I haven't been able to ride my Flying Pigeon much because it's quite hilly up here and there would be no way I would ride to school from work in an hour on the FP, and I only have an hour to get to school from work. I have been using my boyfriend's 27 speed Trek. I only use about 8 speeds on it, I am a bit spoiled with those speeds, I fly down hills and can climb up hills easily. I broke down and bought a Batavus Mixte 10 speed off ebay. The guy I bought it from did not disclose the condition it was in, he only said it was vintage, so I am dissappointed with how much work it will be to make it serviceable. I need to replace the wheels (I'm afraid they will break, they are so old), replace the chain and fix the breaks (one of the wires came off). Any advice any readers can give will be appreciated. Here's a pic of the Batavus beauty:
I figure I'll buy a better seat, put a rack and basket on her and she'll be good to go.
I do ride my Pigeon every now and then, when I don't have school at night (Fridays and weekends). She is doing ok, I rode her quite a bit yesterday, rode through UCSB, got lost, rode her to the beach, made some distance on the Obern Trail, rode past work and shopped at Trader Joes. It was quite the trip.
Got some great pics of the FP at the beach...
look at this scary pelican!
7 comments:
Nice to hear from you again and congrats on all the new changes in your life!
Nice Mixte!
Try the Classic and Vintage Forum on bikeforums.net or C&V BikeForum.net for short. Search their archives to start. You can also ask for advice and help. You will finds lots of very knowledgeable sages there!
I think that's a heron!
Amy, a heron? Do tell...
That Batavus has some nice lines.
Speaking of the dead. I went to a few years back and when I looked in the casket, it dawned on me that the women I knew was no longer there. I've been to a few more since then, with the same result. I highly doubt that movie makers can make someone look really dead. Or if they do, it's because they took that life force aspect into account.
Yay, happy to see that you are still riding! Good luck with the mixte.
Awesome bike pictures (background is beautiful too)! I found your blog on Bitch Cakes! I lost more than 100 lbs with Weight Watchers and recently recommitted based on some weight I like to say I "found" towards the end of last year.
I'd love for you to visit my website and we can keep each other posted along the way of this part of our journeys!
I also have links to my FREE newsletter that will include some fun bonuses like Podcasts, guest experts, and success stories (BTW - I'm looking for success stories right now - you can read more details)!
I also have a link to my Twitter page for all of us to follow each other! Look forward to reading from you soon. Anyway, we can do it! Smiles!
http://weightwatcherschica.com
Hi! This seems random. I found you through the green LA girl carfreemondays series, I believe.
That's a beautiful bike. I wish I got to poke and prod at more mixtes. The frames are structural brilliance and ideal for cargo-carrying.
The first thing I would worry about are the bearings. There are five sets of bearings in your bike.
- the headset (at both ends of the head tube, for steering)
- the bottom bracket (what the cranks attach to)
- the front hub
- the rear hub
- the freewheel (the piece that threads on to the rear wheel, and includes the rear sprockets)
The bottom bracket is the most important, because it takes the most force while also spinning a whole lot. The headset is the least important because it never even spins 360 degrees.
Assuming everything is in decent condition, you can overhaul the bearings without replacing anything but the grease. You have cotter cranks, which pose a little bit of a challenge. Depending on . . . um, a lot of things, you might want to plan on replacing the bottom bracket spindle and cranks to a square taper at some point. They're readily available, easier to work on, and plentiful.
For brakes . . . you should probably replace both the brake cables and the brake housing. And all four pads. That's a safety issue. It'll also make braking easier and quieter.
And oof, you mention the wheels. They shouldn't need to be replaced JUST for being old. It depends on the condition. Are any spokes broken, missing, or really loose? Do they "wobble" more than an inch when you spin them? Is there severe rust? Any big dings along the side of the rim?
As for the chain . . . if it's really rusty, certainly replace it. But keep in mind that you might have to replace the freewheel if you put a new chain on, or it won't engage under a lot of torque (it will make a loud noise and do nothing when you try to accelerate, for instance).
So that's just off the top of my head.
I don't live in LA. At all.
But! I'd be happy to help you as much as I can over teh intarwebs. I've been a bicycle mechanic for almost four years, and I work almost exclusively on bikes from the seventies and eighties. I can direct you toward specific resources, explain things best I can, tell you which tools you need for a specific project, etc.
It seems that Monday nights 6:30-9:30 the Bicycle Kitchen has a women's night. http://www.bicyclekitchen.com/hours.html That would probably be a lot easier. I haven't been there, of course, but I'd definitely give it a shot.
Sorry if this comes off as creepy. I just really really love bikes, and sexism in 'bike culture' made it extremely difficult to become self-sufficient. If there's anything I can do to make it easier for others, I'm there.
Post a Comment