Only 2 hours in and the peroxide is really doing its thing.
This thing's already starting to take on that sitting behind a shed for decades look.
Rata del Rio Concho: 1955 Huffy father/son project.
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I decided the New Departure wheels were a bit too rusty for this build, as in I want to save them for some really rusty build, so they got shelved.
I pulled out this late 70s-early 80s Murray wheelset.
They had been spray painted silver at some point but I oven cleaner/wire brushed most of that off a while back. The chrome is meh, the spokes are kind of rusty, the rims will likely get hit with some steel wool while the spokes will get the opposite treatment getting hit with some hydrogen peroxide to really make the rust pop.
Has anyone ever seen something like this before?
There's a visible weld on the front rim, I thought it was a fix at first but it's under the plating so it must be factory. It just seems odd.
Has anyone ever seen something like this before?
I have no experience with Murrays, but I have seen rims butt welded like that before. I think an old KMart bike I found had them...
Guitarl.
Guitarl.
Fv2
Don't know what I'm doing, gonna do it anyway.
I have several Murray's, a few from that time period. Never saw a weld like that.
Seems odd that it would have escaped the factory that way, must've been end of shift for the QC person.
Seems odd that it would have escaped the factory that way, must've been end of shift for the QC person.
The front wheel has a Wald hub, the rear Shimano, both rims are stamped MOCO, which definitely points to Murray's Ohio plant. The hub serial # suggests 1981, about that time there were some Murray made bikes being sold at KMart. You may have hit the nail on the head Carl.
aka Friday production....
Coming up nicely. What was your percentage of peroxide to water again? Or is this the vinegar / peroxide mix ?
It's straight Hydrogen peroxide, no water, no vinegar.
100 proof.
It seems that so often we get so caught up in the bikes we're building we neglect the ones we've already built. So we took some time out of our busy days and went for a ride, it was Henry's first time riding with traffic and he did great after his initial fear subsided.
Here he's learning to look both ways at a busy intersection. Not pictured, Mrs. Link because she's the one taking the picture.
Cleaned and trued the wheels and rebuilt the hubs yesterday. A little dish soap and steel wool and they cleaned up nicely, about half way through I lost my assistant as Henry found something different to do with the soapy water.
I got some Kenda K-80 white walls, on the wheels and some white nos Hunt Wilde grips on the bars, and an aluminum Greenfield kickstand to keep the weight down.This morning we got everything slapped together to get an idea of how the finished product is going to look.
Then we took the rest of the day off and headed down to the river to do a little fishing.
There's not much left to do, grease the bearings, put on the chain and pedals, maybe the front rack, still on the fence on that one, then the real fun begins.
It's pretty close to being finished y'all. Today we greased everything, slapped some generic pedals and the front rack on and w e added some finishing details with some stickers I got from @Smoopy's.
And as it just so happens the Mrs. and I have a standing babysitter on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so tonight we took an 8 mile bike ride along the Concho river and stopped along the way to get some pictures with some of the cool public art along the trail. For all you VW guys;
And for you fans of Detroit tin;
I am however contemplating a seat change, those wider older seats kinda suck if any distance is involved, and I think I've got a nicely worn in Ideal saddle around here somewhere so we'll see where that goes, but for now I 'm quite pleased with this bike. I picked the right tires to transition from paved to gravel to sand trails, the bars feel comfortable, and the rebuilt Shimano hub stops on a dime. Also by having my son help me with the patina, he's learned how cool rust can be, in fact on Henry's suggestion I didn't apply a clear coat, because he said he wanted to see just how rust it could get with time.
I am however contemplating a seat change, those wider older seats kinda suck if any distance is involved, and I think I've got a nicely worn in Ideal saddle around here somewhere so we'll see where that goes, but for now I 'm quite pleased with this bike. I picked the right tires to transition from paved to gravel to sand trails, the bars feel comfortable, and the rebuilt Shimano hub stops on a dime. Also by having my son help me with the patina, he's learned how cool rust can be, in fact on Henry's suggestion I didn't apply a clear coat, because he said he wanted to see just how rust it could get with time.
Fv2
Don't know what I'm doing, gonna do it anyway.
Bike looks good, and the kid gets a science lesson in the process.
Smoopy's has some of the coolest stickers.
Trying out a different saddle, 1960's Ideale, French leather.
Aside from a tiny tear by one of the rear rivets this thing is in great shape, nice cracks, but flexible. Just in case I ordered a Retrospec riveted road saddle in brown. I know that one will work as it's my go to on half the builds I do. I'm hoping to test ride the new saddle tonight, I'll let y'all know how that turns out.
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Linkster, a 
from me on the saddle. It's seems 'Ideale' for this build. 
Nice work all around. Makes me wish I would have been into this hobby when my boys were around. And I like his take on the bare frame.
from me on the saddle. It's seems 'Ideale' for this build. Nice work all around. Makes me wish I would have been into this hobby when my boys were around. And I like his take on the bare frame.
Thanks OJ, unfortunately the Ideale saddle is a no go, in my lifetime I've had the misfortune of fracturing or really really breaking my tailbone (coccyx) 5 times, I thought leather would be the way to go, butt, mine hurts after a mile or so. So I'm going back to the original seat, just lowered a bit. It's a late 60's Persons saddle that still has the manufacturer's stickers on the underside, plenty of padding left. After a lot of riding with both, upwards to 20 miles pretty much split equally, it proved the more comfortable and thus the winner. On a side note, if anyone needs a 60's French leather saddle, I may know where you can get one.
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Thanks OJ, unfortunately the Ideale saddle is a no go, in my lifetime I've had the misfortune of fracturing or really really breaking my tailbone (coccyx) 5 times, I thought leather would be the way to go, butt, mine hurts after a mile or so. So I'm going back to the original seat, just lowered a bit. It's a late 60's Persons saddle that still has the manufacturer's stickers on the underside, plenty of padding left. After a lot of riding with both, upwards to 20 miles pretty much split equally, it proved the more comfortable and thus the winner. On a side note, if anyone needs a 60's French leather saddle, I may know where you can get one.
I was surprised how hard the brooks professional saddle I bought is , looks great but just didn't have the comfort I expected. I believe they take some some years & saddle dressing to get worked in .
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They're like baseball gloves, you have to oil them and allow them to fit to you, I love this saddle, it's supple and comfortable... for a while. In x-rays my tailbone looks like a Cheeto. A good leather saddle is great for anyone without my deformity.
Your's will probably get better with time Matt, mink oil helps, just don't take up rock climbing and suck at it, and whatever you do don't break your tailbone, it's unimaginably horrible.
