Hercufleas Camel Back

[us56456712]

Nice work @us56456712!

I have welded chainwheels to cranks before, provided the surface is flat and you check it after tacking, they always seem to turn out well!

It wobbles a little but I think it is from when I put it into the vice squeezed and pounded the 2 parts together. It was a very tight fit and I was worried that I might have bent the chain wheel. I think once it is welded securely that it can be tweaked back. It's not a bad wobble.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I think once it is welded securely that it can be tweaked back.

This is why I love working with steel!

 

[franconuevo]

Going to be -8F tonight. We got another foot of snow over the last 2 days so I had to spend the afternoon shoveling my sidewalk, mailbox, driveway, patio and deck. The rule is once you finish shoveling/snow blowing a snow plow goes buy. That is exactly what happened but my young neighbor, Brian, blew out my driveway where the snow plow driver deposited the excess snow. I didn't have to go outside to shovel again. My across the street neighbor had his 92 birthday the day before Christmas and he was shoveling yesterday and snow blowing today. My other neighbor offered to do it for him for $30. Boy did he get mad, his wife called up and gave them a piece of her mind, "my husband is perfectly capable of shoveling us out". Very cold here still but it is going to warm up to 30F next week. My furnace went out yesterday and I really didn't notice it because I have a wood fire supplement. Well about 4 AM this morning I got so cold I had to get up and put on a flannel shirt, pants and heavy wool sox. This morning I could see my breath so I stoked up the wood fire, called the heating contractor, put on 2 jackets, a wool hat, ear muffs and gloves. Three hours later we were back in business with a new thermocouple. That was not fun, especially trying to sleep in outdoor wear.

Hearty stock, you Yoopers.
Believe me, I know..back when I was a young man, I built a house in the middle of the woods in the middle of 26 acres in the middle of Maine. Wood heat was my only system....two wood stoves.
6 cords of wood I cut split stacked every winter for 9 years.
My bathroom was an outhouse.
I'd bring the car battery inside every night just so one of my vehicles might start. Coldest was -27 degrees F. one night in January.
Many weeks where the 'high' was 0.
I finally had enough when it dawned on me, that if you accidentally locked yourself out of the house for 20 minutes, you could die of exposure.

 

[us56456712]

Hearty stock, you Yoopers.
Believe me, I know..back when I was a young man, I built a house in the middle of the woods in the middle of 26 acres in the middle of Maine. Wood heat was my only system....two wood stoves.
6 cords of wood I cut split stacked every winter for 9 years.
My bathroom was an outhouse.
I'd bring the car battery inside every night just so one of my vehicles might start. Coldest was -27 degrees F. one night in January.
Many weeks where the 'high' was 0.
I finally had enough when it dawned on me, that if you accidentally locked yourself out of the house for 20 minutes, you could die of exposure.

About 50 years ago my wife used to live up here year round in a Teepee. Before we were married I went to visit her family one winter Friday night after work. I slept on an old army cot next to the double wall canvas that was stuffed with straw for insulation. There were 4 people in there on cots. I had my LL Bean Arctic Sleeping Bag. They had a small wood stove in the center with a metal stove pipe that went up near the opening in the top of the teepee. We had tea and I thought it would be fun to sleep there. It got to -45F and the birch trees were freezing and cracking like guns. I went to pick up my tea cup in the morning and the heat had melted it into the ground and I couldn't move it because it was frozen in the dirt. The fire was long out. My car wouldn't start but a friendly neighbor was driving up and down the rural gravel road jump starting everyone. My tires had a flat spot from sitting overnight and the cold had made that semi permanent, causing the rubber to loose all flexibility. It was like driving on a washboard. After awhile the heat of friction and centrifugal force made them round again. That was the coldest night I ever stayed out in. Forty years ago my wife and I spent a week in a wilderness cabin in Northern Ontario. It got down to -40F and C as the two temperatures are the same at -40 (Mr. Fahrenheit meets Miss. Celsius as we say here). The propane lights kept getting dimmer and dimmer until they went out when the propane froze at -40. The coldest night of my life was -67F and my pipes in the basement froze. That was 30 years ago. They cancelled school because none of the busses would start. When I was in High School they never used to cancel school. If there was a storm there was just less kids at school because the busses would get stuck so they didn't run. Everyone else walked or snow shoed to school. In the biggest storm I remember I couldn't get out of the house because all the doors were packed shut to the top and beyond with drifted snow (still happens once in awhile). My mother opened the curtains in the morning and started screaming. I opened a kitchen window and threw out my snowshoes and dove out after them. I got to the first cross street and there was a drift at the corner that was 15 feet high straight up and I couldn't get over it so I had to go back home and shoveled out the doors. There were places where the drifts were about 10 feet below the telephone lines. Some small communities had only one road open, in and out, that winter because it would have been too hard for the County Road Commission to auger through all the roads. A store roof in town collapsed. This storm was a piker compared to one my Dad told me about that occurred in the 1930s. Now a days they plow it all and cancel school when there is a snow flake.

 

[franconuevo]

About 50 years ago my wife used to live up here year round in a Teepee. Before we were married I went to visit her family one winter Friday night after work. I slept on an old army cot next to the double wall canvas that was stuffed with straw for insulation. There were 4 people in there on cots. I had my LL Bean Arctic Sleeping Bag. They had a small wood stove in the center with a metal stove pipe that went up near the opening in the top of the teepee. We had tea and I thought it would be fun to sleep there. It got to -45% and the birch trees were freezing and cracking like guns. I went to pick up my tea cup in the morning and the heat had melted it into the ground and I couldn't move it because it was frozen in the dirt. The fire was long out. My car wouldn't start but a friendly neighbor was driving up and down the rural gravel road jump starting everyone. My tires had a flat spot from sitting overnight and the cold had made that semi permanent, causing the rubber to loose all flexibility. It was like driving on a washboard. After awhile the heat of friction and centrifugal force made them round again. That was the coldest night I ever stayed out in. Forty years ago my wife and I spent a week in a wilderness cabin in Northern Ontario. It got down to -40F and C as the two temperatures are the same at -40 (Mr. Fahrenheit meets Miss. Celsius as we say here). The propane lights kept getting dimmer and dimmer until they went out when the propane froze at -40. The coldest night of my life was -67F and my pipes in the basement froze. They cancelled school because none of the busses would start. They never used to cancel school. If there was a storm there was just less kids at school because the busses would get stuck. Everyone else walked or snow shoed to school. In the biggest storm I remember I couldn't get out of the house because all the doors were packed shut to the top and beyond with drifted snow (still happens once in awhile). My mother opened the curtains in the morning and started screaming. I opened a kitchen window and threw out my snowshoes and dove out after them. I got to the first cross street and there was a drift at the corner that was 15 feet high straight up and I couldn't get over it so I had to go back home and shoveled out the doors. There were places where the drifts were about 10 feet below the telephone lines. Some small communities had only one road open, in and out, that winter because it would have been too hard for the County Road Commission to auger through all the roads. A store roof in town collapsed. This storm was a piker compared to one my Dad told me about that occurred in the 1930s. Now a days they plow it all and cancel school when there is a snow flake.

My God, that's brutal.
Still, I notice there's a lot of bike people in Michigan, and in the U.P., which actually surprised me....
Not gonna let a little thing like a 15' snowdrift keep you from a nice leisurely ride.

"now...where did I leave my bike..oh, there it is."

 

[us56456712]

My God, that's brutal.
Still, I notice there's a lot of bike people in Michigan, and in the U.P., which actually surprised me....
Not gonna let a little thing like a 15' snowdrift keep you from a nice leisurely ride.

"now...where did I leave my bike..oh, there it is."
View attachment 42766

I just got back from 10.97 mile ride. It was as good as it gets for winter riding here. I was the first one on the snow bike trail after it was groomed, but it was too soft so I rode the city bike path. It is going to be cold tonight and tomorrow so it should set up and get hard. I am looking forward to trying the snow bike trail tomorrow. I'll go in the afternoon after all the eager young rides have compressed it. Ha, with age comes wisdom.

 

[OddJob]

Love your stories US of the UP! Wow, that teepee night must have been a wing dinger. And, it didn't sway you from marrying her! Now that's dedication.

And per trail riding, I always said the best time to ride a trail was in the days and first week that followed a race day on that trail. You can't replicate 500-700 laps to pack down and firm up the berms like you do during an mtb race....

 

[us56456712]

I have some welding and paint prep on my build off bike but it is going to be too miserable to work in my shop until next week. Tomorrow morning my buddy is bringing over his 1952 Schwinn Typhoon and we will bring that inside and start rebuilding it in the spare bedroom. He is pretty handy and not afraid to learn. I just tell him what he needs to do and he dives right in and does it. It's great as it goes so fast. Here is our weather outlook for the next two days. Too cold to weld.

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN UPPER
MICHIGAN AND CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

ANOTHER ROUND OF GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS...BLOWING SNOW AND
LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL IMPACT THE WEST TO NORTHWEST WIND SNOW
BELTS TONIGHT AS AN ARCTIC AIRMASS SURGES INTO THE AREA. SEE THE
LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

WAVES BUILDING AS HIGH AS 14 FEET NEAR THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHORE EAST
OF MUNISING WILL CAUSE SOME MINOR FLOODING AND BEACH EROSION IN THAT
AREA.

WIND CHILLS WILL FALL AS LOW AS 30 BELOW ZERO NEAR THE WISCONSIN
BORDER OVERNIGHT. SEE THE LATEST WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR FURTHER
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

WINDS CHILLS AS LOW AS 30 BELOW ZERO WILL PERSIST NEAR THE WISCONSIN
BORDER ON FRIDAY MORNING. SEE THE LATEST WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

Winter build offs are a challenge here. I'm planning on keeping painting to minimum.

 

[johnp.smith]

Something I learned about cottered cranks a few builds ago is that the center pins come in various lengths and also the bearing races also come in different dimensions meaning some are further apart then others. Check ebay, it took me 3 purchases to get the right sized one to fit my frame. I went from a square tapered bottom bracket to a cottered crank set up. It wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. Dont give up. Im a big fan of all old english bicycles. Havent rat rodded one yet, i might have to soon. Good luck with your build

 

[us56456712]

Something I learned about cottered cranks a few builds ago is that the center pins come in various lengths and also the bearing races also come in different dimensions meaning some are further apart then others. Check ebay, it took me 3 purchases to get the right sized one to fit my frame. I went from a square tapered bottom bracket to a cottered crank set up. It wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. Dont give up. Im a big fan of all old english bicycles. Havent rat rodded one yet, i might have to soon. Good luck with your build

I have a few old cotters. In the past I used the Sheldon Brown method of filing the flat on an oversized cotter until it went in far enough. I did this on my others Hercules. Since I am using the original crank arms the old cotters should work, If not, I can get Raleigh replacements. The problem with my other Hercules is that one of the crank arms was ruined so I replaced it with a Chinese one and had to rig up the cotter. Works. The only thing I did different than Sheldon was to put the cotter in a vice so that all filing would remain parallel. When the file rubbed evenly on the vice plates I would move it up, eyeballing it so it was clamped in the vice parallel to the flat. File a little, test fit, file more, etc. I hope the old cotters will work good enough. This bike is just going to be used on the bike path and around my neighborhood. The Raleigh bottom bracket is threaded differently and has the races farther apart, but I am reusing everything. Headsets are also a problem. You need an exact replacement. This one has loose ball bearings, as does the bottom bracket, but it works great as long as you use the original parts. My existing races and bearings are great so I am reusing them. I re-welded the Chinese chain wheel onto the Raleigh crank arm and that turned out good. I am trying to keep this build simple. I was going to paint it blue, to match the tires, but currently I am thinking about leaving the paint alone. I painted the area around the head badge and the fork crown black and that might be it for paint. It is easier in the winter to just paint highlights as I can put it by the wood stove to cure. I would have to paint it outside in the cold and bring it inside to hang. Stinks up the house. Highlights don't give off that many vapors so I might do some more, perhaps blue darts?

 

[us56456712]

I got the back tire mounted up and did a test fit on the frame. I'll have to file a little off the drop outs. I don't want to file the axle flat so it will fit as the frame is junk and I might want to use these wheels on another bike someday. I replaced the original 26 x 1 3/8 wheel with a 700C wheel. There is still a ton of room. This hub came with spacers and it fits the width of the dropouts perfectly without the spacers.

I'm in no hurry as I have some parts coming via China Post. I ordered January first and it might take another month or two for the parts to arrive. I can tinker, perhaps paint blue darts, while I wait. I can't decide on handle bars or a seat post. I am thinking of using old alloy road bars and perhaps welding up a gallows seat post. The gallows post would look better than the set back one I have. I'll have to see how the bike fits me. Going from an upright 3 speed city bike to drop bars might make the cockpit a little tight. My other older Hercules fits me fine so I have to see.

 

[us56456712]

Front fork is 93mm, wheel hub 100mm. The good news is that the axle fits the drop outs. Here is my lazy man fork spreading using an old furniture clamp with vice grips to hold the static arm from moving as it won't bind and stay in reverse. Very fast spreading method as the clamp had very course threads. There is so much leverage you can hardly tell there is resistance.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks like good progress!

 

[us56456712]

I dug some more junk out of my parts heap. I found a gallows seat post I made two years ago for one of my build off bikes. I broke that homemade frame (poor engineering) so this is left over. I also found a cool old Nitto forged stem that I want to use. I might use a straight post or perhaps weld up a better gallows one?

 

[us56456712]

Some more possibilities.

 

[us56456712]

Wow, the only seat post I have that fits is the drain pipe set back one that I originally had on this frame. I used my digital calipers and got 7/8 inch or 22.2 mm. Sheldon Brown has an extensive Raleigh seat post diameter chart and non of them he has listed are even close. Anyone have an idea where I can get a cheap steel gallows style? I guess I won't be using any of my extensive collection of one inch posts. I might have to use the set back one. I was already wondering what this bike would look like with vintage stuff and modern wheels? Now I might have to use a funky looking seat post as well. For some reason I thought these old Raleigh built bikes had 1 inch posts?

 

[us56456712]

I found 3 short 7/8 seat posts in my junk pile. It would be easier to throw a little money at this and buy a gallows one, but I can't find one. The ones I found that are close to what I want are way too expensive. I might weld two of these stubby 7/8 posts together to make a longer post and then weld part of the third one onto the top to make the angle for the gallows seat clamp area? I have lengthened Schwinn posts with this method. This is becoming a pain, fabricating a crank arm and now a seat post. This was susposed to be an easy build.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

You can buy 7/8th steel stock pretty cheap, may be an option for you?

 

[squirreldh]

http://www.jbi.bike/site/product_details.php?part_number=51709

J&B sells them, should be able to get your local bike shop to order it, they are in stock at their Minnesota warehouse, or search for a online distributor. Shiny new chrome may not fit your build though, they do offer it in black as well.

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[squirreldh]

For some reason I thought these old Raleigh built bikes had 1 inch posts?

I thought that as well! Interesting this frame is so small in the seatpost size.


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