there is a good chance we can knock out one or two more tomorrow
Big Project: BIKE SHARE NEW LONDON
- Thread starter NLCTVWguy
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:
aka_locojoe said:
Thanks Joe,
It's always good to get lots of input on this type of thing. Yes, a headlight is
a requirement in the city for riding after dusk. So, we are only allowing
the bikes to be rented during the day. Now, since we'll be counting on the
public to bring the bikes back, I'm sure that there will be times that the
bikes are out at night. So we will be including info on the general rules of
the road in the city. Anyone riding one of our bikes in violation of the
laws would be subject to the same penalty as any person on their own bike.
The simple answer is, return the bike before evening.
We will be providing the bikes with a lock and a helmet, and instructions to
use both of those things. If people choose not to obey the rules, that will be
their problem- and their $20.
There are a whole lot of logistical things involved in this type of undertaking
these days. I'm sure more questions will come up. Thanks for asking though
because it forces us to think about these things and come up with answers.
--Rob
Been a while since I updated this. Things have been progressing, and our
sister organization has been a big help in showing us how, legally, to make
this kind of a bike sharing program work.
Officially, Mystic Community Bikes has changed their name to Bike Share
Mystic. They use either signature green painted bikes, or with some of
their more recent bikes, apply a green frame tube vinyl decal to the long
tubes. A little easier way to deal with 40 to 60 bikes in use.
They have elected to convert some of their bikes to single speed setups,
even if they were originally 5-spd, 10spd, 12 spd, or other configurations.
Some people like the simplicity and some prefer the gearing. There are pros
and cons. We have been trying to keep our original setups working on the
bikes we are building.
Our first bike was a Huffy 10-speed ladies ATB/Cruiser bike. Bike # 2 is a
Free Spirit ladies 6-speed cruiser. Originally blue with white trim. This one
had tons of frame decals and ended up being somewhat difficult to paint
for that reason. The fenders were cool add-on parts though and were very
easy to manage- thumbscrews on everything so easily removed for service.
Bike #3 just got close to completion tonight. It's a Murray ladies 26" ATB,
a 1990's USA made bike. Was a donation, as many of these will be, and
didn't need a lot of work but still, like most of these jobs, will have 8 to 10
hours of labor into it minimum. I am looking for ways to be more efficient
in these rebuilds but it's not happening yet. In this bike's case I needed to
find new brake levers too. CJ came through with a whole handlebar setup
from some mountain bike he chopped up. I just used the levers though,
and a shifter will probably go onto the Free Spirit, because it has a sticky
one.
Bike # 3:
A couple of our bikes got some use at a new bike path opening celebration
last weekend. Here's #2 on the trail:
Mystic folks brought theirs as well, and I got to talk to them
about maintenance troubles. We hope that by keeping ours protected when
not in use, we will have fewer rust problems than they have, and get a few
years of use from these bikes.
Looking forward to the contributions of other members, as some folks have
offered or promised to build one for the cause, which speaks volumes about
the kind of folks that make up the Rat Rod Bikes community. I have 3 more
in the works myself, mostly mountain bike type rides and a couple lightweight
cruisers as well. I'll post more as this project progresses.
Here's our little fleet as of the end of September:
If you'd like to help or get involved, email me at [email protected]
or check out http://www.bikenewlondon.org and scroll down to the Bike Share bike.
--Rob
sister organization has been a big help in showing us how, legally, to make
this kind of a bike sharing program work.
Officially, Mystic Community Bikes has changed their name to Bike Share
Mystic. They use either signature green painted bikes, or with some of
their more recent bikes, apply a green frame tube vinyl decal to the long
tubes. A little easier way to deal with 40 to 60 bikes in use.
They have elected to convert some of their bikes to single speed setups,
even if they were originally 5-spd, 10spd, 12 spd, or other configurations.
Some people like the simplicity and some prefer the gearing. There are pros
and cons. We have been trying to keep our original setups working on the
bikes we are building.
Our first bike was a Huffy 10-speed ladies ATB/Cruiser bike. Bike # 2 is a
Free Spirit ladies 6-speed cruiser. Originally blue with white trim. This one
had tons of frame decals and ended up being somewhat difficult to paint
for that reason. The fenders were cool add-on parts though and were very
easy to manage- thumbscrews on everything so easily removed for service.
Bike #3 just got close to completion tonight. It's a Murray ladies 26" ATB,
a 1990's USA made bike. Was a donation, as many of these will be, and
didn't need a lot of work but still, like most of these jobs, will have 8 to 10
hours of labor into it minimum. I am looking for ways to be more efficient
in these rebuilds but it's not happening yet. In this bike's case I needed to
find new brake levers too. CJ came through with a whole handlebar setup
from some mountain bike he chopped up. I just used the levers though,
and a shifter will probably go onto the Free Spirit, because it has a sticky
one.
Bike # 3:
A couple of our bikes got some use at a new bike path opening celebration
last weekend. Here's #2 on the trail:
Mystic folks brought theirs as well, and I got to talk to them
about maintenance troubles. We hope that by keeping ours protected when
not in use, we will have fewer rust problems than they have, and get a few
years of use from these bikes.
Looking forward to the contributions of other members, as some folks have
offered or promised to build one for the cause, which speaks volumes about
the kind of folks that make up the Rat Rod Bikes community. I have 3 more
in the works myself, mostly mountain bike type rides and a couple lightweight
cruisers as well. I'll post more as this project progresses.
Here's our little fleet as of the end of September:
If you'd like to help or get involved, email me at [email protected]
or check out http://www.bikenewlondon.org and scroll down to the Bike Share bike.
--Rob
you know my feelings on the matter, I love the simplicity of a single, there is so little to go wrong, however new london has a few more hills then we do here in mystic.
I like the idea of a single too, and have no problem including some of them in our project if we get bikes that are single speeds.
The Mystic folks, when I asked them about it, said that it did create a few problems for them- sometimes a bike would permanently jump a gear while being used and then the chain comes off. And a lot of people didn't like the single, or thought something was wrong with the bike when they saw a 5-speed cog and no shifter.
So I guess the idea is, if you have it, make it work. If you aren't going to make it work, don't have it.
I hope we are able to keep up with the maintenance of all this. It will be great to have more local guys involved when we really get the project off the ground. Or on the road. However you want to look at it.
--Rob
The Mystic folks, when I asked them about it, said that it did create a few problems for them- sometimes a bike would permanently jump a gear while being used and then the chain comes off. And a lot of people didn't like the single, or thought something was wrong with the bike when they saw a 5-speed cog and no shifter.
So I guess the idea is, if you have it, make it work. If you aren't going to make it work, don't have it.
I hope we are able to keep up with the maintenance of all this. It will be great to have more local guys involved when we really get the project off the ground. Or on the road. However you want to look at it.
--Rob
cody-james said:
---===---===---===---
Tonight, the city was host to one of the bigger social events of the year. Twice a year the Main Street organization puts on something called a Food Stroll- you buy a pin that gives you free food at about 25 downtown restaurants and a couple of free drink tickets. You walk around and sample stuff from everywhere. Restaurants that are beyond walking distance pair up with local venues like the Art Park where some folks know I start a lot of my rides.
The big attraction at the Art Park tonight was Capt. Scott's New England Clam Chowder. MMMM. Also Cottrell's Brewing in Mystic showed off their brand new beer "Mystic Bridge IPA", a worthy addition to our local brewery. It was bottled TODAY. Yahhh that was good beeh! There was also a really nice duet on stage doing old style swing-band music, and out front was our newest accomplishment:
This is a new bike rack that is going to be installed at a local elementary school (right around the corner from my house, actually). It was built by a local blacksmith, Susan Madacsi, (pronounced "madassee" if you're wondering) who also built some of the steelwork in the fences for the Art Park. She does awesome work. The whale skeleton rack is made of flattened steel pipe, shaped and welded up, then powder coated bright blue. The whale's ribs form 8 slots to park bikes.
This fits right in with New London's nickname, The Whaling City, and kind of nicely matches the trim and roofing of the brand new school. (A 1926 school was replaced with a totally modern school and opened last year.) The rack will be out front for all to see and use. Previously there was no proper place for kids to lock up their bikes.
It's on display at the Art Park for a few days before it goes to the school. We filled it up with Bike Share bikes as you can see. It got a lot of great positive comments and we met more people who are avid cyclists in the city.
Thanks everyone for your support!
--Rob
The big attraction at the Art Park tonight was Capt. Scott's New England Clam Chowder. MMMM. Also Cottrell's Brewing in Mystic showed off their brand new beer "Mystic Bridge IPA", a worthy addition to our local brewery. It was bottled TODAY. Yahhh that was good beeh! There was also a really nice duet on stage doing old style swing-band music, and out front was our newest accomplishment:
This is a new bike rack that is going to be installed at a local elementary school (right around the corner from my house, actually). It was built by a local blacksmith, Susan Madacsi, (pronounced "madassee" if you're wondering) who also built some of the steelwork in the fences for the Art Park. She does awesome work. The whale skeleton rack is made of flattened steel pipe, shaped and welded up, then powder coated bright blue. The whale's ribs form 8 slots to park bikes.
This fits right in with New London's nickname, The Whaling City, and kind of nicely matches the trim and roofing of the brand new school. (A 1926 school was replaced with a totally modern school and opened last year.) The rack will be out front for all to see and use. Previously there was no proper place for kids to lock up their bikes.
It's on display at the Art Park for a few days before it goes to the school. We filled it up with Bike Share bikes as you can see. It got a lot of great positive comments and we met more people who are avid cyclists in the city.
Thanks everyone for your support!
--Rob
Latest news on the project:
We have received 4 more bike donations, some of which will be appropriate for the Bike Share program. I've decided to stick to only ATB/cruiser type bikes, because tires will be cheaper, things will be somewhat standardized throughout the program, and I'll only need to have one size of tire and tube on hand, and they're very common.
So no lightweights- which means most of my Columbia pile will soon be up for grabs.
Start grabbin, folks!
The bikes I received this week were a Roadmaster mountain bike (thanks CJ and Terra Cyclery), and 3 more mountain bikes with different suspension configurations: Murray High Canyon with suspension fork, Giant Sedona (very large frame) with awesome trigger shifters, and an AMX full suspension thing that I think we're going to sell to finance another box of tubes and tires and cables.
We are having 2 "bike build" days this year: October 24th and November 14th. If you want to be a part of this, it'll be a bikes-beer-and-pizza type event, at my house, Saturdays at noon time. Email me at [email protected]
More updates soon!
--Rob
We have received 4 more bike donations, some of which will be appropriate for the Bike Share program. I've decided to stick to only ATB/cruiser type bikes, because tires will be cheaper, things will be somewhat standardized throughout the program, and I'll only need to have one size of tire and tube on hand, and they're very common.
So no lightweights- which means most of my Columbia pile will soon be up for grabs.
Start grabbin, folks!The bikes I received this week were a Roadmaster mountain bike (thanks CJ and Terra Cyclery), and 3 more mountain bikes with different suspension configurations: Murray High Canyon with suspension fork, Giant Sedona (very large frame) with awesome trigger shifters, and an AMX full suspension thing that I think we're going to sell to finance another box of tubes and tires and cables.
We are having 2 "bike build" days this year: October 24th and November 14th. If you want to be a part of this, it'll be a bikes-beer-and-pizza type event, at my house, Saturdays at noon time. Email me at [email protected]
More updates soon!
--Rob
More pictures of the cool bike rack. The builder is an amazing artist and I've admired her work for years. Did I mention she can also breathe fire? Really!
The rack fresh off the truck:
Filled up with BikeShare New London bikes:
Meeting and greeting and getting the word out- we have a petition in the works to City Council, and the
next bunch of "stimulus" road projects, long overdue in any case, is supposed to include "bicycle friendly"
lanes and crossings. We will see how that goes but we hope to be included in any of the planning, since
the city has asked for our input up to this point.
All for now...
--Rob
The rack fresh off the truck:
Filled up with BikeShare New London bikes:
Meeting and greeting and getting the word out- we have a petition in the works to City Council, and the
next bunch of "stimulus" road projects, long overdue in any case, is supposed to include "bicycle friendly"
lanes and crossings. We will see how that goes but we hope to be included in any of the planning, since
the city has asked for our input up to this point.
All for now...
--Rob
Well we had a little bike build day with a couple of the other gearhead types locally.
Managed to get bike #4 finished up. Pretty happy with it, it's a Huffy men's very similar
to the first bike in the thread- in fact, the rims of #1 are on #4 and vice versa.
I have to make a minor repair to the chain, as it binds a bit at the point where I
put it back together with the chainbreaker, and the shifter for the rear is kind of
stiff. I think it's in the lever, so I'll be replacing a cheap Shimano friction
lever shifter. I still like those so much more than the twist grip things.
Our other bikes have been taking a couple test rides around town. We have a
couple of "volunteers" who are more like beta-testers to make sure the bikes behave
in the urban environment. I do wonder if it's possible to have a fleet that is more
or less worry-free.
Graylock, I appreciate what you've done so far and will be happy to accept any bike
you wish to donate. I know you know the extent of work that goes into readying
one of these for daily use and completing the paint job. For me (and you I'm sure)
it's a matter of pride that the bike looks good at the end of the job too. I've been
making sure to prime everything before it's painted and removing frame stickers-
a royal pain but it helps ensure a good paint job.
I have a couple of Columbias that might end up being perfect for this, but I have
been concentrating on the ones I got that are close to ready, and they've all been
mountain bike or cruiser type bikes to this point.
Thanks again everyone for checking out the progress and maybe we'll see a bunch
of these on the road next summer in New London!
--Rob
Managed to get bike #4 finished up. Pretty happy with it, it's a Huffy men's very similar
to the first bike in the thread- in fact, the rims of #1 are on #4 and vice versa.
I have to make a minor repair to the chain, as it binds a bit at the point where I
put it back together with the chainbreaker, and the shifter for the rear is kind of
stiff. I think it's in the lever, so I'll be replacing a cheap Shimano friction
lever shifter. I still like those so much more than the twist grip things.
Our other bikes have been taking a couple test rides around town. We have a
couple of "volunteers" who are more like beta-testers to make sure the bikes behave
in the urban environment. I do wonder if it's possible to have a fleet that is more
or less worry-free.
Graylock, I appreciate what you've done so far and will be happy to accept any bike
you wish to donate. I know you know the extent of work that goes into readying
one of these for daily use and completing the paint job. For me (and you I'm sure)
it's a matter of pride that the bike looks good at the end of the job too. I've been
making sure to prime everything before it's painted and removing frame stickers-
a royal pain but it helps ensure a good paint job.
I have a couple of Columbias that might end up being perfect for this, but I have
been concentrating on the ones I got that are close to ready, and they've all been
mountain bike or cruiser type bikes to this point.
Thanks again everyone for checking out the progress and maybe we'll see a bunch
of these on the road next summer in New London!
--Rob
