing these if the saddle continues to remain solid and comfortable, a bit annoying but shouldn't be too difficult.

thepartsguy

Nice job on the saddle. I've recovered a leather padded saddle but never hung a Brooks. Kudos for the great repair and also a shout out from the Akron area.

Sandstrom

Thanks!, I really enjoy these kind of small projects, so fun and you learn a lot in the process...