Bike from the Dead's Freshly-Exhumed Finds (Everything I've dug up since 6/15/21)

[Bike from the Dead]

Picked up a few goodies from the 38th Annual Springfield, Missouri bicycle swap meet today.

I got 2 26" x 2.125" Jerald Slick whitewall tires, 6 handlebar stems, and a nice black-and-white Schwinn seat.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Ok, time to update this thread again!

Back on June 1st, I checked out the Port City VW Show in Catoosa, Oklahoma once again. The cool thing about this show is that not only is it a great VW show, but it's also a great bike show! They even have events for all the folks that bring their bikes to the show, including a cruise, an obstacle course, a slow drag race, and this other game where one rider tossed a ball and the other rider tried to catch it in a bucket... as they're both moving! (I'm still trying to figure out where to post the highlights from that show.)

I brought 2 of my bikes to the show this time: my 2022 RRBBO entry and favorite rider, Shoestring, and my Schwinn step-thru klunker I built earlier this year for the ORBO. This was actually the 2nd time I brought Shoestring to the VW show; the last time I brought it out, the bike was still a work-in-progress! I rode Shoestring the most during the show, while a couple boys rode my klunker during the events.

Well, it turns out they give out awards to all the bike guys at the show, not just for winning an event, but also for best bike (or bikes) in show! I won myself a brand new Park Tool work stand, thanks to my bike Shoestring! (It might have been for both of my bikes, but I don't know. They didn't say.) Needless to say, I was stoked!

While the box may not have been in the best shape, the work stand itself was all new! I was especially excited about the little parts/tool tray and the adjustable height!

After using my Bontrager work stand for the last 5 years, it's nice to be able to work on my bikes without having them up so high. In fact, if anybody was following some of my recent threads, you might have seen it holding up a few of my projects the last couple months. It makes for a nice upgrade, that's for sure!

That said, there is one annoying drawback compared to my Bontrager stand. No matter how tightly I try to fasten everything down on this Park Tool work stand, my bikes will always sag forward and down. I've gotten somewhat used to it, but it still feels sketchy. At least on my Bontrager, there was a ratcheting feature that kept everything from sagging. Plus, the lever for the part that clamps on the frame is a bit of a pain to use. I can only rotate the lever so much before it becomes impossible for me to lock it in place, and the darn thing is almost always in the way of the frame! On my Bontrager, the clamp just used a simple knob on the front that I rotated until it was tight enough, and it was never in the way of the frame.

With all that said, I still like this Park Tool work stand well enough to keep using it for the foreseeable future.

Also, at the same VW show, I bought this 1930's Ford spare tire cover for $20. Figured it would make a great set of fenders for a fat tire bike!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Later on in June, while I was down in Texas house/pet-sitting for my brother and sister-in-law, I met up with a guy through Facebook Marketplace who was selling a bunch of bike parts, and I came home with a small bundle for $35.

I got 3 seats, a NOS pink seat to go with some pink wheels I have (they match,) a NOS black seat for the look, and comfort, and the used wild hot pink and blue seat because... well, look at it!

I also got a couple BMX bars that I plan to use on a couple klunker builds.

These tires got thrown in with the rest, as they were both a little too rough to use for anything other than display, but they were still cool, especially the 24" chainlink Carlisle!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Earlier this month, Dad was gifted this 1962 Schwinn Typhoon when the original owner visited his shop. According to Dad, the original owner was given this Schwinn when he was 9-10 years old. It had been sitting under his front porch for I don't know how long, until just about everything (including the kickstand) seized with rust from being exposed to the elements.

Dad doesn't have any immediate plans for this bike, other than maybe using it as a décor piece in his shop, but I've been dying to get my hands on one of these "cantilever straight bars" for years now, and I think this Schwinn would make an excellent pig bike! It's already halfway there with the risers and ape hangers, so why not? The only real issue is getting everything to free up.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

And now on to the latest update!

Just last Friday, Dad and I checked out the 57th Annual Ozarks Antique Auto Club swap meet in Springfield, Missouri for the first time in 5 years. I was hoping to find at least a few parts and maybe some new projects while I was there, but I didn't expect to find what I got, and especially not for the price I got it!

I got everything in this photo below from one seller, James Allen. He's been in the bicycle scene longer than I've been alive, and he's the guy who owns the Pedalers Bicycle Museum and runs the annual Springfield bicycle swap meet, the very first bicycle swap meet I ever attended back in 2019. He was actually selling a number of items for a friend who's got some health problems, though some of the stuff I bought might've belonged to James himself. Dude gave me an unbeatable deal on everything, and I made sure to thank him more than once for what I got from him.

And here is my complete haul from Springfield. The only things I didn't get from James were a splatter paint chainring, an Elgin head badge (which sadly doesn't fit the Elgin frame I got,) a Schwinn chain guard, and a tank for a Schwinn straight bar.

I don't know if this iron cross chainring accepts a regular single-speed chain or not, but it was too cool to pass up.

I was really looking forward to using this beehive springer on something, but it might only be good for parts.

This is why. Someone cut off about half of the threads and left what was left of the handlebar stem inside. Thankfully, it was tossed in for free. Hopefully I'll be able to use it, but I don't know.

I also got this prewar curved seat tube Elgin tossed in with the Spaceliner bike. I've been wanting to build one of these for a while, and this one will make for a fun project!

I tried to get the best shot of the serial number I could, but I think some of the characters are under the paint. Anyone able to tell me the year of this bike with what's visible?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Now for my favorite acquisition from this weekend: the chrome Spaceliner with the legendary fiberglass convertible tank made by @The Renaissance Man.

This bike didn't come with the wheels, tires or the blue top half of the handlebar stem; I added those to get a better idea of what this bike once looked like.

I wish I knew more about this bike, but it's cool to get an idea of what the previous owner was going for with this bike. There are all sorts of details that raise questions about this bike. Why are there nuts welded inside the handlebars? What did this bike look like when it was all together? Did the frame originally have a 7 tank? Why the orange and black paint scheme? Where's the missing hardware for the TRM tank? It's fun to think about either way!

I can't say I plan to leave this bike or the parts on it as they are, but I look forward to using all of them and giving them a new lease on life with some ideas of my own! I've acquired a lot of cool bikes and parts over the years, but this is one of my favorite scores of all time. I can't wait to see what I can do with all these new parts!