Re: SpaceLiner: DevilWing (TONS of huge pics, page 3)
BrigmasterA said:
Sorry to hear about your broken bolt man... Good luck. I'm getting more and more anxious to ride my bike... It's driving my crazy how close it is... I've had a lot of fun building it and enjoyed the commraderie here on this site. Thanks again for introducing me to it man. I owe you. Big time. Thank you.
Hey I am happy you are having so much fun here, I hope it's not keeping you from getting any work done
So I went to the Home De Pot to look for a replacement bolt. Not a single bolt in the nuts-and-bolts aisle would fit, standard or metric, and I even had one of their experts help me look. Apparently Schwinn had their own specific thread size on their bolts.
I finally gave up and just took a longer bolt and stuck it through with a nut and washer on the back. I tightened it as much as I could, to the point that I started to round off the nut and bend the washer. But the bars still move when I put my weight on them (the original reason I broke that bolt was because the bars were moving and I had to tighten it too far). I ended up wrestling with it for hours, trying different things, till I finally said Heck with it and just put some quick-set metal epoxy in there to keep the bars in place. Not enough to permanently attach them there, but hopefully enough to at least be able to ride it. I had a similar problem with the seat clamp, it would see-saw on me when I was riding it, and I stripped the bolt trying to tighten it down enough. So more quick-set epoxy, after I replaced the clamp bolt.
Anyway, last night, in the middle of the night, I took it out for a long ride, on the dark deserted streets of my neighborhood. The last time I took it for a longer ride I was preoccupied with stopping to take pictures and finding other cool places to take pictures, I hadn't really just gotten a feel for the bike, to see how it really rides. I spent a couple of hours out there, going up and down hills, circling parking lots, going through back alley paths, and just riding, without lights or music, just me and the bike. I had a lot of fun, and this is what I learned:
1. Those tires are actually a lot faster than I expected. I got that thing flying at certain points, especially going down hills. And those wide tires were also a lot of fun going around turns, I could bank pretty hard.
2. That Brooks is really comfortable, especially for as old as it apparently is. The only problem is that it would still tilt back on me after a while, even with the epoxy in the clamp. I might have to replace the whole clamp.
3. Hills... hills are kind of a problem. The lower riding position makes hills hard on my knees. Today I am a little sore in my legs, I guess I was working different muscles than I normally do. Also, my back was starting to get sore from being bent over so much with the bars positioned where they are. I guess there is a trade-off between looks and comfort.
4. The kickstand has got to go. Not only is it too short to truly be effective (note the use of the rock under the kickstand in all the pictures I took), it would keep slipping down while riding over bumps and got in the way of the pedal (clank... clank... clank...) I had to keep kicking it back into place. I might just find a longer one anyway.
5. It's impossible to keep these bikes clean for very long if you're riding it around, especially with the back alleys and half-finished sidewalks that turn to muddy paths. The bike needs a clean-up before I take more pics.
Anyway, I still have the same issues, the bars still move if I put my weight on them, and the seat still tilts on me. But if you can ignore those things, it's a lot of fun to ride. If anyone knows a good trick for that, let me know.
I also picked up some supplies for detailing this weekend, but didn't get anywhere with that because I was trying to sort out the parts moving on me. I will update with detailing work soon, I hope.
I ain't giving up yet.