puchfinnland

I confess, I flip bikes,

Im just got 2 of 4 flippers ready,I like to list at least 4 at a time-seems like a good goal.

A few months ago I was visiting a friend who is into bikes(fixies )
in the corner of the garage was 2 rims and frame of an old late 60's Crescent mens bike,

He said it was his fathers and asked if I want it..
Well sure, throw it in the van.

something about old crescents, they are well built and are quality.

It sat in the yard for the better of the summer and I thought why not knock it out and get it to market.

it came with no rubber, so I found some used tubes that hold air and 2 new black tyres I had bought for this type occasion.

now these rims are the type you cant use handbrakes on, the edge is rolled and there is a thick center bead where the spokes go, like the type for old fashioned brakes that pulled up instead of pinching.
oh-and they are stainless and VERY shiny..

front mounted up perfect, now to the rear, a broken spoke-no problem,
grab a used one.
hmm out of true-lets just true it up.. "pop" "bang" "twang"
the spokes just snapped when adjusting......
need to replace all the spokes.(wheelbuilding again!)
hmm, pulled a spoke and found a 27" wheel in the scrap with the same length
unlaced that wheel, swapped to long nipples and relaced the original wheel.
turned out nice-something to be proud of (no body but me will care)

ok- the fender stays are rusty, take them off, clean the rust and spray them silver.
the white paint on the tail needs a fresh coat,
I found a nice taillight to fit-correct style
original seat ripped- I recovered it with gray vinyl-looks perfect
removed and resprayed many small silver parts
the bike key even came with a bottle opener-that even got resprayed.
(great reason enough to drink)
de gunked the driveline, new chain and replaced the worn out rear cog,
buffed the chaingaurd, polished the shiny stainless fenders,replaced the rusty handlebars with clean ones, got the lights working,
swapped the pedals,
the rack springs were broken-replace and reweld the cross bars,
Oh..and a correct period bell to top it off.
why not some wax- wow it shines up great!

Free movie ticket tonight "total recall"- Hmm which steed to ride?
Ok I will take the newly completed Crescent

getting a bit dark,
Nelli came out and asked to ride with me, She grabbed her SOLIFER 70's
bike we restored for her 2 years ago...
we were a perfect pair with our 70's bikes with lights working.

movie was over, and the Crescent awaited me in the parking lot

drove it home under the streetlights, them shiny stainless rims just shining there..

like driving a restored vintage convertible in the city at night (if you've had one you know exactly what im talking about!)

that bike just had the smoothest ride and looked soooo good with all that shiny stuff!!

oh man- I just hope the new owner could appreciate that bike just half as much as I do.
(MIKE, wake up,-you will sell it, you cant keep it)

pity is I will get no more then 120e for it.

that was my short moment, sometimes you get to work on and flip a bike that has a soul, and you are happy to have been part of.

the end.
mike in finland

puchfinnland

just had to take pics at night so you could get the feeling

you cant imagine the shine on those rims






this is Nelli's vintage ride

Kobe 

With the chain guards,lights and fenders I would say you two were a pretty good matched pair.

Turbo231

Yes, both have very large chain guards...very nice. I flip bikes too, no shame in it, you are doing a service.

puchfinnland

Its something about these older crescents its nice,

not a asian component in sight (ok the chain and tires now!)
lack of plastic bits.
very pretty color and graphics.

Nelli's this was her first 24" and it used to be gold/bronze in color-ugly
I am building my cresto for myself,
then I have the Flying Arrow that I like
and I just picked up a bike simmilar to the arrow womens frame with bent forks-I bent them back and it works just fine but it is not a good fix.

Ciufalon

Great job Mike. That is a really nice bike that you got back in shape to give many more years of service to some lucky person. Anyone should be proud to be riding that Crescent and I can imagine how nicely it rides. Thanks for sharing.

Flying Merkel

We feel your pain. That's a good-looking bike. Looks like a solid bike that'll last forever. I love riding at night myself. The market is about what people will pay, not what value it has. Sold some fixie conversions that I'm embarrassed to remember.

My late model pseudo-Schwinn Jaguar performance cruiser was one of those bikes that came out better that hoped for. I made about $20 on it, not counting labor.

Giacomo 1 

From your thread title, I thought this story was going to end badly - like the bike got stolen!

Glad it didn't, but then again I guess your in Finland and those things aren't to commonplace there. Great looking bikes!

puchfinnland

would you believe....

have only locked the house when im out of town

keys hang in the ignition in front of the house

murder is very rare

kidnapping unheard of

finns dont know the word "sue"

there are dedicated bicycle roads all over urban and sub urban areas, in the countryside they exist if there is enough traffic

of course every coin has another side also

Giacomo 1 

I think you would love the bike culture here in Brooklyn NY. There are so many cruiser style bikes still in use by every sort of person you can think of! You can hardly ride by a fence, street sign or pole without seeing one or more tied to it.

I confess, I havn't ridden a cruiser style bike since I was a young teen in the early 70's. I do remember liking them a lot, although the one I rode appeared, in memory anyway, to be heavier and with fatter tires. They sort of rode like a good ol Cadillac with the heavy steel frame on the fat tires, the upright riding position and a cushy seat. And the coaster brakes were the best! The fact that it didn't have gears was no problem for my young legs then! I think mine was an Iverson. Wow, that name alone brings back memories!

I'm not sure one is in my future, but it's nice to go back down memory lane!

puchfinnland

I think the rake of the fork on these bikes has something to do with the easy ride,
yea like a caddy.

these bikes are indestructable, my neighbor has a real bomb that he loves, we replaced about 5 broken spokes on the rear wheel, and when he moved he took it with him.

it looks about the same as my flying arrow.

its kind a nice to have a slick vintage simple bike,

Giacomo 1 

Yeah, no doubt about that.

Not saying I would get one, but if one were to fall into my lap, well then, you never know...