AdventureManCO 

I've ridden the bike for 79.3 miles as of today and the fact that I don't hate it makes me ecstatic about it. Welcome to the club. It's only other member is me.

AdventureManCO 

Welcome to the dark heavy side.

Hondo6

No Iowa grad school, amigo. Just "pullin' yer chain" in a good-natured way. Glad you weren't offended.

Was a big fan of George Carlin as a kid, and that led me to (1) notice words as written, and (2) look for alternate meanings for what's there. And I guess it goes without saying that I love a good joke.

I'm (as the late Robert A. Heinlein put it about Jerry Pournelle in a private letter once according to Pournelle) a "terribul spellar" myself. Spell-check software is absolutely great.

But spell check doesn't catch misspellings that are themselves correctly spelled other words. Those can be damn near impossible to notice - and still get me, too.

Mad Honk 

Hondo,
I spent at least three years of Grad skool in writing classes that were pretty nice but it also taught me that I would not be an author or a journalist. I still attempt a few short stories of the humorous variety but nothing that is publish worthy. Good to see we are well on the way to 300 posts before any substantial work occurs. Reminds me of the open the box thread. Smiles, MH

AdventureManCO 

I hoped we could have at least hit 400+ posts of pointless empty content, but unfortunately I'm going to run out of miles too soon and will be forced to provide something more substantial. Believe it or not the Huffy has been 'too fast' in the mileage goal! We just couldn't stop! (literally).

Hondo6

You could always (jokingly or not) say you were enjoying the ride and handling of the "as is" Huffy so much you decided to extend the pre-build mileage to, say, 200 miles.

I bet that one post alone would generate a ton of additional comments.

AdventureManCO 

200? That's ridiculous! I should extend it to 400 miles at least!

AdventureManCO 

Alright folks, today is the day.

smd4

I believed you once before…

AdventureManCO 

haha..burn!

on the ride now. Don’t know how to upload pics directly from the phone but I’ll try!

AdventureManCO 

ooh it worked. Okay I will try again…

AdventureManCO 

cudak888

AdventureManCO 

...btw I am upgrading the saddle status from ‘bum hatchet’ to 'loin destroyer'...

AdventureManCO 

Okay guys, I’ve finally arrived at ‘murder hill’:



My bike at the bottom of the hill.


While it may not look it, it’s like riding straight up Mount Everest if you are on a Huffy. I don’t know a single dept store bike that has survived it. I may be the first.

coordinates are 39.61304 N, 104.78555W

if you don’t here from me in an hr send help



EDIT: The bike and I are alive. We made it, fam.

dddd

Noting that you persevered with the bike as-found, but I'm surprised that you, er, your back side, survived even to mile 50 using THAT saddle.

Recalling my own few go's at riding bikes as-found for a time, Varsities in particular had terrible saddles (or perhaps became terrible after 30+ years?).

This bike got an extensive "mostly-as-was" running-in, doing local rides, while I pondered whether it would make a good enough rider to bother with extensive re-habbing. I was quite on the fence about it, but quite glad in the end as it handles great (dare I say lively even) with the longer stem and wider handlebar.
Note the still-steel rims, SPD pedals, new saddle (and that I had to repair one broken shift lever to ride it).



AFTER:

smd4

AdventureManCO 

Okay Team BF, we did it! We did the 100 miles 'Clunker Challenge' (only cost was the bike as-is, under $100...thank heavens!) on the Le Grande and lived to tell the tale. We completed the 'Huffy Hundred'. I don't know what is more impressive - that the bike made it, or maybe me.




Ahh, you ever get that feeling where you want to award yourself a trophy for just being completely awesome? That's the energy here at the AMCO household Well, maybe I shouldn't mention the fact that I nearly collapsed after I got home lol.

Based on the ride today, our total complete mileage stands at:

103.3 mi

The mileage is completely unverifiable, since I don't have Strava or any other fancy doodads, but I've been mapping out all my routes and adding them up. Today I rode my old bike commute to where I used to work (even to the same building), so I was familiar with it - 24mi proper. That pushed us over the 100mi mark. The ride went well. For a while as I was going through the open plains, I was a little concerned because the squeak from my right pedal nearly perfectly mimicked the mating call of the surrounding prairie dogs, for a moment there the walls were closing in. There was even a section of concrete on the multi-use path that lifted and created enough of a lip that they painted it in yellow paint to warn people. I'm sure for high pressure tires it becomes an instant flatter. I actually bunny-hopped the Huffy over it...but I didn't bother to take pictures since I figured it would sound so outlandish nobody would believe me. Also, I got to test out my 'screaming brakes bike bell' theory, and it simply worked brilliantly!! For those of you who would like to know what it actually sounds like - turn your speakers way up for the full effect...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oUs...ew?usp=sharing

Let me know if that link doesn't work and I'll try to fix it. Likewise, let me know if the link does work and I will laugh at your suffering.


I also came across some stairs which, for a normal human, with a normal bike, presents no problem. But even [MENTION=401497]RiddleOfSteel[/MENTION] would agree that Arnold would have difficulty with this one...



A story of struggle and perseverance, in two parts -

Struggle


Perseverance

Even if you believe I carried the bike down the stairs instead of up, it would still involve lifting the bike. No cutting corners here. I think every firefighter dept in the country can replace their qualification test with the 'Huffy Haul' and have a more accurate assessment of raw power and strength. I'm sort of thinking of entering the 'World's Strongest Man' competition now.



What are my initial impressions?

The first thing that comes to mind is that these bikes are completely satisfactory for 99% of the population, except for the brakes (which also, by default, means the wheels). I did nothing to the bike, except for true the rims a bit to make sure they weren't wildly rubbing on the pads. Nothing else - I didn't take anything apart, didn't lube anything, just a little air in the tires (and straightening the valve stem) and off we went. I had no mechanical issues whatsoever, at least that kept me from riding the bike. Right now, the brakes scream (and don't really work in general), the pedals squeak, the headset has loosened a bit so there is play when you go over large bumps, the seat is HARD, the shifter clamp loosened up, and there were about 3-4 instances of it ghost shifting due to lack of tension on the shifter. But I could hop on the bike right now and ride another 100mi and expect it to get me to where I'm going, certainly in no great style or comfort, which works for billions of people all over the globe.

I'm seriously impressed actually, for something that most people, especially bike people, wouldn't hesitate to throw in the garbage. And many have. I'm going to also now be keeping my eye out for a Huffy Aerowind, Santa Fe, Techtra/626, or all 3. They are completely serviceable as light (industrial) transportation, and honestly most of us have tons of extra wheels lying around. The rear spread on mine was right around 128mm, so you could easily go up to 130mm or down to 126mm, super versatile.

I know some people have commented on the front fork rake, with wide eyes, but I quite like the look/stance, and it makes for a comfortable ride. One of the more comfortable bikes I have, actually. With a alloy wheelset, a decent set of alloy long-reach centerpulls, you'll likely have a winner on your hands. Yes, yes, I know that many of you would have a hard time going from a lighter bike to a blimp, buuuuut....




Embrace the weight for a smooth ride!!!


And now, the announcement that many of you needed to hear: The disassembly of the bike will commence tomorrow.

I will be taking each component off, piece by piece, and weighing them, so we all can see just what went into turning a boat anchor into a bicycle. I will also start compiling the Campy parts.

Unbeknownst to most of you, I have been secretly gathering up supplies and parts for the build. I picked up a Regina freewheel removal tool for the Super Record wheel, so I can service the hub and switch out the rear freewheel if need be (although it has a suuuuuuper sweet high end sound to it....Regina Oro.....ahhhhhhh). Got an ultralight compressionless housing/brake cable kit (in RED!), some brass wire wheels for the dremel so I can clean off the tubular glue off the Super Record wheelset and mount the Home Depot tubulars.

I've also got some Campy things coming. I won an auction for a Campy Super Record clamp-on shifter set, which I'm sure was a huge waste of money, since everything on this build technically is (including the bike) but its allllllllllll about image, so, there's that. We are going to go way extra, and that extra is going to start tomorrow.

stoneageyosh

I would have to take exception to your referring to subject bike as a blimp. A blimp is a lighter than air flying machine. Said Huffy is surely not lighter than air or any sort of flying machine, unless hurled off a cliff by a freakily muscled comic book like character.

Having started out with Campy Gran Sport on a 1960 Puch Burgmeister and Record on a 1964 Bianchi Speciallisima, which were boat anchors in comparison to Super Record, it will be interesting to see how much difference there will be in component weight alone.

smd4

I vote this is the best thread ever posted to this site.

AdventureManCO 

Excellent point! Exception taken my good man

stoneageyosh

I have previous experience installing Campy Super Record on Huffy. Not exactly the same as the frames were Serotta/Huffy for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

This build is the sort of tongue in cheek irreverent thing that should remind us, sometimes overly invested/obsessed equipment junkies, that it is a hobby and supposed to be fun!

EDIT - Super Record on Murray. . . . . frames were Serotta/Murray. What happens when brain fade from old age, chemo and too much chocolate combine.

AdventureManCO 

A thread that generates about the same quality of experience as a vacation to the DMV.

stoneageyosh

You really don’t want to go down this rabbit hole.

pastorbobnlnh 

I've been waiting for you to get back to the Campified Huffy rebuild to comment. I did something similar on a Continental sometime prior to 2010.


It never went full-blown Campy, but was faithful to the drivetrain.



Can't wait to see the Super Record Huffy! Fantastic plan!

AdventureManCO 

2877



any guesses