Will You Join the Throng?

Columbia Bicycles Advertisement, 1895WHEREVER HE MAY APPEARThe Wheelman on a Columbia Bicycle is an object of admiration. He is gracefully and naturally posed on a wheel which is perfect in construction and of elegant design and finish. Will you join the throng?I dearly love my 1971 Columbia, but it's not quite as stylish as this one. For more stylish gentlemen a-wheel, see my other blog, The Cycling Gentlem...

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How to Install or Replace Crank Cotters

Disclaimer: I am not a professional bicycle mechanic. This post describes my experiences only, and should not be used as a definitive guide. You should consult other sources or visit a professional mechanic before attempting anything described here.Here's the follow-up to my post a few days ago about removing crank cotters. If you're lucky enough to be able to reuse the old cotters (i.e., if you've removed the cranks only to access the bottom bracket), this process is much easier than if you need to replace the pins themselves, as was my situation. First, some fundamentals about how cottered...

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Bike-Riding Robot

No, no, no, no, no, no!Holy crap, people, it's a robot riding a bike! Forget about Iran and North Korea, I say Japan is the major threat to global security until they stop making so many bloody robots. Prepare, everybody, the Robot Wars are coming (on bikes!).Via BoingBoing.&nb...

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Where has Hank & Me Gone?

Update: Thanks to a tip from Charlotte, we now have an explanation, via the Chicago Bike Blog.Has anyone noticed that the wonderful Chicago-based bike blog "Hank and Me" has disappeared from the interwebs? Does anyone know what happened? Based on her last few posts, aLex had had a nasty run-in with a driver who apparently swerved towards her as a threat, then a bad experience with a 911 operator who didn't seem to care. I believe this was in August, and I haven't seen any new posts come across my feed reader since. I checked the actual site yesterday and it had been removed.I hope everything is okay. We miss you, Hank & ...

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Old is the New New

I whipped this up real quick-like today as a side-bar widget for the Old Bike Blog. This is my first try at such a thing, so it might be refined in the weeks to come. If folks are so inclined, this could be added to a blog or site and linked back here. Just click and save the image, add it to your design template, and link it here.  I wanted to make it stylish, intriguing, and not be too obnoxious about putting "Old Bike Blog" everywhere on it (or anywhere on it). Would anyone besides me be interested in a t-shirt with this desi...

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What About This?

Better, or worse? And how do the Ws grab you? I mushed a couple of Ns together since the original advert I was mangling didn't have any Ws, but I'm not sure I love th...

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The 1936 Runwell Sports Tourist

In my continuing effort to get a date of manufacture for my Runwell, I just came across this advert cut from an old issue of The C.T.C. Gazette (Cyclists Touring Club) on British eBay. You can see the unique frame style of the Runwell, but this one has a chain case, frame-mounted pump, 3-speed hub, and apparently a cable brake (that could be the shifter cable, too, I suppose). Makes me think that mine is earlier since it has the rod brake and one speed hub. It also makes me wonder if mine had a chain case lost along the way at some point (sigh). Here's what I can make of the text:1936...

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How to Remove Crank Cotters

Disclaimer: I am not a professional bicycle mechanic. This account of my experience is intended for entertainment purposes only (woohoo!), and should not be considered the advice of a professional. In other words, I'm not responsible if you bungle the job!That being said, let me say (as commenters RB and Giuseppe assured me), that this was not hard at all! Guys, you were right, it was probably the easiest thing I've done on this bike. Sheldon Brown, God bless him, can sometimes make things sound much harder than they are. Based on Sheldon's guide, I was certain that I would mush the cotter...

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Hurtling Toward Another Great Depression

I don't usually get into economic matters here, other than to say that DIY work on old bikes is a thrifty way to keep yourself mobile, but I want to take that a half-step farther today in light of the dire financial news that broke yesterday and today. With big finance falling about our ears in a manner akin to the early days of the Great Depression, it's yet another reminder to take a good look back at the strategies that kept some working families afloat during the 1930s, including the use of bicycles as transportation, a policy of repair instead of replacement, and an ethic of save, save, save....

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Reader Project: Diane's 1963 Schwinn Hollywood

Diane left a comment a while back asking for help dismantling an original Sturmey-Archer grip-shifter on her 1963 Schwinn Hollywood. She eventually figured it out herself (with help from the OBB and its readers, yay!), and her success has energized her efforts to clean up and restore her beautiful old bike. Here's what Diane has to say:The bike had a tremendous amount of rust on her from top to bottom I mean on EVERYTHING! I didn’t know where to start or what to use that wouldn’t take the whole thing down to the metal…I began with a regular hairbrush to get the flaky rust off. Then I took a product...

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An Old Bike Project is Never "Finished"

Looks like I spoke too soon. After riding the Runwell around a bit, it has developed a loud clunk in the right crank arm, the result of a mangled crank cotter that I just can't get tight enough anymore. Fortunately, I can order new cotters in the right size from Harris Cyclery, but it puts the bike out of commission for another week, at least, and forces me to confront yet another somewhat-dreaded DIY repair. I'd like to hear from anyone who has extracted/installed their own crank cotters without a cotter pin press. I've heard about bent pins, ruined cranks, etc., but I'd like to hear some happy stories with good endings. Anybo...

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The Runwell in the Wild

A couple of photos taken down the street in front of somebody's colorful garage do...

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The Runwell's Franken-pedal

I've tried boiling water, I've tried penetrating oil, I've tried sheer brute force, I've taken it to a bike shop, I've taken the pedal apart to gain better leverage, I've bent two (cheap) wrenches, I've even yelled at it, but the left pedal WILL-NOT-BUDGE (yes, I'm turning it the correct way--left side pedal loosens clockwise). So, I finally hit upon the idea of dismantling my new block pedal from Harris Cyclery, and simply rebuilding the old pedal around the stuck spindle with the new blocks. After much cajoling, everything worked out fine. The pedals are still somewhat mismatched, with the right...

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The Runwell: First Photos

Here's the "before" photo from the Craigslist posting, and the rest are from today--I'm finished! These didn't really turn out very well, and I'll post some better ones later, but I just had to put these up! Actually the rackafratzin' left pedal is still stuck fast, so I've still got that to work on. Right now, the right pedal is shiny and new, and the left is dirty and old. Otherwise, I'm incredibly pleased with how the polish went on, how the fenders turned out, and just really totally psyched about the whole package, actually! The rod brake works wonderfully, as does the coaster hub, and...

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Vintage Projects Website

As a follow-up to yesterday's lament on the loss of DIY skills, I wanted to pass along this neat site I found a while back, which gives free "plans" for vintage DIY projects ranging from bicycle sidecars to archery, boats to tractors. I say "plans" with some qualification because many of them are pretty surface-level descriptions and others assume a level of mechanical and technical expertise that I doubt was ever common. Many of the designs are also pretty clunky in a charmingly antiquated way, like the extremely heavy-looking chariot-stye bike trailer in the image, but if you're inclined, there's...

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Are Americans Losing Their DIY Skills?

Um, yes? Is this news? Not specifically bicycle-related, but this article from Popular Mechanics is very much in keeping with what this blog is really all about.I think that a modicum of ability in dealing with the physical world is good even for those of us whose jobs are mostly cerebral. Engineer Vannevar Bush, one of the great minds of the 20th century, made his mark on everything from the Manhattan Project to the development of computers. But when he wasn’t commanding vast enterprises, Bush spent a lot of time in his basement workshop building things. He said that trying to make a finished project match his blueprints taught him humility and problem solving.I'll second that with a vengeance. Especially the humility part.Link, via Neato...

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The Runwell: Just Another Teaser

Still working on the fenders, the brakes and pedals should arrive next week, then a couple coats of polish and done! I'm already putting together my wishlist of accessories to accumulate over the next few months, including a bell and a retro headlamp from Velo Orange, and long-term a new Brooks.Also, I took him on a night ride around the 'hood last night and it was pure joy to glide around in utter silence and darkness (excepting my headlight). Sitting upright in total comfort, I just cruised about, taking it all in--truly a Slow Bicycle mome...

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The Runwell's History Lessons

Now that the Runwell is up and running again, with only a few things left to finish, I wanted to share a bit of its history, or at least what I can deduce from some its features. I still don't know the date of production, but the 1920s or 1930s still seems right. Apparently, most bikes with the Perry coaster hub were manufactured for sale overseas, but I know that the bike was in England until the previous owner brought it to the U.S. sometime in the 1980s (I think). I also know that the bike was in use during World War II, and here's the really cool part. The most obvious sign that...

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The Runwell Test Ride!

Ladies and gentleman, the Runwell runs well! In fact, the Runwell runs like a dream! After realizing that the new tires I bought on Saturday don't fit on the Westwood rims (they popped right off under minimal air pressure), and then changing out the tires from the Columbia, which worked perfectly, I put on the chain, made some adjustments, tightened down all the nuts, and I was off. I wanted to take a test ride before placing my Harris order, since I wasn't sure if I would need a new seatpost until I tried the existing one, and it turns out that it works just fine, and doesn't seat me too far forward, as I had thought it would.This is probably the most solid bicycle I've ever ridden, at least in my adult life. With just one speed, it runs silently,...

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