Kharkovskaya Lastochka - FINISHED

[SwissGuy]

That's way there's a saying about Soviet technology - "Gniotsya, nie lamiotsya" witch means "It bends, but it doesn't brake"

Sounds a bit like the swiss military bikes...
(I'm remembering an accident during my military service, where a bike of ours was hit by a traktor: the bike was bent, the tractors front axle was broken...)

 

[SpikeFC]

This build has so much coolness going on! Really dig the tires / fenders combo, disc front brake, 3 spd hub....

I used the Continental Retro tires on a build a couple years ago in Arizona. They ride like a dream! Fit your build perfectly!
View attachment 94745

Thanks!

When I first saw them at my shop I had a thought that they will look totally cool on this build.

Anyway - back to the menu:

Started today with installing the new brake lever, brake line & outer casing.

Also the bell came back one the steering bar, and after I took this photo I looked at it and decided - "Nope, too filthy" and treated it with my "smoothing sponge"

That's better...

Also installed the shifter.

And when I installed it I realised that i need two special brackets for the shifter cable one with the outer casing stop, and the other with a round pulley, So i dug on the internet, and found that their pretty hard to find

So instead I dug into the "Reusable Junk" box and found these.

An old brake stop, and a part of a old Romet stick shifter. The stick shifter will be converted to a pulley bracket, and I will need to fabricate a bracket for the outer casing stop.

Last time I wanted to marry that old sprocket from an MTB crankset with the Alivio crank arm.

I think that they will have a pretty good, yet not so "steady" relationship... (the sprocket isn't totally in the middle of the crank arm, but it still works!), and went on to install both the crankset and VP platform pedals (Eyup! found them in "that" box).

Those pedals are old and pretty beaten up, but I changed the grease on them, and they don't spin that bad.

So the time finally came - to put the new chain on it. Used a Shimano 1spd 114L chain, and only had to shorten it to a lenght of 112.

And finally the time came to regrease the rear hub. I think that it was never taken apart, since the nuts where pretty stuck, and it collected a lot of gunk through the years.

Also scavenged the hub bracket from the old torpedo hub that was on the wheels, and a headlight mount.

The headlight bracket will act as a rear light bracket, and will also be a mount for something special...

Also made a mount for the headlight. Again the old brake pad washers came in real handy!

Still need to decide on what I will run in the headlight, cause I have a few options, including a 12V super bright 2W LED. I used one of the mounts that was originally used for the front rack on the more "luxorius" Ukraine models. (The one on the photo below is an earlier model that used brackets instead of brazed to the fork mounts)

Next I wrapped the grips on the bar using some old wrapping that I purposedly saved when changing it on one of the customers bikes, and installed chrome plugs on the ends of the steering bar.

It's wrapped in two layers for the extra thickness and better grip under the hand (Yeah, I have kinda big hands, and always had problems with handle bars on racing bicycles - their just to thin for my hands).

And started a little bit of work on the seat mount.

Salvaged this piece from a broken seat, and bent the rear mounts inside. How this will look? You will soon find out!

Still missing the one, very crutial part for the build. Waiting for it to be shipped.

 

[kingfish254]

Killer striping and cool modernizing!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking forward to seeing what happens with the rear light bracket!

 

[Starnger]

Looks great!
I usually use 3,2v 1W power LEDs, because it is easier to use them with smaller batteries. I prefer to run 18650 because of high capacity, but normal AA/AAA would also work.

 

[Scribble]

I dig it

 

[SpikeFC]

Looks great!
I usually use 3,2v 1W power LEDs, because it is easier to use them with smaller batteries. I prefer to run 18650 because of high capacity, but normal AA/AAA would also work.

Was also thinking about that setup since you can easily obtain 18650 cells from used laptop batteries, but instead of that I want to go big and also aim in functionality - a 2Ah USB power bank (so I can reacharge easily), a step up converter to boost the voltage from 5V to 12V and then the 12V 2W LED. I actually want to be able to recharge both of the lights from USB.

I dig it

Killer striping and cool modernizing!

Thanks guys!

 

[SpikeFC]

Didn't have a lot of time since the weather got better, and more bikes keep coming in for service. Also had a very annoying customer. I can stand when people don't have any manners, talk total stupidity (like "this bike was worth 1200$ when new" and pointing to his old, beaten up cheap wall-mart-like MTB), but I can't stand when people can't respect privacy and they just rush into your workshop, and stand 2 inches from your face (and also smell very badly )

Today again I forgot to take the camera to the shop... just swell...

Not too much progress, but I started mocking up the new seat mount.

That's only the first part of it.

Mostly concentrated on making the shifter work. At first i took this pulley from my girlfriends MTB.

"Spike, why are you robbing parts from your girlfriends bikes?! That's mean!". Well, actually after I changed the derailleur on her bike, this pulley was unused, and was there just to plug a hole, designed for it in the frame.

So here is the bracket number one...

And the material that I used for other mounts & brackets - a 1mm thick alluminium sheet.

Bracket number two.

Both installed with new wire & outer casing.

Problems started when I realised that the old shift line had these on both ends...

And yes, it was impossible to salvage those... that made one big problem, since the rear mount for the chain has no screw to hold a bare shift line in place...

I wasted a solid hour looking for a solution, but i suddently realised... if the shift cable needs to have two ends with a stop...

Yeah, that cable connector is there on purpose...

Hm... THERE I FIXED IT The worst thing about it is that i actually works perfect. All 3 gears are running smoothly

@LukeTheJoker I also made the mount for the "something special" and the rear light. This might give you a little bit of a hint, on what that will be...

And this is (or at least will be) my rear light.

A "kinda" modern reproduction of an old bicycle headlight, that instead of a 6V bulb, will be fitted with this model Proximo rear light made by Kellys. It has all the features I need - It's small, the button is on the front (I will need to open the light each time to press it, but that's not "that" bad), and what's most important - It's rechargable with a standart USB charger...

Enough for today since it's time to get some sleep (It's 23:40 here), and tommorow the shop is opened, only for 4 hours, but still...

 

[toro1978]

I thought just today of exactly the same solution for my Torpedo hub because the cable is a bit short! I was thinking of extending it using the cable connector.

 

[SpikeFC]

I thought just today of exactly the same solution for my Torpedo hub because the cable is a bit short! I was thinking of extending it using the cable connector.

Great minds tend to think the same

 

[toro1978]

I also have the same headlight, I think it is pretty cool:

 

[LukeTheJoker]

@LukeTheJoker I also made the mount for the "something special" and the rear light. This might give you a little bit of a hint, on what that will be...

Number plate mount?

 

[SpikeFC]

Number plate mount?

Your correct! I found this old detailed drawing of a Polish bicycyle plate from the late 40's, and a friend of mine has a 3D printer...

Today I actually didn't forget ANYTHINGGot the camera, charged battery and the charger just to be sure...

First thing in the morning was a busy day since I had 3 bicycles and a wheel for service from the nearby town of Tarczyn (We pickup bikes from there on every monday and thursday, work on them in the shop, and haul them back on the next occasion).

But in the meantime, the courier arrived with the last parts that I ordered for my Build-Off bikes.

Set of 6 CCCP bicycle emblems only for 15$ shipping included.

So guess what was missing all along on this one...

Eyup!

Actually this one is not the exact one since they changed the emblems in the early 70's from brass ones to regular steel, but I like the looks of it. Ofcourse I had to clean it up, and polish it

Also added some smaller details - A rear view mirror, and used a normal rubber band to mount the brake cable in place.

I know that Board Trackers where meant for speed & they didn't run fenders,lights,mirrors etc. But in my case I plan to drive it sometimes to work, and even thought there are a lot of bicycle roads in Warsaw I stilll tend to ride a lot in traffic, so I just got used to using a mirror for safety. Also in PL not having both lights gives you a ticket if you run into cops.

From other smaller details I fiddled with the rear light, trying to figure out a mount that would allow me a quick detach in case I would need to recharge that small LED light inside.

All new bikes come in boxes with these whings on their front fenders, why not reuse it!

Mounted with only one screw

Also this baby shines real nice, and also looks good on the bike!

As you can also see I started the work on the seat mount. It uses two pieces of 22mm hydraulic, steel pipe & two seat brackets.

The two pipes will be welded together, and the lower one will have a piece of 3mm steel that will hold it with bolts to the other side of the frame. No modification to the frame whatsoever.

And she's almost a rider right now... Just need to finish that seat mount, paint it, do a few tweeks, and I can finally do a little ride...

Ah, but don't worry, that's not all for this one!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I bet you are looking forward to that first ride!

 

[SpikeFC]

I bet you are looking forward to that first ride!

You bet I am! That's the best thing there could be - when you bring a bike back to life and get to ride it for the first time - it never gets old

 

[SpikeFC]

The time came to work on the headlight.

First thing is to fit this thing, a Prox Ursa USB rechargable headlight...

Inside of this.

Actually since it had a rubber bracket, and velcro bracket, that proved to be easier than i thought.

Just had to drill four 5mm holes, and put rubber bands trough them.

Took apart the reflector, and removed the old LED setup, from a broken flashlight that I did years ago.

I think it needs a little hacking...

Done!

And since I got the reflector out, and before I had the plastic "glass" glued onto it (earlier it was held with electric tape ) I dug out my best friend - Autosol polishing paste, and got to work.

Much better, and since I already started polishing - I can do it to this beaten up fella.

Then I figured out I can use the hole on top of the headlight to use as a button, so I just put a long bolt that pushes on the switch in the Ursa headlight inside.

Works! This baby is perfect, like 300 Lumens perfect

Also glued the badge in place. Couldn't find simmilar rivets as the once used originally in 3 hardware stores. Some of the glue came out, but I'm still happy.

Also dug out this original pouch. Has only one mounting belt, but I will figure it out. Now I will never forget my charging cables, also will need to make a small screwdriver so i can take out the LEDs from the lights.

Actually there's a cool story behind this pouch. I traded it with a friend on a postapocalyptic LARP. He used is a Bottlcap pouch (Eyup, we use bottlecaps as currency on Post-apo LARPS, just like in the Fallout games series). As I saw it I just said - "DUDE! That's an original pouch for the Ukraina bicycle!". It was a hard bargain, but i managed to get it

Since I got that polishing paste, I decided to polish every piece of chrome and alluminium on the bike.

Also did some late night welding (21:00 to 23:00) on the seat mount, and sadly my friends welder proved to be insufficient for the job Will need to get it welded solid since it will hold my weight, and I'm not one of the lightest bicycle riders...

 

[toro1978]

Very nice work! And cool that you found an original pouch!
It is actually better that it has only one attachment loop because now it is up to you to find the solution and give the bike another personal touch.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice work on the light and polishing!

It is actually better that it has only one attachment loop because now it is up to you to find the solution and give the bike another personal touch.

Absolutely!

 

[SpikeFC]

So I didn't have a lot of time to do any progress on this one today, since I had four bikes to finish for the customers. Good news is that I got the seat mount to a welding shop, so maybe in a few days I can get it welded, painted and I can take her for a ride. Also found a good source of leather belt to make the loops for the pouch.

Also got a concept of the logo for this build. Only thing I can say now is that it will include the swallow from the original XB3 headbadge.

I'm very bad at drawing & graphics so I asked my girlfriend for some help with the design.

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Who is the derp? Spike is the derp!
I thought that my camera charger was at my workshop. When I came to the shop I realised it was home all along So my old Samsung cellphone had a tough day today cruising between a charger, and taking photos.

@sdframe I made a photo of my wokrshop in the shop for you

Also have another workshop downstairs for "heavy & dirty" work where we make most of the bikes. Will take a photo of it tommorow.

So today was marked with only one gigantic word - PROGRESS.

First of all - Centered the wheels, and their "kinda" striaght. At least enuogh centered as I could make them on those old rims, and enough so that they will not bum the frame and fenders.

Also put tires on them, and new tubes. Tubes are Continental 28" Wide, and tires are 28"x2.0 Retro.

Next thing - fitted the rear one into the frame, and put new bolts for the fender mounts.

The clearence is just stupid. There is like 2mm clearence on both sides on the lower and upper fork, but that is exactly how I wanted it to be - nice and fat.

I definetly need a new headset, don't you think?

Fear not! I have a box titled "Used Headsets" And after a while I found a matching headseat. Some of the parts in it, are still Made in USSR!

Also decided that I need to clean up the chrome on the fork. Also had to drill and re-thread all of the fender mounts in it. "Ukraine" was a typical Utility Bike, and boy, did she see some "Utility" use in the past 40 years...

Then the time came to mock up both wheels.

And boy... do I like the looks of it!

Time came to mount the front fender, and since the clearences where the same as in the rear, that was a difficult job.

Good thing is that I keep all of the old washers out of used brake pads. They come handy in a lot of situations! Had to mount this fender mount upside down for propper fitment.

As some of you may noticed I used a Quando front hub with a disc brake mount, and that's where this little fella came in handy.

Eyup! Rear coaster brake, and front 160mm disc brake, that I found in the box labeled "Reusable Junk". That box is a gift that keeps on giving!

Also found this brake caliper, and after cleaning, and greasing all the screws it came out pretty nicely (yeah I have a fetish on greasing every thread I can find - it makes maintanace a lot more easier!)

Not much more to it - but hey! Now it at least works properly.

Next step - mount the front brake setup to the fork.

And yeah, again the old brake pad washers came in handy, and yes - you guessed it! The clearences here are also crazy - 1mm from the disc to the fork.

Step three - Found the original stem and steering bar.

Took it apart, cleaned a little bit from the rust, and mounted it. to the bike.

Spike:
"I think that's a little bent..."
Spike's thoughts:
"What? No... Just put it back together, there's nothing to see here... move along..."

Step Four - BB Axle, and crankset.

Found the BB Axle that was put there years ago. Nothing special, but hey! It's like the only part that wasn't eaten away by rust. Or at least not that much...

Problems started when I finally decided on a crankset. I Choose the old Shimano Alivio crankset that came out of my Girlfriends trekking bicycle. Had to change it, cause she totally wasted most of the teeth on the biggest & middle sprocket.

Looks normal right?

ERROR! As I put it in I remembered the problems that I had with her bike, when I put a new crankset, and tried like three different lenghts of the BB Axle untill the whole setup started working. Those cranks need a very stupid lenght of the axle. With this one (that was only 124.5mm) even the smallest sprocket came out waaaaaaay outside of the rear wheel sprocket. So back to the drawing board, and then I realised something...

When I changed the crankset I also changed the BB axle, and that means that I still had the old original Shimano Alivio BB Axle to match with these cranks!

Eyup! Totally better! The only problem that I needed to solve where the chewed sprockets. Also didn't like the size of it (42 on the biggest), and the fact that all of them are connected to one another, and you can't find new replacement parts (well duh! they made them more than 20 years ago) gave this stupid idea...

Lets marry the Alivio crank arm with the biggest sprocket of this used crankset that I found in the box labeled "Broken S$%^T ! Use ONLY for postapocalyptic Costumes!" And so let the butchery begin...

But that's the step that will happen on wednesday, cause tommorow is the day to work on the project from Class 2

But that's not all! Also decided, that since she's "kinda" a roller (still need to clean and change the grease in the rear hub), she deserves to see the light of day! So took some photos outside of the shop.

And yeah - here's a hint of what my goal is - a 3speed, disc brake... Board Tracker.

Wow that’s a long post...nice stuff and I like your tire choice.