Tips n Trix

[us56456712]

Cold spreading using a furniture clamp. Fast with the course thread. Wooden clamps also work but are slower and awkward to use.

 

[us56456712]

It’s my personal opinion, but I think a klunker build is pretty much ruined if a BMX cap stem is used on MX style bars with the cross brace. If the cross brace is thinner than the bars or if the cross brace is flat where it’s attached to the bars then an alloy or steel road type quill stem can be easily used. The gooseneck doesn’t have to be opened very far or perhaps not at all if the attachment is flat. A threaded hole can be used through the stem and bars to keep it from moving, but you usually don’t have to do that if you use alloy bars. Steel bars seem to move on drops and woop de doos.

 

[us56456712]

Has anybody not considered these for their toolbox?

View attachment 181409
Designed for barbed-wire fencing, they are actually very handy for scroungers like us. I use them all the time when raiding the scrap bin--the side cutters are perfect for snipping through old spokes. Save the fancy tools for repair work....these are my wrecking ball!

I bring the wheel home and if I only want the hub I cut the spokes out with an angle grinder. It’s fast. The cut off spokes and rim go to the local volunteer fire department scrap drive.

 

[K_50]

I didn't have the right tool for installing self extracting crank bolts. So I made one out of a keyring.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I didn't have the right tool for installing self extracting crank bolts. So I made one out of a keyring.

While being extra careful not to scratch that purple?

 

[K_50]

While being extra careful not to scratch that purple?

Yep

 

[MattiThundrrr]

@kingfish254 applying the Sheldon Frame Adjustment Method

And @SwissGuy with the instructions
https://www.instructables.com/Spreading-or-adjusting-a-bicycle-frame/

 

[MattiThundrrr]

here are a few tips I have learned over the last 34 yrs of making happy customers through a good bicycle 'fit'

"For those of us that are probably 5'10" and taller, we will never have a full leg extension on a vintage cruiser framed bicycle. But we can have a comfortable fit, and feel good riding the bike, even if we don't have the required leg extension for full power to the pedals. The frames simply weren't manufactured with tall people in mind, and the average height in 1950 is almost the same for today, 5'9" in the USA. Now those of you with Scandinavian ancestors will scoff at this, as the average height for those of us with that heritage is nearly 6' tall, 3" taller than the average American male. But size isn't what matters here, bicycle fit is.

...I went out to the BACK40, grabbed my tape measure, and confirmed what I already knew to be true. The relative position of my saddle fore and aft, no matter what the height of the saddle was, in regard to my pedal position was nearly exactly the same on all my bikes in the stable. And, the distance from my center seated position to my hand position on the bars, was also nearly spot on. Even though my bikes aren't in a perfectly straight line here, for storage purposes, you can kind of get the idea.

Those two factors, in that order, can make for a comfortable and fairly efficient pedaling position on the bike.
A common mistake is trying to adjust distance from the bars by altering saddle position – usually by moving it forward. Saddle should be positioned relative to the pedals, regardless of the bars position. For our purposes, because we use different types of saddles and saddle mounts, this measurement should be taken from the center of your seated position on the saddle, with your pedals at the 3 and 9 o'clock position. The plumb bob, a string or fish line with a heavy washer or nut on the end, held off the front of your knee cap, should line up with the pedal axle with the widest part of your foot over the axle. This photo shows it well.

Again, this measurement isn't relative to saddle height, but rather the fore and aft position of the saddle.
Only after the saddle is positioned correctly, the bar should be set in the desired position. Placing the bars closer and higher results in a more upright riding position and vice-versa – placing the bars further and/or lower, results in a more leaned position. As shown in this diagram, you can see the saddle to pedal position is the same, even though the upper body position changes.

Over the years I have found that every bike I have no matter if it's a laid back 'nanner equipped big boy muscle bike, a klunker build fit for off-road, or a vintage cruiser build; they all share the same saddle to pedal fit and within fractions of the same centered seated to hands on the bars distance fit.

If you are like me, the laid back seat post is a necessity to achieve this on our build off bikes using vintage frames. Thanks to Chad @ChopShopCustomz for all those seat posts that have made it possible!"

Really wish that shout out to Chad worked, those posts of his sell like hotcakes when he puts em up

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I'm 6'-7" and am comfortable on this bike as it is. I normally pedal hard out of the saddle and soft-pedal or coast seated. IMO, adjusting the way one rides can sometimes work better overall than adjusting the bike.

 

[RustyGold]

The fixation of full leg extensions on a cruiser often makes me chuckle. I bought a Monark from a guy that said it was essentially unrideable for him, that he couldn't get anywhere near full leg extensions...he was about 5'9". I dropped the seat a bunch and elevated the angle of the bars a bit, and it is one of my more comfortable cruisers... I'm 6'2".

He had a garage full of road bikes, and was dabbling in vintage...he wouldn't adapt to a different style of riding. I went on a 25 year hiatus from bicycles starting at 12-13, and exclusively BMX'd up til then. Standing to accelerate is my norm. So, my 'essentially unrideable' bike purchase was my first, and probably last, pedal forward bike. Needed to cross an intersection, plenty of room to beat traffic. Went to stand on the pedals and got a gut full of handlebar. Shocking experience for me.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'm the same, but from the off road side. Stand to mash the pedals and the you get the added benefit of lowered center of gravity, the bike becomes more stable because you weight is centered between the axles, instead of up high on the post.
I don't know if I could ride a feet first or layed out chopper bike. Seems wrong to me without the ability to move my weight around

 

[Wildcat]

The laid back seat post might be the answer, a little more legroom but still can get up on the pedals. You'll have more reach to the handlebars but that might be a good thing.
On Karate Chicken Industries Orange bike, see how the BMX bars are situated forward? Plenty of room to stand and pedal. A laid back seat post might work well on that bike, if you can get one in 13/16ths.
The lowered center of gravity is good as long as you can shift your weight, as Matti stated. On a recumbent it's different, it has little flexibility when it comes to shifting your weight. I don't like how it feels like you're on the very edge of falling over on those bikes. No way can you ride with no hands on a recumbent. You can't turn to look behind you because it throws off your balance. I had a Bike E recumbent that had the seat a little higher but still wasn't a stable ride. The pedal forward design is similar to that, but not as pronounced. Good for leisure. The best riding bike is the classic over the pedals design. I think that's why the geometry hasn't changed that much for a hundred years.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I think that's why the geometry hasn't changed that much for a hundred years.

The future looks Grim:

Started as a bad joke, now influencing bike design

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The problem I've always seen with those longer adult sized nanners is that they put the holes for the sissy bar too far forward which makes the bar block a good chunk of saddle.
Have you considered drilling new holes farther back?

Here you can see how I addressed the problem:

Clever little touch, Ulu!

 

[Ulu]

Clever little touch, Ulu!

Thank you Matti. The blue one is really sturdy because it’s got three screws on each side. I love the way it closes up the unnecessary holes.

Black one is a total kludge job that I hammered out at 10 minutes to midnight so I could go riding the next day. It was always intended to be a temporary arrangement & I never welded it.

It relies on a big ac/dc (innie+outie) star washer, between the sissy bar and the little bracket, to keep things from twisting out of alignment.

When I put my butt against that sissy bar and start stomping the pedals, I can flex the whole business out of alignment and make it squeak so it is far from the ideal sissy bar.

I’ve straightened the loop up so many times I’m surprised it hasn’t cracked and broken off.

You will see a much nicer sissy bar arrangement in my future. Real chrome and polished alloy, To glow in the desert sun.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Great work on getting rid of a stuck aluminum post from a steel frame.
Thanks, @Couch tater

https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threa...-tube-with-drain-cleaner.116445/#post-1227756

 

[Ulu]

Yeah that stuff is hell on aluminum. I didn’t dare put it on that aluminum BMX frame. That one is still soaking in brake fluid waiting for me to scrape off the bubbles.

I put some in a Teflon coated sauce pan once. There was one little scratch in the Teflon and it burned almost all the way through the pan there.

50 years ago when I was working in a mechanic’s shop we had a hot tank full of caustic soda. One of the guys brought in an aluminum porthole from his boat and dropped it in the hot tank, and when he came back it was completely gone. The only thing left were the stainless steel hinge pins.

When I was an engineer at the Kawneer company, we were extruding aluminum and anodizing it.

Before anodizing or painting, everything got etched in hot caustic soda. This not only cleans the aluminum really well, but it etched off all the die lines, and made the extrusions look smooth and polished.

Every aluminum door and window is made that way.

As the solution gets worn out, they scraped the gunk out of the bottom of the caustic soda tank and send it off to cosmetics companies as aluminum hydroxide. I think it’s the secret ingredient in Secret. We used to sell it by the railroad car.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

My pieced together small diameter seat guts was slipping so I went with the tried and true spacer trick. I hope all you guys know about it, but if not, this is the spacer you buy and split to adapt a new style seat clamp with an old style seat post

 

[Swampthing]

Thanks,
Much cleaner than some of the things I’ve tried.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Multi share

28 quick slots cut in the edge of my cardboard using a hacksaw (because I don't think I have a knife here). When they dry, all I need to do is turn the cardboard over, push the spokes through the cardboard a bit, and then finish spraying them

Too good, G!