Zasada Rides Again

[GeePig]

Since I live in Poland I decided that it would be good if I focussed mainly on Polish bikes, and when people here think of older Polish bikes then it is Romet that comes to mind. Now here is a funny thing, because some time ago I came across an old Romet Wigry, with 20" wheels, dumped down by our dumpsters that only needed a bit of a rebuild and one crank that I got from an old Amsterdam bike that had been dumped alongside it.

It has been a good bike for me to ride around the district when we are in the city, but then I thought it would be good if I replaced the coaster brake with a three speed coaster brake off something, maybe something having 36 spokes instead of 24. Two options appeared locally on the internet, and I chose the one that also offered a pair off-road tyres as well. I must admit that while I borrowed several of the parts off this bike, including the seat, I just assumed it was one of the many imported bikes that have flooded the market over the last few years.

So I stripped it, and dumped the frame in another barn.

Except it wasn't an import.

It was a Zasada.

Now Sobieslaw Zasada was a successful rally driver in the 1960s and later made a lot of cash building things for the automotive industry, and one of his businesses was making bicycles.

So here is my orange Zasada frame, along with a cheap kids bicycle that I found dumped down by the dumpsters about a month ago. Although the Zasada frame is larger, and appears to be made of chunkier materials, it is significantly lighter than the steel kids bike.

I have no idea what that frame is built from, but I like it.

Okay, so it is a kids bike, but so what, it's a good bike. I have no intention of cutting it, partly because I am not sure I could weld anything to it.

What I do know is that a 24" wheel would fit in the rear, as long as you fitted the axle after putting the wheel in the frame.

On a loverly spring morning like today, it feels like a challenge that I cannot ignore.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

The orange frame appears to be aluminium judging by the welds and thickness of the drop outs. That would explain how light it is.

 

[GeePig]

The orange frame appears to be aluminium judging by the welds and thickness of the drop outs. That would explain how light it is.

That is what I was thinking, and all the welding looks bulky but well done. The family I bought it from looked well off, I was just more interested in the bits that were attached to the frame rather than the frame itself...

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I have no idea what that frame is built from, but I like it.

Okay, so it is a kids bike, but so what, it's a good bike. I have no intention of cutting it, partly because I am not sure I could weld anything to it.

It looks like aluminum, I don't think it could be welded easily.

 

[kingfish254]

It's always fun to see what comes out of Coal Shed Productions!

 

[Funkme]

Grab a magnet, if it sticks to the frame, can be welded most of the time. if it doesn't it's aluminum. If the magnet sort of sticks, but it slips off,gen its a mix of metals.

 

[Ulu]

Just because you cannot weld the frame doesn’t mean that you can’t modify it. Plenty of bizarre bolt-on modifications get done around here.

 

[GeePig]

It's always fun to see what comes out of Coal Shed Productions!

Coal Shed Productions - well I guess someone did store coal there at some stage, my workshop was formerly somewhere to dry a certain drug product.

 

[GeePig]

Just because you cannot weld the frame doesn’t mean that you can’t modify it. Plenty of bizarre bolt-on modifications get done around here.

Yes, I could do that, except that I don't have, and have no intention of having, a barn full of bikes, so whatever I build will eventually be turned into something else.

Not that I do not have the barn space to store a large collection...

 

[GeePig]

Here are the wheels I would like to use, actually on the frame I was using for my last build - and acting as my back-up frame here.

I had actually cleaned up the front wheel when I took this picture the other week, mainly just to check that it would clean up well. I have never rebuilt such a small wheel, so that should be fun, and hopefully nothing will get broken.

I like the Kenda tire on the front, and I might see if I can get a similar one for the rear at some stage, if I can find one at a reasonable price. At the moment only this Duro speed looks interesting among my 24" road tires.

 

[GeePig]

Whether a bike is good or bad, I cannot help but enjoy playing around with them using my spanners. I thoroughly enjoyed stripping down the little yellow and blue bike, though because the frame is way too small for to ride it will end up sitting in another barn. The yellow bit of frame at the back weighs a ton, but could be used in a future project, maybe on the yellow/blue frame?

Ah, but on to the main bit...

Now the orange one is really a good frame.

Somewhere on the wall I have hung all the spare forks up to dry, and seeing as how I only bought the Zasada as a kids bike for the wheels, tires and seat, the forks have hung there no more than decoration. But now I am wondering that if the frame is aluminium, maybe the forks are not as completely useless as the heavy things I removed from that big, bendy yellow and red frame.

Maybe I should check.

 

[GeePig]

Here is my cute little collection of tiny bicycle parts, soon to be all stored away in different collections.

I love the tiny crank arms, it is just a pity that they are far too small for me to use, but you never know... one day...

I do like the mudguards, they are a bit like the alumnium ones I had on my bike back in the late 70's. People always complained about them, they never seemed to realise that they were only there to keep the brake mechaisms clean. Now that I have fixed the rivets, all they need is rubbing down and painting in, I don't know, matt black!

I don't think I am going to be using this fork any time sooner or later, as the top part is actually riveted to the lower part, right between the bearings. I might reconsider it when I finally get myself a welder.

And finally, the wheels.

I am definitely going to be using the front one, assuming that I can find an appropriate fork. I have already cleaned up most of the rust on the front wheel, and all it needs now is to be stripped and painted.

That rear tire is going nowhere, and is what heppens when you have a crank sprocket with exactly twice the number of teeth as on the rear sprocket. Well, it might prove useful to someone in an emergency.

 

[Ulu]

Huh….what do sprocket ratios have to do with bald tires?

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Just because you cannot weld the frame doesn’t mean that you can’t modify it. Plenty of bizarre bolt-on modifications get done around here.

I have no idea what you're talking about lol

 

[DesmoDog]

Huh….what do sprocket ratios have to do with bald tires?

EDIT #2 - And as I was just about to fall asleep tonight it occurred to me that the following would be true only if the bike had a fixed gear. If the wheel is allowed to coast there is no fixed relationship between the wheel position and crank position. So... Never mind.

If you have a 1:2 ratio on the sprockets and a coaster brake, the rear wheel will be in roughly the same spot every time you apply the brakes. Assuming you have a dominant leg you brake with.

For instance, 99% of the time I'd push back with my right foot. The tire would be in the same spot since it turns twice for every one crank revolution. So I'd wear out that spot from braking.

See how the rear tire has the bald spot but the rest of it has tread?

If you don't have a dominant leg you'd still be wearing out two spots rather than a more random pattern on the tire if you have some fractional gear ratio.

EDIT: Actually on further thought you'll brake in the same spot of the tire no matter which leg you use...

 

[LeMad Hatter]

That rear tire is going nowhere, and is what heppens when you have a crank sprocket with exactly twice the number of teeth as on the rear sprocket.

2:1 gear ratio with a small tire= TONS of torque

 

[GeePig]

Yes, I can see that I failed to mention the coaster brake, they are like a norm in my little workshop...

I don't know about elsewhere, but lots of small kids bikes around here come from Asia with a coaster brake.

 

[GeePig]

View attachment 230682
2:1 gear ratio with a small tire= TONS of torque

It is not quite how I imagined riding the bike, but yeah, if I could find a purple tire

 

[GeePig]

So here is my front wheel, the one I will actually be using, from my first pair of 16" wheels. I wish I could find a cheapish bike that had wider wheels, but that does not seem to be my luck so far.

At least it should not take long to strip, paint and rebuild.

Except I had to go look for my metal tire levers, as my plastic ones refused to get that little tire over that tiny rim. I have had this metal pair for years, they came in some kind of tire repair kit, but now their time has, indeed, arrived!

I don't know why, but the rim did not just have one ribbon to cover the spokes, but two plus a wad of insulation tape.

Now it is time to strip all of those 18 spokes out, a job that may take me several hours - not!

I am a bit concerned about fitting a rear wheel, as it turns out that a 24" wheel + tire will not quite fit, by about half an inch. That is a bit of a problem, as the axle needs to be very long, the kind of long-ness one would normally associate with a derailleur wheel...

 

[Ulu]

. . . I don't know why, but the rim did not just have one ribbon to cover the spokes, but two plus a wad of insulation tape. . . .

Spoke puncture paranoia.