Somet Hingo Rother

[Ulu]

Thank you for showing all the pictures of your tools and workshop. It’s the kind of stuff that I don’t get to see here at all, let alone the Soviet bikes.

It appears the Shimano derailer you used this the same one that I cut apart to make my DIY chain tensioner. It was a much nicer derailer than the newer ones from Shimano that I own.

I think the tank looks great so far but when I looked at the side view of the bike I realized that it still has the folding joint in the down tube. Clearly, the tank can never fold in half, so that folding joint makes my head explode.

If you are not able to remove it and splice the tubing, this would be a perfect opportunity to disguise it with a fake engine, or use it has the motor mount for a real one.

Maybe it could be disguised as part of a small toolbox or lunchbox built into the bicycle.

Maybe it could be totally ignored and you would be a happy man. How can I know?

Good luck on the completion and three bravos on the PVC work.

 

[GeePig]

I think the tank looks great so far but when I looked at the side view of the bike I realized that it still has the folding joint in the down tube. Clearly, the tank can never fold in half, so that folding joint makes my head explode.

If you are not able to remove it and splice the tubing, this would be a perfect opportunity to disguise it with a fake engine, or use it has the motor mount for a real one.

And there indeed is the surprise!

I do have plans for a fake engine, but I decided long ago to do it as part of my winter build. My last winter build involved creating a tank, seat and tail light unit that fitted straight onto a frame. This year I indeed plan to create a fake engine for it, but it is going to be a tight fit to get it between the pedals.

 

[GeePig]

Progress is progressing, and the time has come to turn the bike upside down in order to get the crank, pedals and chain all on. I have not been able to instail them before, as the wooden stand I use tends to get in the way.

So here we are, with a couple of chunks of expanded polystyrene from the house insulation project to keep everything wobble-free. It was also time to tighten up some things, like the seat and handlebars clamps.

I repainted the sprocket and arms, but they have got a little dusty while sitting in their boxes on the wall. It is a very much smaller crank than originally fitted, and shorter crank arms too, because these came off the 20" wheeled kids bike that I bought last year for the aluminium rimmed 36-spoke wheels and off-road tread tyres to go on my city-based Wigry project. I reckon I have probably re-used everything except the frame off that bike, I have even installed the crank here.

Here are the bits off the crank I chose not to use, as they add no value visually for this build. I do not mind using plastic here for items that are structural or pseudo-structural, but not purely decorative, as it is supposed to be a racing bike.

While I was tidying up my collection of wheel nut 'washers' after selecting items for the front wheel, I decided to reuse the now unwanted frame clips that were originally used to clamp the cables in place. Well, perhaps 30 years is long service for such simple clips, so I decided to reuse them to keep my small collection of varied wheel washers in order.

There they are, snuggled up in the big central box in my bits and pieces storage. I cannot remember where most of the stuff came from, which is one of the reasons I like to store my unused bikes as bare frames. So if I need some wheel nuts, they are all here, rather than scattered around a pile of bicycles. This is the kind of thing that lets me focus on how the bike is going to be built right at the start - I can visually assemble a whole new bike I have never yet seen by knocking down every other bike into parts first. It helps, because I know that each of my builds has difficult elements, like mudguards and fuel tanks, meaning that I won't be messing around looking for parts to assemble them.

Anyway, time is getting on, and the build is coming together nicely.

 

[SwissGuy]

Man, I have to get one of these boxes sometime to get my small parts in order. Now they sit in many individual bags and (tin)boxes within those grey Euro boxes and if I need something I always have to go through all those bags and boxes to find the right part...

 

[GeePig]

Man, I have to get one of these boxes sometime to get my small parts in order. Now they sit in many individual bags and (tin)boxes within those grey Euro boxes and if I need something I always have to go through all those bags and boxes to find the right part...

Oh yes, I have been there, I used to have a box with a ton of filled plastic bags in it. This time I have four big ones of these holding all my hubs, crank parts etc, and three smaller ones for bolts, nuts and washers. So, so much easier...

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I can’t believe it has taken me THIS long to ‘get’ the name of your build thread….

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Haha, that makes two of us! After your comment I was challenged to crack the code myself. It finally clicked.

Great job @GeePig on the PVC tank. It really came together after the body work and paint!

 

[kingfish254]

It might be cool to paint that little sprocket doodad red to tie in with the frame color. Just a thought. Or use it to dress up the gas cap.

 

[kingfish254]

I can’t believe it has taken me THIS long to ‘get’ the name of your build thread….

Haha, that makes two of us! After your comment I was challenged to crack the code myself. It finally clicked.

Great job @GeePig on the PVC tank. It really came together after the body work and paint!

That's funny, I caught it right away at the beginning of bo17. I just figured it had to be a play on words jumble.

 

[Ulu]

I thought it was Polish.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I'll bet that Sean Connery on Celebrity Jeopardy would've had no problem reading it.

 

[GeePig]

Now is the time when the serious stuff happens, once we get that chain on.

The chain, renovated derailleur and 6-speed hub are all from the cheapo bent framed bike I got in exchange for one of my five Jubilats, the blue one in my first post on this thread. It was a bargain that was hard to explain, because I did not need the bike, she did in order to get exercise for her heart, and I got a knackered bike with a lot of elements that I could use on my Romet collection. I like the way the sprocket and cranks are small , as that increases the ground clearance when off road. That huge gear on the derailleur is also going to be handy.

Now it is down on the ground and rideable for the first time, but I realised I am going to have to add a sidestand, as I need it to stand up without leaning it against a wall, tree or something. Funnily enough, I love the handlebar grips on it, they kind of remind me of when I used to have what are now old motorcycles.

I dragged down my basket of sidestands. I rarely use them as it is usually easier to lean the bike against a wall or just lay it down on the ground. In truth, most of them are too short for my tires.

I chose the one second from the right as it was marginally longer than the rest. Fitting it was a problem, as the encased nut holding the rear mudguard on rather got in the way.

Here it is, ready for its first test run. See how it matches its environment? This is part of the reason why it looks the way it does - rather than having added decoration, because everything has to survive being ridden off-road. The single road through the village we live on runs out of tarmac when the village runs out of houses, about 3/4 of a mile up the hill. In the other direction it descends and zig-zags to the next village.

Now I have to do the thing I am always a bit reluctant to do - take it out for a spin. I know I need to realign the rear tyre, and that the rear wheel rim is distorted around where they welded it so that it can never be fully straightened, but I really enjoy prepping my bikes rather than riding them - until I get them a mile or so away from home. Less than a mile and it is just a test ride, more than a mile and we are out doing something - off road.

 

[GeePig]

I can’t believe it has taken me THIS long to ‘get’ the name of your build thread….

I let it sit there and waited

 

[GeePig]

It might be cool to paint that little sprocket doodad red to tie in with the frame color. Just a thought. Or use it to dress up the gas cap.

View attachment 206991

Yes, I thought about it, but then in the end I decided to keep the red frame of the bike as the major piece that it is, since it has that massive fold just above it. Rather than detailing, as the sprocket is relatively small, I decided to keep it simple and functional.

It is funny how much detailing I see in this area on bikes in the US, because elsewhere the chain guard was often a simple cover or a full encasement, and the sprocket a fixed design. Boy, did I see a LOT of Raleigh sprockets growing up!

As for the tank, I might actually paint it, or I might re-use the tank and paint the tank then. Decisions, decisions...

 

[GeePig]

The first road test was complete chaos because I could not change gear at all, ho ho, because I had mounted the gear change slightly too close to the brake. I have never had this problem before, but there you go!

Getting the chain all the way up onto the biggest gear was a challenge, and took more fiddling with the adjustment This was not unexpected, given that the derailleur was built from two different makes and I had not made any changes to the chain length, even though it was from a very different type of bike.

If you look closely, you can see I have a pair of domed nuts on the front wheels - I could fit these because the forks have a larger axle diameter than the standard Jubilat has. This is one of the reasons I chose these forks. Anyway, my other Jubilat in the warsztat also has domed nuts on the rear, and although the hubs are different, the axle size is the same. Should I exchange them?

The front brake is nice, but the rear brake has rather awkward routing of the two-piece cable, making it rather stiff to use - although it still works well.

This is how it looks from the seat. That is three more cables than my other Jubilat in the warsztat has...

This is how everything packs in, and if you think that the seat looks awkward...

... it is because the bike is this small

I hope to get some riding pictures in the next few days, as well as some more stationery ones once I give it a bit of a clean up.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The control setup is really good, you nailed the motorcycle vibe. Fantastic craftsmanship on the tank, that tube worked out far better than I expected. Fun little build!

 

[GeePig]

The control setup is really good, you nailed the motorcycle vibe. Fantastic craftsmanship on the tank, that tube worked out far better than I expected. Fun little build!

Thanks, I am pleased how it has all been transformed from the rough hack in my bike collection to something that is worth riding

 

[kingfish254]

I really like how this one turned out. It has cool minivelo / motorcycle vibe. That tank really sets it off, but build flows well around it.
Well done!

 

[GeePig]

I really like how this one turned out. It has cool minivelo / motorcycle vibe. That tank really sets it off, but build flows well around it.
Well done!

Ah, minivelo, that was the word I was looking for. I have kind of drifted into this section of the bike market without realising it...

 

[GeePig]

I went for a ride up the village, but forgot to take pictures of the bike while I was there... I did take one of this cottage, which is a bit like my bike, as it has just been moved backwards onto new foundations, and if you look at those four areas of missing boards you can see the pale blue of the original 3" thick walled timber cottage. Ours is very similar, except it now has an extra layer of polystyrene around the outside.

One of the problems of adjusting the derailleur when the bike is upside down is that you have to readjust it after putting the bike the right way up and, if it is an older bike, after you first ride it. That big gear at the back is huge, and although the gearset and gear selector is off the same bike, that slope in the axle mounting could be different to the original bike.

I need to take it out for another test ride, maybe later today, and actually take pictures of the bike.

I have been busy for the last couple of days rebuilding my orange Wigry, but I cannot finish it as the saddle is on my current bike. Still, I only need to finish the front end, and get the new (old) black wiring connected up. I have a lot of wiring and lighting as I rarely use classic dynamos, but I am short of bulbs. Tigger, the Jubilat that usually inhabits my workshop all year around, used to have two dynamos, front and rear, as I had so many lying around.