Wooden Bike Mk2 Part 9

At St Kilda on the wooden bike where there were  .......

quite a few home made vehicles besides mine, including this electric trike made using KMX parts and  .......

Sam Quadflieg's black monster.

Gathering at our destination, Williamstown, where ....

native birds weren't the only thing to see.  There were seaplanes, a warship-museum, a few curious onlookers, but none of these got a photo.

Afternoon at Jamie Friday's bike launch. (Top photo Struan Little, all others Steve Nurse)

 Hi

The photos tell the story of the first 60k or so outing for my wooden bike mk2.  The only problems were a clunking cog (worn cluster) and a wobbly seat (because it is only held together by bugger-all cable ties) which can both be remedied.  Along Beach Road, I enjoyed passing a few (ok, middle-aged, not-very-fast) road bikers on the new contraption.

My original wooden bike mk1 went  on a similar outing several years ago and was retired and pulled to pieces very soon thereafter.  I have more auspicious plans for the new bike including a 200k Audax ride.  Gosh, it might even get some lacquer. 

At Williamstown, my wife Christine rang and told me about Jamie Friday's bike launch later that afternoon which I duly attended.  Jamie has made and sold 1 lightweight cargo cyle and intends to make more!

Oh, and I almost forgot... During the week, Christine and her friend Ermi heard a loud bang in the back yard.  When I got home Christine had me check the gas hot water heater for an exploded pilot light.  It was only on Saturday when I started tuning the wooden bike that I solved the mystery, the 5 or 6 year old front tire of the bike had burst! 

Regards

Steve Nurse

Wooden Bike Mk2 Part 8 (World International Wooden Bicycle Day)

A few photos of

the wooden bike after

a short night

"blocky" to test the new rear triangle.

A number of junk mails have been arriving in our house advertising Mother's Day gifts.  And I got to wondering, when is Mother's day?  The calendar revealed that it's May 12.  As my wooden bike can now be ridden and there is a flat 40k ride on Sunday, and this coming Sunday doesn't seem to have any other name associated with it, I have unilaterally declared that May 5 is World International Wooden Bike Day. 

Just for the record, the bike rides ok now but needs a bit of tuning, it seems the bike is a bit lop sided (fix by tuning the steering) and the steerer tube is scraping on the wooden frame and a bit of scraping will fix that.   Will report more later.   

Wooden Bike Mk2 Part 7

Brackets and Marked up timber.....

Went in to making a new rear triangle

Held together in the middle by (you guessed it) bits of wood.

Hi

My last post detailed how after making most of the bike, part of it was a bit wobbly and needed to be rebuilt.  At least, it needed rebuilding if the bike was not to remain a novelty item!  So I bought some more (35 X 90mm? timber,  same as the main beam anyway) and have been sawing, drilling, filing, sanding away at it to make a new rear triangle.  There are brackets which will carry the weight of the bike which needed tapping, filling, brazing, grinding, predrilling and lastly attaching.  Sofar so good and I have broken the back of the work.  For the moment I plan to have the rear wheel removeable only by removing one of the side bits of timber first.  Not much more to do and cross fingers it works.  As always will report more later. 

Victoria Folding Bikes

Detail of Blue Bike

Red Bike with pump

Saddle Bag!

Blue Bike

Oh crap, I broke it, no, its just the way it folds, I mean separates.

Hi

If you are a regular visitor to this site you will realise I am a folding and small wheel bike fan, and I really like the older ones with cool technology.  I've had or have Viscount Spacemaster, Vairas, Panasonic, Bickerton, Malvern Star Folding bikes, to name a few.  I regularly scour ebay for nice examples.  A few models have been adapted as fashion items (Peugeot N Series, Moulton, Raleigh 20, Bickerton) and bring reasonable prices. Here is a local Melbourne Blog dedicated to small wheel bikes.

So the latest bikes to pass through the gates are a couple of 24", 2 speed (Sachs kickback gearchange with coaster hub built in),  German, "Victoria Brand" separable bikes, which were on ebay for about $40.00 each.  Both come from the Ringwood area, one was from  Mitcham and the other from Mooroolbark.  Maybe there was a gung-ho Victoria bike seller in Ringwood 40 years ago.  The bikes separate in the manner of some "Super Elliot" folders I've seen. 

The red bike has lights that work,  the better frame and a stand and racks complete with ocky straps but a torn seat, broken chain guard and no pump or saddle bag.  The blue bike has a pump, saddle intact,  saddle bag, better tyres, but no stand or front rack and the chain guard is intact but fragile.  So I should be able to make one very good 24" Victoria folder and one very fun hack bike. Red at the front and blue at the back, the essence of Modular bikes!

Will report on fixing the bikes and take some photos out and about with it later.  Meanwhile, here are a few links.

Another folding bike from Victoria 
Video of a 20" Victoria.
Victoria factory on Wikipedia
Victoria bikes official website.  No folders here but some nice low stepthrough city bikes

All for now.

Steve Nurse

Billy Minto's Bikes

Billy Minto's first recumbent

Hi, one of the pleasures of writing a blog is staying in contact with other bike builders, seeing their creations and generally yammering on about bicycles to people.  Billy Minto from Scotland has sent me a few emails and bought my book .  He keeps a blog here and has built neat bamboo bikes.  Billy's recent post about his "Flying Gate" bike and time trials modifications is very inspiring and great fun.
 
Here is Billy's description of his first recumbent: (Steve: Thats a big bike, can I use it in my blog?)
"Yes of course, happy for you to use the pic.  Yes it is pretty big,
nearly 2 metres wheelbase! - will be interesting to see how it handles. The rear stays, drivetrain and fork are from an aly road bike. Seat is 9mm ply with padding from a kiddies EVA play mat.  The main tube is bamboo, 55-60mm dia. I had hoped to get away with a single tube but it wasn't stiff enough - 65mm dia would probably have done it. I've stiffened by "truss-ifying". The tension members are carbon kite spars which I picked up pretty cheap.
Cheers, Billy






So Billy keep on rolling!


 Best Wishes

Steve Nurse
 

Wooden Bike Mk2 Part 6

Almost finished in the back yard

Material for new rear triangle

Graham Signiorini and his "new" Baron lowracer purchased through ozhpv , (one of my bikes is still there for sale.)

Back in the yard for a tuneup after a few blockies.

 Hi

 Over the last week or so I have been finishing my bike, installing the pedals, chain, disk brake, Schlumpf bottom baracket,  handlebars etc. and adapting some short cranks to fit on the Schlumpf.

A few days ago I went to try to ride it in the street but the seat was too far back and the rear wheel mount was wobbly.  So no progress riding it.

Today I had a bit more time and fixed up the seat, tightened a loose pedal and tightened up bolts and added a bit of wood to stiffen up the rear wheel mount.  The bike's rideable now, most of the gears work and the brake works but the rear wheel mount remains stubbornly wobbly.  The bikes fine for going round the block but longer rides are out.  I think buiding a new rear triangle will be necessary and will be doing that soon.

I have a medium term goal of riding the bike 200k, and the Audax August Winter surf ride of 200k from Williamstown to Torquay seems like a good one to aim for.  Will keep you posted.   

Upside Down Bike as Phone Charger

"Donor Vehicle" for the pike project, a bike which had been damaged from a front-on crash

And the result, a Pike, Upside down bike used for exercise and charging USB devices such as mobile phones.

Hi

There have been generators on bikes for decades, but until recently the only purpose of the generators was to light the way at night.  In the last year or so, however, the output from bike dynamos has been used to charge Mobile phones and other gizmos such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS). 

This makes an application for a bike dynamo to be used on a stationary bike.  For me its not a necessary system but I'm sure there would be other "more necessary" applications of the technology, ie at 2-3 day music festivals or in developing countries where  mobile phones are used in areas that don't have reliable electricity. (Refer this article)  A more sophisticated version is the aim of a New York Kickstarter program.

An array of devices is coming on the market which provide a USB socket for charging and I decided to dip my toe in the water.

Initially my plan was to make a generator using a rotor from a permanent - magnet motor, and to make a device to "stage" and test the machine which was not a bike. (Imagine using a voltmeter to assess a generator while you're riding around) 

Somewhere along the way I shortcutted the whole process by buying a cheap and cheerful bike dynamo to USB charger device.  Here is the ebay address for Australia.  A day or so after the part arrived it was installed and working to charge my phone. So the Pike was born.  Here is the video

So why the Pike?  Well, if an ekib is a backwards bike, then a Pike is, obviously, an upside down bike.  (If you spell "upside down bike" in capitals you get the slightly useless name of BIKE.) This could also be a Pik, a slightly abbreviated upside down bike.

Making the Pike

Obtain donor vehicle
Strip all parts from donor vehicle
Clean Donor vehicle frame
Cut the top tube about 20cm from the seatpost tube.
Cut the down tube right near the bottom bracket
Clean, grease and reinstall the bottom bracket.
Fit oversize (28mm) steerer and handlebars to seatpost.
Fit Rubber cap to docked top tube.
Clean and refit transmission.  Mine is a fixed gear Pike.
Fit Generator of choice with usb output.
Charge phone or other gizmo.
Have a beer, you deserve it.

Using it.
Pedal this Pike using your hands or feet.  It might be possible to run a rod down from the cranks and drive the Pike with a treadle motion.  I am still working on this one.

Regards

Steve Nurse