Folding Bike Poetry

Hi

Now normally this blog is devoted to bicycles with occasional meanderings about shopping for junk or surfing.  But now my blog is expanding into culture - the arts - poetry.  No, don't worry, I not going to go out and watch a ballet and then review it or anything like that.  I have just had the words of Grit Laskin's verse "The Photographers" (as sung by Pete Seeger on his circles and seasons album) going through my head and decided that the lyrics could be converted to a discussion of folding bicycles.

The Folding Bikes (by Steve Nurse With Apologies to Grit Laskin & Pete Seeger)

Well early on a Saturday, rolling  through the wood
I came upon a lady who by the wayside stood
And what, pray tell, would such a lass as you be doing here?
I've come to ride my folding bike, said she as I drew near

Said I to her, I do declare, this is a fateful day
For I have come on folding bike, the same as you did say
Then I took out my Dawes Kingpin and placed it in her hand
She said that's quite a bicycle, you have at your command

My bike had so delighted her, she could no more delay
She let me see her pannier bag, wherein her accessories lay
I'm sure, she said, you have most everything that can be bought
Just let me stretch my hinge right out before I'm hot to trot

I let her pump my tyre right up, she let inhibitions down
and soon we had forgot about the wheels a going round
We rode under the moonlight, we rode the whole night long
We rode as dawn was breaking and still were going strong

This lady had experience with folders, yes, indeed
And I thought her rythmic pedalling the best I'd ever seed
Although she seemed to tire not as on and on we went
I said I'll have to stop now, my glycogen is spent

She said I've had Stridas, Bickertons and Bromptons
Moulton, Panasonic, likewise a Malvern Star
Viscount, Vairas, Birdy, Mifa and the rest
But now I've seen your Dawes King Pin, and surely it's the best

(End)

And while we are on poetry (which I usually skip over whenever I encouner it, here are a few more examples.


This was going to appear in my cycling book but never made the cut.  About not being a helicopter parent:

"You've learnt to read, you can swim and ride a bike
Now geroura the house
You little tyke"

And this ode to the simplictity of the Mifa Bicycle  from the German website http://www.klapprad.de/files/worldwide.htm
 "Ein bisschen Rohr, ein bisschen Draht, fertig ist das MIFA-Rad !"  or
"A bit of wire a bit of pipe, the Mifa bike is finished"

Wooden Bike MK2 Part 2

Progress to Date

Seat

Rear Triangle Pivot: an old front hub.  Note the dark brown knot in the wood.  I did some rearranging so the knot would be in compression.

Hi

Well, a bit of progress on the bike this weekend, I have put together the seat and have the rear triangle in place but not fully complete or strengthened and no suspension.  More progress to report soon!

Regards

Steve

Wooden Bike Mk2 Part1

Hi

As promised in Tuesday's blog  the nc routed timber for a couple of wooden bikes arrived yesterday.

(When I got home from work, Damian from TGC Building was at the front door, having a chat to my wife Christine.  His ute double parked in the street, I double parked my car in the street and joined in.  Damian lives in Nicholson St. very close by and sees me pootling around on the bike every now and then.  He's pleased to have had a small part in its making.  The  equivalent post from the last bike I made is here, you can compare and contrast)  

The wooden bits include the rear triangle and seat and this will be bolted on to a wooden frame made easy to build - not too much more than a plank of wood with some holes drilled in.  Anyway, will go on reporting progress.  Although there are still a few glitches, overall I'm happy.  The features shown in the sketch on this post came through fine, that is
* 2 types of cut outs to let the bits be put together with cable ties and
* the slots to hold the seat to the frame, a bit more aero than the current version

The rear triangle should be very aerodynamic and simple to build.  See how I go with strength - and flexibility - always possible to use fibreglass to reinforce.  Ok, more soon.

Actually very soon, an hour or so after this post was done I did an image search for furniture using "cable ties" and came up with some interesting results,

Here: Quite Neat
Here: Let it All hang out, I like it!
and from the same page, this! , art meets science meets human powered vehicle.  Ok, more next time, bye!

Seat held together with cable ties

Wooden Bike Mk2 Prolog

Hello and welcome to 2013!  Its 20 days or so into the new year and I still haven't posted anything.  Very remiss of me!

So here is a run down of recent bike activity at Abbott Grove...

Bucket List
I've been thinking about what I want to do with my fledgling (or maybe twinkle in it parent's eye, younger than fledgling!) bike business this year.  I'm very broad minded, success means building and proving a new bike, actually making money still seems a long way off.....
So for what its worth, the bucket list is shown in my sketch book above:
Build a wooden bike and ride it in a registered 200k ride. Well on the way with this, some nc routed timber for the bike should be arriving by the end of the week, so more on this soon I hope.  Incorporating some of the sketches shown above in the design.....
Sell 10 bikes or plans for bikes.  Made a good start on this, 4 bikes sold on ebay today, the results wer Moulton mk1 $500+, Raleigh, Bickerton, Panasonic all about $40.00.  Well worth the effort of selling the bikes.  A few weeks ago I bought 2 Bickertons off ebay so still have one left.  Not too fussy about what bikes I sell!
Complete an Audax 1000k ride.  I had a go at the Great Southern Randonee 1000 k without success last year.  There is another Great Ocean road 1000k late April, and I'm keen to train and have a go at it, but I'm under no illusions, there will be a lot of work to do to get there.  My current commute of 2 X 70k rides a week gives me the ability to ride 200k in a day relatively easily, but for a multi day, 1000 k ride quite a lot more training and time away from the family is necessary.  Riding an Audax 400 or 600k ride has to be part of the training!  Sofar I've sketched out a training plan with weekend rides of 200 / 300 / 200 / 400 / 200k leading up to the Geelong Flier ride on April 25 - 27.   See how I go with this one, if I don't do it it won't be a great loss.

Cycling Sandals made from Cycling Shoes
Last night I unmercifully hacked at some old bike shoes to make sandals (shoes that breathe a bit better)  Nice to ride in and inspired by a pair of Shimano Cycling Sandals I bought which aren't quite aerodynamic enough for my taste.

Guest Blogger: Richard Nurse

Before photo from this blog post

THE RESTORATION BY RICHARD NURSE

The object of this project was to restore a 1950's steel frame bike with a coaster brake hub to a usable and ridable state.  The coaster hub was the main problem which in technical terms had ceased to exist.

 I bought a new coaster brake hub made in Czech republic by Velosteel with 36 holes and married it to an old mountain bike rim with the same number of holes.  I dismantled all of the components of the old bike and replaced what I felt was necessary including the headstem.  The chain did not need to be dismantled as the frame has a removable seatstay.

This type of bike is remarkably simple and requires very few specialist tools to dismantle and reassemble.  The replacement of the headstem bearing was done by a local bike shop, otherwise I did all the work myself with whaterver spanners I could find that were lying around.  The bottom bracket was left in the frame as this was in good condition.

First of all I brushed the whole frame with paint stripper, then removed all the old paint using a variety of tools.  The bare frame was inspected for flaws and then cleaned with white spitit.  I resprayed the frame using undercoat followed by a 2 pack epoxy top coat with all the appropriate components suitably masked.  Patience is required during respray.  It is best to apply several light coats rather than beng impatient and using the whole can all at once!  It is best to start working on the bike again after a nice hard finish is achieved.  Follow the instructions on the can!

The rebuild went smoothly enough although with the benefit of hindsight it would have been better to use a larger wheel size than 26" mountain bike.  Bear in mind that brake lugs etc. do not come in to play and so any wheel size can be used except that pedal to ground clearance may be reduced using smaller wheels.  The gearing can be adjusted be altering the single cog on the rear.  I have also found that using wide, flat handle bars helps when climbing as you can use the bars to pull on as well as just using your body weight. 

Airey's Inlet, 23/12/2012, by Richard Nurse

THE TEST RIDE

Airey's Inlet to Lorne and return.

Conditions- bright sunshine with a strong southerly wind.
I set off just ahead of Steve on his recumbent and pressed on hard. This was a race of sorts!! The southerly headwind proved troublesome although the gearing (gear) was about right. I had the choice of a low aero tuck position or to stand up and keep my body prone to the wind. Either way progress was reasonably slow but managable. I made it to Big Hill (99m elevation) and then on to Lorne ahead of Steve and waited 5 minutes or so till he came in.  Cold milk in Lorne - it contains protein apparently - and then we were on our way back to Airey's.  Steve passed me on the flat bit leading up to Cathedral rock but I was able to reel him in on the uphill, only to have him zoom past as soon as it was downhill again.  Didn't see him again all the way to Airey's Inlet.

If I had another go at the bike I would put on the proper size (700C or 28") wheels, the small wheels make the ground clearance to the ground clearance to the pedals a bit small.

SANTA GIVES IT A WHIRL (GUEST BLOGGER EWAN)

Today I have learnt that cycling in santa costumes is difficult at best. The pants afford minimal ventilation and where very baggy about the ankles, flirting dangerously with the freshly oiled chain of the single-speed. But it was painted in a very smart matching red.

When Steve and Richard went for their adventure yesterday, I went for a ride on a mystery mountain bike. The frame and wheels were probably a tad small for my comfort, but it was still easy to ride. The tire tread was very bald making riding on the Airey's Inlet unsealed roads very difficult. The bicycles that 'live' at this house are all in various states of disrepair, decades of cobwebs and sea air aren't the greatest conditions for storage, but they do meet of brief of getting one to the shops and back without to much trouble

Second lesson of the day. Santa suits are not made for open water swimming.

Moving Bottom Bracket Recumbent

Front Wheel drive Moving Bottom Bracket Recumbent Bike....

which was made by adapting one of my fixed bottom bracket bikes.....

original layout was like this........

and a bottom bracket brazed to a headstem was the only part I had to make.

Hi

I have 2 of the fixed bottom bracket bike I usually ride and one of them is to muck around with as described here. Today I converted it to moving bottom bracket front wheel drive and did a few blockies on it.  Its ridable but I need to keep my knees about 30cm apart otherwise they will bang in to the steering bar.  I made a stem part to fix this: will post more later.

Regards

Steve Nurse

Monday December 10

This is the bike with the changed stem, it is now rideable without holding my knees apart but the stem and pedal bracket is a bit wobbly.  Nevertheless its much better to ride than yesterday, and quite a bit of fun.  I can turn fairly tight corners and still keep my shoes clicked in to the pedals.

Will post more as the design evolves.

2012 OzHpv Rally in Myrtleford Part 2

Friday Book Sale at Myrtleford

Graham Signiorini checks out Pete Heal's Velokraft

Some of the visors the Canberra mob use

Jesse (orange T-shirt) and his tandem at the Rail Trail Cafe

Boardgames at the Caravan Park

Simon Watt's chainring "retro but very low q factor"

Some of the shopping from Benella & Myrtleford.  The blue glass is called "Siestaware" and it cracks a mention in one of my recent posts.

OzHpv annual General meeting

Hi

Just posting photos, no blow by blow description this time.  Here is the video I took of Pete Heal on the way to Lake Buffalo.

2012 OzHpv Rally in Myrtleford Part 1

Everton Bus Shelter: Nicely furnished....

Simon W. and Willem fixing a flat

Lloyd & Lloyd & Chris in The Idyl Bookshop and caf in Wangaratta

Simon W. and the Yellow Baron

Lloyd, Lloyd, Wes, Willem, Struan

Deb and Chris

Wangaratta Chronicle

Simon & Graham

Graham after a dip near Wangaratta

Hello,

Last Sunday my wife Christine & I got back from a bike trip to Myrtleford, "The OzHpv Annual General Meeting and End of Year / what goes on the bike trip stays on the bike trip bike trip" is the grandiose title of the event which I just made up.  Anyway, we had an agenda for the meeting and an agenda for the bike trip and we got on with it.

Wednesday: Drove up to Myrtleford from Melbourne, stopped in the op shop in Benella along the way.  Checked in to the Myrtleford Caravan Park.  Dinner with George Durbridge, Simon Watt, Willem Reid and Christine at the Happy Valley Hotel where George was staying. The host of the Hotel is Mick and we had a fine meal and heard Mick's bush band belt out a few numbers during dinner.

Thursday: Set out to ride from Myrtleford to Wangaratta (50k) quite early with me, Willem and Simon.  Willem bailed it back to Everton quite early, it was hot! There were hills! It was a long way!  Once Willem had turned back I pushed on and caught up with Simon at Everton.  We had a rest and drink, then rode on to Wangaratta at good pace. We met a friend, Deb at the Idyll Book Cafe and also bike riders Wes, Lloyd B.C, Lloyd, Graham who had velomobiled from Melbourne, George who had left Myrtleford early and gone at his own pace.  Struan and Christine had picked up Willem and trike on the way in with the car.  Nice Cafe & Bookshop, we stayed for a while, cooled down, chatted with Deb.  Graham and I went for a swim as we started off for Myrtleford and soon caught up  with Simon on the rail trail.  Hot going with lots of water and rest required.  Graham was knackered by the time we reached Everton, help was called for and he was collected and brought on to Myrtleford by car.  Did I mention it was hot?  Small gathering in our cabin in the evening, after that I settled down after a shower and was soon asleep.

Later on I asked Lloyd how they had gone on the way back to Everton in the afternoon.  He said he and Llloyd B.C. were fine but Wes was not and had slowed to 5kph or so on his trike.  So the Lloyds got out a tow rope and towed Wes back to Everton, two trikes towing a third.  All ok in the end.

Llloyd and his home made trike at Myrtleford