Roger M

Yeah, I did take a grinding(and wire) wheel to the edges. Copper is pretty soft, so it didn't take much work to get rid of the burs. This fix is just for Cino. I can't see leaving these monstrosities on for the long haul.

Last year we used a Brooks Pro. I was able to sneak a couple of zip ties between the leather and the frame. Strapped a notched wooden dowel inside the rails. Worked great and was fairly hidden.

However, we'll see(about how tough the straps are)...

I'll have a couple of extra toe straps along for the ride.

m.c. 

Turns out the right one was one or two years off, same frame just different stickers. She's decided she can live with this one.
Sorry about your project.

merziac

When one door closes......

bwilli88 

Working on this folder over here in Cambodia. A Doppelganger 823 Shadow. Converted from 3x7 to 3x10 with some Shimano SL-R780 3x10 flat bar shift levers and some BL- R 780 brake levers. The brake levers are switchable from caliper/canti/mech disc to V-brake. I got the fork while in the States because I wanted both a longer rise for the stem and disc brake up front. The rack is a cut down Wald rear.

Rotten

Had some extra time on my hands so I was reorganizing our storage unit and came across this Shogun (1987 I think I picked up pre pandemic and just hadn't gotten around to fixing up.
Got it stripped down and made a few changes on reassembly. Got rid of the 6 speed goodies and picked up 105 mini 1051 groupset (FD didn't work out though). Had a Nitto Noodle handlebar, Technomic stem and Tektro levers in the goodies boxes along with a set of tires. The Continental Top Contacts are 28 which cause some rear brake rub so I swapped out the light action brakes for a set of 6208's and no more rub. I did source a replacement cone for the front wheel hub from rccardr here on BF which was a real project saver as a new wheelset was not in the budget after picking up the 105 components. I trued up the wheels as best I could but admittedly this is my bike wrenching weak point and eventually will get a new set of wheels when anything goes wrong with the originals. Rode it a bit with the original 52/42 crankset and made the easy decision to throw on a 50/34 which is much easier on my knees. The 105 FD wouldn't work with this setup because none of my shorter BB30's would fit and allow me to bring the chainline inboard. Surprisingly the original FD Z204 works like a dream on the setup so It earned the right to stay. The seat I do not believe to be original to the bike but it is actually pretty comfy so it's staying to for now.

Here's the funny part. With lighter tires on the Shogun Katana it is within ounces of my carbon Giant Anyroad Advanced. Mission now is to find that set of Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons that I am almost positive I still have in storage somewhere then compare weights. Going to take some time and see which I prefer for what roll.

Mad Honk 

A Holiday weekend and I must have too much idiocy time on my hands. I picked up a wheel at the co-op this week when I gave the unknow frame to them. Looked like Suntour markings on the free hub so I though about saving the flip-flop hun with both the fixed ring and the freewheel. Stoopid Honk move! Freehub broke open but not loose, so I used a vise to remove the inner body. All went reasonably well. I decided to use my rock ring removal tool on the fixed side. NO GO. then I look at the hub a bit more closely. Ack! a cheap Korean model with no salvage value. By that time I had put the parts in Oxalic acid to clean them for the free hub. so I put it back together and will give it to the co-op. I should have gone for a ride instead. Smiles, MH

freehub parts all rusted up

after a one hour bath and new lube with a lot of new bearings

zookster 

I bought a 1965 Schwinn Racer a few weeks ago. New tires, tubes, rim strips. Replaced the missing front brake with one sourced from Ebay. Cleaned and re-greased the front wheel bearings, headset bearings and crank bearings. Got the rear wheel trued up some (still needs more tweaking but I have one spoke that won't budge). Polished up the chrome bits but leaving the paint alone for now. Next up is servicing the bearings in the Sturmey Archer SW 3-speed rear hub, also will need a new shift cable and rear brake cable at some point.

gaucho777 

My latest project bike is a nice mystery frame that I'm building with a mid-80s Mavic group. Finishing touches today: 1) wrapped the bars with Benotto cello tape, 2) Installed a new 32t freewheel (delighted the RD can handle it), and 3) improvised a way to add more tension to the Mavic-branded LOOK pedals. These pedals never did offer much tension. I came up with a kludge to improve the tension. I trimmed a piece of aluminum sheet metal and added it to the pivot point inside the rear pedal. This extended the pivot point by a couple millimeters and improved the overall tension of the pedals.


Easily handles the 32t freewheel without having to pull the wheel all the way bay in the dropouts. Currently running 53-42 x 12-32. It can handle all the gears, but cross-chaining 53x32 is a stretch.

View of pedal with rear plate removed

Improvised "shim" at pivot point to extend fulcrum point and increase pedal tension

52telecaster

She really likes her straight guage chromolly sekine with upright bars. She pines for her Ross 531 signature. Says the trek doesn't spring like it did.

52telecaster

It's a cool frameset. Someone will want it.

ThermionicScott 

This is definitely the smallest bike I've ever had in my stand. We're borrowing this strider bike for our 2.5-year old from our daycare lady. Of course the stem was adjusted well past the minimum insertion mark and both it and the seatpost were bone-dry. I needed to lower both for our little dude...

VintageSteelEU

The question is: what's that mixte in the background? Font on the top tubes looks familiar, but can't quite read it...

ThermionicScott 

It's a Raleigh mixte. The decals are in rough shape and not applied very straight, so we assume they aren't even the first set. I bought it for the wife, converted it to 700C and 7-speed with thumbshifters, but she didn't feel very secure on it, so it's my trainer bike now.

ascherer 

I’ve had my 71 PX-10 boxed up for some time now and I got a bug to set it up again. Not in the least because as we emerge from nearly a year of house renovations, I have room available. This is the bike gifted to me in 2013 or so by the man that got me started 50 years ago when it was nearly new and I was dazzled by it. It’s far too small for me so it’s really a guest bike, especially since I bought a proper sized 1972 from jonwvara which you can almost make out in the background. The crankset was still on it and beyond that I’m really just throwing bin parts on it and will fiddle more when it’s rolling.

Mr. 66

Not much wrench for me lately, but I did sand and polish a Nitto stem for a second test set up of the Mercian. I'll probably get to the ride later today.

I had a 110 Technomic, the Nitto is 100 and a little taller.

mrv 

Refurb my free RockHopper with my free wheelset.

retrofit

Just a follow up with installing the thumbies on the Raleigh

unworthy1 was kind enough to send a replacement bolt and nut for the one I broke; unfortunately my measurement/estimate was off and the bolt was slightly too thick. Came up with a kludge that worked -- a water bottle cage bolt, washer, and flange lock nut. I will continue to search for something that is more suitable. Anyway, thumbies were installed and work fine. I still wish the thumbies actually had a "stop" that prevented them from moving backwards past the handlebars (pic 3), but the ratcheting mech works fine and shifting is smooth.

m.c. 

I'm not really working on it yet, more planning in my head. I have an old schwinn that I will need to reshape the fenders on. I'm trying to figure out a way to apply pressure without hitting it, I want to try to save the old paint. I was thinking about making a mold and lining it with something soft, putting the fender in it and rolling it back into shape from the underside.
I'll be moving soon and won't get to it for while.

Kabuki12

Not really wrenching today, more like fixing another flat. I went on a 41 mile ride last Sunday on my Colnago and everything was great.... as usual with this bike. This morning I was going to put it on the stand to check out the bike as it had been a while since I had done much other than just checking air pressure and riding, ya know the way it’s supposed to be. Doh! Flat tire! So I pull the pneumatically challenged wheel off and ... oh my , my bike is dirty. About three and a half hours later my bike is ready to go get dirty again

Flossed and ready


Carnuba wax and Mother’s Polish
The paint that Franklin put on this bike is holding up very well. I have even gotten it muddy , dropped sweat and road debris, still shines up with no scratches.

merziac

Bob Freeman uses Franklin.

Kabuki12

yes he does. He had sent me some pics of some of the bikes he had sent to Jack and that was one of the deciding factors, plus Jack had it done in just under 4 weeks. I am now thinking about my Raleigh Pro after I ride it a while.

Desert Ryder

My wrenching nemesis..GT STS DH
I've tried 3 times to bleed these brakes. It's the only thing holding me up from riding this bike—well..no brakes and the 100+ temps here in the desert.
I've tried pushing brake fluid through and sucking back up. Spilled brake fluid all over. No pressure in either front or rear levers.
A couple of shops I contacted say they can't (won't?) bleed them. One shop says they can try but I have to pay $100 even if they can't bleed them. IMO, that gives them no real incentive to actually do the job.
I mean, they can say they tried. Failed. I still have to pay the $100.
I wish I could just change the brake system but apparently, the rear caliper isn't the IS spacing.

mrv 

I’m planning a 36 hour overnighter- and needed a lite weight (light wait?) rack- so bodged an attachment for this rat trap rack.

merziac

Doesn't matter either way, looks solid to me.

bark_eater 

Today's adventure was a not quite quarterly floor recovery. It's not a zen temple, but am improvement on the multidisciplinary mine field it was.


​​​​​​And here's the quick tune up that became the "Winter Project". So far it's got a new JIS headset, rebuilt from many parts rear derailleur, new 34t small chainring, wheels trued, untrued and trued again, replaced the freewheel with a flushed and oiled replacement. The entire cockpit is "New" to the bike. I'm going to try Koolstop Continentals on the Exage brakes. One more opportune rainy day and I"ll run all the cables. I am thinking about trying to put shellaced cotton over foam tape.