Short story time regarding bicycles.... OLD bicycles
My Dad was born in 1925 in the red dirt of Oklahoma. Life was not easy back then, and anything "new" was hard to come by.
Here he is, 1925 less than a year old on wheels. Granted it might be four wheels, but hey - you get the idea.
Yet on his 10th birthday, 1935, his parents asked him to pick out his 10th birthday present - a brand new bicycle from the Montgomery Wards catalog. He picked out the bike you see below and specifically wanted the model with the "Longhorn Handlebars". That was a kid's dream to have a new bicycle and he said he rode it a million miles or more.
At some point, he passed the bike to his younger brother who rode it some more. When his younger brother outgrew it, the bike was relegated "to the barn" until his kids could ride it, and when they were grown, back to the barn where it's been all these years making several moves over the years, but always staying in the family.
Dad is certain his brother replaced the seat at some point and he thinks the pedals were changed. Dad also said it's also missing the headlight and battery box so in addition to sourcing a seat, I'll try to find those items as well. The paint was bright red with black and white highlights and the wheels were "shiny" as he called it. He's not sure if they were chromed, but they were chrome/shiny colored. He also said there was no chainguard when new and from what I gather, it's missing the swing type kickstand and possibly a rear rack. There was no frame tank as he has mentioned. He recalls the handlebars being shiny as well, possibly chromed. I can't tell, but I think they were in fact chrome.
This is how I received it. One tire was ORIGINAL and dated 1934 and the skip-tooth chain was still intact and pliable. The front-end was disassembled and tied to the frame.
All I did was reassemble the front end, new rim strips/tubes and tires with a generous chain lube. It rolls, stops and rides fine. When I have some more time, I'll take it apart and re-grease the headset, bottom bracket and axle bearings. Dad's 90th birthday party was this weekend making the bike 80 years old. Here he is with it.
Fantastic! That's quite a project! I'll bet the BB, HDST & wheel axle sets are pretty well crusted up by now. You can buy a re-pop saddle (if you can mate it to the old 1/2" saddle clamp) for that, and it would be much nicer and proper than the totally non-ergonomic late-1960's Messinger™ saddle (guessing) in the last couple pics. I'd lastly be worried that the spoke nipples are frozen. Might be worth having the wheels re-built with newer spokes; however that might not be possible if the old rims and hubs are drilled for .120 gauge spokes and not 80's. Expensive to do the wheels though.
My Smugmug
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
The headset bearings need some new grease for sure as it's a little 'notchy' in spots. I had the races down a bit to take a peek and decided to just get it functional for the party vs tear into it and take a chance on not getting it buttoned back. The front axle is the same.
The wheels.... Several spoke tips were poking out considerably farther than I would have expected. Like maybe 1/8" which is the reason I opted to put two rim strips inside before the new tubes. I'll see how that works out, maybe going with a cloth one and two rubbers. But so far, no spoke punctures.
The seat is a "Lemet Boxina" from Holland that none of us have any idea where it came from, but it's been on there for ages. I'll source a more original seat, but Dad can't remember if it was black or brown. I'll have to hit up TheCabe for that detail as well as one little acorn nut for the front end 'springer rods' or whatever they are called.
Surprisingly, the bike is almost all there except for the acorn nut and seat. Even the little factory/original fender to frame spacers were still with it as well as the rear red reflector. And the skip-tooth chain was in good shape.
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Amazing story M38! The power of a bicycle is simply amazing and I love hearing stories like this. We are receiving my wife's grandfather's Schwinn Hornet soon, gonna let it live on and enjoy it like he did.
Beach Cruising
Just an old mans hot rod bike! I enjoy riding around town and along the coast here near San Diego. The box and folding baskets sure help to carry camera gear etc.
^ I like the carrying case - very motorcycle/moped-like. Those foldable wire baskets have always scared me. They also can rattle a bit once the closure clip on top wears out a bit. Have you ever looked into canvas shopping panniers that also fold in? A real step up in class (also looks) and stuff doesn't come in contact with metal.
My Smugmug
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Thanks David, I use the box mostly, got it on Amazon. The clips on the baskets never worked well so I use a ball bungee cord to keep them closed and in place. Those are mostly for stuff from the hardware or grocery items.
Wow, I can't believe that I never noticed this thread before! Fun to look through and see other people's bike experiences. I like that last shot, bike21 - beautiful sunset shared with your true companion.
This shot was taken at the end of a two week tour of southern France. We were in Paris waiting to board the night train back to Munich. Sadly, about two years ago they changed the rules and the direct trains between Munich and Paris have no bicycle places. Bummer for us! Riding between the two train stations in Paris (Gare de l'est - Montparnasse) was always tons of fun.
You can tell it's the end of the trip by how my bike bags are popping full and the train "picnic" food is sticking out of the top of bag strapped to my back rack.
Some interesting pix / stuff here
Remembered this on my phone whilst charging same from Laptop am using atm..
Sometimes - as a 'bin / dumpster? diver - one finds the receptacle of more use / interest than its contents.
This was one such situation ... I'd clocked this empty 'wheelie' bin discarded (one wheel broken) in a skip earlier in the day, so returned later with trailer added to my bike (using the car would've been too easy ...)
Trailer btw is the first I made before we had children (older daughter will be 32 next month) and is actually being used upside down in this shot - and was built from discarded materials itself.
@sarasphotos nice snap, reminds me of good times! Looking forward to doing some serious touring in Europe. We plan to eventually 'live' in Europe part time - max stay of 90 days - and do lots of riding.
Thanks - over the past 3 > 4 decades I've made all manner of stuff for bikes (currently a new 'occasional' stowable trailer) ... but, imo my efforts pale into insignificance alongside stuff made in the 'so called' '3rd world. I also become extremely downhearted every time I visit the local council run recycling centre to see what the average member of the public throws into the 'scrap metal' bin / skip ... and no-one's allowed to remove any of this once in the skip. Yes, it gets melted down and re-used - but far better imo to re-purpose the bits as raw materials / resources to those who can put such materials to good use.
Yep - they're brilliant, extremely versatile bits of kit imo I rarely use anything else other than a bike to access the local venue I visit for waterfowl pics.
@bike21 said: @sarasphotos nice snap, reminds me of good times! Looking forward to doing some serious touring in Europe. We plan to eventually 'live' in Europe part time - max stay of 90 days - and do lots of riding.
Nick, when the time comes feel free to contact me - perhaps I can give a couple of tips. Generally speaking, the German-speaking countries, Holland, Belgium and Denmark have excellent route systems. France has some excellent areas (the Loire Valley!) and is generally very bike-friendly. Italy is another story... they don't yet have an extensive infrastructure of bike-touring routes. We've ridden there a couple of times but the experiences weren't so overwhelmingly positive as, say, France (we love France!!!). And of course we're terribly spoiled because in Bavaria we have a fantastic web of all types of bike routes for every bike type and difficulty level.
So, not to get too far OT, I'll throw in a picture...
Denise, that reminded me of this one, although I think this bike had just been parked for the day. Sometimes when you ride to work in the morning there's nothing and then Wham! Lots of people here have a "beater" bike that they use in the winter.
@sarasphotos said:
Denise, that reminded me of this one, although I think this bike had just been parked for the day. Sometimes when you ride to work in the morning there's nothing and then Wham! Lots of people here have a "beater" bike that they use in the winter.
You're right on the commuting and snow front Sara.
The bike in my photo was the only one sitting in a rack outside of a dorm at a private school, made me think that everyone else had taken their bikes inside.
Denmark is a land "of bicycles". There are tons of them and many people has more than one. Every respectable city has public rental bikes for tourists and every public forest is loaded with mountain bike trails (unfortunately) etc. One never ask if it's a weather for biking. You just decide what's todays proper outfit for biking.
Comments
Love this one! A great shot!
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My Dad was born in 1925 in the red dirt of Oklahoma. Life was not easy back then, and anything "new" was hard to come by.
Here he is, 1925 less than a year old on wheels. Granted it might be four wheels, but hey - you get the idea.
Yet on his 10th birthday, 1935, his parents asked him to pick out his 10th birthday present - a brand new bicycle from the Montgomery Wards catalog. He picked out the bike you see below and specifically wanted the model with the "Longhorn Handlebars". That was a kid's dream to have a new bicycle and he said he rode it a million miles or more.
At some point, he passed the bike to his younger brother who rode it some more. When his younger brother outgrew it, the bike was relegated "to the barn" until his kids could ride it, and when they were grown, back to the barn where it's been all these years making several moves over the years, but always staying in the family.
Dad is certain his brother replaced the seat at some point and he thinks the pedals were changed. Dad also said it's also missing the headlight and battery box so in addition to sourcing a seat, I'll try to find those items as well. The paint was bright red with black and white highlights and the wheels were "shiny" as he called it. He's not sure if they were chromed, but they were chrome/shiny colored. He also said there was no chainguard when new and from what I gather, it's missing the swing type kickstand and possibly a rear rack. There was no frame tank as he has mentioned. He recalls the handlebars being shiny as well, possibly chromed. I can't tell, but I think they were in fact chrome.
This is how I received it. One tire was ORIGINAL and dated 1934 and the skip-tooth chain was still intact and pliable. The front-end was disassembled and tied to the frame.
All I did was reassemble the front end, new rim strips/tubes and tires with a generous chain lube. It rolls, stops and rides fine. When I have some more time, I'll take it apart and re-grease the headset, bottom bracket and axle bearings. Dad's 90th birthday party was this weekend making the bike 80 years old. Here he is with it.
.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
The wheels.... Several spoke tips were poking out considerably farther than I would have expected. Like maybe 1/8" which is the reason I opted to put two rim strips inside before the new tubes. I'll see how that works out, maybe going with a cloth one and two rubbers. But so far, no spoke punctures.
The seat is a "Lemet Boxina" from Holland that none of us have any idea where it came from, but it's been on there for ages. I'll source a more original seat, but Dad can't remember if it was black or brown. I'll have to hit up TheCabe for that detail as well as one little acorn nut for the front end 'springer rods' or whatever they are called.
Surprisingly, the bike is almost all there except for the acorn nut and seat. Even the little factory/original fender to frame spacers were still with it as well as the rear red reflector. And the skip-tooth chain was in good shape.
Thx for the comments!
Crit Race at ASU in February
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Lauren
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
Ding Ding by Nick Lasure, on Flickr
Just an old mans hot rod bike! I enjoy riding around town and along the coast here near San Diego. The box and folding baskets sure help to carry camera gear etc.
Orv
Thomson, Ga. USA
www.Osalisburyphoto.smugmug.com
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Orv
Thomson, Ga. USA
www.Osalisburyphoto.smugmug.com
It's been awhile!
Wow, I can't believe that I never noticed this thread before! Fun to look through and see other people's bike experiences. I like that last shot, bike21 - beautiful sunset shared with your true companion.
This shot was taken at the end of a two week tour of southern France. We were in Paris waiting to board the night train back to Munich. Sadly, about two years ago they changed the rules and the direct trains between Munich and Paris have no bicycle places. Bummer for us! Riding between the two train stations in Paris (Gare de l'est - Montparnasse) was always tons of fun.
You can tell it's the end of the trip by how my bike bags are popping full and the train "picnic" food is sticking out of the top of bag strapped to my back rack.
Some interesting pix / stuff here
Remembered this on my phone whilst charging same from Laptop am using atm..
Sometimes - as a 'bin / dumpster? diver - one finds the receptacle of more use / interest than its contents.
This was one such situation ... I'd clocked this empty 'wheelie' bin discarded (one wheel broken) in a skip earlier in the day, so returned later with trailer added to my bike (using the car would've been too easy ...)
Trailer btw is the first I made before we had children (older daughter will be 32 next month) and is actually being used upside down in this shot - and was built from discarded materials itself.
pp
Flickr
@puzzledpaul
^^ I love this - you are very inventive!
@sarasphotos nice snap, reminds me of good times! Looking forward to doing some serious touring in Europe. We plan to eventually 'live' in Europe part time - max stay of 90 days - and do lots of riding.
@puzzledpaul the utility of the bicycle is never ending!
Thanks - over the past 3 > 4 decades I've made all manner of stuff for bikes (currently a new 'occasional' stowable trailer) ... but, imo my efforts pale into insignificance alongside stuff made in the 'so called' '3rd world. I also become extremely downhearted every time I visit the local council run recycling centre to see what the average member of the public throws into the 'scrap metal' bin / skip ... and no-one's allowed to remove any of this once in the skip. Yes, it gets melted down and re-used - but far better imo to re-purpose the bits as raw materials / resources to those who can put such materials to good use.
Yep - they're brilliant, extremely versatile bits of kit imo I rarely use anything else other than a bike to access the local venue I visit for waterfowl pics.
pp
Flickr
Nick, when the time comes feel free to contact me - perhaps I can give a couple of tips. Generally speaking, the German-speaking countries, Holland, Belgium and Denmark have excellent route systems. France has some excellent areas (the Loire Valley!) and is generally very bike-friendly. Italy is another story... they don't yet have an extensive infrastructure of bike-touring routes. We've ridden there a couple of times but the experiences weren't so overwhelmingly positive as, say, France (we love France!!!). And of course we're terribly spoiled because in Bavaria we have a fantastic web of all types of bike routes for every bike type and difficulty level.
So, not to get too far OT, I'll throw in a picture...
1) On an evening bike ride:
Not my bike, but this one is feeling a little "blue"
My SmugMug
a very buried bicycle after a snowstorm in February 2017
I would never mistreat a bicycle like this!
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Denise, that reminded me of this one, although I think this bike had just been parked for the day. Sometimes when you ride to work in the morning there's nothing and then Wham! Lots of people here have a "beater" bike that they use in the winter.
You're right on the commuting and snow front Sara.
The bike in my photo was the only one sitting in a rack outside of a dorm at a private school, made me think that everyone else had taken their bikes inside.
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
This example of an all too common sight outside a tube station in London. (phone pic ... I was walkabout checking skips
)
pp
Flickr
Denmark is a land "of bicycles". There are tons of them and many people has more than one. Every respectable city has public rental bikes for tourists and every public forest is loaded with mountain bike trails (unfortunately) etc. One never ask if it's a weather for biking. You just decide what's todays proper outfit for biking.