Do you remember the kid’s bike from several posts ago? I had been considering the purchase of a set of used handlebars online, but on further consideration I decided it should not be too difficult to extend the bars of the BMX-style handlebars from the kid’s bike. Say by 40 mm on each end. Further, as one might say, all I would need was an old steel mop handle, as they are about 20 mm diameter and should slide into the bars, or some 22 mm tube from somewhere and just neatly crush one end to fit them into the bar, or even some 22 mm wooden dowel that I could sand down to fit. Sure, the latter would require strapping my drill to my bench, screwing a headless bolt into one end of the dowel to fit it onto the chuck, and some 'lathe' work with my file. Or at least, these were my initial plans
Cute, and ready to be savaged, eh, I meant 'salvaged'...
It turned out that mop handles were out of season, I could not really justify a whole length of dowel from the store, so that just left looking at random stuff in dumpsters, checking the measurements with a small pair of callipers that my grandad had given me some 40 years ago. Many dumpsters later, and I found a sofa with armrests supported on some chrome tubing that might fit, and all held on by four 10 mm headed screws.After a brief return to my garage for a suitable spanner, the sofa arm was securely strapped to the basket on the back of Blue, and my treasure and I were heading back to base.I soon discovered that the straight tube, while smaller in diameter than the handlebar was still too large to fit inside it. It felt like a bit of a waste, except for the exercise. I then remembered the seat tube from the kid's bike, which turned out to be the same diameter as the handlebars. Ah ha - out with the tape measure and jigsaw, and within five minutes I had a pair of bar ends by simply cutting the seat tube into two. I was still eyeing up the handle of my garage broom, with dreams of epoxy bonding lengths into the handlebars to mount my new extensions, but it was saved when I realised it might be possible to split one of the sofa tubes lengthways with some careful jigsaw work. Slightly surprisingly, it worked, as long as I leaned the jigsaw 45 degrees forward so that the blade did not hit the other side of the tube. One lengthways cut, and then lop the required length off the bar. Next I hammered the rather springy steel until one one edge of the lengthwise split went under the other. I then squashed one end a bit with my G-clamp, and carefully tapped one of the new handlebar ends onto it as far as it would go. I then reapplied the G-clamp to the other end and tapped that end all the way into the handlebar. All I had to do was the same at the other end of the handlebar. It involved more hammering than that, of course, because anything springy enough to produce an adequate clamping force was not going to bend easily to my will.
Rather than adding 40mm to each end it was more like 60mm, and the result does not quite look like other handlebars. However, I now have a viable alternative that feels secure without welding, brazing, bonding or much cost except effort and time. Now I just need to apply a bit of paint, watch it dry and then try it out.
For a bit of relaxation after all that cutting and hammering I decided to review my options now that I have three sets of brakes lying around. I selected the rear brake off the kid's bike as having the shortest mounting bolt, but it will still require a spacer as Romets use a standardardised metal plate between the seat stays rather than a cross tube. The plate is drilled not only for a brake/mudguard mount but also a separate rack mount, so yes most racks available would require p-clips to fit them. The selected callipers had the most worn, but also rather cute white brake pads, so I swopped them with the set from the front. I also took the lever position setting screw from one of the levers and fitted it to the one from Tigger, as it had been missing from new. Just before I bagged them up for that distant future when I get around to ordering the right cable, I noticed the 50mm length of inner cable that I had lopped off to make sure that I got the right type of cable at the shop. It is so much more convincing to pop that kind of thing on the counter when faced with storeman denial, when they are too lazy to check (and yes it happens, I used to work in the stores of a large garage chain many decades ago). I thought it was typical that I had three bikes, all with the same small barrel fitting, while no one was listing them. Only then did I notice that the barrel was much smaller than the fixing hole in all three levers. The cables fit the levers, but so would the larger MTB style ones that everyone stocks. I could have bought the cable weeks ago, before I made the task more difficult by adding the rear basket.
Now I just need a tool to cut the cables and housings to length, once I buy them.
Zefir - featuring a droopy chain and as much rust as anyone could desire on two wheels
On a recent adventure ride using another bike I came across this, marked up as a Zefir and yet appearing to be a modified Jubilat. Finding hard evidence as to when and who actually produced it is difficult, as in Poland the old bicycle market is still in its infancy. If I had been on Blue or Tigger I would have put them alongside for a dimension check, but no such luck.
With trailer hitch, a masterpiece of the arc-welder's art.
One of the great advances in Soviet countries was the arc welder - as soon as electricity reached a village then welding became a possibility without all that fussing with favours, money-filled envelopes, food-stolen-from-work offered in a bag, help from brother’s cousin’s friend’s wife’s fathers every time you needed to refill a gas bottle. Plug and play - just make sure you got your rods in bulk. Trailers are worthy of a mention as well, as I have long lost count of the number of welded-together ones I have seen on farms rolling around on a pair of former motorcycle wheels - and have even seen the wheel-less donor motorcycles lying in barns. You start off with a motorcycle, and then a few years later, married, you find yourself riding around on a bicycle with a trailer fitted with your motorcycle wheels. Dreaming of a tractor, and not getting up to feed your horse.#romet #rower #bicycle #wigry #jubilat #shopper #poland #polska
Last edited by Geepig; 02-19-21 at 07:40 AM.