The Runwell Preview

Just a couple of teaser photos after a busy Saturday of work. Had a successful trip to the bike shop this morning and picked up most of the remaining essentials. Still have to place an order with Harris for the remaining, and to finish up a good deal of the "cosmetic" work. Unfortunately, along those lines, these photos show the limitations of my cleanup effort, especially due to deteriorated nickel and/or chrome plating and a bit of rust still showing on the frame. Oh well, still better than when I found it, for sure.

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The Runwell: Day, Uh, 13? 14?

Honestly, I've lost track of the days. I've been working on sanding/chipping the old paint off the fenders, and priming, painting, and top-coating them. I'm about half-way through that process now. I also gave the frame a rubdown with rubbing compound, which really brought out the shine and deepened the color. No more pictures of the frame or fenders (well, maybe the fenders) until I'm all done--don't want to spoil the suspense!  

My cork grips from Velo Orange arrived yesterday, and I promptly set about cutting them down so they would fit on the Runwell's smallish handlebars. Because I lopped about two inches off the end of each grip, I was left with open-ended grips that needed bar plugs (it was an aesthetic choice not to take the two inches off the already-open end of the grips). To match the color of the cork grips (and boost my DIY cred), I whittled two plugs out of some scraps of 1" wooden dowel I had laying around. 

I'll varnish these separately, then put the grips and plugs on the bars and varnish them both together to create a good water-tight seal. I'll be running to the bike shop this weekend to hopefully get my tires, tubes, rim tape, chain, and new spoke. Then, it's an order from Harris Cyclery of rod-pull brake shoes, new block pedals, and perhaps a new seatpost (to replace the original angled post that seats me too far forward). Once all that is assembled, I'll give the frame a couple coats of polish and I'll be done. I won't say when that will be, for fear of jinxing the whole operation, but soon, I hope.

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That Must Be Heavy!

Those of us who ride old bikes are used to hearing this phrase, frequently spoken by spandex-clad "scorchers" (as they used to call speeding cyclists) nodding derisively at our old three-speeds or cruisers. I usually say, cheerfully, "Yup!" and toodle off down the street on my "clunker." Well, if it makes you feel any better, here's a quote from School Recreations and Amusements (1896) that advocates, quite sensibly, a heavier bike:

Except for track riding or racing, do not make the mistake of getting too light a machine. The wheel that is to stand the roughness of country roads and the unevenness of city pavements, that is to be solid, reliable, and trustworthy in all conditions, must have some weight. For road work, twenty-four to twenty-eight pounds is a convenient weight. 

The volume (the title of which does a disservice to its contents) also goes on to say:

The common rule of life seems to be hurry and rush, making work (and hard work) even out of our pleasures; but in the case of bicycle trips for pleasure, no course could be more unwise. Do not attempt to make so many miles a day. Stop when you like. Enjoy all that you can in the way of natural scenery or observations of life, and thus store up a host of pleasant recollections for after years.

Good advice in 1896, good advice now. Read the rest at Google Books.

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Reader Projects Gallery

Now that we've had a few Reader Projects features, I've put together a little gallery of the "before" pictures and added a cool little slideshow gadget in the navigation bar to the right. Just click to view the gallery, also available here. 

Right now, I've just got the full side-view photos of the projects up, but if readers would prefer, I can add all the detail shots, too.  What do you think?

Also, if one of your bikes has been featured here, and you've since finished working on it, send me the after photos, too, and I'll post an update and add them to the gallery. And, of course, if anyone else would like to have a bike featured as a Reader Project, I'd love to have it. Just send me an email with a few photos (before or after) and a description of what you'll be doing/did to get it fixed up.

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The First "Issue" of The Cycling Gentleman Is Up!

The first few posts are now up at my other blog, The Cycling Gentleman. Included in this "issue" are reflections on the consistency of trouser clips, an bit of fashion humor from the cycling past, the failure of BMW to make cycling unattractive, and a sporty fellow spotted in Boston. 

Go check it out, I'll wait here. It's okay, go on...

 

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The Runwell: Days 11 & 12

After one day spent badly bungling trying to re-lace my rear wheel, an evening carefully studying Sheldon Brown's guide, and another afternoon finally getting the stupid thing right, I can now say that I've built a wheel, or rather rebuilt a wheel. Once I actually pulled my head out of my...well...and thought about it for a minute, it all went pretty well, with the exception that I stripped a nipple (cue childish snickering) that's going to have to be replaced and the wheel trued.

I also greased and reassembled the rear hub, and now have a functional rear wheel that's in much better shape than when I found it. Here's the before picture for a comparison.

 

I've even tested the coaster brake by spinning the wheel in my hands, and it seems to work just fine. Like I said before, it's not quite as shiny as I would have liked, but there's only so much one can do after years of weather. 

On a side note, after exchanging emails with a very nice gent and former mechanic in England (who remembered when Runwell was still around in the 1960s as a smallish parts distributor), I believe I'm dealing with what's left of the original nickel plating, rather than chrome, which does a little more to explain why it was so badly deteriorated. Chrome was apparently introduced in 1928, but nickel plating was still applied after that date, so it remains hard to pin down exactly when my bike was manufactured.

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New Blog: The Cycling Gentleman

A friend of mine once described his family as "a project-oriented people"; well, I guess that goes for me, too. Because I don't have enough to do with a dissertation, several articles, and a book-length editing project in the works, I've decided to launch another blog. This one is called The Cycling Gentleman and I'll let my alter ego explain what it's about:

The Cycling Gentleman follows the trend of sites like Chic Cyclist,Copenhagen Cycle Chic, and Urban Cycle Chic in presenting and advocating everyday bicycle fashion. Unlike these sites, which tend to focus primarily on female cyclists, The Cycling Gentleman presents cycling style strictly from a gentleman’s perspective. Why only gentleman? Frankly, we need the most help! In addition to combing the interwebs for examples of stylish modern-day Cycling Gentlemen, I will also be posting material from the cycling past to inspire and inform.

Of course, the Old Bike Blog will still be my first best way to waste time online, but I'm pretty jazzed about the possibilities of The Cycling Gentleman. I'll be officially "launching" next week, making the rounds to announce the new blog, but I wanted to give OBB readers first peek. Right now, there's just a welcome message posted, but within the next few days, I hope to have the first round of posts up. If you would like to contribute to The Cycling Gentleman, email me at: cyclingentleman[at]gmail[dot]com.

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