Old road bike

[horsefarmer]

Wow, Saw this on our TV news.https://www.freep.com/story/news/lo...=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable
Crazy winds here too, but thankfully we fell between the blizzard line and the freezing rain!
https://www.weau.com/content/news/Winter-weather-causes-damage-to-Wisconsin-farms-506168611.htmlOfficials advised staying off the roads so we did. Some who ventured out had problems.
https://www.cbs58.com/news/one-dead-following-multi-vehicle-accident-in-winnebago-county
Will survey damage here today, I know at least one shelter roof will need emergency repairs...

 

[Grant]

Old road bikes
they're so old
they're road bikes
oh, yes they are!

 

[us56456712]

Old road bikes
they're so old
they're road bikes
oh, yes they are!

I rode it on Saturday in the Mackinac Island Classic Bike Ride and show.

 

[us56456712]

I rode it last night in a peloton with bunch of hot shots with carbon bikes. I had to quit after 28 miles, they went 45. I thought I was going to die, 16-18 mph is too fast for my old bike and legs. Top was speed 41 mph. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning

 

[Grant]

I love the Osgear shifting. Very sketchy!

 

[Grant]

I rode it last night in a peloton with bunch of hot shots with carbon bikes. I had to quit after 28 miles, they went 45. I thought I was going to die, 16-18 mph is too fast for my old bike and legs. Top was speed 41 mph. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning

Do you have a picture of the working bike?

 

[us56456712]

The only pictures available after I finished it are of the components that someone took during the annual Mackinac Island Vintage Bike Ride, These pictures I stole from the Great Lakes Vintage Bicycle Club Facebook page.

 

[Grant]

The only pictures available after I finished it are of the components that someone took during the annual Mackinac Island Vintage Bike Ride, These pictures I stole from the Great Lakes Vintage Bicycle Club Facebook page.View attachment 111322View attachment 111325 View attachment 111326

Makes my oldest bike look like a modern day carbon bike.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Is that "indexed" shifting? Love the axle nuts.

 

[Grant]

Is that "indexed" shifting? Love the axle nuts.

It is indexed shifting. It is Osgear.

 

[Grant]

http://classiccycleus.com/home/shifting-times/

 

[Grant]

There was a version where the chain tension was done manually. Unlike the French bike where a cable pulls the tensioner. Here is the lever version with a single cable. You can see the lever tension the chain. This one has the tensioner do the shifting as well. You would loosen the chain and pedal backwards. To actually shift, the rider would literally have to put his hand on the moving chain and push it to the side. You could loose a finger if you were not careful.

Here is a bike that uses a derailleur built tensioner, but the cogs move while the derailleur.

The gold bike has an Osgear derailleur, where there is two cables. One moves the derailleur (which is a little slot that pushes the chain) and the other moves the tension arm at the same time. It i quite brilliant.


After the gold bike, Osgear made this derailleur which is basically a 1960s 5 speed derailleur, except with only one jockey wheel.

Here is a twin pull shifter. The derailleur did not have springs, so a second cable pulled on the end of the derailleur. This was better than a BB mounted tensioner. These were usually made by Cyclo. The top tube shifter would operate the 3 external gears. The handle bar shifter on this bike was made so the bike could have an extra 3 speed hub shifter. These 2 shifters made it a 9 speed bike.

The 10 speed bike with a 2x10 derailleur was invented around 1948-1949



The first shifting was the Cambio Corsa. This shifter had 2 levers. One to tension the chain and another to shift. These were on the right hand seat stay. The big lever would move the wheel back and fourth while riding, while the small one moved the derailleur side to side.

The Paris Roubaix shifter, which was later on can do both of these functions with one rod.

The first multi speed bicycles just had flip flop hubs. This BSA has threads on the left side of the hub for this. These bikes had wing nuts so the rider could flip the wheel with no tools.

The story is that Tulio Campagnolo was climbing a large hill in Italy, when he needed to flip the wheel to use the larger freewheel. It was so cold that he could not move the wing nuts He did make the climb in the hard gear though. He said "Something needs to change.".

 

[SpikeFC]

The first shifting was the Cambio Corsa. This shifter had 2 levers. One to tension the chain and another to shift. These were on the right hand seat stay. The big lever would move the wheel back and fourth while riding, while the small one moved the derailleur side to side.
View attachment 111349

You forgot to mention the best thing about this - You had to do it while riding the bike. The upper lever actually loosens the quick realese on the wheel, so while shifting you're wheel was free on the dropouts... I actually seen a video of a guy riding a bike with the Cambio Corsa, and boy... that thing was sick...

Also worth mentioning is that this thing was actually made by Campagnolo, the same Campagnolo that invented the quick release mechanism that we use widely today.

 

[Grant]

You forgot to mention the best thing about this - You had to do it while riding the bike. The upper lever actually loosens the quick realese on the wheel, so while shifting you're wheel was free on the dropouts... I actually seen a video of a guy riding a bike with the Cambio Corsa, and boy... that thing was sick...

Also worth mentioning is that this thing was actually made by Campagnolo, the same Campagnolo that invented the quick release mechanism that we use widely today.

Yes you do shift while cycling. I call them suicide shifters.

 

[us56456712]

Is that "indexed" shifting? Love the axle nuts.

It's not really index shifting as the cogs are not canted. It's closer to the grip click shift on a front derailleur. If it's adjusted right the indents work, but nothing close to even a 1960s derailleur. You can see the grove where the shift lever has been taken beyond the indents over the last 80 years. Sometimes it goes out of adjustment on a long ride and you have to place it between dents and it keeps gong into the dents so you need to constantly move it, which is a pain on a 40 mile ride. It's a 4 speed and you really don't want to shift this thing unless you really have to, like to climb a steep hill. I usually ride it in top gear or 3rd and just pedal harder, rather than shift as you never know what your are going to get. You have to tighten or loosen the tensioner with each shift. I enjoy riding it and the bike is very light so a lot of gears aren't necessary for enjoyable riding.

 

[horsefarmer]

Wow! Awesome history. I had no idea they had bikes that shifted like this.
Makes you appreciate modern hubs and derailleurs.
This should be in it's own thread - very interesting stuff.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Very cool stuff

 

[Grant]

Wow! Awesome history. I had no idea they had bikes that shifted like this.
Makes you appreciate modern hubs and derailleurs.
This should be in it's own thread - very interesting stuff.

How old bicycles had automatic chain Oilers in the frame.

 

[Grant]

Osgear Dave's Poke Your Eye Out. Modified with hollowtech BB and Bullseye MTB cranks.

 

[us56456712]

There was a version where the chain tension was done manually. Unlike the French bike where a cable pulls the tensioner. Here is the lever version with a single cable. You can see the lever tension the chain. This one has the tensioner do the shifting as well. You would loosen the chain and pedal backwards. To actually shift, the rider would literally have to put his hand on the moving chain and push it to the side. You could loose a finger if you were not careful.
View attachment 111345


Here is a bike that uses a derailleur built tensioner, but the cogs move while the derailleur.
View attachment 111346


The gold bike has an Osgear derailleur, where there is two cables. One moves the derailleur (which is a little slot that pushes the chain) and the other moves the tension arm at the same time. It i quite brilliant.


After the gold bike, Osgear made this derailleur which is basically a 1960s 5 speed derailleur, except with only one jockey wheel.
View attachment 111347

Here is a twin pull shifter. The derailleur did not have springs, so a second cable pulled on the end of the derailleur. This was better than a BB mounted tensioner. These were usually made by Cyclo. The top tube shifter would operate the 3 external gears. The handle bar shifter on this bike was made so the bike could have an extra 3 speed hub shifter. These 2 shifters made it a 9 speed bike.
View attachment 111348


The 10 speed bike with a 2x10 derailleur was invented around 1948-1949



The first shifting was the Cambio Corsa. This shifter had 2 levers. One to tension the chain and another to shift. These were on the right hand seat stay. The big lever would move the wheel back and fourth while riding, while the small one moved the derailleur side to side.
View attachment 111349


The Paris Roubaix shifter, which was later on can do both of these functions with one rod.
View attachment 111350

The first multi speed bicycles just had flip flop hubs. This BSA has threads on the left side of the hub for this. These bikes had wing nuts so the rider could flip the wheel with no tools.
View attachment 111351


The story is that Tulio Campagnolo was climbing a large hill in Italy, when he needed to flip the wheel to use the larger freewheel. It was so cold that he could not move the wing nuts He did make the climb in the hard gear though. He said "Something needs to change.".

The flip flop hub. The man's gear and the woman's gear for climbing. They had derailleurs but it was unmanly to use them for many years. It was bad if enough if you had to flip your hub and lower yourself to the level where you had to use the woman's gear. A derailleur was for a wuss. A real man would only supplement his cork or leather brake pad action by dragging his feet, but only to save his life so he could continue racing to represent his bicycle company. He doped by ingesting either, nitroglycerine, alcohol and Strychnine. Dirty tricks and sabotage were common. We need a road race with twenty 400+ Km stages where you have a steel frame, wood wheels, tubular tires, flip flop hub, cork brake pads and no support of assistance with mechanical repairs. You have to wrap spare tires around yourself so you look like the Michelin Man. Those old time races were made from a different mold.