Originally Posted by
AdventureManCO
I've also been thinking of other little bits and things, a few of which are cable guides. I'm going to need a FD/RD clamp on dual cable guide for the lower downtube area. I think Campy makes one. Also, I was looking at top tube cable housing guides, and it looks like Campy does make them, but they would likely be too big for the Huffy tubes and they (along w/ that downtube guide) are horrendously expensive. I may try to make my own cable guides, out of sheet brass or something. I have a letter stamp set...I'm wondering if I can just stamp 'Campy' on them and call it a day. Stuff to play around with for sure. The weird little plastic housing holders are going to have to go, as they allow the cables to just sort of snake around everywhere.
Also, I've been inspired by some of the 'faux' or parody tubing stickers. I've been trying to do research into what tubing supplier Huffy has used in the past to get their stuff. I mean, it has to come from somewhere. If I can find out, I'd like to design a tubing sticker to put on the bike. Guaranteed genuine special low carbon mild steel.
I think it's a leap to use the words "tubing" and "Huffy" in the same sentence, at least in terms of the bikes they sold at retail stores. I suppose that any hollow cylinder meets the dictionary description, but I always considered bicycle tubing to have been drawn, at least to some extent, while metal sheet that has been merely wrapped into a tubular shape and welded is "pipe." I'll ski down to the Huffy Pile tomorrow to see if I can yank one out, cut out a piece and measure just how thick that stuff was. Schwinn found it economical to purchase steel strip and make their own pipe in-house. With the manufacturing capacity of Huffy, and all the other steel lawnmower frames and lawn goods they were making, I would be surprised if they didn't do the same.
I think stainless steel worm screw type hose clamps would match the aesthetic of the rest of the bike perfectly as cable clamps.
For a rear brake adapter, I suggest a piece of aluminum plate, cut and drilled to bolt to the existing bridge and extending down the required distance to the desired brake location. Make it wide enough to use the stays as bracing. Think of it as a blank canvas for further embellishment of the bike's aesthetic. If you need to tighten up the clearance in the front, just increase the fork rake. It won't affect the ride of this bike a bit.
I once entered "router" into the search field of the HD website and up popped a $45,000 Cisco unit. This got me thinking that HD uses their system for internal purchases as well. This could be why the tires are there--someone in the office might have ordered them for personal use and put them in the system to get a discount.