Ultimate Bike Thread....

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Good enough for government work
(I spend all day having to be 'perfect' so it's fun to let loose after hours....)
The disc conversion scald marks match the pannier bags.
She's solid as a rock. Next time I will make with a smaller diameter reinforcement and bend it purdy.

[CurtEgerer]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Naturally, it would have to be a very high caliber tape to harness the power of those clipless pedals!

Random (when grams don't matter) gratuitous leather pic- Recovered the seat, wrapped the grips- BUT- slowly replacing the brake line holders from zip ties to leather. Front- leather cord- rear- leather excess from seat recover. More HF zip ties to be cut coming soon.....

I'm interested to learn how you recovered the saddle, specifically how the leather is attached underneath. Is it simply glued top and bottom? What kind of glue? Looks like it came out nice.

[CurtEgerer]

Looked at this yesterday. Claimed to be the guy's mother's Schwinn she bought new in the 1940s. $125, but half-off today. If it were a men's I'd bought it yesterday. I know I could part it out and make some money but not sure I want the hassle. The springer fork is missing the supports, otherwise I'd buy it for that and use the fork on my rat bike.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I'm interested to learn how you recovered the saddle, specifically how the leather is attached underneath. Is it simply glued top and bottom? What kind of glue? Looks like it came out nice.

Thanks- this was a good case of "do as I say, not as I do"
It was a learning process. What I did wrong- use too thick of leather pieces. I was using 2mm thick pieces (approx 5 ounce weight when ordering) - too thick. What I should have used was 1mm thick leather- approximately 2.5 ounce weight leather. I would probably buy some 2 oz. and a 3oz. swatches to see what works best if 2.5 cannot be found.

Because the leather was so thick, I made a mold to compress the top against the seat. The first seat I recovered, I clamped around the edges, which worked, but you can still see the clamp marks. The mold avoids that, but I bet with 1mm thick leather, one wouldn't even need the mold, just stretch and adhere. Once dry, I went back and wrapped the leather around the edges, using exacto knife to cut out excess and adhered underneath.

Adhesive- water proof gorilla glue did not hold up in wet conditions. I went to loctite vinyl/leather/plastic and fabric, which had so far held up. I would research a 3m adhesive (leather to plastic) if I did it again. The first seat I recovered, I stripped the entire old cover/padding off. It was leather to plastic. The second seat, I just recovered over the old leather- leather to leather.

Now that I've done it , I will probably never buy a new seat again. The closest sella leather seat I can find is about $130-$160, and I can recover it much cheaper and get a better leather match to what I want.
Again- the key is a thinner leather. The original sella italia slr leather is about 1mm thick.



first seat- leather to plastic base. Looks way better in person. This pic looks like a big schlong.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Here's a pic of the second seat- adhering the leather to the original padded leather base gives it a much smoother appearance. It was raining in the pic. The plastic base molding imperfections don't show through as much, and it's more comfy. Using a thinner leather (in the future) would let me tuck it up under/around the edges cleaner too. Here you can sorta see where the thick leather didn't quite cooperate at the rear edges.

[greglepore]

Those seats are cool. I did a couple a few years back, and believe it or not, vittoria tubular glue works great as a contact adhesive. Weldwood would also likely work.

[rockfan4]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

Spring. When an old man's mind turns to BICYCLES!

I think I want to find an old Schwinn.
My first bike was a 26" Schwinn. I couldn't straddle the frame and touch the ground, but I could get on it from the back step of the house, and ride it around the house. I eventually got a 20" Schwinn, then a fastback 5 speed, but I think I'd like to find another 26", because I'd just look silly riding a 20" bike. Mine looked a lot like this one, except it had a chainguard.



I remember no fenders, I don't remember if my dad got it with dented up fenders and removed them, or if it came without fenders. It certainly wasn't new, it probably came from an auction.

Looking on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, there seems to be a lot of women's bikes, and very few men's bikes. I don't know if the other boys were like me and ended up destroying them, or what, but there isn't many out there. Maybe when it gets warmer more will show up.

Lots of men's bikes have bent forks. The one above might even be bent a bit.

16 months later, I finally bought one. Actually bought two. The boy's bike has a 2 speed hub. Not all the parts are correct, but I wanted one to ride, not admire. Let's see if I can get the wife on the other one. I failed the last time. Anyone want to buy a Gary Fisher Supercaliber? I was hoping she would end up looking more like Paola Pezzo, but that didn't happen.

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ Nice. I totally forgot about 2-speed hubs. How do they shift again? Do you push back on the coaster brake or something?

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

^^^ Nice. I totally forgot about 2-speed hubs. How do they shift again? Do you push back on the coaster brake or something?

Yes sir, Bendix 2 speed "Kick Back ", I'd love to get one for the 49 Cycle Truck.

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ I seem to recall a lot of the Schwinn Tandems had the 2-speed hub.

I mounted the shifter on my rat bike on the seat stay. I wanted to keep the handlebars clean with no levers, cables, etc. This is a push-pull Shimano hub with hard wire instead of a cable and spring. Problem: The cable housing has fixed molded-in ends, so is a fixed length. I cut the housing down and found a piece of SS tube with a 4.5mm ID to slide the 2 pieces of housing snugly into and butt together.

[CurtEgerer]

Working on the graphics for the race plate as we speak.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Now THAT is super cool!

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ as a bonus, it works and I can reach it

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Byron - brother picked this up yesterday at garage sale for $5. Any info???

Yes, mid to late 90s race Frame, what we refer to as "mid school"
Good find and a great deal.

Hey Byron, when I see this 82' Bandito frame I think of you- check out the dual rear dropouts. I'm liking the comp II's myself! Lot's of goodness here!

I remember those, yes, very cool. ANOTHER company named Speedo has dual dropout forks.
I hear you on the Comp II's, I need a Blue set for my RRS . Those and a red Torker stem are the final peices needed.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

^My first bars were race inc. First seat kashimax.
I had the same shimano dx brake lever, which operated in reverse of a typical lever.
Torker stems are the greatest. Mine is in blue with an aftermarket freestyle throughbolt still in place- and latest FB markeplace find- a REAL park stand! whoohooo!!!!

( I resemble your locking headset )

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

^My first bars were race inc. First seat kashimax.
I had the same shimano dx brake lever, which operated in reverse of a typical lever.
Torker stems are the greatest. Mine is in blue with an aftermarket freestyle throughbolt still in place- and latest FB markeplace find- a REAL park stand! whoohooo!!!!

( I resemble your locking headset )

Very nice.

[ADDvanced]

So I was contacted by Ecotric to review one of their e-bikes, and I said I'd do it but I'd only review their full suspension E-MTB, so they sent me this Ecotric Tornado. This is my first e-bike, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Keep in mind this is an ENTRY LEVEL emtb that retails for only $999, so it's obviously not going to be as nice as the $5-7k specialized/treks/etc. That said, it does have some power where it counts, a 750watt rear hub motor, pedal assist, and a hand throttle.

Here is the full review, good and bad, but... again. $999!



A few days ago I rode it up a closed down ski hill and bombed some runs before being chased out by security. lmao.

[CurtEgerer]

More pics of the Fatboy. I saw it in person yesterday.

[CurtEgerer]

I was in this crazy bike shop today in Rogers City, Mich. Super laid-back semi-retired guy who used to race cars all over the country. It's sort of part bike shop, part ultimate man cave. I was the first person ever to know what his orange race car was (a Jamaican on a TR-4 chassis). Vintage bikes, posters, accessories everywhere you look. Very cool

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Putting the new build to the test! Anyone welcome. Bring magnesium shavings and 12 gauge shotshell. Your smart device is worthless here! (literally- it's in the greenbank cell phone free range).
Free dinner and drinks for anyone who dares show up. Starting 7:00ish sat am sharp in Marlinton- pending how much got drunk the night before in Marlinton inn.
This is a DROP fend for yourself mothman death ride. Mothmanshows- you die. Rabid dog shows- you die. Bigfoot- certain death. A guy raises bears on this route as housepets (not kidding). No gas stations for water- you die. May the odds be in your favor.

(I'll probably take the specialized for the 80 mile ride and the new build for a 50 miler on sunday.) It's fun to plan adventures!

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/5662268977?fbclid=IwAR1EucsFKsRwoPbPxenCDgvei5YtHP eHpt8tm4RBcW88miWPo0MAx1IXw-s