Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Breeding pair
Must be something in the stars- The Sunday paper has brought me another Steele Bishop (same model, see post Feb 3) this time in black.
Tempting though it is to breed the pair, we've decided to poach the goodies from the black one for Tom's single speed: seat post, crank bearing, goose neck and the brand new Continental blue-stripe tires.
We'll plonk the white cranks onto the white fixy (probably re-coat first).
Total cost: $70!!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Olympic
Nelly found an old 'Olympic' track bike on a rubbish heap. It looked like it's been run over - shame. Salvageable: beautiful BSA pedal, front wheel and a Brooks saddle that just needs a quick buff.
Nelly's bike
Nelly at 'Off the Wall' (see post Jan 25th -older posts) is riding this crazy beast. Oh- those 'psycho' cats-eye Velocity rims! He's customized the bars himself.
Yeah, don't be confused by his name. I refer back to post Jan 19 (older posts) re: boy/girl bike frame. Get used to it folks. In the 1970's we did it with girl/boy hair and soon, men who choose to ride girl's bikes will no longer be socially outcast!
I may have to look into forming a support group.
Home-grown chopper
Check out the chopper extension here (outside the Freo traino).
Click on image for a zoom.
The original forks are jammed into another set..... Bit of gaffa tape to patch the join and - VOILAH!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
TOO OUCHY!
Been collecting random pix from the net for a while. Here's one of my fav's....no credits. Can't recall where it's from (sorry to photographer). If anybody knows, please forward.
Note: That's not red paint in the middle!
Anyway, here's the only argument you'll ever need to justify paying good money for good quality components. No offence to the brand name featured.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tom's treddley
Here's another $10 frame I picked a while ago; a Malvern Star. Tom's planning something black.
Aidan's done.
Had a few issues with the coaster hub - making some disturbing noises, but a tweak of the bearings, some grease and small shim (thanks Clive - Mercer's), a nice new seat stem and a pair of bar plugs (cabon fibre for extra strength) and the bike is a joy to ride.
Final bill: $180!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Jonesman!
Ray reports:
"HI JOHN
I WAS ABLE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CHRIS JONES. HE WAS AT RIDERS CHOICE SHOP BUT APPARENTLY NOW OWNS 'CYCLE BESPOKE' IN KING WILLIAM ST BAYSWATER.
I WILL TRY TO HAVE A LOOK ON SATURDAY MORNING AND DISCUSS HIS FRAMES ETC.
WATCH THIS SPACE.
CIAO
Ray "
'pologies for low res pic Ray.J
Steele who?
I hear a few folk out there asking "Steele who?"
Steele Bishop was an Olympic cyclist and West' Australian champion track rider 1971- 84.
There's also this neat story about his attempt at he Human-powered World Speed Record in 1984:
Return of the The Bishop (Part 1)
Nick has been pestering his dad to see if he could have his old bike converted to a fixy, but Mick (dad) can't deal with the thought of having his beloved 'STEELE BISHOP' butchered. So we've tossed it into the bike ambulance and rushed it off the ICU. Can we restore it's integrity? Dr John says "Yes we can!"
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Account
I managed to get the wheel somewhere near staight and will have it fine-tuned later in the week.
The bike has cost Aidan $150 so far. Wheels & seat are on loan for now. These aren't his bars of choice - we're looking for some nice drop bars.
Later on , maybe a tasty crank set, some vintage pedals and then a pair of deep vees....or not.
Thwarted!
Saturday, 5:05 pm. The bike shop's just shut and I realized the back cog doesn't match the chain for size! Ugh.
Preview
So Aidan's bike is taking shape. It's always tempting to get the beast rideable, but it does tend to take the edge off the seeing the final product.
Just follow the instructions...
Following the instructions from the net (Sheldon Brown's) for the spoke thread was um... a challenge..
" After this leading spoke has crossed 3 trailing spokes, there will be two possible rim holes to connect it to. Use the rim hole that is on the same side as the flange you are working from. It should not be right next to one of the trailing spokes that runs from the same flange of the hub."
What the?
So I looked at the pictures and looked at another wheel and.... well it seems to have worked.
De-spoking
A last minute tip from Clive at Mercer's ensures that I gradually loosen every third spoke to remove the oldies without buckling the rim.
Easy!
The coaster hub arrives....
The coaster hub arrives for Aidan's bike and I set out to
grapple with the fine art of wheel building for the first time.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Bicycle Hoopla
Hmmm. Me thinks the crew at Bike Force might have been engaing in a little lunch time coits competition!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Latest Perth cycle gear trends
Further….”We had a great ride on a beautiful
Had a coffee in South Terrace, Freo last weekend and was surprised as to the number of fixies that rode past. So good to see the numbers increasing.
The 'dude' is an Anglican bishop... Bishop Hale..of
Nice snap. Thanks Ray!
The fixie bishop
Ray writes:
“We went for a ride around the city on Sunday morning..early..and stopped at Cloisters to take some shots, with the assistance of a very affable gentleman who offered his support.
The frame is a SOMA '
Ellis is a very good mechanic and great mentor to me, and has always offered valuable advice. I attempt to do most things myself on my bikes, but everything is not always possible...see Ellis.”
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wanted
Anybody know where I could get my hands on a frame like this? (In Perth) There are a couple of these on Frankencycle (see links). Check out the conversions.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Speedlite - Maylands WA
While at Off The Wall, I had a quick squizz at this old Speedlite (made locally in Maylands). It's a track frame, bit bent, but destined for a re-build.
It's weird, we don't really live in much of a culture of manufacture. How much of what you own was made in Australia, let alone in a suburb near you? Associating the production of a bike with a local suburb is just - odd! Before WW 2, there were dozens of bike makers in WA and hundreds across Oz. Will have some contacts for the WA Historical Cycle Club up soon.
On the wall @ Off The Wall
If you click on this pic (all of them blow up if you click on 'em) , you should be able to get some info from the sign.
Off The Wall
'Off The Wall' is a 'retro stuff' shop at: 6 Market St Fremantle. WA 6160 Ph: (08) 9336 4435. They stock some tres cool bikes including vintage. I stuck my camera in the door just as they shutting today for a couple of quickies, but have been invited back to have a look....out the back! Stay tuned for some more goodies.
Flat out!
As mentioned earlier (Jan 18) Whitey has had a couple of modifications: stumpy flat bars and toe clips. The toe clips are a pain when walking the bike.... they scrape the ground!
better shot
Didn't really do justice to Aidan's choice of colour with those last shots...looked a bit military-grey. There's deep undertone of bluey-magenta in the colour.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Aidan's stage 2 a)
Aidan's frame (see Jan. 18) has returned from a make-over. Had to fill a couple of small dents. Nothing a brother-in-law and some silver solder couldn't fix. We're messing with installing a coaster hub to a pre-loved wheel, finding a seat post etc. Still perplexed about substituting quick release front axle with nuts. Stay tuned for further adventures....
Kerry's Colnago
Kerry is reluctantly having a go at his 1st fixy (see work in progress).
"I built my first bike last year- Colnago (above) . Not a genuine build because of the modern groupo but it came up ok and I love riding it. The wheels were dead easy, I just ordered them from the UK and they turned up in a box - all done."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Duke
Ray works in the big smoke and has made productive use of his flash phonecam down on King St. Sweet!
The notion of a silent Ducati has got me beat though! Bit like watching a Rage Against the Machine video with the sound turned down and the sub-titles on.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Paramount story part 2..see below
I told him I had to go and get a bit more cash and asked him where the nearest ATM was. He looked confused. “Bank machine” I clarified.
“Don’t know if it’s got a machine, but there’s a bank……” and he gave me directions. As I walked away he reminded me that it was Sunday and he didn’t think the bank would be open. I explained that I would use the automatic teller and he was genuinely amazed to learn that such a thing existed!
When I returned, he’d upped the price again. This time I spat the dummy and walked off. He called me back and reluctantly took my money. As I drove away, I wasn’t sure if I’d cut such a good deal after all, but I was hopeful of returning at some stage to try again.
When I got home, I began to rub the dirt off the older frame and was delighted to find the remnants of what would have originally been a spectacular hand-painted finish on a 1950’s
I described the frame to him and told him about the a small remnant of a decal on the steering column (see pic). It has an Australian coat of arms, the words ‘L. Andrews’ and under that ‘……ark’. Peter and his crew are absolutely set on salvaging what remains of Western Australian bicycle heritage. He told me that the bike was likely to one customized by LES ANDREWS who had a shop in the 50’s and 60’s on
I later visited Peter and I’ll post some pix of his incredible collection and write more about the club in the near future.
Meantime readers, I have to make a crucial decision. Do I…..
• Preserve the bike as is, find a sweet leather saddle, a set of vintage gears and put it out to pasture?
• Strip the frame and have a sign-writer fully restore the original paint job? (Homage to Les Andrews)
or
• Cut the bumps off and make the fixy of my dreams from it?
The Paramount story - Part 1
I went looking for a cheap frame one Sunday. The local Sunday rag classifieds seem to have the best range of cheap old bikes.
I called one number in relation to a 'racing bike frame' $90. Seemed kind of expensive, and the guy couldn't give me much info about it. He told me that he wasn't sure that he was charging enough. I had a hunch about it and took a long drive.
The owner was well into his eighties, or at least looked it. He showed me what turned out to be Gordonson - mid seventies. Then he tried asking $130. I was disappointed, but gradually became distracted by his back yard. It was an incredible treasure trove of stuff: vintage car parts, general junk and dozens of old bikes. Everything was literally piled in heaps, some covered by sheets of plastic or corrugated iron. I asked him if I could have a poke around and he reluctantly agreed.
A lot of his bikes were seventies and eighties models and there were a number of mountain bikes, but he had a few interesting vintage frames, and piles of wheels, seats and random parts. The piles were so high, there was no telling what was underneath them. He said that he wanted somebody to just come and clean it all out. I thought I'd found Aladdin's cave, but gradually I came to realize the bloke was just one grape short of a bunch.
As indicated by his unreasonable request for the frame I'd come to look at, he had a fanciful notion of what his bikes were worth. I explained to him that I could look for the nearest excess rubbish collection (where people put their waste on the street for collection) and find an equivalent bike for naught, but he was convinced that because the bike originally coast $600 (yeah right) it was now worth at least $300....'easy'.
As I rummaged about, this grandiose perception of the value of his collection became more and more obvious and I began to see the my hopes of scoring a gem dissolve. I dug out one old frame, covered in greasy dirt, an old crank set and a pair of pedals. The he began to run out of patience and suggested that I buy the Gordonson and be gone. When I told him that I didn’t want to but the bike, he spat the dummy, so I began to negotiate a price for the bits I’d picked up and the Gordonson and we settled on $130.
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