Swedish "tinkerer of all trades"
 

Here goes:

Where from:
Sweden. Northern Sweden, close to the arctic circle.

What I ride:
A 1981 Osaka Competition, with all Shimano 600EX components (except for hubs).
Some unknown French 1980's 10-speed,
A rear suspended, road-optimized "mountainbike" (frankenbike), that's quite capable of anything, but excels at nothing.
A cheap-o Hi-Ten no-name MTB, that I mess around with, trying out different SS and fixed gear conversion methods.
A mid 1980's REX, with Sachs Torpedo Pentasport (the old model with dual shifter cables). I mostly keep as a "spare" bike, for when no other bike is all in one piece.
A 1950-1960 Trim (made by Fram, that later became Fram-King). Heavy steel frame and sturdy old rusty steel fenders. Looks like it's been recently dragged from a lake, to the casual observer, but everything is in excellent working order and most of it's been upgraded. At the time it's running a 21:50 "suicide" hub fixie setup. I'm planning on making this my winter bike, with studded 622:48 tires and fixed gear or single speed.

I've probably got a few more bikes, but those are the principle ones.

How long have I been riding?
Since I was 5-6 years old, I think. Overhauled my first coaster brake hub when I was 9. I've probably owned more than 50 bikes in my life. Cycling have always been an important part of my life. A few years back I realized I had been self-medicating my 'till then undiagnosed ADHD, by riding several miles each morning in order to be able to sit still for the rest of the day.

And now I'm really pushing my attention span to it's limit... So now I'm off to try resurfacing some old bearing cones, as per http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...urfacing-Cones

Ta-ta for now.
//Maveric

Hej Maveric, välkommen till Bike Forums! :beer:

--J

Howdy Maveric,

Welcome to Bike Forums from Texas.

How close is close? I've spent a few winters in Umeå, and while I suppose one gear would do, I was much happier with three. . .

Thanks for the warm welcome :)

KlibanQat: Not far north of there. Still, -25 degrees (Celsius, -15 degrees F) isn't uncommon. I'll probably ride a MTB with derailleurs for as long as possible. Last winter I had a (Alivio) Freehub freeze up now and then, making it turn freely in both directions.
Both the brake and shifter cables got very unreliable. Maybe coaster brake is the (easiest) way to go. Time will tell.

Yeah, cables can be a PITA. My SO's 7 speed Shimano IGH would shift OK in itself, but freeze/thaw cycles near 0C invariably jam the shifter cable. Lots of oil seems to help. Hubs can be winterized too. If needed, you can put lighter lubricant in hub to avoid jamming the coasting mechanism in open position.

--J