Alfa Laughter

[GeePig]

I am still wondering about all that.

It would be very good to raise the front of the frame, partly to get the original rake and height at the front. At the moment I do not have any steel or a welder, but the guy up the road who does vehicle repairs does have a welder, and I could buy some steel to make an internal tube to get everything inline. Asking him to weld it would be simple as he is a helpful guy - and I have just repaired his daughter's bike.

The real question is whether I am prepared to choose this chassis over the Danusia one.

 

[GeePig]

Now it is much easier for us to see the difference in the wheel sizes.

It would be nice if I could find a wider 24" tire to go on the back, but I have had no luck with so I suppose I will have to start ordering things internationally.

This frame was designed to take a derailleur hub, while the Danusia frame is only wide enough for the single-speed hub - but I did fit that kind of wheel in Best last year, with a bit of fiddling. The next question is whether I actually have a BB for this frame, as I might have reused parts of it elsewhere.

Interestingly, Best has a rear mount for its dynamo, which you can just see behind the wheel, while this Jubilat fork from my Zenit also has one, inconveniently high when you have a 20" wheel fitted. I could cut it off, but I am a bit reluctant to do that, as that would mean repainting the forks. And it is cold for painting when it is almost winter.

Best is a Kross, although when they built this bike it is only mentioned on the seat tube and here. This was built about the year 2000, which is like a whole world away from the Kross I bought new 20 years later. There is a possibility that Kross also built the red and blue Jubilats we bought in about 2005 from a supermarket, but they did not have any manufacturers name on them. Kross did built Jubilats, so probably.

So all this is proof that I could use the Best frame, as well as Danusia, the only question is whether I have enough BB bits for either of them.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Nice start. I made a Muscle Bike from a Romet Jubilat back in 2019 for the Winter Build-Off.

Might come in handy as an inspiration Seat was made from a cut ski and the bars are made from a 16mm railling pipes that I bought in Castorama.

 

[GeePig]

Excellent format, and a great use of Jubilat - I have four of them around in various disguises!

I might end up going to our local castorama for the rear bar, assuming that the unwelded tube I plan to use does not work. I don't think unwelded tube will, but I have about six of them lying around and the least that they will do is help me define the shape and whatever choice of bender that I get to use.

 

[Ulu]

I suppose I will have to start ordering things internationally.

I was shocked for a second until I sort of realized how Europe is nowadays. I would order something from New York or Arizona for instance, but I wouldn’t order anything from Canada or Mexico.

Any of those products I might want would be more efficiently bought from an American dealer who has already dealt with all the import hassles.

But I don’t know how the EU deals with those things.

Also what is Castorama?

Decades back people used to give their kids castor oil to make them poo. A Castorama could be a true schidt show.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Also what is Castorama?

Decades back people used to give their kids castor oil to make them poo. A Castorama could be a true schidt show.

Castorama is one of the biggest known hardware & DIY stores here in Poland (other ones are Leroy Merlin, OBI & Bricoman).

 

[Ulu]

Well it’s good to hear that you guys are still able to get parts and things considering all the drama going on right next-door to you. What little I know of Polish history is all pretty brutal.

Everything is crazy here too but in a different way. I am hoping we all see some peace by Christmas.

In the meantime, I polish away and keep the shiny side up.

 

[GeePig]

I was shocked for a second until I sort of realized how Europe is nowadays. I would order something from New York or Arizona for instance, but I wouldn’t order anything from Canada or Mexico.

Any of those products I might want would be more efficiently bought from an American dealer who has already dealt with all the import hassles.

But I don’t know how the EU deals with those things.

Also what is Castorama?

Decades back people used to give their kids castor oil to make them poo. A Castorama could be a true schidt show.

Castor oil? I wonder if they sell it there... I will have to check.

I might order something from Germany or other nearby EU countries, I would have to check the map for Ukraine, while Belarus is like, well, I don't know anyone who has ordered something from there or whether it it is even possible nowadays.

I do have a rear wheel for a Ukraine bike, I found it in the roof of one of our barns. I might rebuild it one day, if I can replace the missing bits from the hub.

 

[GeePig]

Castorama is one of the biggest known hardware & DIY stores here in Poland (other ones are Leroy Merlin, OBI & Bricoman).

Our Castorama in Krasnystaw is quite small, so I often need to visit the OBI here in Lublin, as it is just up the road.

 

[Ulu]

Castor bean oil used to be used in two-stroke engine racing. They still sell Castrol motor oil here, but I don’t think it has any castor oil in it anymore. With all the modern synthetic stuff I doubt that any serious two stroker’s are still running that stuff.

 

[K_50]

I was shocked for a second until I sort of realized how Europe is nowadays. I would order something from New York or Arizona for instance, but I wouldn’t order anything from Canada or Mexico.

Any of those products I might want would be more efficiently bought from an American dealer who has already dealt with all the import hassles.

But I don’t know how the EU deals with those things.

The EU is, essentially, a single market for consumers:
Prices are similar; Large shops pay VAT to the country of the buyer; Shipping may take a bit longer than domestic (not in Denmark, though - Postal Arseholes Aargh...etc.). Quite similar to the US, but easier, I think.

 

[GeePig]

The EU is, essentially, a single market for consumers:
Prices are similar; Large shops pay VAT to the country of the buyer; Shipping may take a bit longer than domestic (not in Denmark, though - Postal Arseholes Aargh...etc.). Quite similar to the US, but easier, I think.

True, although the handful of different languages can be a pain sometimes.

 

[GeePig]

Ha ha, I have had my Kross for a couple of years now, and just kind of assumed that it was an early bike that they designed. I mean, it was dead cheap at 50 zloty including transport (about 11 USD), and had a ton of little worn out and badly adjusted parts that just needed some work on. I always felt slightly guilty about not buying a Kross instead of a Romet bike, however.

Kross rose to its current greatness on bikes like this, taking over from the failing communist-era Romet brand. I knew that they took over production of the Jubilat, as I have had five of them and only two of them were actual Romet products.

So there I was, cruising through Allegro, an Internet sales platform, when I found this. 'Oh, I have never seen a Romet Samanta before,' I thought, then noticed the brakes and rear derailleur mount. 'Wait, that's my Kross...'

And yes, after a closer inspection, it is essentially the same frame and bits, although this one has been looked after so much better than mine. I am tempted to try to buy it, but I know that I already have enough bikes I can hardly find the time to ride as it is.

At least I now know that I haven't been fitting 'Kross' parts to my other Romets, just more 'Romet' parts.

And also why it had a 'Romet' marked dork disk fitted.

 

[GeePig]

Since doing the spokes was a bit problematic, I managed to scratch the rim paint in several places. All I had to mask the wheel was masking tape - but here is the funny thing, because when I were a lad there was just masking tape in different widths, but now it comes in different adhesive strengths, and there are a ton of them at my local DIY stores, but no indication what glue strength they have.

That meant that tape I have here in the city is a lot stronger than the ones I seem to get in the countryside, which means removing all those spoke tapes was a bit of a problem.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and this morning soaking some of the tapes in the sink in our bathroom here in the flat, scraping them off, and then moving onto the next. Lucky that wifie does not mind.

Later I will go down to my garage, curse the fact that I forgot I had no rim tape here, apply some insulation tape instead, and then install the tube and spare tire I do have here. This will be my most worn-out 20" Stomil tire, but it is a genuine old tire, from back in the day when all small Romet tires were the same.

Here is the strange thing - all those 20", 24" and 26" Stomil tires were named after animals, so I assume it might have been easier to ask for a 'Zebra' tire than whatever actual size that was, because they all had the same grip pattern. Easy if you could read, of course.

 

[curtisfox]

Split some drinking straws and slip over the spokes next time you paint save for reuse.............Curt.

 

[Ulu]

I have always taken my wheels apart to paint them, but someone told me to do this using aluminum foil. I have never tried it but it’s not sticky, so less clean up.

 

[GeePig]

Split some drinking straws and slip over the spokes next time you paint save for reuse.............Curt.

Excellent idea, and so darn simple! Thanks, I will be buying some on my next shopping trip

 

[GeePig]

I have always taken my wheels apart to paint them, but someone told me to do this using aluminum foil. I have never tried it but it’s not sticky, so less clean up.

Yes, that would work, and next time I am out of straws it is worth remembering.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

That meant that tape I have here in the city is a lot stronger than the ones I seem to get in the countryside, which means removing all those spoke tapes was a bit of a problem.

Here is the strange thing - all those 20", 24" and 26" Stomil tires were named after animals, so I assume it might have been easier to ask for a 'Zebra' tire than whatever actual size that was, because they all had the same grip pattern. Easy if you could read, of course.

I recommend using foil masking tape - it always comes off very easy.

Not only those tire sizes There were also very rare cyclocross 27" tires dedicated to use in Huragan (Hurricane) and Jaguar bicycles. Those were called Tajfun (Typhoon)

 

[GeePig]

I recommend using foil masking tape - it always comes off very easy.

Not only those tire sizes There were also very rare cyclocross 27" tires dedicated to use in Huragan (Hurricane) and Jaguar bicycles. Those were called Tajfun (Typhoon)
View attachment 217212

Wow! I have always wondered what their other tire were like, I was even tempted to buy on old bike earlier this year, but I could not be sure it still had the original tires...