The anything goes bike thread, parts or rides its all good.

[hickory n Steel]

Hickory, you'll want to rotate that upper seat clamp around 180d. The split in the seat tubing should line up with the split in the clamp for more effective clamping power.

Thanks for the heads up.

[bonneyman]

If I found a classic steel frame I would grab it in a heartbeat over any of the new aluminum frames coming out of China. Even Taiwan. Sure it'd weigh more than the AL frame but with a sweet quality set of wheels I'd bet you could just about make up the difference in total weight. And you'd have a lower rotational weight, which you'd be able to feel over the miles. Plus a steel fork - no aluminum or carbon.

I also prefer steel chain-rings as they last alot longer. Before my local bike salvage place moved (due to road construction) they were great for finding old parts. Now the good stuff is mostly gone. 

[hickory n Steel]

Turns out this seat tube has a slit on both the front and the back, so it works just fine the way I had it.

[hickory n Steel]

If I found a classic steel frame I would grab it in a heartbeat over any of the new aluminum frames coming out of China. Even Taiwan. Sure it'd weigh more than the AL frame but with a sweet quality set of wheels I'd bet you could just about make up the difference in total weight. And you'd have a lower rotational weight, which you'd be able to feel over the miles. Plus a steel fork - no aluminum or carbon.

I also prefer steel chain-rings as they last alot longer. Before my local bike salvage place moved (due to road construction) they were great for finding old parts. Now the good stuff is mostly gone. 

My favorite bike was a vintage 24" GT BMX I was given by a neighbor as a kid and that narrow tube diameter chromoly frame was nice and lightweight.
Someone stole it and I was so pissed.

[strik9]

My bil and I recycle and use bikes with trailers to do the hauling.  So far not a real big thing but setting ip for retirement income with it.

All my puller bikes have cargo bike rims and a heavy steel rear rack.  Add a front basket and load it, hook up the trailer full of scrap, lay some crap on the rear rack and weight savings in the bike are null.
Payday at the buyer and run home empty, the money in the pocket being the weight.

Old cheap steel frames serve my needs best as they bend before they break.  I can weld on them and not reduce the value.

I usually get them from junk piles with rusted in seat posts, otherwise stripped. Most of the parts are bike shop toss offs.
They double as rides to work meanwhile, less than 100 dollars in the best one, most about 50 bucks in them.

[oldnslo]

For the past few weeks, I've been piddling with an Italian Scapin road bike, circa 1983. It had been rode hard, put up wet and whatever maintenance they did was wrong. It was a real mess. These are the alu bottom bracket ends, where someone had (my guess) picked up a couple of yards of bailing wire and wound it up around the crank or something, and kept on pedaling. Sheesh. I'm sure it was installed with a pair of Channelocks, or worse yet, a pipe wrench. All that has been polished out now (daring not to burnish deeper), and I have the correct install tool that engages with the notches for the reinstall.

I am moving on to other parts now. The whole thing was stripped down once I got it home, and the only saving grace is the powdercoat finish (which was waaaaaaay too thick). New decals are on their way from Europe. I'm looking forward to riding it, cause its just my size. Columbus tubing!

[oldnslo]

Vintage Dahon literature for your nighttime reading and story telling adventures. Fresh from the oldNslo archives.

[oldnslo]

I present, my BITSA Peugeot PX10, as found and finished pics. Its former life was surely from someone that rode it seriously and appreciated it. The bike had been upgraded from all of its French component to Campagnolo or a nice equivalent like Shimano Crane (pre Dura Ace). Someone kept the Stronglight Depose crankset (very nice).  It sat on high end 27" Araya lightweight rims with dimpled spoke nipple reliefs and Campy high flange hubs, and is now on 700c rims, with a proper Brooks saddle. Gone are the crit bars forced onto a wrong size stem, and is now with Cinelli bars and a proper stem. The PX-10 was the upgrade bike with Reynolds 531 lighter weight tubing. The paint? Its been nicely patina’d from decades of sitting in the sun on the side of someones house, forlorn and forgotten. Why they painted over the chrome socks (fork and rear stay ends), is probably to hide the vintage chrome, which I much prefer over vintage bad patina'd paint.

I had many a Peugeot BITD, but those were all UO8 models (the common bike). Ahhh...the 'memries of youth.

 

[strik9]

A classic line to it for sure. Looks great. And real Campy parts beat my knockoff Campy stickers.

I can't do road bikes as I live on dirt roads near home.  So the debate is 29" or fat bike for me.  I want a fun bike for crap roads. We already have two tandems nobody wants to be stoker on.

[bonneyman]

I had that exact same Stronglight crank on my 10-speed fro years! Nice job! 
It went well with my Campy pedals and Atom Compact freewheel.

What French parts did you remove? I have a soft spot for certain Huret parts so if you don't want them I'll buy them.

[oldnslo]

No French parts were removed, but some were added back like the AVA stem. Some former owner (not the most recent prior owner) had made the French to Italian upgrade. I did however swap the Suntour Spirit FD for a Suntour SL FD, so I can run in the big chainring with the shift lever in the down position (pull for the small chainring). It's pretty much an aesthetic thing (both levers down) at my normal speed.

[hickory n Steel]

Nuff said

[bmwrd0]

I still need to change the French deraileurs on my SuperCourse for the Shimano mechs I have picked up over the years. But, here is another project bike


'70ish Schwinn Town and Country three wheeler. Built off of a 24" girls frame, it is going to be lightly modified (26" front wheel and fork) to give it a little rake and will become my swap meet bike. There are a couple really big ones out here, and this should give me good carrying capacity along with stylish looks!

[strik9]

Hick, whitewalls do it up right.  Get some chrome fenders on it now.  Weight be damned, stylin it is better.

I like the lines of those older girls frames, swooping tubes and couch like comfort.  Hard to duplicate the ride in modern frames.

I trailer before trike, its nice to have great big space only when needed.  Drop them off behind the house when not needed.

In my world the only freewheel I use stopped working halfway to work.  No clicky sounds and no go.
The derailleur was removed and chain cut for direct  to another questionable freewheel from my bucket o bits. 
Later to be replaced with a coaster brake if any 24" steel rims can be found.  Rather elusive locally, alu can be found but I need to haul 200 lbs behind it.  Plus my fat butt on the bike.

[oldnslo]

Here's a a pair that I stripped and flipped. Showing the pics online in the for sale ad of the tear-apart shows the new owner that the work was indeed done.