Bicycle Restorations, Builds and ...

[Todd MacDona]

Here are some pics of my new KHS. Figure it is from the mid to late 90's. Small handlebar dent on top tube and in need of a paint job. I can find no ID on the fork. Any thoughts? Split elastomers inside and if I do plan on riding it, I might want to repair that. I haven't ridden in over 3 years, but I am trying to get motivated to get back out there.

 

[Beatnik]

Looks like a Rock Shox Judy.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=185823

 

[ecandle]

• Great bikes , I love vintage Trek , they are fine bicycles, my primary ride is a modified 620. Been out a while , glad to see people still support this thread . I ran across this Easy Racers Tour easy and fell in love , anyone ride recumbents?

 

[elcoholic]

Not yet especially none with a jet pack on back

 

[Wildcat]

Good a place as any to ask this question.What is with or what is the point of all these new bikes I see at the stores with the big fat tires?

Other than being a fad*, they are more for trails, sand and snow, the wider contact patch of the tire not sinking in deep like a narrow tire would. Since they are also inflated to a lower pressure, they have the upside of having a smoother ride, but the downside of being a b*tch to pedal. This is the Specialized Fatboy; dang, those aren't cheap! And no, that's not me riding it.



*Even mountain bikes were (and still are) a fad. Many people want them but then, ride them around the neighborhood streets. It is more for looks in that case. My older Schwinn is a mountain bike with Kenda mountain tires, and I can tell you that it is a world of difference riding that bike than my Specialized Crosstrail which has tires made for pavement--I get tired far sooner on the Schwinn than the Specialized. We're talking three or four miles on the Schwinn, where I'm getting tired and sore, where I can do maybe 15-20 on the Specialized and still have some life left in me. That said, if I decided to start riding single track, I'd probably get a better equipped mountain bike for the task, something with a shock-absorbing fork and seat post (since these old bones don't like to be shaken up so much anymore). And I'll freely admit that I bought that Schwinn around 1992, because mountain bikes at the time were a Thing.

I know it's an image/status thing with mountain bikes for some owners even today, but it never fails to amuse me how many out there buy inappropriate bikes for their riding situation. And I see some of them struggle, or give up riding because it's too tiring or uncomfortable. And a subset will buy them from a big box store. None will bother to spend extra to go to a bike shop and get a bike that is 1) appropriate for the type of riding they do, and 2) sized properly. The bike will cost at least 2x-3x as much, but it will fit better, ride better, and last a lot longer.

 

[Dynacophil]

tried to build a cheap city racer for son of friend, but it seems it was not possible staying under 300€ keeping it at last semi-decent ... I reached 400€ even donating a lot of the parts.

 

[Danddd]

tried to build a cheap city racer for son of friend, but it seems it was not possible staying under 300€ keeping it at last semi-decent ... I reached 400€ even donating a lot of the parts.

Centurion's are nice framesets to build up. Looks real nice.

 

[Djcoolray]

I use to build chrome BMX bikes out of Schwinn 5-speeds. Stingray frames also were good for making BMX bikes...

 

[Dynacophil]

Centurion's are nice framesets to build up. Looks real nice.

yep, think of getting my own one...

 

[Dynacophil]

the new owner of Centurion is shithappy and due to mismeasure of his leglength by his dad the frame will be tall enuff for him in future...

I had the chance to get a patient suffering some abuse in years, built 1969 in cologne by Leonard Schmidt (brand: Schmidt Sport) who was inventer and patent owner of a dropout that enabled symmetrical spoked backwheels and way larger packets then the at that time normal 5x or 6x. Lot of work but it is such fun to ride... really.

this is just a test-build, to find the parts I need and restoration starts when the ride is perfect.

Shimano 6100 Shifters, rear and front derailleur, 6200 crankset, Lyotard pedals, 120mm Campa main bearing (I'll replace by shimano when I get one..) Campa seatpost (will be replaced when I get any japanese), 600 6207 headset, 6207 brakes (I may replace when I get good 6100 or 6200), a beautiful Lepper stem, Cinelli bar, Lohmann Bielefeld saddle, Campa wireguide clamps... those wheels are dead, I will build up new wheels on 6200 hubs.

The patented Schmidt-dropout. Result is: the rear of the frame is assymetric, moved to right.. 126mm width, the rim is spoked in symmetric.

last changes...

 

[MaxxVolume]

the new owner of Centurion is shithappy and due to mismeasure of his leglength by his dad the frame will be tall enuff for him in future...

I had the chance to get a patient suffering some abuse in years, built 1969 in cologne by Leonard Schmidt (brand: Schmidt Sport) who was inventer and patent owner of a dropout that enabled symmetrical spoked backwheels and way larger packets then the at that time normal 5x or 6x. Lot of work but it is such fun to ride... really.

this is just a test-build, to find the parts I need and restoration starts when the ride is perfect.

Shimano 6100 Shifters, rear and front derailleur, 6200 crankset, Lyotard pedals, 120mm Campa main bearing (I'll replace by shimano when I get one..) Campa seatpost (will be replaced when I get any japanese), 600 6207 headset, 6207 brakes (I may replace when I get good 6100 or 6200), a beautiful Lepper stem, Cinelli bar, Hoffmann Bielefeld saddle, Campa wireguide clamps... those wheels are dead, I will build up new wheels on 6200 hubs.

The patented Schmidt-dropout. Result is: the rear of the frame is assymetric, moved to right.. 126mm width, the rim is spoked in symmetric.

Wow....that bike is a beauty ! There`s something about the old vintage steel-framed bikes that not even the most technologically-advanced carbon fiber models can match for style points.
I was the first one in my riding group to try out the (then) new Suntour 7-speed freewheel when they first came out. I remember riding up to our Sunday morning meeting place, and having everybody checking it out like it was bike porn....

 

[Farmhand]

Re: fat tires, there's a route through the wilderness behind our house that connects to another road. We have guys who commute that way in the winter, and it's cool to see a quartet of fat tire bikes with Xenon headlights come rolling through the snow long after dark when it's near or even below zero. It's coyote-moose-bobcat country back there. Fat tires certainly make the ride more possible.

 

[kirk57]

Re Fat tire bikes:

My Brother-in law has a fat tire bike (Specialized) and it's great fun bombing around trails in the woods. It's a completely different approach to the problem of bumps/obstacles that is taken by a full suspension mountain bike; rather that all the complexity just use lots o' air to cushion the ride.

I like it a lot, but where I live there is no practical reason to have one, so it's road bikes for me...

 

[Dynacophil]

Fat tyres: I ordered 28c Paselas for the Schmidt-Sport

 

[Dynacophil]

btw: spoking assymetric backwheel...

for the Schmidt Sport

 

[elcoholic]

Thinking about doing this ^ makes my head hurt.

 

[Dynacophil]

finished... testride - fine. Had to move the rim another mm to the right compared to the pic, now it is exactly center in the brake. I 'll do some pics tomorrow...

 

[kirk57]

btw: spoking assymetric backwheel...

for the Schmidt Sport

So you'd need a special truing stand to do these wheels, or one that's set up properly for these wheels anyway.
My Park stand is set up to autocenter...

 

[MaxxVolume]

finished... testride - fine. Had to move the rim another mm to the right compared to the pic, now it is exactly center in the brake. I 'll do some pics tomorrow...

Please excuse my stupid questions, but I`ve been out of the loop for quite a while, and have forgotten a lot of this stuff. Hard to tell from the photos, are those spokes flat, oval, round, double-butted, or ? What gauge are they ? Same cross pattern on both sides, or do you do like a 3-cross on the freewheel side and 4-cross on the non-freewheel side ?

 

[Dynacophil]

So you'd need a special truing stand to do these wheels, or one that's set up properly for these wheels anyway.
My Park stand is set up to autocenter...

I did it with the chinese parktool knockoff. I was wondering how to too, and first tried not to think at all, just fastening the spokes one after another... just to having no radial run-out.
Then comparing it to the (old rubbish) wheel I had and in putting into the frame, I figured out that I was on the good way, I was just 1mm off the final position.
Then I had to start truing it with having just one side sensor turn around, control and redo other side, turn around again... it's abit different to do, but you need to rethink in thes situation. I could have modified the stand - but it wasn't necessary (and I saved time to true the stand back to basic specs).
Last year I did a normal rear wheel completely new inside the frame on holiday in Israel (rear Spokes started popping and due it was an old wheel I bought 36 new spokes). Had just a parktool spoke wrench and some cable binders. Took me a day altogether, but i was quite successful and was better then finding a good bike shop in tel aviv that would have done it asap

After all worked fine for me... and it's the only bike I'll ever have like this ... going to make some pics of the construction of the rear later...