Pedal power

[Pitchy]

Put together a couple old bicycles lately, black one is a 1970`s JD 10 speed the other is a attempt to make a 1900`s type bike with a spoon front brake.
Can`t ride them much but are cool old chit.

[wecsoger]

I'm sorry to say, I'd nick that carbide lantern in a heartbeat. (grin)

Nice. Makes me want to roll out my mtn bike again.

[Pitchy]

I'm sorry to say, I'd nick that carbide lantern in a heartbeat. (grin)

Nice. Makes me want to roll out my mtn bike again.

Thanks, they work well and are dependable light, might come a day soon that`s all we`ll have to go get groceries with.

[piller]

They look good. I have never used a carbide lantern, but I know what they are. Very dependable from what I know.

[Grizz]

those look Good. In H.S. i had a 10 speed schwin. my daily rider.

Dad grew up in a mining family and he always kept a couple of carbide lamps. but not a canary.

where would you get carbide now days?

[M. M. Wright]

Cool bikes bro. There was a time when this old fat man rode 7 miles a day on a balloon tired single speed. I think I still have the frame and forks for that bike which I got for Christmas when I was 8. Had a motor on it at one time. Thanks for the call man.

[Rusty]

Those carbide lights are really cool.

[OldWin]

Pretty cool Pitchy! Love the oldie!

[Ray]

Deleted.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Gents, yep carbide is available, the black bag is where i have a original miners carbide can.
The bicycle lights had a glass over the front so the wind wouldn`t blow them out.
Your welcome Ron glad you are doing ok.
Here`s a few video`s of my lamps from a few years back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrEEQqz3T8g


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9_W1qOix40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuF8iQ5jAo

[gamekeeper]

Pretty cool Pitchy! Love the oldie!

Plus one the old style bike would suit me...

[Bill in Oregon]

Lenn, how well does that spoon brake work? Like it. My days of comfortably riding a rams-horn handled 10-speed ended many years ago, sorry to say.

[Pitchy]

Lenn, how well does that spoon brake work? Like it. My days of comfortably riding a rams-horn handled 10-speed ended many years ago, sorry to say.

Well Bill it won`t stop on a dime but works pretty good, looking at old pictures of factory ones some had rubber on the bottom of the spoon which probably worked better.
This bike has no back brake because i used the 10 speed rear wheel and just one of the sprockets, a wheel from a old bike with a coaster brake would be better.
I put two cement blocks a couple feet apart and stand on them then wheel the bike under me to get on works good but don`t know what i`d do if i`m somewhere else.
Fun fun fun.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I was planning on having knee surgery this spring. It did not work out becasue my attention was needed elsewhere. So I am getting out my old singe speed coaster brake bicycle and see if I cannot rehab these knees to last me another year or so. Thanks for the reminder.

[3leggedturtle]

Pitchy, need to see a video of you riding or walking at night with carbide lamps shining. Even probably burn up or singe a few skeeter wings while you at it.

I've made a few penny beer can alcohol stoves to use for trips.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Scott and Todd, Todd the problem is it don`t get dark until 10 which is way past my bed time.
I`ve made a few of those penny stoves they work good.

[marlinman93]

Both cool, but the one on the right is my favorite! I'd love to find a pair of handlebars like those! I looked around when I built my "board track racer" style bike, but couldn't seem to locate any then.

[Pitchy]

Thanks, the handle bars came off from a newer bike not old so ya might find some on ebay.
Norma just headed to the highway mall junk place to see if she can find something cool, maybe a nice set of 26 inch wheels with a coaster brake that i will put on my bike.
Also ordered a comfort seat for my fat butt need all the help i need.
Your bike looks cool girder front forks are cool have one on my Trek bike.

[coyote nose]

Great post, Love these old bikes. And just now an American from Durango Colorado won a stage at the Tour of France!

[Pitchy]

Nothing real old at the junk place, a Schwinn with totally wrong handle bars and a 80`s Huffy All pro that might turn out alright.
As a side note come to find out the bike on the right in the first pic is about a 1940 Westfield frame.

[Pitchy]

Finished up the old Huffy today, rides nice.

[Grizz]

those bikes clean up good!

I have a small bike i plan to take on a sailboat cruise. I am thinking about using it for exercise by turning an alternator or generator with it. it would have to be disassembled to fit in the boat, and then i run out of ideas of how to make something compact enough. i will put it into airtight storage to preserve it while sailing.

i need to start with a bare frame i guess, and forget about a dual use bike.
any ideas?

[Pitchy]

Thanks Grizz, don`t know of anything or way but will look around on the web.

[piller]

That Huffy looks good.

[marlinman93]

You sure don't waste any time Pitchy! Pretty darn fast restoration!

[Pisgah]

Classy wheels, all!

[Pitchy]

Thanks gents, i wouldn`t call them restorations more like clean up and shaker cans.
I can`t believe how hard it is to find older cruiser bikes with coaster brakes with 26 inch wheels, yards sales i guess.

[Pitchy]

Here`s a bicycle horn you may not of seen before.



Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQKdvVtMZSs

[Scott Tschirhart]

Now those bikes are what bicycles are supposed to look like.

When I was a kid, everyone (adults and children) had a bicycle and we rode them all over. Today there are lots kids who don't know how to operate a bicycle and I think that is a terrible thing.

[Grizz]

right, never saw one like that.

have you looked at japanese bicycles? they are still used massively in Japan. surfers use them to transport their surf boards, and shoppers use them to ferry groceries home, etc. what interests me is that some of them are made of aluminum, and they have unique bike stands and different lighting set ups. similar bikes come from Korea. daughter acquired some that were left in America by defecting seamen off of foreign trading vessels, trampers...

[Pitchy]

Thanks Scott, yep plain and simple
I looked at some Japanese bikes lots of baskets ect...
A bicycle to some is as important as a horse is to a cowboy.

[TraderVic]

Cool bikes there Lenn ! I've been looking to get my older 80's mountain bike refurbished and get back riding again.
My wife is all concerned about traffic around our farm. Farm machinery moves along at a pretty good pace, but she's worried more about milk trucks.
Yeah, well, anyway.....I just do it regardless........and I even drink from the hose once in awhile (still)
To think back as a kid in the 50's, running right behind the "fog truck" - according to many I shouldn't even be alive.

[Pitchy]

Cool bikes there Lenn ! I've been looking to get my older 80's mountain bike refurbished and get back riding again.
My wife is all concerned about traffic around our farm. Farm machinery moves along at a pretty good pace, but she's worried more about milk trucks.
Yeah, well, anyway.....I just do it regardless........and I even drink from the hose once in awhile (still)
To think back as a kid in the 50's, running right behind the "fog truck" - according to many I shouldn't even be alive.

Thanks buddy, i`m mostly fixing these bike up because they are cool i`m not able to ride them much.
Be careful out there it isn`t the old days and people don`t watch out for others like they used too.

[Pitchy]

Norma picked up a couple more oldies, a nice all original Schwinn Collegiate and the other one not sure yet.

[Bill in Oregon]

Well Lenn, if Norma stumbles on a J.C. Penney brand purple Stingray, it might be the one someone swiped from our house in 1965. Lemme know. I think if I tried a wheelie today that someone would have to call an ambulance.

[AmBraCol]

Well, Pitchy, you got me to remembering. Here's a couple of (bad) pics of my old Monarch frame bike, pre-rebuild and before I got it the way I wanted it. Those 1979 era frames were tough. Don't know what they did different that year, but they got them right. The rest of the bike was junk. First pic I'm hauling our oldest son off to the clinic for his first shots, poor kid. The nurses used to laugh about that clear up to when we left town a few years later. "He came riding up with that baby hanging under him like a little howler monkey!" The bike at that point was almost stock, except for the addition of a coaster brake hub to replace the horrible rod system of brakes that it came with from the factory. Oh, and all the bearings and races and other bits and pieces that were replaced over the years. The second pic is of the same son riding his baby seat a few months later. I'd replaced the forks with a much sturdier system, but don't believe I'd gotten around to replacing the hubs and spokes with heavy duty units. It was just an old single speed with coaster brakes, but that old bike would get you there and back - as long as you had the right spares along to nurse it home. We never did locate decent bits and pieces, just kept rebuilding with the junk on hand. The funny thing was, I'd replace a pedal when it went bad and had a line of guys waiting for that center piece at it was longer than the broken off stub on their own bike. Now we've no where I really feal safe to ride a bike any more. This urban living leaves a lot to be desired at times.

You've really unearthed some fascinating old bikes there! Thanks for sharing them.

1989-Enoch-shot-ride.jpg

1989-Enoch-babyseat-ride.jpg

[Pitchy]

Thanks Bill and cool pics and story Paul, yep we had some cool bikes when we were kids the ones with banana seats and of coarse the playing cards on the spokes.
I have a grief about these older Schwinn's they had they`er own size rims and tires, we cussed that thing yesterday for a hour trying to replace a tire ya need a four foot pry bar to get them on.
Today we`re going to make a spoon brake for the rear of the first bike we`ll see how that turns out.

[765x53]

Thanks Scott, yep plain and simple
I looked at some Japanese bikes lots of baskets ect...
A bicycle to some is as important as a horse is to a cowboy.

When I was in Korea in 1970, I saw bigger loads carried on bicycles than most Americans carry in pick-up trucks, including mountains of hay and 300 lb. fat hogs.
The bikes all had wide wheel stands for loading and hub brakes actuated by a dual hand lever for braking while pushing up or down hills.
That is also why they always mounted by lifting the off leg over the bar in front of the seat.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Scott, yep plain and simple
I looked at some Japanese bikes lots of baskets ect...
A bicycle to some is as important as a horse is to a cowboy.

When I was in Korea in 1970, I saw bigger loads carried on bicycles than most Americans carry in pick-up trucks, including mountains of hay and 300 lb. fat hogs.
The bikes all had wide wheel stands for loading and hub brakes actuated by a dual hand lever for braking while pushing up or down hills.
That is also why they always mounted by lifting the off leg over the bar in front of the seat.

It`s amazing how much stuff they put on those bikes, between the cars and bikes i don`t know they get anywhere.
The rear spoon brake was a failure i made a big miscalculation.

[Pitchy]

Well Lenn, if Norma stumbles on a J.C. Penney brand purple Stingray, it might be the one someone swiped from our house in 1965. Lemme know. I think if I tried a wheelie today that someone would have to call an ambulance.

Bet that was a bummer as a kid Bill, stay tuned Norma just might be bringing home a banana seat bike this afternoon.
I see Walmart is selling a Schwinn Stingray for 125.00 bucks now.

[AmBraCol]

Thanks Scott, yep plain and simple
I looked at some Japanese bikes lots of baskets ect...
A bicycle to some is as important as a horse is to a cowboy.

When I was in Korea in 1970, I saw bigger loads carried on bicycles than most Americans carry in pick-up trucks, including mountains of hay and 300 lb. fat hogs.
The bikes all had wide wheel stands for loading and hub brakes actuated by a dual hand lever for braking while pushing up or down hills.
That is also why they always mounted by lifting the off leg over the bar in front of the seat.

You'd be amazed at what one can do with "mere" pedal power when that's the most advanced tech available. I kind of miss the old days when we worked in a rural setting. I'd load the old bike up with clothes, spare parts, tools, and a 5 liter thermos stuffed with ice and topped off with water. The people used to rag me unmercifully for carrying water with me instead of merely drinking from a creek or water hole (hard to find in the dry season), but never had one turn me down when offered a cup of COLD water. That old thermos would keep the water ice cold for two or three days as I'd top it off from the pottery water jar where I stayed. I used the spokes from a cargo bike on my rig. They were heavier than standard and could haul my 200+ carcass and all my luggage/spares/equipment quite well. Never had a broken spoke, bent rim or wobbly alignment once I got her set up right.

Pitchy, it's real fun watching you mess around with these old bikes. Simpler locomotion from simpler times.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Paul glad you and others are interested.
Man i made a dumb mistake yesterday on the rear spoon brake project, i attached a linkage from that L shaped arm than runs the front brake back to a new spoon brake on the read wheel.
Man it looked good and thought it was ready to go until we took it off the table and found out it wouldn`t turn, the bracket was attached to the arm which sits forward of the steering neck.
Probably find a coaster brake wheel for it one of these days.
Sounds like you had some great times on bicycles.

[Pitchy]

A line of banana bikes, none Schwinn's.

[Blaine]

those look Good. In H.S. i had a 10 speed schwin. my daily rider.

Dad grew up in a mining family and he always kept a couple of carbide lamps. but not a canary.

where would you get carbide now days?

On Amazon

[Pitchy]

Today we made a old fashion fold up kickstand that snaps into a bracket on the fender, been a long time since i`ve seen one of those.

[piller]

Makes loading the bike easier. Looks good.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Brian, probably put a paint job on the bike it`s a pretty old bike.

[Pitchy]

Turned out pretty nice, that`s about it for bicycles.

[AmBraCol]

Looking good! Amazing what a little bit of paint can do for an old bike.

[Pitchy]

Thanks Paul, i`m getting some pull back handle bars for it and looking for a rear luggage rack.