Brake lights

Found these and they look pretty snappy. They're brake pads

with built-in red LED lights.

They're available from a Swedish auto parts store: Biltemas

Doesn't seem to be any indication of an option to turn them off 

for day riding.

Boy, girl, bike, Toronto

Check out this very excellent story: http://northpublik.ca/

Scroll down to:  'A Boy, a Girl and her Bike'

1200 hits!

Thanks to all readers for your interest. 

Have had over 1200 hits in the last 3 weeks.

Would love some more feed back, so please indulge in a comment or two. 

Cheers!

Monochrome

So all you hard core fix-heads think the monochrome look is pretty original ah? Sorry, but grandpa was onto it as a young'n too.

Actually, there were a few stories from the crew about their crazy track bike riding when they were younger. They reckon though, that in those days there were so few cars on the roads, it was relatively safe.

Help ID?

Phil has an old bike which can't be identified. The only distinguishing marks are these diamonds.

Can anybody out there help with a possible ID?

Wooden rims

These would only have been used on the track. Not really suitable for applying brakes to. 

I have seen images of bamboo rims.

Blackman track/road

This Blackman was given to a club member. Note the double drop-outs, one for road and one for track. It came with wooden rims (above).

....and then a bit of spit n polish.

They come in like this....

Gordonson tracky

This is my favorite in Peter's collection.

Tour de Rust

The tour of 3 WAHCC members' sheds was a hoot! Unfortunately, my photography was a bit 'off' this morning and I didn't end up with many good shots.

There's somewhat of an art to shooting bikes as there's not a lot to them. Picture trying to photograph a wire coat hanger for example. Unless you have access to a blank backdrop , they tend to disappear into the background.

Anyway, above is a snap of the crew checking out Allan's frame collection.

I love the way these little logos (and decals)  preserve the integrity of the bike despite the rust and decay of the machine. Just a crusty old romantic at heart.

Discovered later (22/02) that the bottom bearing above indicates that it's likely to be a pre-war model.

I wonder if spiders generate explanations of the existence of handle bar holes in terms of intelligent design? 

"Surely this perfectly circular space in which I can exist hasn't just been put here by chance? "

Malvern Star

Here's the $5 investment from the WAHCC meeting the other day.

The swan

Swansea. Williams and Fremantle

Hillbilly mud guard

The meeting was a formal affair with reading of minutes, treasurer's report and a bit of show and tell. 

The group are involved in a lot of activities; rides, shows and vintage shows. 

This coming Sunday they have planned the 'Tour de Rust'. We're going to have a look in a few guys' sheds. My plan is to have the camera fully charged! 

Anyhoo, then  there was an auction of a beautiful BROOKS saddle (black leather). It went for a huge $70.

Stashed against the wall were 4 old bikes. They had been brought in to clear room in somebody's shed and they also went up for auction. I picked up a Malvern Star (50's) for a fiver. Slight bend in the frame, but all I wanted was the bars. 

Then I scored this Swansea 3 speed. It's great tractor of a thing. One owner. I succumbed to the auctioneer and forked out all of $35.

Me thinks the mud guard was added to keep the bull-dust down.

Swany

Last night I attended my first 'Western Australian Historical Cycle Club' meeting. They're celebrating their first 10 years in 2009.

I was the youngest there by about 25 years, give or take. (Most of them could whip me round the block I reckon)There would have been 20 people  including  a couple of dedicated ladies.