the bicycle wheel gets the lube

[davemerrill]

So Shain and I had bikes - I had a real beater of a Norco with slipping gears and leaky tires, and Shain had a vintage bike that was nice at one point, but needed an overhaul and, as it turned out, a new axle. It was time for new bikes. So, what we did last weekend was load our old bikes into the car and go over to Mojo Cycles on Queen and swap those old bikes for new bikes. Well, okay, 'swap' and 'pay money for.'

Shain got a vintage Sanki, a Japanese bike with a hexagonal frame, red with checks, nice chroming, a really sweet bike. I had had my eye on a rebuilt, fairly utilitarian street bike in green and black. I knew if we didn't jump on these bikes ASAP, then the weather would warm up and somebody would be in there grabbing these things, so we'd better move fast.

Anyway, we test rode them around the block in the snowy Saturday air, and now they're ours! And it's still snowy and we're waiting for the weather to get nicer so we can go riding.











Having a decent bike again, well, it's like being a kid again. It is like riding on air compared to that Norco, let me tell ya.

Comments

[ba1126.livejournal.com]

Very nice!! I remember being a kid (one of 6!!) and 'sharing' a bike with my brother and sister!!

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Say, am I stupid or are your new bikes single speed? I didn't know they even made those except for BMX trick riding stuff.

My first bike was a stereotypical Schwinn red bike with training wheels. Took a bit to learn to ride without them but I did it and my mom and grandpa were pretty proud of me.

Late '60s I got a sweet metalflake green 10 speed stingray (I think it was a Huffy but memory blurs and there's no photos of me with it). It had a green 'banana' seat and 'apehanger' handlebars and the whole bit. I loved that bike like crazy. Naturally I outgrew it as the '70s rolled on until in around '75 or so I got a Solex moped, the early kind with the motor over the front wheel. Man, I wish I still had that. Rode that thing all over town.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

they're both 3-speeds. Apparently 'fixies' are still a thing, even so much that people are buying bikes that LOOK like they're 'fixies' but have different speeds. My last bike was a 10-speed, I think, it had a complex system of levers that never worked right.

Fun fact about my new bike, it has coaster brakes. I still find myself gripping the handlebars, it's going to take some practice to lose that muscle memory and get new muscle memories for braking.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

OK, see, I can't figure out how you can have variable speeds with coaster brakes.

Clearly I am WAY out of the loop. :)

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

I don't know either. Cycle Magic, I guess. I'm gonna see how it works out and if it's a problem I might get some handlebar brakes put on.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can think of is if it is somehow, some magic way, a kind of 'automatic transmission' and it just shifts when it wants to.

I never had a problem with my 10-speed stingray because it was a dual throw t-handle deal on the crossbar. Left handle was the gear at the pedals, right handle was back on the wheel. Super easy to set to what was wanted. It was BOSS. If I could get an adult bike set up the way that 10-speed was I would buy it.

And bright green metalflake (oddly, not a neon green nor a lime green, it was almost a British Racing Green, just a bit lighter, in metalflake.) is the color I'd want my coffin painted. I don't think they do that sort of thing but it was such a fantastic color.

Gaaa, in hindsight it had to be such a small bike. Probably a 20 inch wheel. And now it may not have been a Huffy. I've been doing searches and I can NOT find my bike. Lots of close but then they're only 5 speeds. A couple of 10 speeds have the wrong style of shifters. AARRGGGHHH.

*pant pant pant*