Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

longer kerjiggers

Eh?

My bar ends are a bit short, that's all. Enjoying that setup though. How did you find it?

Liked it. Different hand positions, great when climbing out of the saddle and used them as TT bars on some paved downhill bits, resting my elbows on the ergon grips.

Oh hello!
They work a treat..... I've used loads of different types on different bars.....

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Functional? Maybe. Straight to anti? Do not pass go. Do not collect £200.

Got a friend coming to visit who can't bring his bike. Will lend him the rychtarski as he's never ridden fixed and to give myself a chance downhill I'm SS-ing the big block. Pro tip - don't do cabling without proper cutters, at least not compressionless housing. I tried using a hacksaw, file and angle grinder and a 15 minute job took me 1.5 hrs.

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New project. My wife has requested a tasteful restoration of her grandmother's bike, a 'dutch bike' as they're called in the UK, but also very popular here in Sweden for almost a hundred years. This is a 60s bike branded 'Nordstjernan' which means pole star. It's rusty, dirty and nothing works. Maybe 15 years ago she gave it to a crap LBS for some sprucing up and they binned the original wheels, destroyed the original brazed on kickstand and put on an ugly saddle. I'm going to build new wheels to resemble the originals, redo the lights with modern LED bulbs and possibly a switch, get a half decent sprung saddle, rebuild the rear duomatic coaster hub and generally clean and polish things a bit.

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Possibly totally OT on a forum like this but whatever. Here's how it probably looked originally (bike closest to camera)

And here's a men's model to show the sort of rims I'll be going for. Ryde V38 look old but are alloy so lighter.

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Pic of the v38 rims I've ordered. The type is called Westwood rims apparently.

Started by attacking the rear duomatic coaster brake hub. Lovely things, check this out if you've never heard of them: https://hubstripping.wordpress.com/torpedo-duomatic-fs/

I really like taking apart, cleaning, greasing and reassembling. Which reminds me I've not seen a CP by @Patfatenough for a while.

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I love a good hub strip-down.

WD40, flat bladed screwdriver, wire brush and lots of rags later. I've dated the hub to 1973 and the only worn out part was the bearing race on the planetary gear holder (top right in the pic). Found a NOS replacement from a guy in Germany which is on its way.

Edit: added a pic of the rim that was on there to illustrate the need for new ones...

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Nice going!

One piece cranks out after two days soaking in penetrating oil. Total bastard to shift but finally gave in. BB shell makes me think T47 maybe isn't a new concept.

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Everything dissasembled. Headset and BB soaking in petrol, frame and mudguards given a good scrubbing and linseed oil everywhere. Hopefully will preserve everything in its current ratty state. Rim and tyre combo sorted, but as detailed in the wheelbuilding thread the nipple holes are super large and special nipples needed. Will order from hollandbikeshop after I've assembled the rear hub again and can measure things properly.

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Cleaned up the disgusting old grips, generally polished rust off the chromed bits and found a cheap brooks-alike saddle.

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Experimenting with heating the linseed oil, gives a brownish black colour on raw steel, like this headset cup where almost all the chrome was gone.

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Hub assembly day.

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That is amazing work on the North Star.

New tools that'll only get used once...

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Done. Can finally measure it and calculate rear spoke length and order them. Dust cover held on by zip tie temporarily as the sprocket would interfere with spoke lacing.

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Thanks! I've stopped being irritated by its crappyness and embraced it for what it is. A crap bike where every possible corner has been cut during manufacturing and assembly. But which belonged to my wife's grandmother.

Years and years ago in the US my mother had her Schwinn bike stolen from our garage. It was one she's had as a teenager in the early 60s. Similar style, mass manufactured and it weighed a ton.

This project. I get it.

Thanks for the encouraging words :)

Got a sturmey archer x-fdd for the front wheel, drum brake + dynohub.

Also swapped out the saddle above for a B66 I won for cheapz on ebay. Have ordered a front rack + wicker basket, a double kickstand, a new front light and spokes & nips for the wheels. Entering the fun phase of this hopefully!

Close to zero progress due to impending house sale and holiday. At least the frame was deemed pornworthy by the photographer doing the shots for our sales ad...

(Not a professional photo, I hasten to add)

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Glad I missed this. Great thread to read through.