Finnish Winter Rat Project

Bought this lump of iron off a departing colleague for the princely sum of €40 for the purpose of having something to get me through (at least some of) the potentially mental Finnish winter.

It's got a 7-speed hub gear, coaster brake and enough clearance for 42mm studded tyres which should keep it sweet through temperatures that may drop to below -25C, although seriously doubt I will remain sweet during such hardship.

Things I've already done:

• Turned handlebars to correct way round.
  
• Removed vertically facing bar ends.
  
• Raised seatpost a bit.
  
• Tightened chain.
  
  

Things I still need to do:

• Get a 5mm alan key with more leverage so I can unstick the stem bolt and lower the stem. Stem bolt is free, however stem is still stuck.
  
• Possibly replace entire seatpost and saddle as current one is fucked and the saddle rocks forwards constantly (see photo).
  
• Replace chain.
  
• Remove that wheel reflector.
  
• Work out why the hub appears be leaking a strange beige ooze.
  
• Fix mudguards that are rattly and rubbing against tyre, or just remove them and replace with mtb style guards.
  
• Possibly remove the rack as I doubt I'll use it during the winter.
  
• Decorate in fun stylings.
  
• Buy studded tyres, although the thought of spending more than twice what I spent on the bike on tyres is slightly alarming, but then they are about the price of a monthly bus pass
  
• Ride it for one day, say fuck this and get a bus pass.
  

Acutally, now I've typed that all out I wonder if this is really deserving of it's own thread or should just go in the megathread.

Will likely contain amusing photos of my failures if that helps.

Definitely deserves its own thread! Will follow it (semi) closely.

yeah mate, interesting to see progress of a bike for such harsh conditions!

Updating this as I now have a pair of these tyres for a relatively modest €70, have removed rack and one mudguard, and am currently struggling with two issues:

1. Stem is completely stuck - unscrewing the stem pin finally happened, but it's still stuck and applying hammer hasn't helped. Looked up an online video and going to get some suitable spray to attempt to unstick it.

2. Cannot work out how the fuck to remove the cable from the rear hub, so currently unable to remove the rear wheel. Bahh. Not sure what model it is either.

This may involve going to a shop now. Unfortunately the free service in town where a bloke shows you how to fix stuff has now closed for the winter.

proper rat.
can't understand removing rack and mudguard though!

are you changing stem or just fettling? rusted/stuck parts +2 beater points

does the shifter tell make of hub? nexus/sachs? we can help with google - get stuckin.

̶s̶̶m̶̶a̶̶l̶̶l̶̶ ̶̶p̶̶i̶̶c̶̶t̶̶u̶̶r̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶m̶̶a̶̶k̶̶e̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶l̶̶o̶̶o̶̶k̶̶ ̶̶l̶̶i̶̶k̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶k̶̶i̶̶n̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶w̶̶h̶̶e̶̶r̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶p̶̶l̶̶a̶̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶c̶̶ ̶̶c̶̶l̶̶i̶̶p̶̶ ̶̶h̶̶o̶̶l̶̶d̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶o̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶s̶̶h̶̶o̶̶r̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶r̶̶e̶̶a̶̶d̶̶e̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶r̶̶ ̶̶r̶̶i̶̶b̶̶b̶̶e̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶r̶̶o̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶w̶̶h̶̶i̶̶c̶̶h̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶u̶̶r̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶t̶̶t̶̶a̶̶c̶̶h̶̶e̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶o̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶l̶̶i̶̶t̶̶t̶̶l̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶c̶̶h̶̶a̶̶i̶̶n̶̶?̶̶ ̶(̶t̶̶h̶̶i̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶n̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶r̶̶e̶̶a̶̶l̶̶l̶̶y̶̶ ̶̶e̶̶a̶̶s̶̶y̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶r̶̶e̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶m̶̶e̶̶t̶̶a̶̶l̶̶i̶̶c̶̶ ̶̶b̶̶i̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶p̶̶r̶̶o̶̶t̶̶r̶̶u̶̶d̶̶i̶̶n̶̶g̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶b̶̶a̶̶c̶̶k̶̶ ̶̶e̶̶n̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶f̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶p̶̶l̶̶a̶̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶c̶̶ ̶̶c̶̶l̶̶i̶̶p̶̶,̶̶p̶̶u̶̶s̶̶h̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶n̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶y̶̶o̶̶u̶̶ ̶̶c̶̶a̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶p̶̶u̶̶l̶̶l̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶f̶̶f̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶r̶̶o̶̶d̶)

maybe nexus ? - where you have to shift onto the lowest gear and can then unhook the cable, is there something that looks like a hex nut and is in fact clamping onto the cable?
if so, you can pull the cable off the crescent fitting on the hub, holding on and pulling slightly on that bit

what town are you in? capitals bike coop is still open, otherwise maybe go to a workshop of a recycling center if there is one?..

also coke(liquid) from the bottom through the steerer?
take the wheel out and help the stem with some rod through the forkcrown?

Stem is completely stuck - unscrewing the stem pin finally happened, but it's still stuck and applying hammer hasn't helped. Looked up an online video and going to get some suitable spray to attempt to unstick it.

Shit outta luck, especially if it been above max insertion for such a long time.

Take a photo or find the name/model of the hubs, I've yet let a internal hubs defeated me when changing tyres.

Are you in Finland currently. As if you were in London, I have a pair of studded tyres you can have for free...

it looks like a cool winter bike :)
What about gear ratio?
and did you ride it already?

I'm riding in Helsinki everyday, so far it's been pretty nice winter :)

Updates!

can't understand removing rack and mudguard though!

The bike is for use in heavy snow - full guards will just get clogged up with snow. Managed to get them both off now. Rack will be unnecessary as I'll leave clothes at work.

maybe nexus ? - where you have to shift onto the lowest gear and can then unhook the cable, is there something that looks like a hex nut and is in fact clamping onto the cable?

Turns out is is a Nexus 7 - looked up a youtube vid and managed to work out how to get it off - pain in the arse the thing! Studded tyres are now on.

capitals bike coop is still open

Is that the shed thing on Kamppi square? Has been empty and closed whenever I've been past there lately. Should it still be open?

Shit outta luck, especially if it been above max insertion for such a long time.

Facing the inevitability of this. Got a load of penetrating oil in there now, we'll see how it fares tomorrow. Otherwise I'll need to find some way to get the thing out - I have a spare stem so it's not the end of the world if I have to destroy the current one.

Are you in Finland currently. As if you were in London, I have a pair of studded tyres you can have for free...

That's very kind of you - wish you'd posted that while I was in london over Christmas ;)

Argh! Next time. Or to anyone else who needs a pair...

Thanks to bnose I finally got round to going to the coop workshop today and this happened:

Hooray!

Bike now looks like this, and is a ton of fun. Sadly it's got a lot warmer and a lot less snowy recently.

Well done! Just watched a weather chart over northern Europe, doesn't look like it's time to hang this up just yet...

it's hardly a proper winter in southern finland at least

were having a laugh here at the people in N.Y with their snow chaos and all..