romperrr 

It bike is painful to look at as it is so beautiful! Agreed on the gumwalls, they look great!

Trav1s

Flatbar conversion in the future?

VintageSteelEU

I bought a pair of brakes. Not sure what for, because I have enough brakes for 5 or 6 bicycles. I justified the purchase with: the idea that I might do a Motobecane Grand Sprint build with Suntour Sprint components, the brakes having original pads and pad holders and that I'm getting Suntour cable adjusters with the brakes , all the grime came off and this all for a price not much higher than a price of pair of reproduction of the adjusters. Actually, the cable adjusters were the main point, figured might as well use the rest of the brakes for spare parts if need be.
The calipers arrived today. Of course, it's just my luck, the cable adjusters are seized. As for the brake pad holders, I'll have to figure out how to actually replace the pads, as I don't see an easy way to do that. I guess we'll cross that bridge at some point. I still have some Dia Compe and Weinmann tyre guides somewhere and old Alu pad holders as well, so I can use those or just go for modern pads.
But, when I had a look at these brakes, I was actually quite impressed. Gave them a good clean (getting rotary tool and Scotchbrite ends for it was a good investment for sure). All the grime came off quite nicely. Even the chromed parts look quite decent, considering these brakes were around for something like 37-39 years. Even anodizing is in a good condition, perhaps not perfect, but absolutely acceptable. Not sure why both have two serrated washers, I thing one is sufficient to keep the calipers centered. And no idea why they perforated the brass washers going underneath the locknut and between the caliper arms. I do understand the point of that one with tiny bearing balls, but I don't quite understand why the others had to be perforated. I guess that will remain a mystery.
Now will have to figure out where I can get rubber grommets for the front nut, think of some bits of plastic to act as cable adjuster retainer and they're good as new. The seized adjusters, after taking the rubber O-rings off them, have been tossed into penetrating oil to soak for a few days and let's hope they budge eventually. Now I guess I will have to build that Motobecane Grand Sprint again. And get more Suntour Sprint parts...

noglider 

@Bikedued, we get old and sore and stiff. Cycling can be part of our recovery from that. I'm riding a fair bit, but clearly I need to stretch more. I have trouble getting on and off the bike but no trouble once I'm under way. The more I ride, the more my health improves. Do it. You won't regret it, even if it requires rearranging some of your life.

I love the fenders, @BTinNYC. No need for flat bars. I have fenders on two of my drop-bar bikes.

MrGastrognome

Schoolhouse Rock taught me that three is a magic number.

Bikedued

Back around the time I joined here (20 YEARS AGO, lol!!!) I was just beginning collecting vintage bikes, and then began to ride to work which was about three miles, and ALL of it in morning traffic. I felt pretty amazing back then, and then
felt even better the longer the distances I rode... I even did the Texas MS150 as my second long ride, though that really wiped me out. My first long organized ride, 179 miles in two days. My first long organized ride was a metric century the weekend before that. It took me a better part of a week to recover from both of those. Within a couple of years after that I felt very strong, and did break 30 mph a few times with a tailwind. I am not sure if I can get back to that feeling, but I will definitely give it a try.

SurferRosa

For me, it was the Preamble of the Constitution.

bwilli88 

I took this apart to take to the States in March. All pack in a box for the flight.

MrGastrognome

Ha! So many epic tunes in that series. While not all of them have aged a gracefully as others, I love how it introduced kids to base 12 number theory with jazz funk...
but I wouldn't want a twelve pulley derailleur.

52telecaster

Miserable weather and my curiosity about how much I can fasten to a bike with almost no brazeons led me to work on my triumph today.

The fenders are held on with little tabs that the skewers run through. The rack uses p clips. I'm not sure I can trust my bathroom scale but as is, with the lock on it my scale says 24lbs. Probably heavier but it feels great. The frame and fork are 531 and the bike is an early 80s road racer that was sold as a frameset only. I may start using it as my trailer hauler but it's a real fun ride. 650bx38.

Bikedued

I had a '92 or 93 Cannondale M300 that I weight weenied to death. Got it down to a hair over 21 pounds without even trying too hard. Of course it involved removing the paint because that adds up to about half a pound. It is mostly intact still I will have to build it again.

SoCaled 

What I was warned not to! It went about as well as expected

I have 2 bikes with Deore DX trigger shifters that are sticky/not functioning properly. Conventional wisdom seems to be to just replace them or flood with WD-40 and keep shifting and repeat until you get them un-gunked. On one bike this has nearly worked. I wanted to just add thumb shifters but the brakes are integrated and cutting the shifter off seemed like a pain to get to look nice. On the other bike the right shifter wouldn't move at all, fully stuck. I knew it was opening a can of worms to try to open these, but really didn't have a choice. My understanding is the main reason not to open is losing springs/small parts and finicky to put back together. Well, I didn't get that far, went to remove the nut and with almost no effort sheared off the "post". Right shifter is now toast, guess I have parts for the others. Thumb shifters it is! (or will be).

Trav1s

Added brakes and different bars to Operation WetTrek tonight. The brakes were removed from my wife’s Verve 3 when I upgraded to Alivio to match the rest of the group. Bars are a Fb marketplace find. They need a shorter stem and cut down but that’ll wait.

Fredo76

Having swapped out the 175 mm Campagnolo Racing T triple crankset for a new 165 mm VO Grand Cru, due to toe overlap, I then also needed to swap out the 117.5 mm spindle BB for a 123.5 mm one to get enough small-chainring clearance. The ring had about 2 mm clearance, but the bolts only 1 mm.



Building 'Blue Bella' with 165mm VO Grand Cru cranks, MicroNew derailleurs

I have a new Tourney FD, RD set to fall back on if the MicroNew ones don't work out.

VintageSteelEU

Got a few items delivered today, including Motobecane headset (never too many of those) and some Maillard skewers for parts. And the thing below, which is going to be my next project. The frame bears a funky name: Superator. Apparently, it's a custom brand of a small bicycle seller from the South of France, Andre Reboul of Montelimar. The frame has been made by Bernard Carre, probably in the late 70's or very early 80's, using Super Vitus 971 metric tubing. And it might have been as well custom made for me, size-wise and design wise. It has many things I would want on a custom made frame: long, pointed lugs with cutouts, solid seat-pin clamp / bosses, reinforced brake bridge, sleek fork crown, nicely shaped BB shell with cable guides on top. No shifter bosses, which might actually be a good thing.
Weight of frame and fork - 2600g. Seatpost diameter seems to be 26.4mm, which is lucky, because I have some that should fit. French threaded BB shell, which is going to be a bit of a pain in the neck as it means now I have to either source French threaded BB cups for Sakae Ringyo spindle (which I actually have) or get a pair of IRD conversion cups in French threading for the Tifosi BB I was planning.
I think it's going to be perfect for a steel weight weenie project. Initial calculations indicate I might actually be within a striking distance of getting the whole build below 8kg and mostly period correct (I'll probably use modern Regale Evo saddle, possibly with modern alloy seatpost and Genetic pedals, unless I manage to get a hold of a pair of Superbe track pedals). I have most of the parts already, some are waiting to be cleaned up and polished if need be. I was planning this build on Motobecane C5 frame, but this one is a much better fit.
Not wrenching on it yet, but had to assess the frame and plan what to do with it. Overall the frame is in a decent condition and could be used as-is after cleaning. Tiny dent on the top tube, nothing serious, but probably would be good to roll it out. Shifter cable guides will require a date with nose pliers, because they are a bit out of shape, mainly the drive side one. The frame and forks seem to be straight and with no deformations (something to measure though) and it looks like it wasn't cold set to use more modern wheels (which is fine, I'm happy with 124mm between the droputs). The paint, whereas not perfect and chipped, could probably be touched up. Chromed head tube lugs, fork crown and socks are not great though. Hopefully I'll be able to de-rust them and bring them to some acceptable shape. I'm also considering re-chroming these parts, though that would probably also mean re-painting the whole frame. Another option would be getting the whole frame chrome plated and skip painting it. Anyone has some experience with that? Does modern chrome plating last?
I will definitely have to procure the decals / transfers somehow. If this thing is called something as weird as "Superator", this has to be definitely announced to the world

And the patient:

Garthr

Among other things, I was going to swap out a Ritchey classic silver setback seatpost for a Zipp Service Course Zero setback model. It was a toss up between that and a Ritchey Classic Zero, so I tried the Zipp. Much to my unpleasant surprise, the concave shaped bottom part of the clamp has a hole in the bottom of it, and the post itself is hollow. So it's designed to collect moisture and drain into your frame. In my case a 531 steel frame. I think not ! I emailed SRAM and asked it the hold is supposed to be there, and that said yes, apologized, and to contact the dealer, which I did for a return. Well that's a new one on me, I've never seen a seatpost designed to drain into your frame. So I bought the Ritchey instead, no hole in the head !

noglider 

Your level of fitness is less important than the fact that you're working on it. And it's also less important than the enjoyment you get.

I don't commute by bike much anymore, about once a month. I just got home from work having taken my bike today. It all came together beautifully, the weather, the traffic, the scenery, everything. I'm slower than I used to be, but I had a great time.

VintageSteelEU

The work starts with checking the frame. Today I had a moment to have a look at the fork. Threads on the steerer tube are nice, tried two French headset locknuts and didn't notice any problems. As for the fork alignment, I don't have any tool for checking fork alignment, so decided to use a British method. AKA "eyeballing". Found a piece of clothing rail, put it inside the steerer and measured distances of the fork from that in various locations. Seems to be fine laterally. Then I made sure the table below is level and the fork doesn't wobble and measured distances from the table surface to dropouts a few times. It would seem that the left fork blade is going about 1mm further forward compared with the right fork blade. That will need verification until I'm 200% sure. I don't really know if 1mm is enough to worry about. But might think of getting hold of some fork straightener and get the fork perfectly alligned.

Paint and chrome-wise, I decided against re-chroming. Qotes I've been given or prices I saw would be around 350 quid for rear and front ends and headtube lugs or more. Considering the frame cost me a fraction of that, I don't think I can justify restoring the chrome. It will clean up well enough on the rear triangle to just leave it be. Thinking about the front, I might either to just clean up the chrome as well as I can and leave the whole thing be, perhaps after a coat of clear over it, or strip the chrome at the front and the paint off the bicycle and re-paint the whole frame. Thankfully, no rush.

Classtime 

I’m going to try this next time. I don’t know why I always wrap my non aero bars when they are on the bike.

Is this the old Fizik tape? The new stuff is not so tapered and doesn’t lie flat like this.

VintageSteelEU

No, whenever I wanted to buy any fancy handlebar tape, it tends to be covered with brand logos of whichever company made it all over. I just don't feel like it suits a vintage bicycle very well. So I go for the cheapest stuff, most likely made in China. It's OK and it is tapered. It seems to be working fine for me, I have no complaints, wrapping it is fairly easy, though it doesn't have an awful lot of stretch and one has to be careful around the bends to avoid creasing. Sometimes I need to unwrap it and try again. Definitely not as easy to apply as cotton tape, but not overly problematic.
I wouldn't know whether better tapes are more comfortable, more grippy or more spongy, but this one feels grippy, with and without gloves, and I feel like it gives enough cushioning. It looks like it's pretty much the same stuff Velox sells as their "leather look" (might try Velox next time, there isn't much difference in price). I use Tesa cloth tape (also known as Tesa wiring harness tape) for finishing. Much better than any sort of vinyl / electrician's tape.

If I were to spend more money on wrapping handlebars, I'd probably go for Velobitz leather covers. But then again, I'm not sure if natural leather is actually a good idea for anything exposed to elements. Not mentioning that putting that thread through would probably take hours and test my patience

AdventureManCO 

Some surgery on the Huffy...

jamesdak 

Not much in the way of wrenching as I set up a new smart trainer to help me rehab the knee. Winter is in full snow mode now so no riding outside for awhile. The stationary indoor recumbent wasn't cutting it. Anyway put a cassette and QR adapters on the trainer and then got it talking to my Garmin. Had to put flat pedals on for now until I get a little more flex out of the knee. This trainer was so easy to get talking vs the one I tried a couple of years ago. Supposedly I can even control the the resistance and all of the trainer via the Garmin. That's how I plan to use it.

leftthread

Sold a cool mtb frame and some tools so I've been using the proceeds from those sales to upgrade to other tools.

spclark 

Same here! On BOTH counts!

There's ~ 14" on the ground now since Tuesday. My Wahoo SNAP arrived via UPS yesterday (in spite of the blizzard!) and it's been unboxed & set up in basement as of about an hour ago. The Kona Dew+ is as close to "Plug & Play" as I could ask for! My early '70's Motobecane's a little more of a challenge with its 120OLD d/o's in back. I may need a couple hardware store bushings to make up the 15mm needed to clamp solidly, or the Wahoo accessory kit they sell for something like $60.

On that subject, I'm open for suggestions regarding Bluetooth-capable apps for getting numbers off the Wahoo that I can see and perhaps interact with on my iPhone.

My goals are maintaining condition over winter as well as keeping the arthritic knee from becoming worse. A recent bout of RSV's kept me out of the local pool the last couple of weeks; I'm having enough trouble breathing air now that the infection's really behind me that I don't want to invoke any reaction to trying to breathe water for the time being. That RSV stuff's worse than the COVID I had 15 months ago....

dddd

I bought my re-branded Bridgestone Submariner bike with cast-in-place frame lugs on New Year's Day as a curiosity, and have put my feet to the pedals (and my wrenches to the bike) every day since.
It's a project, not an investment, so I am trying to spend almost literally nothing on it's evolving state of repair. Still riding on the original 1976 front tire and the Schwinn "HP Sport" rear tire that now lost all of it's thick, brittle flakes of sidewall rubber. I sourced handlebar tape and modern brake cables/housings as shop discards that still look and function about like new, and the bike's original Asahi brake pads are incredibly still supple as ever gripping the less-than-perfectly-smooth chromed rims.
The saddle finally got replaced with an old OEM Avocet Touring, mounted at a compromised angle because of the coarse-serrated clamp on the PITA internal-expanding seatpost. I tried a couple of saddles and clamps to improve matters, which was not a total waste of time.
Clipless pedals went on just yesterday, and I set up a dedicated pair of SPD shoes having the cleats positioned to mitigate the wild pedal offset asymmetry of the cottered crankset.
The huge driveside offset began to make sense when I discovered that the frame and rear hub's spacing was a whopping 140mm (tandem style, for a dish-free rear wheel).

The first big issues to address were the narrow, skinny steel handlebar mounted on an 8cm stem, which hurt my hands and made the 58cm bike feel quite small.
So I rummaged through my humblest parts boxes finding a 10cmx25.4mm stem and a sleeved steel handlebar having normal 23.8mm hand-gripping diameter instead of 22mm. Adding the recycled cork/foam tape and a pair of alloy levers having 23.8mm clamps finally allowed me to ride the bike without the serious pain of hand bruising. Not that the bruising went away, but the padding and bigger diameter feel therapeutic to say the least. As well, the longer stem and longer-reaching handlebar allow me to achieve a good fit on the bike without losing my ability to weight the rear tire when climbing slippery steeps off road, on old tires!

Oh, I also replaced the 5-speed old-Shimano 14-28 freewheel with a 13-34t Uniglide six-speeder, so I at least now have a 40-34t low gear to fight with. A longer 116-link flat-plate "Z" chain was a take-off from a department store bike I bought some years ago and seems to shift very well.

I try to include some off-roading on every one of my hilly 1-2-hour rides, not trying to blow the old tires so avoiding sharp rocks as much as possible for now. I've been getting by with 55psi so as not to test the fragile casings that were rated for 85psi.

The "luxury" of riding this $14.95 Goodwill-sourced bike (marked down from it's earlier 24.95 price) is that I can ride it from my home, hit any of the gentler tight trail networks, return to the road and then travel on to my errands with a sidearm-style padlock hanging from the brake cables in front of the stem. This bike didn't even sell at 24.95, so is not such an attractive target to thieves when left unattended. With so little invested, I have yet to suffer even one malfunction or flat tire and don't carry any tube or tools, since I can stay within a few miles jogging distance from home.


I believe this 1976 model is from the end of the era of this unique frame design, which seems to have lost it's trademark stainless-steel main tubes at some point for mere "butted high tensile steel tubing". It also appears to be the lowest-specification model, having steel componentry (handlebars, derailers, crankset, rims, hubs and complete brakeset).

I'll be needing new tires soon, but it looks like I am finished with the hours of "wrenching" for now.