jdawginsc 

Rusty chain and freewheel

Hopefully working brakes...suspect tires

Hoping this is not oxidationed in...

Low range Biopace...maybe pre Tiagra?

The wheel turns so likely surface rust on the cups.

Crapperiffic stem...ugh...might have to keep since I’d have to remove the grips to change out the stem.

Nice little crack on tires...unfortunately I have no 27” tires and they are pretty pricey...DUCT tape!!!

Wheels seem pretty smooth actually.

jdawginsc 

it was definitely interesting and at $50 worth the fun. I am toying with spending up to the limit and really making a decent bike of it, or riding as is as a second entry. The Nishiki will actually be quite nice even under $100.

not a fan of foam or turkey levers...or cracks in tires but the seat is a Vetta and seems comfortable enough. We’ll see if it cranks up enough with the rust and cracked tires and maybe I will keep rides short in case of catastrophic tire and rust failure.

and I think you are right. Ross was positioning for the end game of the company.

jdawginsc 

Is that the French Broad river area?

tyler_fred

I agree.. that’s why I pulled out all stops and had these custom engravings commissioned just for this challenge. Can’t let Lerner one-up us..

Unca_Sam

The stem strongly resembles a mid-80's Suntour XC stem, minus the branding (and anodizing?) I bought one in a 25.4 for my Kona since I didn't like the no-name welded steel one with a cable roller (it was a little long).

jdawginsc 

Thank you! Love the French Broad...such a diverse river...rode some a long time ago along the edge...north of Asheville.

...as for the tires, I am going to see what happens with the first few rides (if I live or die) to see if I can do the challenge without a single thing done except WD40...not sure...you sort of inspired me and today scared me a bit...!

First sign of incident I will take you up on it!

nlerner

That's nice, but if you had only labeled it "Klunker" you'd be among the Kool Kids.

Mr. 66

The KHS is gone, sniffle sniffle, but won't be forgotten. I will be able to salvage very happily from the anchor of remaining parts. Already paying off the chain from the junker is on my now finished slightly upgraded Peugeot PR10-L

This bike was proudly sporting a wonderful coating of alge and pine needles upon purchase. The original tubular Maillard on Mavic wheelset has been swapped for Miche Competition on Mavic Module 3 rims. The Simplex is all original, the front surprisingly is not broken, both the front and rear derailleurs have been slobbed with grease. I'm hoping the grease will soak in the plastic and keep the front derailleur from cracking on the re-install. Normally I don't remove Simplex if it there the stuff is so brittle this time though the front derailleur is rusted stuck innards. I do think I can salvage the Simplex, I got the cage budge a mm. Pictured are the original Lyotard pedals, they still have mold, original plastic body brake levers, original bartape, and original brake cables. The original seatpost and saddle were not of my cosmetic standards? If I ever had any. The original gear cables where rusted up have been replaced.

This Peugeot required a bb removal along with a chase and face from the local shop, shout out for Wright Bros. in Seattle for their service.

rustystrings61 

That is just an awesome bike, and clearly the case of a really nice bike being reclaimed under the banner of a Clunker Challenge. I had a slightly later, c.1975-76 PR-10L and thought it rode as nicely as any of my full 531 PX-10s. It helps when they're 58 cm or larger, I think - the stays and forks can be a bit stouter with no real penalty, ride quality wise. The KHS is dead, long live the PR-10L!

non-fixie 

My project has hit a snag.

The bike is pretty much done, but a week and a half ago mrs non-fixie has apparently made a movement her back did not wholly appreciate, and she has been drugged up to her eyeballs with opioids since. Things are getting better, but it might be a while before she actually will want to ride a bike again.

Current status: all the bike needs needs is for the brakes to be adjusted:

tyler_fred

Best wishes to Mrs NF for a speedy recovery.

rustystrings61 

I worked some this morning before everyone else woke up. I decided to use the Origin8 saddle that had been entombed by the lace-up gel cover, as it comes relatively close to the shape of a B17 AND it came with the bike. I greased up the stem and fitted the bars as high as they can safely go, grateful for the additional height granted by the too-tall steerer and stack o' spacers that accompany the replacement fork. I dialed in the saddle height to get a sense of how it would all look and was well pleased. I put the brake calipers back on and repaired and readjusted the front so that the quick-release mechanism works again and kissed all the junctures of moving parts with Tri-Flow.

If I was really serious about this bike I would strip the tattered paint off it and shoot it gloss black and be done with it. And it would probably look pretty cool that way, too. But for now I am in a hurry, so I plan on building it up some more tomorrow morning, probably fitting the cranks and adjusting the BB. Future plans may well involve taking it to a local powdercoating firm for a nice gloss black look, we'll see. For now, the red zip ties look better to my eye than the black ones did.

Also on the agenda - a trip back to the LBS back room, to see if I can find a suitable rear wheel and trade back the one that came with the bike. I'm hoping to find either a 130 mm spaced rear that works for this bike, or even better a 126 spaced wheel so that I can do a three-way swap of wheels - a nice 126 + a used front wheel I bought the other week could go on my Mercian Colorado, which would let me swap the 105/Wolber wheels on that bike over to my son's Mercian KOM, which would in turn free up the RSX/Mavic MA rear wheel spaced at 130 for this bike - AND that last wheel came free with a gift bike AND the Mavic MA looks identical to the probably Mavic rim on the front wheel that came with this bike - you see how this goes?

Anyway, here are pix!





See what I mean about the red zip ties? Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with the bike and buy replacement 3-D printed cable guides ...

jdawginsc 

prudent move...

jdawginsc 

it wasn’t algae...it was “dark mint green paint”...

I might be stuffing some pine needles in the cracks of the Kenda kismet tires...

Andy_K 

You know, when I threw my hat in the ring this time around I thought maybe the Takara was too nice for this competition, but between this and @ollo_ollo's Follis, I feel like I need to find a way to up my game a bit.

non-fixie 

Thank you! Things seem to be moving in the right direction, so hopefully she'll be able to ride the bike before the deadline.

jdawginsc 

Health first, Clunker second! Best wishes to Ms. Non-fixie

BFisher

Took the Rampar Giro out for 6 kilometers today. I had another post office run before this ride, so my total is now 49 kilometers. Along the way I was cheered on by the locals.


Nice to have support. Also nice that the boundaries are clearly marked.


That much closer to the goal!

rustystrings61 

No pix right now, but a busy morning so far. I mounted the cranks and was pleased to find a smooth running but slop-free setting for the bottom bracket. Then I thought I would go ahead and swap over the bar end shifters I had gotten as freebies. The first odd moment was realizing that the brake levers were mismatched. How had I not seen this? The left was a nice old Dia-Compe aero, the left a Shimano aero unit of some sort or another. Both were clad in ill-fitting Shimano black hoods. I looked at the bent handlebars from which I was about to remove bar end shifters, saw the nice matching Dia-Compe aero levers with brown hoods and went to work. A quick spritz of some Armor All on the crusty hoods and they were useable again. Then I got to fiddle with brake cables and housings, as well as adjust positions of things. I used the cables and housings that came with the Cannondale, and eventually got it all sorted out.

Initially I was very happy with the Shimano bar ends. These are the 70s variant with the big spring, and I can see how they could be very nice. I set them up and was initially very pleased, as it looked like I could use the existing housings and cables - both also free - and get them all to work. Alas, no - the housings and the cables themselves are just too short to be wrapped all the way under the stem. Maybe if I routed them like 70s bar con cables, where they emerged from under the bar tape at the level of the brake hoods, but that will probably look a bit stupid with aero brake cable routing. I will dig in the bins and see if I can enough scavenged scraps to make this work. If not, I have a set of Shimano Light Action shifters that came on last year's essentially free donor bike, and I suspect I could pull them from their stem clamp and affix them to the shift bosses. We'll see.

Finally, I swung back by the LBS and made a straight trade of the heavy hybrid-styled 135 mm spaced rear wheel that came with the bike for a vintage 700C wheel combining what appears to be a SunTour sealed bearing hub with an Araya rim. Much better, and it even looks like it's preset to 130 mm OLD. I wasn't looking forward to repacking and respacing and re-dishing that heavy wheel. Now to prowl my parts bin for a suitable 6- or 7-speed freewheel and a rear skewer.

Insidious C. 

Picked up another freebee yesterday. It was a nice bike at one time. As best I can tell it's a 81 Lotus Odyssey. It lacks the cantilever brakes of later model years and has a Sequoia vibe to it. It had obviously been sitting quite a while, but neither the stem or seatpost are stuck. There is, however, a long list of other tasks required to make this bike road worthy again. It that regard it is better suited to the clunker challenge. The annulled 1977 Raleigh Record LTD clunker, with it's freshly straightened rear derailleur, is headed to goodwill ahead of schedule.

darnet

After adjusting handlebar position and tightening front wheel quick-release skewer, I took Green Super Course out again for a 2nd ride) to same location as 1st ride. Wheel twitchiness gone. Not that it matters, but, by my calculations, the head tube angle with the 700c front wheel and 27" rear is about 1/2 degree steeper than stock.

darnet

Posting non-sequentially, but need to go backwards and describe the rebuild of the Green Super Course, when I get to 10 posts I'll come back and add pics.

Initial disassembly of Green Super Course found the obligatory stuck seat post and handlebar stem. I’ll have to clean up the rust. Due to my bad judgement (tossed horrible non-original), I need a seat. Fortunately, I rescued a wheel-less black Fuji, possibly a Royale (no decals, only a head-badge, serial number says 1980), with a suitably torn saddle, so I will be using that, and some other parts (after assigning market value).

I plan to use the mismatched wheels and tires that came with Green Super Course to preserve the budget, they seem to spin nicely.





The steerer tube threads were a bit of a concern. For some reason they are worn flat at the top, near the locknut. It looks like the center-pull brake bracket wore down the threads where I imagine there was once a key-way. Luckily the threads are still good enough to re-install the bearing cup and locknut. I put a file to the bracket, so while though it is not now keyed to the fork, it will slide onto the steerer without binding.
Handlebar tape is torn on right side handlebar flat. I’ll have to use some black electrical tape to reattach together.
Upon close examination, both pulleys on the rear Simplex derailleur are ground and crumbled. I am replacing (have replaced) it with the generic Shimano from the Fuji. Might as well install the front from the Fuji as well.

darnet

COVID Bike Fleet Story:
I’m almost ashamed to admit that I’ve acquired six (or seven) bikes since early March, 2020. My wife and I went out for breakfast (for the last time until 2021) on March 8, 2020, in a place on the Milford NH Oval. There was an antique shop across the oval, so we dropped in. In the basement I saw a Lotus Excelle in my size. I took some pictures, started reading about that model, and became more interested. I started looking on Craigslist etc to get an idea of what it might actually be worth (even though it was only $75) before I could decide to go back and buy it.

Now, I was hooked on browsing CL (and FB Market). While browsing for Excelles, I saw an interesting listing for a vintage Raleigh. But the listing did not name the model, or even show any decals, it just showed obscure details of the bike, like the fork, lugs, components, seat, color, etc. I had always wanted a vintage Raleigh International from the 70’s, but they had become too collectible for my budget. To me this looked like one. The last day I ever worked in my office, March 11, 2020, I met the guy to look at the bike, and it was, as I suspected, a Raleigh International. It seemed all original (maybe not tires or handlebar tape), a little beat up, and he was asking $155, said he didn’t want to sell it some kid that would turn it into a “fixie.” I had decided if it was an International, I wouldn’t haggle. I have ridden that numerous times, and the Excelle once (yes I bought the Excelle too, the day before all stores closed).

So that was two coronavirus bikes. A Raleigh Super Course was the third.... a CL listing for a frame and fork (with wheels, brakes, and seat), $80. It was the twin or my first road bike, same coffee color and same lugs (Capella). I picked that one up wearing a mask and gloves, alcohol sprayer in hand. Next month or so, another coffee Super Course appeared, completely original, Nervex lugs, $100. I didn't "need" it, why I bought it I don't know.

Fast forward to 2021, when I picked up a "Wheeler Tremosine" very locally for $25. It was posted as "Wheeler Road Bike" and since I live on a Wheeler Road, it was a must. Finally, I found a CL ad for my Clunker Ride bike, a Green Raleigh Super Course, $45. I watched it go unsold for weeks, and finally traveled the hour or so to buy it.

The "Wheeler" Road bike was in far too good condition to qualify as a Clunker, regardless of low price. The International and the 2nd Super Course were above or at the $$ limit, and the 1st Super Course was already built with numerous upgrades. So it was between the Excelle and the Green Super Course. I had to go with the Green Super Course, because it needed TLC, and more importantly it signified the end of COVID.

jdawginsc 

So in a stroke of luck, I seem to have found two 700c Gatorskins among the cluster of stuff I bought from Dominos pizza for $75 (5 Pure fix fixie frames, 10 aero flip flop wheels, 14 tires, 5 racks for pizza and handlebars, stems, etc)...

What is the valuation from the crowd for the wheels and any saddle I might use?

curbtender

Well, I think if it takes more than 30 minutes to put it on then it's free...