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It may be sloppy, but I have run a lot of cables without ends and have not (yet) run into any problem. Some applications need ends to run smoothly, depending on how the cable fits into the brake, brake lever, shifter, or derailleur. But others, where the cable fits neatly, seem to operate fine...

For your consideration, a Ross Compact, circa 1980, with Shimano 3-speed and stem shifter. It was obtained with drop bars (first picture) and was switched to risers. Nice, sporty rider. Three speeds are all you need for most riding. And lots of reflector area: big reflectors on wheels and...

Uncle Deorman: Excellent point. I hadn't thought about it that way. Thanks for the insight.

I wanted to switch my 24" Huffy Good Vibrations from coaster brake to freewheel. Once you're used to a freewheel, with or without derailleur, a coaster can be annoying. Front caliper brake was easy. Rear caliper looked like it would fit so I bought a single speed freewheel and replaced the...

It's not just a matter of simplicity. It's where on the spectrum of simplicity to complexity you want to operate. Using Kevin's example of a coaster brake cruiser, there are simpler machines, e.g., a draisine, a 19th century two-wheeler that the rider pushed along with his feet on the ground...

As the saying goes, there are a lot of working parts in a derailleur. Basic function is that a derailleur wants to go to a higher gear and is prevented from doing so by the tension of the cable. I'm not familiar with that cool 5-on-the bar shifter you have there, and whether it's a friction...

Ah, I see a difference between the photo and the catalog drawing that I didn't notice before. The catalog shows a Murray-style chain wheel. The photo shows a Monark-style chain wheel.

Cousin Vroom: Nice bike! Looks like it's a Regal. The 1951 fall/winter catalog shows a probable match. Trussrods are shown and your bike has the bracket for them. Headlight is shown and it looks like your bike has hardware on the fender for mounting. No rear rack shown. Colors in description...

Ha ha! I thought the items in the background were a cricket bat and batting pads. Hockey might provide even more ideas for combining with bikes. Kinda like roller hockey. Pretty close to bike polo.

A hero of my boyhood - the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound - has died. Any of you ratters have ideas for a tribute bike based on the Bell X-1 rocket plane? In the 50's and 60's there certainly were a lot of aerospace-themed bikes.

Cousin Bunnyman: Interesting warning label. All the labels I've seen have to do with wearing a helmet, not going offroad, not doing tricks, and/or not riding after dark. I can understand what to do or not to do relative to the latter (whether I want to comply or not), but I'm not sure what to do...

Please tell us how that process works! My usual approach is an X-Acto knife with a fresh, sharp #11 blade.

I wonder which one would be faster. The Sears motor is a twin, but it looks like it has a mighty short stroke. Never ran one myself but I do recall that a baseball card and a clothes pin made my bike run faster, assuming that speed is correlated with noise. The best noise ever was from a...

When you ride it, do people just shun you or do they throw stones? Or do they stick a pump in your wheel like the Italian rider in Breaking Away?

Wow, that is cool! As a kid, we would drive from New Jersey to visit my dad's family in Indiana. I remember driving through those long tunnels. And we would drive over the Y-Bridge spanning the Licking River and the Muskingum River in Zanesville, Ohio. Boy, that was road trip excitement!

Here's my attempt on a Huffy Tundra MTB. Ammo can panniers sound great. Have fun!

Fortunately, my grandson still experiences the joys of riding bikes. He often cries out "yippee!" on the road. What a wonderful sound! Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, he rides mostly with family members instead of friends.

Cousin Bunnyman: Your weirdness sensors are working well. The laws of physics say that you need front brakes to stop quickly. And redundancy has its benefits. Ride on.

If we're talking about flying economy class, there are usually a lot of 20-inch kiddie bikes on Craigslist (cheap) or curb (free) with BMX-style stems.

When rescued from the curb, this Schwinn Fair Lady was campus green. Two sons used it in their early riding days. Then their little sister had dad paint it Pepto Bismol pink with her name (and hearts) on the chain guard in purple. Then eldest son went to NYU and wanted a bike to cruise around...