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Clunker 100 Challenge #8

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Clunker 100 Challenge #8

Old 07-20-22, 08:40 PM
  #451  
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Originally Posted by ollo_ollo
Just a short comment conceding I'm unable to finish this years challenge. Stopped at 51.4 miles/92.6 kilometers after my Sunday June 26th Clunker ride due to a crash 7/3. Cracked ribs are healing, but still painful. Doctor says I may ride again end of August. Frustrating, as we sold our home July 4th. Have til 9/1/22 for pack and move, but depending on my 2 sons for everything I would normally be doing, since can't find any odd job/handyman types locally and Portland/Salem guys won't service our rural area. Don
Life happens. It happened with me two summers in a row unfortunately. At the moment, my mothers house is being rehabbed but me alone. she had to relocate to an assisted living facility.

Key thing is to take time to heal properly. And self care.

Last edited by jdawginsc; 07-21-22 at 04:02 AM.
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Old 07-21-22, 12:46 AM
  #452  
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Sorry to hear about your crash ollo_ollo, wishing you a speedy recovery and a low stress move.


By the second or third test ride on the Invader I realize that I've got an old gel saddle cover. That makes it possible to do a ride that's about 5km. (I certainly didn't pay money for the thing and don't know why I kept it, but now I'm glad I did - +$0)

The headset gets replaced (+$5 from the local co-op), and I take the opportunity to try using a threaded fork as a headset press. It gets rigged up with some cartridge bearings and the old top cup with big wrench flats turned upside down. Works great. I can't find the extra large adjustable wrench to turn the cup, so I say 'whatever' and use vice grips as the cherry on top of the kludge sundae.



With the bigger wheel and slack headtube there's some noticeable wheel flop at very low speeds but after this point the bike handles pretty good. I'd worried that the handling wouldn't be good enough to eventually give this thing away.

I figure the bike will be easier to control if I can pedal the whole time so I add a temporary set of Shimano Fingertip downtube shifters with retroacting spring. These came off my 1974 CCM Mistral (coulda been a 2018 challenge entry) and I got that bike for free, but I might have paid for the replacements so let's call it +$5 at co-op prices. The spring action doesn't seem to pair well with shifters other than the Shimano Light Action - maybe I'm missing something I could do - and the stem shifters will go back on later, but I'd be likely to hit them with my knees on this tiny bike so they stay off for the challenge.

With rear shifting I do a couple rides around 10km. It starts to be kinda fun.



I take different routes from usual and look at different stuff, winding around spots where there's no real attraction but let me put distance on without getting too far from home. The feeling that something could go wrong where I'd be in for a long awkward walk is a little like first starting to ride real distance before having too much gear or know-how.



After a bit of that I set up the front shifter and put on some rides of about 20km. They're exhausting in a good way on days where I can't fit a long ride, like running sprints without having to run.


The front derailer is a Suntour Spirt top normal and it's gotta go - I hate top normal front, and it's got a big groove worn in the side plate that jams the chain trying to shift, no condition to pass along. I thought the shift logic of pulling both shifters to go to low gear might be nice for a new rider, but it ain't worth it.
The rear Suntour Honor friction shifts well, but the thicker cage design doesn't leave quite enough spoke clearance in low gear to be comfortable, so I think both derailers will get post-challenge replacement.

For a while I'm thinking that I should rig up the world's worst indexing system - drilling a plate to locate a tiny ball bearing, with none of the precision of the wave washers in the real deal - but since this bike is a 1982, I'm not yet at the year of 'doesn't click, doesn't clunk'. I did find a dual cable Positron derailer in the recycling recently and look forward to making that work as bad as new sometime.

We're at $39.50 CAD, with plenty of room in the budget for ride improvements, but I don't end up taking advantage. Why not grab a longer seatpost from the co-op at least? Or swap the saddle? Too busy coming up with bad ideas to try the good ones.

Last edited by 8.8.8.; 07-30-22 at 10:58 PM.
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Old 07-21-22, 04:13 PM
  #453  
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At last, freed from the tyrany of the $108 budget (since I completed my miles within the parameters of the challenge), here is an update on my Centurion with decals from lettering.com applied.



I like decals.

I put the blue water bottle cages on there kind of as a joke because I didn't have anything better available, but they've really kind of grown on me.
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Old 07-21-22, 08:13 PM
  #454  
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
At last, freed from the tyrany of the $108 budget (since I completed my miles within the parameters of the challenge), here is an update on my Centurion with decals from lettering.com applied.



I like decals.

I put the blue water bottle cages on there kind of as a joke because I didn't have anything better available, but they've really kind of grown on me.
Haha.

Firstly, the cages are cool...do a blue lug line or paint the head tube panel to match!

Decals look good. I don't prefer decals, which is why Trixie Trek will never get any! I like the mystery.
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Old 07-21-22, 11:54 PM
  #455  
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Originally Posted by jdawginsc
Haha.

Firstly, the cages are cool...do a blue lug line or paint the head tube panel to match!

Decals look good. I don't prefer decals, which is why Trixie Trek will never get any! I like the mystery.
Oh, thanks for the reminder. I totally forgot that I was going to try my hand at lug lining on this bike. Silver, though, not blue.

I know there's a good chance the next owner of this bike won't like the decals either, so I wrote on the steerer what it is.
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Old 07-22-22, 05:05 AM
  #456  
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Made some progress on the Raleigh hybrid single speed conversion build.

It originally had a set of Shimano BioPace cranks with a triple chainring. I'm not using those, and am swapping them out for a set of Shimano 600ex arabesque cranks.

HOWEVER...

The bottom bracket spindle is the wrong length (too long on drive side) and my chainline will be too crooked to be reliable.

And the spindle is totally roached. The drive side bearing race is all chewed up. Because the drive side bearings only exist as stabby bits of shrapnel.

Surprisingly i don't have any more looseball bottom brackets in my pile of parts so the drive side bb cup needs to come out so it can be replaced by a cheap cartridge unit.

But it is stuck haaaaaaaaaaard. And the flats on it are too thin for me to effectively get my bigger wrenches on it.

Sheldon Brown's website has a guide for just this.

I ended up buying a 5/8-inch 18 TPI hex bolt 1 1/2inches long, with a nut, a big flat washer, and four lockwashers. Bolt and lockwashers go inside the bb shell, threaded part of bolt sticks out thru the fixed cup, flat washer and nut go on outside.

Since it is an English threaded bb, tightening the nut will clamp down on the fixed cup and eventually break it loose.

Good thing I got it out, the bearing races in the fixed cup were all chewed up too. I'm guessing someone put the bearing cage in backwards and then rode it for several years.

So now I need to figure out which cartridge bottom bracket to get that will result in a reasonable chainline.

I have a 39t chainring for the cranks I'm thinking of using but may pick up a different one.

Last edited by RandolphCarter; 07-22-22 at 08:41 AM.
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Old 07-22-22, 10:35 AM
  #457  
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35 miles today on the Serotta. No issues at all. The tires on this bike are making me re-think my tire consumption. The old Contis are hanging in there.



I often throw down the money to put new rubber on a bike before I ever ride it, mostly for looks, and partly so I will know everything is ready to go from the start. I’m now sure that I’ve never ridden a tire to its complete lifespan and I need to change my wasteful ways!
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Old 07-22-22, 02:28 PM
  #458  
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As last follow up before this challenge ends the Motive Stone Grinder is working great as a cargo bike turns out with the slightly heavier weight and good balance it works nice for slightly heavy loads for a bike. Used it to haul some stuff plants to the library today on gravel trail and it did great.





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Old 07-22-22, 02:40 PM
  #459  
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Originally Posted by ollo_ollo
Just a short comment conceding I'm unable to finish this years challenge. Stopped at 51.4 miles/92.6 kilometers after my Sunday June 26th Clunker ride due to a crash 7/3. Cracked ribs are healing, but still painful. Doctor says I may ride again end of August. Frustrating, as we sold our home July 4th. Have til 9/1/22 for pack and move, but depending on my 2 sons for everything I would normally be doing, since can't find any odd job/handyman types locally and Portland/Salem guys won't service our rural area. Don
I'm awarding bonus mileage of 7.5km
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Old 07-22-22, 03:48 PM
  #460  
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Originally Posted by Narhay
I'm awarding bonus mileage of 7.5km
I can donate my 5.8 miles since I won’t be finishing on time...again...
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Old 07-22-22, 04:10 PM
  #461  
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Originally Posted by zukahn1
As last follow up before this challenge ends the Motive Stone Grinder is working great as a cargo bike turns out with the slightly heavier weight and good balance it works nice for slightly heavy loads for a bike. Used it to haul some stuff plants to the library today on gravel trail and it did great.


One of the coolest looking clunkers of the year in my ****** opinion.
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Old 07-22-22, 11:54 PM
  #462  
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Last report on the Venture Invader before I write up the couple other clunkers tomorrow.

Got another booster shot yesterday and not enough sleep, feeling like a wreck. It'll be gone tomorrow and well worth it. Doing basic stuff was a struggle of fumbling things everywhere, which makes this a perfect day to talk about sewing up a tire!

I take a crack at sewing something once every couple years and it hasn't ever gone all that well, as though I've suddenly got no experience working with my hands and can't find the dexterity. I don't have the knowledge of technique to come up with any useful tools to make things easier the way I can with bike mechanics. Kinda like the experience of learning mechanics and coming up against that 'do I even know left from right anymore...?' bit of 3D visualization as things are turned while flipped around.

There's lots of inexpensive quality materials that you can use to make a sewed-in tire boot, good adhesive and tapes, durable and stretchy thread like nylon. or! you can have a little fun ripping up the bead of a used Gravelking for the kevlar thread, and peel apart layers of the tire to get a nice thin piece of rubber that won't dig into the tube. You can do a bunch of work for materials that aren't as good or easy to use as stuff available most anywhere. So that's the way I did it.

I find some good ideas for the sewing part, and automotive tire video where the guy makes a little loop on the inside with an awl and pulls thread through that loop, so the stitch is almost all inside the tire. I mess around trying to find something to use as an awl and fail, then just start stitching, then get the idea of doing short outside stitches within the grooves of the tread where they won't contact the road as much.


Beautiful. Right up there with all my other fine needlework. (I'll put some shoe goo over this and sew through the boot too when I use the tire again.)

Cleaned up the inside, glued the boot in with rubber cement, clamped in a vice overnight, and later I'll probably do a few more stitches through the boot. The tire got through the challenge with just the boot, figure this extra will be fine. I'll reuse this tire on a bike of my own to see how it holds up.

Lots of big ideas I didn't get around to:
  • No bottle cages yet! There's a right angle drill with a seized chuck for cheap that I'll grab to fix and put in some rivnuts.
  • I need a little extra clearance at the fork crown to run a 1.5" tire. This is partly a mitering issue as with the bottom bracket, but I don't want to remove material from the fork. I found an excellent suggestion from FBinNY to space it out with a ball bearing and use automotive body filler to make a flat surface. I borrowed some filler from my sister-in-law over a month ago that I should use & return. I did all the riding with the wheel clamped in the dropouts and nothing taking up that extra space to see if it'd move at all, no issues.
  • Not a major issue, but a major fix: the dimpling on the chainstays lines up perfectly with the tire without a claw hanger, and then with the claw it's less roomy than I'd like. Then again, there's a broken spoke on the rear wheel that I keep forgetting about as it is. It's a 36 spoke rim holding quite true.
    • Been trying to think of hack fixes here - of course brazing on a hanger is the right thing to do, but I can't braze. Processing scrap frames at the co-op gets me thinking about modifying dropouts cut from another frame to somehow clamp on as a no-weld fix. Would take a great deal of grinding and fitting, but serve the dual purpose of spacing things out to run normal length quick release axles. It'd be a nice-to-have on my CCM Mistral too. If I ever come up with a decent idea on it I'll post here. Happy to hear suggestions!
  • I'll need get or make some proper aero junior levers. Those Dia Compe Vxs have high leverage, but some of the worst fit for small hands with super long reach. There's some posts by puchfinnland on here that may help.
Then the simple stuff I just plain don't get to:
  • Never bothered setting up a rear brake knowing I'd need to change levers.
  • Didn't put those stem shifters back on.
  • Didn't wrap the bars! Hummed and hawed about colour and how to do something free, the levers, etc., no complete complete photos for me.
  • Didn't ride the the last 0.6km. I was going to do this with tape and both brakes to finish things off. This weekend I have other stuff to do, so I'm resisting that completionist impulse and calling this...
challenge incomplete! Our running cost is $39.50 and we're at 99.4km.

Ultimately I got distracted and lost my resolve to do things the hard way, building up two other clunkers I could ride for real. I'll keep at the other stuff off and on so I can eventually give this bike away to someone keen on it. The truly hacky stuff will be de-hacked. In addition to shortest bike I hope for a runaway win in the hotly contested Incomplete Challenge - Shortest from Finish Line category. Perhaps also in I've Learned My Lesson - 1000 Words Ain't No Photo for starting so late with not enough posts.


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Old 07-23-22, 02:15 AM
  #463  
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Another Clunker Pug Build

I need another bike like a hole in the head...

I think I say that every year, and here we are again! I decided when I viewed @Andy_K 's PX-10 build that I "need" to have a French bike, at least to hang all of my French parts collected over the years (as they were previously relegated to a very crappy and small French bike that I had bought as least desirable one of four bikes for C$100 that I picked up a few years ago to obtain a bike for my younger son). Henceforth, this black rattlecan victim will be known as the "donor bike" which I am valuing at C$25, and yes I am going with "steel is real, right down to the wheels" this year.


After scouring the ads in Vancouver for a good French bike I was unwilling to take anything that was on offer until a 23" Peugeot U-08 frame appeared for C$20. I confirmed with the seller's exhortation that it was straight and not dented and we were off and (soon to be) rolling!

So the plan is to transplant the components from the donor bike to the Pug. However, the fork from the donor bike does not have a long enough steerer for the larger Pug frame, which led me to go through my box of French parts to find a fork from an old Gitane with a perfectly sized steerer, but unfortunately the steerer on that fork is bent, and straightening the steerer (bent at the middle of the steerer tube and not in the direction of a front end collision, which puzzles me a little) is a task I will have to leave for a later revision. For now, I was able to find an old fork with a lot of rake (increases wheelbase from what a friends Peugeot U-08 of the same era by about 10mm) with a good steerer length that I picked up at the Co-op for C$5 because an old Raleigh Superbe I was working on is missing one of its "thimbles". I noted that it already had indication of how many kilometers I needed to ride to complete the challenge!

So we are at C$50 for frame, fork, 27" steel wheels (including near disposal tires and tubes), Mafac racer brakes, Simplex plastic shifters, Huret FD, very well-used Perjohn saddle, genuine Ventolux frame pump and various cable stops, etc. What I had added since the purchase of the donor bike were: Grand Compe 115mm stem (US$10, thanks Bellingham bike co-op, and it allowed the AVA suicide stem to be added to my rogue's gallary of terrible French parts), TA BB cups with Stronglight square taper axle (C$3). Additions to the Pug build were a TA square taper 48-36 crankset that was on a Japanese-built Schwinn World Voyageur that I bought for C$40 that I removed to add a triple crankset and I am valuing this crankset at C$10 for this build, and long-cage a Sachs Huret New Success RD that I bought from the co-op for C$15, along with French bar-end plugs (C$3). The only additions bought to complete this build were: a steel 25.2mm seatpost (Pug was even narrower than the donor bike seat tube), a used chain (C$3), a used Suntour 14-32 6-speed freewheel (C$3) (the French wheels were NOT French threaded), and used platform pedals (C$5). I used recycled bar tape, housings and cables (actually pulled from the garbage and recycling bins - $0).

I add the gratuitous cone with RD shot (TM @Lascauxcaveman) - I always order black licorice because it is the only flavour that blends with bike grease!


Total costs:

Frame C$20
Donor bike C$25 (wheels, tires, saddle and clamp, shifters, FD, brakes, handlebars, pump)
Fork C$5
Stem US$10
Plugs C$3)
BB C$3
Crankset C$10
RD C$15
Seatpost C$3
Chain C$3
Freewheel C$3
Pedals C$5
Total C$95+US$10 (perilously close to the line, but saved by the annual escalation and the vicissitudes of international finance)

After a very short shakeout ride I found out that the Huret FD was assembled with screws that were threatening to come out and was so loose that it could not shift, that those Huret wing-nuts on the front wheel are probably the source of the eponymous epithet, and steel rims are still as bad I as I remembered. With all three of these "challenges" resolved with tightening on Bastille Day I started on a long ride to complete the challenge and finished the day with 136km ridden. I intended to take photos and mark the remaining distances on the front fork but my camera failed me near the halfway point:











POST CLUNKER CHALLENGE RIDING

None of the bikes in my stable are passengers, so the Pug had to bear the indignity of dragging the trailer with the stryrofoam recycling to the drop-off


You may have noted that having completed this year's challenge I modified the Pug to suit my current needs: another long-haul touring bike, because despite their weight and 50 years of riding, the Peugeot frames are lovely smooth riders.

I replaced the claw on the RD to one that was 6mm longer, making the RD able to handle the 32T lowest gear (the initial 136km ride was without access to my lowest gear) - additional cost C$2
I replaced the steel wheels with some vintage aluminum rim wheels: 700C in the rear, but kept with a 27" front wheel because the brake reach was already at maximum - additional cost about C$40 (eventually with the Gitane fork, I will likely go to a 700C wheel on the front, allowing easier tire options). Now that my tube valves are presta the frame pump is purely ornamental.
I added aluminum fenders, a rack on the back, bottle cages on the down tube and handlebars, and low-riders on the front - additional costs C$10+C$6+C$4+C$6 (along with my Kirtland Tour Pak handlebar bag)

While now somewhat above the clunker threshold, the Pug earned its first tour, a 4-day 400km ride from Vancouver to Hornby Island via Saysutshun, including a 160km final day ride back. While not faltering on the task the Pug demonstrated in Gallic nature by having its drive-side bottom bracket cup come loose just as I was getting home. I am hoping that this will be remedied with some thread locker and greater tightening force!



The final "upgrade" will be to find an aluminum seatpost (at least so it will not slip and require the hose clamp) and replace the very worn Perjohn saddle with a still ancient Nervex saddle that appears to have many more miles remaining. I welcome references to good posts on recovering a dried leather saddle.
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Old 07-23-22, 08:27 AM
  #464  
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Originally Posted by Narhay
I'm awarding bonus mileage of 7.5km
Due poor math skills, my concession comment had an error!. Correct total is 82.7 kilometers. So despite generous help from @Narhay and @jdawginsc (a fine pair of fellow c&v'rs) my total is: 82.7 km + 7.5 km from Narhay + 9.3 km from jdawginsc = 99.5 km. Just wasn't meant to be this year. Don

Last edited by ollo_ollo; 07-23-22 at 08:42 AM. Reason: correct to jdawginsc
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Old 07-23-22, 12:37 PM
  #465  
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Originally Posted by ollo_ollo
Due poor math skills, my concession comment had an error!. Correct total is 82.7 kilometers. So despite generous help from @Narhay and @jdawginsc (a fine pair of fellow c&v'rs) my total is: 82.7 km + 7.5 km from Narhay + 9.3 km from jdawginsc = 99.5 km. Just wasn't meant to be this year. Don
i will get my buttocks out and ride a few kilometers to get you over the top.
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Old 07-23-22, 12:47 PM
  #466  
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You're the best, come down to Florida for a bit of sunshine and a Winter ride some time! Don
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Old 07-23-22, 02:52 PM
  #467  
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Completed an 11 mile townie ride this morning to get me over my goal mileage with a total of 100.24 miles. This bike was an awesome score, and 100 miles later, I have to choose some long term goals for it. I have never been a fan of re-painting, but this frame has some extensive rust and spider webbing. For now, it appears that it will be a high-end townie/brewery bike.



Great blue bike with a Great Blue Heron
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Old 07-23-22, 04:34 PM
  #468  
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Dang it! I found this thread two days ago. Too late to play this year. I think I’ll enter this in 2023’s CHALLENGE. It’s a $10 1962(ish) Alpha. Haven’t found another reference or photo of an Alpha online, but it’s Made In England with a three-speed SA hub and solid-rubber rings instead of tubes. I added the bashed-up Wald basket, so, what, another $15 for a $25 total?





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Old 07-23-22, 11:44 PM
  #469  
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This year's second clunker entry started out test fitting spare parts and got out of control to become a bike.

Quite a while ago I stripped the useful parts off a debonding Trek 2300 for the bike co-op and kept the frame to either see if some enthusiast could repair it, or I could just cut it up as a demo of the joining.



I was curious about how it would ride if it was set up for comfort and couldn't bring myself to cut it without knowing whether it's worth considering repair. As I build it up I'm hoping that it'll ride like trash so that I can finally cut it. (spoiler: it's really fun and now I'm thinking about how to repair the bond)

I have a cheaper second set of 650b wheels that I run in the winter that go on this (front rim worn out & have to rebuild - calling that $5 at co-op prices, rear I built up for about $30 with used parts). The frame doesn't clear 38mm Gravelkings, but does fit the Michelin Wild Run'r 1.4"s I forgot I had as a backup (no more than $30 for the pair).



I use the original fork from my main bike (found in the recycling with the frame +$0), an '87 Lotus Legend 650b conversion, that's very rusted and of no real riding use besides clunking anymore. It only clears the tire by half a millimeter and since it's trash anyway I decide to dimple it. I think about how to do this for a bit, then get too impatient and crush it with a tube and wood block in the vice - this is one of those instant regret decisions. I go a bit too far with the dimpling, don't get a nice curve, and wish I'd done it different even on something I won't use again. Changes it from 'ride until it shows a sign' to 'find a replacement as soon as the challenge is over'. Would've been better to find a large pipe and hammer that upward with a hub clamped in the dropouts. Headset is kludge-fit from JIS cups to an ISO frame with bits of pop can.


I think this is the only headset design without wrench flats on the cup that's any good. The washer has an antirotation tab combined with the locking teeth that actually keep things in place.


Before the impatient dimpling, the way this got out of control from 'I wonder if these tires would fit' to 'guess this is a bike now' was wanting to test an Accushift mix-n-match. I'd measured the cable pull out of curiousity and it lined up with some of the pattern for Shimano 9. Figured I could get it to shift 8 of 9 in some part of the range, maybe with a little fussing with cog spacing. To my surprise it ends up indexing 9 of 9, as there's an extra bit of friction pull that'll shift to the last cog, then it clicks in place back to the 8th. Shifts quite well with a 105 rear derailer (+$15) and a totally worn out chain (winter bike long ago, let's call it +$2).

I keep a bunch of chainrings I find in the recycling for testing stuff, & pair up a 46-34 on a Sugino (VP I think?) 110 bolt circle crank (chainrings +$0, let's call the cranks +$10). There's a couple chainrings in that 46-ish range but I put on the drillium one cause that's fun.



It has some bent and broken teeth right at the shift ramps that are grabbing the chain too early, and one of them breaks off straightening - but that's ok, 45 is still a lot of teeth, I don't want these cranks getting greedy for more teeth.
A Claris front is the only thing I have on hand that fits the larger carbon downtube (+$5), which does the shifting fine but the ratcheting in the left shifter makes trimming it difficult. It'd work better as pure friction. The outer cage just barely clears the crank shifted into high gear, useful to know for when I want to put this gearing something else.


I ride it around on the grass for a bit without brakes and finding how well the indexing works pushes it from test to build. I have a set of long reach brakes that were missing parts, put them back together and change the mounting bolt on one from rear to front ($15 for the pair). The brake levers are Dia Compe AGC that betrayed me once on my winter bike. These have a slot to release the brake cable (why..?) that can break apart the cable end if the slot has spread open. The lever blades come off though, so I press the malformed one in the vice to get it functional, then swap the worse lever blade over to the right. I'll value these at $5 despite their one time betrayal.


Should've done this with a cable end installed. Have to do filing to get it round again.



This clunker is designed with a small amount of travel in the seat tube, similar to the carbon gravel bikes of today, but with a different purpose. Those designs are to add comfort on rough terrain or improve traction. This design's purpose, with 1mm of seat tube travel, is to make a loud CLUNK if you stand left foot backwards before sitting down again.


It's only the seat tube/bottom bracket join that's an issue. Might be able to rebond it.


Handlebar tape is a nice pre-shredded blue from my old ice & snow bike (gonna all it $0), and all the other parts were no cost besides a new brake cable I needed to be able to run through the internal routing (+$2). Bottom bracket & pedals etc. were rebuilt out of recycling stuff. Budget is up there at $131 CAD total, with a favourable currency conversion to $99.87 USD, and we've got a clickin' carbon classic clunker.

The first plan was to put 100km on this bike as the first ride after a short test, get some friends together to come along for segments, but then it got hot and I'm a wimp in the heat. Still, it was nice for short rides in the ~25km range in the cooler parts of the day.


First test ride


Four rides put it at 109.6km, with the last a trip into town to get some needed spare tires for the main bike.


Love the ride of 650b Gravelkings. The only downside for my use is that the centre tread on the 38mm is a little thin and I wear through three a year.

Last edited by 8.8.8.; 07-24-22 at 10:10 AM.
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Old 07-24-22, 12:57 AM
  #470  
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The third clunker is one I didn't expect to build, and then didn't expect to ride much before giving away, but then it turned out to be the most fun of the three.



I saw a couple friends for the first time since pre-pandemic and met their daughter who's big enough to pull around in a bike trailer now. She's all set up with a good bike and trailer. He's 6'3" and has never had an adult bike before. He's been looking around for a decent used hybrid, but is having a hard time knowing what'll work without context, and it's a little hard to borrow something at that height.

After looking at some listings I realize I've got a 20" Peugeot frame hanging in the shed (a strange recycling find, unfortunately stripped down from a complete rideable bike) & probably enough parts to build a test rig. Fork comes from the local co-op, so does the headset and a pair of V-brakes to fill out the things I haven't got, throw in donations totaling about $20.


High Impact Tubing! Whichever department store thing this is was the only fork with a steerer the right length.

Most of it is put together before I notice the rear brake posts are a little high... turns out the Liberty was a hybrid! With a 1" steerer I'm not likely to find a hybrid fork that'll work. With 700c in the back and 26"(recycling - $0) in the front it looks a little goofy but rides great. Of three clunkers I've got 1/6 wheels the correct size.

I've been saving some swept back bars for stuff like this, and match those up with an adjustable quill stem - figure any way to get extra height can't hurt. Ends up feeling great for me, but I'll give my friend a flat bar too in case the reach is too short for him.

Front derailer is a low quality cheap Tourney, deservingly scrapped for a rounded nut that I got off with a splitter. Shifts just ok and doesn't rub after a lot of bending.
The derailer hanger is bent, and I use the trick of threading in another wheel to use as a gauge. Never bothered to try it before - I think I like it better than trying to use a run down Park one with a bent rod or too much flex.


Rear derailer is a Claris that I'll need for my brother's bike, but it stayed on the whole challenge and has to count - $10.
Cassette is just a bunch of cogs shoved together with spacers to make a 7 speed (12-32 with whatever seemed shiftable in between), matching the only flat bar shifters I've got, Microshift 7 speed withbroken covers (all recycling finds). It shifts better than I expected and will stay on for now.
Crankset is an FSA Tempo that I've been keeping around for a bike to give away, 50-34 chainrings. Let's call this $20. Gearing all works out pretty good, think it provides simple shifting and a wide enough range.

I borrowed the seatpost from another bike (should be about $5 to replace), bought the front tire from the co-op years ago ($5), and I think all the other parts are recycling junk again. Brake levers are pretty decent Tektros, another of those strange recycling finds.

This is the bike that's easiest to put miles on and I start choosing to ride this one over anything else. It rides like going for a gentle walk that just happens to be 23km/hr, and now I want a sweepy bar MTB. At somewhere around $60 CAD for the build I've put on 134.8 km. Tomorrow may be the day I bring it into town to give away, and hopefully it's in the ballpark enough for my friend to figure out what he likes and doesn't like for adult bike #2.



I'll call these two challenge complete!. Sneaking in the photos with post-challenge edits.

Last edited by 8.8.8.; 07-24-22 at 10:42 AM.
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Old 07-24-22, 08:46 AM
  #471  
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8.8.8. this thread survives on pics. When do we get to see these clunkers?!
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Old 07-24-22, 09:31 AM
  #472  
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Originally Posted by theofam
8.8.8. this thread survives on pics. When do we get to see these clunkers?!
Now that I can reply without triple posting... starting NOW! Post number 10 will let me retrofit in the photos.

Shortly a photo of all three together should appear:



and the others will start trickling in. (so far: Trek 2300 and Peugeot Liberty pics retrofitted)

Last edited by 8.8.8.; 07-24-22 at 10:43 AM.
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Old 07-24-22, 03:30 PM
  #473  
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As embarrassed as I am, wondering if anyone has a need for a 52 cm Fuji del Ray, before I accept my shame and sell it locally.




What I will do to redeem myself a bit is finish the two challengers from last year and vow to complete it next year when retirement will set in. Slimestone and Bumblebeena are back in the house.




Many kudos to all of you who did some great stuff with Clunkers.
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Old 07-29-22, 10:19 AM
  #474  
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Tick Tock
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Old 07-29-22, 04:44 PM
  #475  
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Originally Posted by USAZorro
Tick Tock
??
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