Our funny little clown bike
09-08-22, 11:33 AM
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern AZ
Posts: 217
Bikes: '80 Medici Tourismo, '82 Merckx, '85 Peugeot PSN10, '86 Ironman, '89 Trek 520, '96 Steelman, '96 Torelli CX, '97 Friday Two'sDay, '02 CoMo Speedster, '09 Giant Reign, '10 Canfield, '13 Turner DHR, '16 Chase BMX
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 40 Post(s)
Liked 256 Times
in
51 Posts
Our funny little clown bike
Some friends were liquidating their road bike collection and this was one of them, a 1997 Bike Friday Two'sDay Tandem. We had just finished building up our new-to-us CoMotion and had only been riding it for 3 months when this fell into our lap. We really wanted to ride it but it needed some changes to suit our weird needs. Here is what we did to get it on the road:
1. Stoker shifting. We loved the stoker shifting mod so much on the CoMotion that we needed to make it happen on this bike. It came with Sachs ergo shifters so those had to go. We sourced some NOS 8sp down tube shifters from Italy and modified them slightly to mount up to Shimano bar end mounts. Then we got a Torpedo thumb shifter for the rear internal hub. I now control all 42 gears with 3 levers on the stoker bars. It is SOOOOO much fun!
2. Shorty cranks. We both like short cranks, we have 150's on our CoMotion but didn't have the means for another $600 set of DaVinci's right now so we tried the Sheldon Brown cheater method of two standard triple cranks with the inner ring being the timing chain. Works like a charm, easy to set up and looks pretty clean.
3. Big tires. This came with 451x20 wheels which made the biggest tire to fit only 1 3/8". Adam rebuilt the wheels for 406 (smaller diameter) so we can run 2" tires at 50/55 psi. The ride is much smoother with the lower pressures. I was able to ditch the suspension seat post on this bike as well. We had to use Tektro 559 calipers to fit the bigger tires and they work very well. Adam controls the front/rear rim brakes with Tektro brake levers and the front drag brake with a bar end shifter.
4. Misc stuff. This bike didn't come with a front derailleur as most people just manually moved the chain to the other sprocket for serious climbing. Of course a front derailleur would not have worked with the ergo shifters as the rear hub was being shifted by the left brifter, good thing we are weird! We only use one bottle cage for gatorade as we carry our water in fanny packs with drink tubes. Selle Anatomica saddles and Pedaling Innovations pedals are standard on all of our bikes. The only we don't like are the handlebars, they are too wide and the drop is waaaaay to deep but they are custom and it would be very hard to replicate them for the mounting. They are split in half and come apart.
After getting it setup we headed out for a 54 mile ride and it felt every bit as good as our CoMotion. It is quite a bit heavier but has lower gearing so we didn't really see any slowing down on the climbs. Our times/MPH were in line with the other bike. We have racks for it and plan to use them! Our friends are super happy to see their beautiful bike back on the road and getting ridden regularly.
1997 Bike Friday Two'sDay, 406 wheel conversion
Stoker shifts, captain brakes
160mm triple converted to inner timing chain
Yes, I have 3 shifters!
1. Stoker shifting. We loved the stoker shifting mod so much on the CoMotion that we needed to make it happen on this bike. It came with Sachs ergo shifters so those had to go. We sourced some NOS 8sp down tube shifters from Italy and modified them slightly to mount up to Shimano bar end mounts. Then we got a Torpedo thumb shifter for the rear internal hub. I now control all 42 gears with 3 levers on the stoker bars. It is SOOOOO much fun!
2. Shorty cranks. We both like short cranks, we have 150's on our CoMotion but didn't have the means for another $600 set of DaVinci's right now so we tried the Sheldon Brown cheater method of two standard triple cranks with the inner ring being the timing chain. Works like a charm, easy to set up and looks pretty clean.
3. Big tires. This came with 451x20 wheels which made the biggest tire to fit only 1 3/8". Adam rebuilt the wheels for 406 (smaller diameter) so we can run 2" tires at 50/55 psi. The ride is much smoother with the lower pressures. I was able to ditch the suspension seat post on this bike as well. We had to use Tektro 559 calipers to fit the bigger tires and they work very well. Adam controls the front/rear rim brakes with Tektro brake levers and the front drag brake with a bar end shifter.
4. Misc stuff. This bike didn't come with a front derailleur as most people just manually moved the chain to the other sprocket for serious climbing. Of course a front derailleur would not have worked with the ergo shifters as the rear hub was being shifted by the left brifter, good thing we are weird! We only use one bottle cage for gatorade as we carry our water in fanny packs with drink tubes. Selle Anatomica saddles and Pedaling Innovations pedals are standard on all of our bikes. The only we don't like are the handlebars, they are too wide and the drop is waaaaay to deep but they are custom and it would be very hard to replicate them for the mounting. They are split in half and come apart.
After getting it setup we headed out for a 54 mile ride and it felt every bit as good as our CoMotion. It is quite a bit heavier but has lower gearing so we didn't really see any slowing down on the climbs. Our times/MPH were in line with the other bike. We have racks for it and plan to use them! Our friends are super happy to see their beautiful bike back on the road and getting ridden regularly.
1997 Bike Friday Two'sDay, 406 wheel conversion
Stoker shifts, captain brakes
160mm triple converted to inner timing chain
Yes, I have 3 shifters!
09-10-22, 01:47 PM
#2
pan y agua
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 31,302
Bikes: Willier Zero 7; Merlin Extralight; Calfee Dragonfly tandem, Calfee Adventure tandem; Cervelo P2; Motebecane Ti Fly 29er; Motebecanne Phantom Cross; Schwinn Paramount Track bike
Mentioned: 17 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1447 Post(s)
Liked 724 Times
in
371 Posts
Nice bike. We had one that we used as a travel bike for us, and for me to ride with our at the time 10 year old daughter. They are remarkably capable bikes, and the small wheels are strong, and spin up quickly.
Ours had a 3 speed hub, combined with a 7 speed cassette, so effectively the range of a triple, without a front derailleur.
For us, with two adults pushing hard is was a bit flexy. That didn’t inspire confidence doing high speed descents. Other than that it was a great bike, and we sold after a. Umber of years use for what we originally paid for it.
Ours had a 3 speed hub, combined with a 7 speed cassette, so effectively the range of a triple, without a front derailleur.
For us, with two adults pushing hard is was a bit flexy. That didn’t inspire confidence doing high speed descents. Other than that it was a great bike, and we sold after a. Umber of years use for what we originally paid for it.
__________________
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
Likes For merlinextraligh:
