1960's Öglaend Strada

[FInnRat]

I don't know how familiar you guys are about Scandinavian/Finnish bicycles, I haven't yet spotted any on here. So this might be of interest I guess. I said a bunch about my bike building/renovation stuff on my intro thread, but I'll repeat some here.

It seems I'm stuck with the classic Finnish & Scandinavian bicycles for a base to build from. Specially the 28" ladies models as those are so cheap and easy to find. Most frames I've had, I have got for free. And they're well build, sturdy as heck and the craftmanship is impeccable. So why not? Throw in some coin and get such frames which can take a lot of punishment and still keep going decade after decade.

It seems that "my thing" has become the Nowegian Öglaend frames from 60's and 70's. Those are all over the place and somehow I just manage to get a hold on lot of them. My only complaint is the narrow saddle posts which are odd, 19mm, often with a wider 22,2mm part on top. Luckily they accept many kinds of forks and the standard takes 22,2mm stem. Also the Öglaend frames have rather wide back forks for such classic style. My current bike will have the 2,35" Schwalbe Big Apple tires and that monster fits the back! With quite narrow clearance, ranging from 4mm to 10mm. But enough to work. The attachment point for the fender just below the saddle just needs to be modified, but that's a walk in a park. The current bike in the works will have some odd characteristics for such bike, balloon tires, banana saddle, tall sissybar, cruiser handlebar and so on. There's a long list of cool stuff I'm putting on it. Its a frankenbike for sure, bunch of parts are reproduction stuff as I just can't find originals in Finland. All cruiser style stuff seems to be very very rare here. So anyway, the newest part will be made this year and the oldest is from around 1930's. That's the chain wheel, its a really nice pentagram shaped 46T one from some oldie. In nearly mind condition from what I saw in the pictures. I'm changing the paint scheme from the typical metallic blue or red to glossy black + metallic white + metallic electric blue. The paintjob will have some detailing like the last time. The rims are 1940's "pot iron" stuff, westwood profile, the best rims I've ever had. (I have bunch of them and on the lookout for more, the old stuff was built to last.)

The philosophy with this bike is the looks and non existent rolling resistance. I want to make it fly. I'm modifying the bearings somewhat, ditch the disks and have free bearings where ever possible, what is that called in English? I don't know a name for that... Old school style bearings, roll like a dream. My previous stuff has all been single gear, this time I'm opting for Sachs Torpedo 3-speed. With 15/46 setup it will be quite fast too.

Next thing is sand blasting the frame and rims, waiting for other parts to arrive and paint job.

Here's some photos of my current ride, I made this few years back. (I had a break from building more, money and other stuff being the issue...) The new bike is a continuation of the same ideas with lessons learned from this thing here. The frame is exactly the same I'm using once again for the gazillionth time.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I don't know how familiar you guys are about Scandinavian/Finnish bicycles, I haven't yet spotted any on here. So this might be of interest I guess. I said a bunch about my bike building/renovation stuff on my intro thread, but I'll repeat some here.

It seems I'm stuck with the classic Finnish & Scandinavian bicycles for a base to build from. Specially the 28" ladies models as those are so cheap and easy to find. Most frames I've had, I have got for free. And they're well build, sturdy as heck and the craftmanship is impeccable. So why not? Throw in some coin and get such frames which can take a lot of punishment and still keep going decade after decade.

It seems that "my thing" has become the Nowegian Öglaend frames from 60's and 70's. Those are all over the place and somehow I just manage to get a hold on lot of them. My only complaint is the narrow saddle posts which are odd, 19mm, often with a wider 22,2mm part on top. Luckily they accept many kinds of forks and the standard takes 22,2mm stem. Also the Öglaend frames have rather wide back forks for such classic style. My current bike will have the 2,35" Schwalbe Big Apple tires and that monster fits the back! With quite narrow clearance, ranging from 4mm to 10mm. But enough to work. The attachment point for the fender just below the saddle just needs to be modified, but that's a walk in a park. The current bike in the works will have some odd characteristics for such bike, balloon tires, banana saddle, tall sissybar, cruiser handlebar and so on. There's a long list of cool stuff I'm putting on it. Its a frankenbike for sure, bunch of parts are reproduction stuff as I just can't find originals in Finland. All cruiser style stuff seems to be very very rare here. So anyway, the newest part will be made this year and the oldest is from around 1930's. That's the chain wheel, its a really nice pentagram shaped 46T one from some oldie. In nearly mind condition from what I saw in the pictures. I'm changing the paint scheme from the typical metallic blue or red to glossy black + metallic white + metallic electric blue. The paintjob will have some detailing like the last time. The rims are 1940's "pot iron" stuff, westwood profile, the best rims I've ever had. (I have bunch of them and on the lookout for more, the old stuff was built to last.)

The philosophy with this bike is the looks and non existent rolling resistance. I want to make it fly. I'm modifying the bearings somewhat, ditch the disks and have free bearings where ever possible, what is that called in English? I don't know a name for that... Old school style bearings, roll like a dream. My previous stuff has all been single gear, this time I'm opting for Sachs Torpedo 3-speed. With 15/46 setup it will be quite fast too.

Next thing is sand blasting the frame and rims, waiting for other parts to arrive and paint job.

Here's some photos of my current ride, I made this few years back. (I had a break from building more, money and other stuff being the issue...) The new bike is a continuation of the same ideas with lessons learned from this thing here. The frame is exactly the same I'm using once again for the gazillionth time.

Wow that bike is extremely clean and tidy. Amazing

I love those pedals

 

[Verrt]

I don't know how familiar you guys are about Scandinavian/Finnish bicycles

Very!
Wait, no. Not at all familiar.


That bike looks amazing.

 

[RustyGold]

The only vintage Scandinavian bikes I see around here are DBS* ... and those rarely.

* Den Beste Sykkel

 

[FInnRat]

Thanks guys. I thought so as it seems that majority of people here are from the US.

In Finland it was very popular for local bike shops to use Norwegian and Swedish made frames under plethora of brands. These days most of the small shops are gone but not forgotten. I think the most commonly used frames were made by Öglaend from Norway and Monark from Sweden. I think there's also other Mnark brand from the US or something so it might be a bit confusing, but when ever I talk about Monark, I mean the Swedish manufacturer. Btw, the bike above has Öglaend frame, its the Finnish Jupiter Scout(Jupiter is very popular affordable brand here and its still on and going although their quality isn't what it used to be afaik.) Chainwheel is 50T from some other Finnish bike, hard to tell as that star shape was used on so many brands. Fenders are also old stuff renovated to fit. The fork is Swedish Monark brand thing from about 1940's, its one of those with odd stem size the 21mm. That Stem I got from 80's Helkama Matkatar which uses the same style fork. Carrier + tool box is from some age old bike, again I have zero idea about the brand as I bought that from a local repair shop. Handlebar is just an ordinary chopper bar from Classic-cycle.(My favorite shop to get parts from, based in Germany.) Saddle is Lepper hammock which you guys probably recognized already.

So its a mishmash of everything. My current project will be more clean on the parts department, way more brand new parts this time. Here's some pictures, first from testing the Big Apple tire which to my amazement fit right in there. The clearances are quite small, but for some reason the blue frame I opted for has even more space than the red one. The frames are the exact same model. I had to modify the upper fender attachment a bit, I took the bent part out and will use angled adapter piece instead, works like a charm. I'm not sure if I will use the traditional frame lock this time or not. Those look great but are so easy to break its ridiculous. Some times a strong kick in the right spot opens them.

Here's some pictures, yesterday I removed the spokes and hubs from the rim below, cleaned it all up and so on. I will use 1940's Westwood profile rims and take the spokes & nipples and the hubs from this one. Not so amazingly, under a heavy layer of oil, dust and dirt, the parts were in nearly mint condition, no rust except on ends of some spokes, the hubs are in such good shape its as if from the store. I presume these have been installed later as they're so pristine. The 3-speed Sachs Torpedo hub has been popular since about early 70's and in my experience, its the most reliable 3-speed hub along with the old Shimano model which got popular a bit later. But Sachs hubs is where German engineering truly shines, they're simple and sturdy as heck, with right maintenance they can last hundred years, changing the bearings and the break will make them last even longer. Only once I have had a single speed Torpedo break on me, the break spring most likely broke which caused to brake to get stuck, it bent the frame it was on! Speaks volumes about how strong breaks these things have on them.

Front hub needs some love, the bearings are way too tight, the other one works like a charm, but I might open it too, I'm sure they haven't been cleaned and greased for a long time. It'll be interesting to install open/free bearings, I've done it on front hubs few times and its amazing! Nothing rolls like free bearings, its bit tricky to install them, using plenty of grease helps a ton. This time I'll go further with this as I want the new bike to be a breeze to ride,(despite of it becoming quite heavy!) also try out which gear ratio works the best. Typically the 3-speed classics here seem to have about 46/20 ratio, I'm thinking about 46-50 / 14 - 18 to make it faster. The first speed of the Torpedo is usually quite slow, my idea is to get the second speed feel like a typical single speed and third being very fast. This wont become a racer no matter what, but I want it faster than the typical "granny bikes".

Btw, that's a common nickname for such bicycles, any old classic ladies bicycle we call Mummiska or Mummopyörä which literally means granny bike. Finns love these things, they're still very common and cheap, old ones in good shape are quite sought after as they're comfortable to ride on almost any surface and they can take a lot of punishment and still keep on going. The features of these bicycles are perfect fit in Finnish environment, I find it crazy that most manufacturers have abandoned their roots as the old school bikes we have work so well here. Our winters are long and cold, there's a lot of forest paths, dirt and gravel roads, lot of hills and so on, anywhere in the countryside, a bicycle must be sturdy and capable of handling almost any kind of roads and paths. Poor modern (cheap) bikes don't handle it too well. But the oldies sure do.

This project is the first one on which I'll be using a sissybar and banana saddle, choppers were kind of out of fashion and rare when I was kid, but those sure caught my eye and I want to go for it. I have read a lot of conflicting experience about banana saddles, some hate and others love. Lets see how I handle it. I might end up modifying the saddle with some cushioning making it wider. Oh yea and I'll use a springer fork too, I bet that + wider tires will make all bumps disappear. Having some sort of suspension is god sent here as the roads are so variable and some are really ......, our climate does a ton of wear and tear on the roads. No wonder fatbikes are so popular these days.

 

[FInnRat]

The only vintage Scandinavian bikes I see around here are DBS* ... and those rarely.

* Den Beste Sykkel

That's interesting, I think I've seen this brand mentioned once or twice, but I'm unfamiliar with it. I would presume this is something made for export or sold in Finland on other name.

The most common Swedish brands here are Monark and Crescent, from Norway its Öglaend all the way. Also I think Hermes is Swedish and there's others which I see from time to time. I follow a classic bicycle group on Facebook on which there's lot of these all the time, often for sale too. Most common old Finnish bikes I see around are Helkama, Tunturi(VERY popular up to early 90's!) and Jupiter. Also Pyrkijä is one of the sought after brands, I have had one of those and that bicycle was my all time favorite, heavy and sturdy, made of thick "pot iron", but surprisingly light to pedal. It had the defining characteristic of classic Nordic bikes, its quite heavy, but once you get it on the move, it rolls so well it feels it never wants to stop. The old frames are very good for being made of softer metal, the frame itself absorbs a lot of shock from any bumps in the road and they almost never break even when put in huge stress. Another thing to point out is the quality of Swedish iron, its well known here how good it is, I would guess most Finnish stuff is made of it too... The huge number of surviving old bikes is a testament to the quality of the material and craftmanship put into the frames. Anything 80's and newer seems to be breaking apart way easier.

Oh hey, I just got the tracking code for my order from Classic-cycle, this is so cool, I can't wait. It was expensive but I think money well spent, that shop sells such quality stuff which is hard to find here. It'll be interesting project for sure, fitting the 80mm wide fenders will give me some challenge as they need modification to fit. Also there's a cool double horn instead of the usual bell, real leather grips, old school dress guard, a torpedo front light, just like in some old cruisers. and the springer fork is almost exactly like on some Schwinn bikes. Really cool stuff, and weird to have on a Scandinavian frame.

 

[RustyGold]

I think DBS is made by Öglaend...

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Love their chainguards!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FInnRat]

Oh yea, those chainguards are pretty as heck! Ours are typically quite simplistic very often. Speaking of chainguards, I found that I have one of the most typical models around, from 60's to 70's era once again but it has the Jupiter logo on it, the old one with nice cursive letters, stamped on the guard, no stickers or paint. I thought I would use it as the frame I'm using is another Jupiter Scout using the Öglaend frame. Would be fitting and that chainguard is quite a rare find these days.

No surprises there, Öglaend just like Monark in Sweden do make frames for numerous brands, even more so in the past when small bike shops used their frames and slapped their own brand on them. Often without any mention of the frame manufacturer.

I just got some stuff dealt with, 50€ for sand blasting the frame and four rims. Not bad, I have read about more than double that price. This time I thought I will vote with my wallet and get the job done somewhere. They also do painting, but that I want to do myself. Oh and another 48€ for the paint.... I'm using glossy black Miranol which is commonly used for all kinds of metal painting here, Finnish made, has very high resistance to hits of any kind, if there's decent primer used, this stuff sticks on extremely well and its easy to fix. Then I'll do all the detailing with spray paint, I got some nice ones without other use. They're decent quality auto paints so better than the cheapest junk around.

I finally managed to make a tool for removing the kickstand btw.... Local bike repair shops are really reluctant to help with old bikes, no tools or no will as there's not much money to be made there. Morons. Well, I don't need them for much anything as I've learned to do all this stuff myself. There's one retired bicycle mechanic in town, he's awesome, taught me a lot of stuff. No idea how he's doing these days. I think I'll go see him some time, just for a chat, or maybe there's something I need to buy which I could ask if he has. Anyway, the tool for getting the kickstand out, I'll take some pictures some day soon. Got to love the DIY curiosity items needed to play around with old bikes.

 

[Verrt]

any old classic ladies bicycle we call Mummiska or Mummopyörä which literally means granny bike.

The term Omafiets is somewhat known here. Dutch, meaning the same thing.


I dedicate my coffee this morning to Finnish bicycles.

 

[FInnRat]

It figures that you guys got some nickname for old classic bikes too. Funny thing is that even to this day, its typically old ladies (And men too quite often!) who ride the classic, or classic style re production bikes here. And then there's some kids who want to be really hip and stand out from the fatbike or combi trend that's prevalent right now. Aaand of course the few crazies who do this thing as a hobby.

Here its more common to renovate and preserve than actually customize, I don't know why it is, perhaps the lack of history with more or less custom stuff. (Some old bike enthusiasts don't really like what I do for example.)

Here's a pic of the chain wheel I will use, nice pentagram shape and all, great shape apparently, just little dirty. Today at a local bike shop I saw some oldie with the same wheel, didn't have time to check out what the brand was. I would really like to know as this is older than the most typical five pointed star style. There's the brand stamp there, letter N inside a circle. The only brand I can think of is Nopsa, but I have never seen their bikes with this chain wheel.

 

[FInnRat]

I'm picking up some parts today, the chain wheel in the picture above and very old pump holder. I'll sure post pics later today.

I stumbled upon a Øglænd advert today which I shared already. Interestingly, on the ad they mention the sturdiness of their frames which is honest advertising, these frames can take a lot of abuse. I have had many bicycles with this frame and only twice I got some problem with it. One frame broke above the crank, I suspect sabotage as just above the crack there were tool marks which weren't there before. Luckily that caused no accident. Other time the break got stuck and the frame bent from the left side. I still have that frame and it could sure be fixed. All others have lasted without any issues.

The metal they used is amazing quality, when you hang the frame and hit it with something, it rings like a bell, yet its not too stiff so it can be bent and worked on without issues. Also it seems to absorb quite a lot of shock from bad roads. Øglænd frames were some of the first made of this quality, they became popular here in 1950's and for the next three decades they were the most numerous also. At the beginning way better made than most Finnish frames which were prone to corrosion. That could be also because of the great paint job. Its one of the first frames made way lighter than typical bikes of the era and the reason was the quality steel used. The only downside is the weird standard on the seat post, its only 19mm / 0,74".

Making them lighter is an issue in the long run due to the attachments being very light and prone to corrosion, I can't remember how many chain guards and fenders I have had to break just to get them off. Fender stays also were really light. These days its hard to find one without rusted or broken attachments, but the frame + fork + stem + seat post etc. are still great. They're great bikes once all the overly light parts are switched to something heavier.

One thing that totally surpasses modern variants is the age old westwood profile rims, for some reason when ever I use them, the bike rolls like a dream and they're easy to right. Probably because these things are cast and not welded, there's a lot of newer rims with a seam which makes them wobble a bit no matter how well righted they are. The old "pot iron" rims never have that issue. I got three pairs of these rims right now and I want to find more. I would think that new re production ones are probably made from better steel and probably lighter, I have never tried them, Classic-cycle from Germany sells them and I'm tempted to try them some time. Cool to see those being still manufactured.

 

[FInnRat]

I wonder if I'm capable of topping myself with the paint job this time? Here's some work in progress pictures of my previous build.

 

[léocwc]

It figures that you guys got some nickname for old classic bikes too. Funny thing is that even to this day, its typically old ladies (And men too quite often!) who ride the classic, or classic style re production bikes here. And then there's some kids who want to be really hip and stand out from the fatbike or combi trend that's prevalent right now. Aaand of course the few crazies who do this thing as a hobby.

Here its more common to renovate and preserve than actually customize, I don't know why it is, perhaps the lack of history with more or less custom stuff. (Some old bike enthusiasts don't really like what I do for example.)

Here's a pic of the chain wheel I will use, nice pentagram shape and all, great shape apparently, just little dirty. Today at a local bike shop I saw some oldie with the same wheel, didn't have time to check out what the brand was. I would really like to know as this is older than the most typical five pointed star style. There's the brand stamp there, letter N inside a circle. The only brand I can think of is Nopsa, but I have never seen their bikes with this chain wheel.

the Kroon Vasbro 1950 bikes that came with Brazil used NYMAN parts. were stamped with that"N"

I happen to have a bike like this one, that part is missing

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Hey @FInnRat when you upload your images, it's way better if you select the "Full Image" option instead of "Thumbnail". We get bigger pics in the thread, easier to view them

 

[FInnRat]

Thanks for the heads up MattiThundrrr. Hey léocwc, that's interesting! I had no idea about this, makes me wonder if that same brand was sold in Finland. Or some company here just used imported parts.

The sand blasting company did magnificent job, I picked up the parts today and oh boy did they do quality work! Just enough to get rid of the old paint and rust. Seemingly no healthy metal was lost and it only cost me 50€. I will definitely use their services in the future, great place, absolutely professional, competitive prices too. They could have done the painting, but that's down my alley. Speaking of which, I started adding the base paint today. One pair of rims to go. Unlike in the picture the color is actually pale grey and not white. The paint is called Rostex Super, domestic, has base paint and anti corrosion stuff in the same package. The topcoat will be glossy black Miranol.

I'm doing maintenance on the hubs, front first. I replaced the usual bearings with free ones. Seven per side, there could be space for one more ball, but I think seven will work just fine. I got new grease for the bearings, seems very good, way stickier than the cheap grey grease I used before. It should withstand cold down to -30 degrees centigrade which is a good characteristic in our climate. (Same as Alaska by far.) Although I normally don't ride during winter much as its a pain in the .... With my balance I would land on my face too many times.

I modified an age old bike tool for locking the bearings, someone would crucify me for daring to "ruin" an old tool, but heck, at least I got something to get the job done, I don't want to keep too many things just for the looks anyway. Here's the chainwheels, the front one is cool, its bent inwards, more than the older one of the same type. There's also the pump attachment, really cool model, I haven't seen one like this before. Lastly, the chain guard. This model is very typical on 60's to 70's bicycles, but it has Jupiter logo on it. Rare find, I have seen it maybe twice, one being some oldie I scavenged for parts.

So far, so good. Next on the line is the 3-speed Torpedo which I have never opened before. Wish me luck.

 

[FInnRat]

Ohkay, I took the Torpedo apart, to an extent. I didn't need to tear it down to atoms, the hub has clearly been cleaned and oiled not in too distant past. All I did was to clean the big bearings a bit, give them new layer of grease and put it back together. It seems that this model is not what I expected it to be, it opens up in a slightly different way than the ones I got schematics for. (And what I found on a video.)

I should find out the exact model, I got schematics for H3111 and 515 but what I got here seems slightly different. I switched the 16T there instead of the (Probably standard?) 20T, looks kinda funny. I really hope I get it right with the gear ratio, I guess it'll be all about testing. I got also 14, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 24 teeth chain wheels to try out. My so far favorite oldie, the 1940's Pyrkijä had fantastic ratio at 50/18.

 

[FInnRat]

Darn it, looks like the pentagram chain wheel has been damaged at some point or its original crank must be slightly different somehow. I can't get it to sit nicely on the crank, I might have to use another one. Luckily I have a pile of them, none are special in any way, but there's 44, 46 and 50T to choose from. So either its some other one or the pentagram needs some hammering.

EDIT:
I'm looking at it closer and its clear that someone has had a terrible crash going down chain side first. The wheel is bent all over the place from two spots. Its hard to see on a quick glance but looking from the side, its obvious. So two options, either necessary hammering to straighten it up, or I choose something else. Dammit! the seller didn't bother to mention that this wheel is crooked.

EDIT 2:
You know what guys... I think I will do the same as I did with the previous build, grab the newer style pentagram chain wheel and paint the center part electric blue. That's gonna look amazing with the idea I got for the chain guard paint job. Just wait for it.

 

[FInnRat]

The paint job is well on the way. I have to add second coat of black as it didn't cover everything. I'm using a brush. If I had a paint gun, I think I would be done by now as spray is always easier to deal with. As you can see, the black Miranol paint is super extra mega glossy. Doesn't need anything on it. Although I will add clear lacquer as a finishing touch to lock in the spray paint and detailing which I will do with ink Molotow ink pens. Its acrylic paint which sticks well when its lacquered with something. Other set of rims is for my girlfriends bike to be. I will build something comfy for her before the spring and thought to make classy black rims for her too. Not forgetting some stripes for details of course.

Then the coolest thing for today is that I went from a modest name plaque to a full blown self made faux tank design. I really want this thing to be a cruiser so of course it needs a tank of some sort. So far I made the sides only, I will probably add one more part on top perhaps. I'm undecided yet. On the sides I will add some spikes and three lightning bolts cut from brass sheet. (Our town's emblem has three lightning bolts on it.) I had a nice piece of pre painted sheet metal, I put the black side in and will paint the front. My colleague at work has a pile of the stuff lying around without use so I think I'll ask him for some more. This stuff is such a breeze to work with, its quite light too so it wont make the bike much heavier.

It can't get more custom and DIY than this and look at my primitive tools. Hand made, literally. And its not perfectly neat either, but isn't that what rat bikes are about?

EDIT:
Quick question about sissybar, where to install it? What is the most sturdy option? The wheel axle or behind it on the frame? There's a neat square attachment point just on the frame I'm using which is sturdy as heck when using a decent sized screw, would that be a good idea? The point being that I don't want something to break and I got an OCD about making them last and withstand punishment. Ideas?

 

[FInnRat]

I keep going back and forth with selecting the chain wheel... But I made my mind. I tried to get the neat pentagram 46T straightened up and with my primitive tools, I don't have the patience to keep on hammering away. Perhaps I should take it to work and fix it there and use it for something else.

I miscounted earlier, this one in the picture is 48T, not fifty. Well, brainfarts happen. I don't mind, I will use this anyway. I seem to keep on getting trouble with parts, everything except for Norwegian made frames and some really standard stuff I keep coming across. This chain wheel is one of the most typical ones on 60's to 80's ear bikes here and I got the exact same on my previous build too. And for some reason these along with the three pointed "star" type seem to be in prime condition and numerous and dirt cheap. This one was covered in thick oily muck, but as expected, it revealed near mint condition under all that crap. Amazing how well these last even after decades of use. The dust + oil on it was at least three decades worth.

I don't know how people take care of their bikes elsewhere, here that dirt + thick oily junk is a good sign the bike was used by some average Joe who's knowledge about bicycle maintenance is about pouring a gallon of oil into the chain once a year. Heck no about cleaning! Nor ever opening the bearings! Nor keeping all the nuts and bolts and screws in a working order... No way, just pour motor oil on it and it keeps working.

Anyway, take a look at this shiny piece of magnificence! I think I'll let it be like it is, no paint to dim its shine.