non-fixie 

Vacation has come and gone, sore shoulder as good as healed, so finally I can get back to this challenge. Luckily I had pretty much finished the bike before, so all that's left is riding it.

Took it out for a first shakedown ride today. And shake it did.

A few kms out, and a first photo opportunity. The weather is still nice, and I'm pretty well pleased with the bike. And with myself, I might add:



Taking off after taking the picture I notice something is amiss. Already feeling less pleased.



I had hoped that these old Continental Giro tubulars would be good for at least the 100k, but this doesn't look very promising. So I slow down a bit, and decide not to wander too far from home. I did pack a spare tubular, but that's at least as old, so as not to blow the budget on tires.

A little further on, the weather is still nice:



The tire, not so much:



Another five or so miles, and it's still holding. One of my favorite spots, and getting closer to home:



Bang! Pshhhh. Rumble, rumble. Dang! Almost made it back.

Anyway, time for two firsts: changing a tubular tire on the road (much easier than a clincher) and filling it with my recently acquired Lezyne Road Drive pump (impressive, no more ugly frame pumps for me!).



And ... done.




The "new" tire transformed the ride, BTW. Much nicer. Whether it was the tire (a Deming 270 Bank) or the different (probably lower) pressure, I don't know, but it is now one smooth bike.

Logged a little over 20k today.

ryansu

@non-fixie +1 on the Lezyne pump been using one for about 3 years and really like it.

non-fixie 

I was quite surprised with how easy it was to get the pressure in the tire to a comfortable level, compared to the frame pumps I've been using so far. And as frame pumps also look somewhat awkward on post-1970 bikes, and CO2 cartridges have a rather limited useful life, I'm really happy with a decent pump that fits in my jersey pocket.

non-fixie 

I just realized I haven't done a proper build report. So here goes.

The bike, as acquired for €25:



The frame, after the tear-down:



Front eyelets had been removed ...




... so I made new ones and glued those back on:



And painted the frame:



Put the bike back together, while adding a few missing items, such as toe clips:



Financially, the build came down to:


I haven't added the spare tire yet. It came from a box of old tubulars that came with (parts) bikes I'd acquired in the past, usually tied beneath a saddle or in a saddle bag. Since those bikes were never more than €30, I'll price at €5, if that's OK. So I'm currently at $93.61.

Which means I can afford one more flat, but after that I'll need to start repairing tubulars, or I'm out.

ollo_ollo

Well done, you turned out a good looking bike. Don

Millstone

Nice bike indeed. Good score for 25€!
Can you give me a PM for a link to that pump?

non-fixie 

Thank you! Now, if it had only been orange and French I might actually have a chance ....

non-fixie 

Thanks. PM sent.

Murray Missile 

Well, I have to withdraw Moby as well, freewheel is going, there's no budget left for a replacement and I don't have another in the bin. On top of that I just don't see me getting the miles in now anyway, I have zero time for riding right now and don't know when I will. It was fun while it lasted, maybe next year.

ryansu

I started the day needing only 6 miles to complete the challenge but with September quickly slipping away and the days getting shorter I figured I better get in an after work ride and sow this sucker up!

My ride included Lincoln Park one of my favorite places in the Neighborhood

Barney was a bit more Svelte having lost his rear rack to my recently completed Nishiki Cresta GT. Now that the gloves are off I have a few ideas about making him a more comfortable rider.



And Since my theme for the clunker challenge has been bikes and beer I had to have a celebratory IPA at the end. A nice bit of fun and not really much work for $85 maybe next time I will find something both cheaper and in need of more work.

FBOATSB

This will be my final submittal for the possibilty of the unimaginable fame and glory of winning such a prestigious competition. Had a perfect day today to go for broke and do the full 100 km. Needless to say I survived, barely, with horrible trauma to the nether regions. Hopefully tomorrow I can make a recovery ride on some proper tensioned leather. Since I don't do strava, and I tossed all my computers in the Box O' Crap® last time it passed through here, I slid by the co-op and picked up a cheap cateye and some multi colored zip ties out of the bin last week for my min. $10.00 to record the debacle. Since I don't need it I'll probably drop it back in next time I'm back in there. I also splurged on a quill extender in the interest of my spine. Final reconning:
Bike from Goodwill: $16.00
Quill extender: $16.00
Computer: $10.00
Saddle swap: $10.00
Knee savers: $16.00
Cable kit: $9.00
Misc grease, lube, bearing balls: $2.00
Total: $79.00
Total miles/km: 76mi/122km


Taking a break:


Literally the end of the trail:


From on top of that old rail trail bridge:


The clunker is back in the shed awaiting it's fate. Since I think it can be made a keeper, this winter it will get a 700c wheel set, stopping and going upgrades, proper saddle, maybe even some bar tape and touch up paint.
Thanks for reading.

tiredhands 

Final report!



Ride #1 : 24 km
Ride #2 : 14 km
Ride #3 : 18 km
Ride #4 : 26 km
Ride #5 : 25 km
Total: 107 km

The cost run-down:

• Schwinn Varsity - $free (dug out from the bushes in my neighbor's back yard)
• Trashed wheelset - $20 (fair market value)
• Kenda tires and tubes - $15 (fair market value)
• Ritchey saddle - $10 (fair market value)
• Cable housing - $2 (I did use a new length for the front derailleur)
• Brake pads - $8.99

Total: $55.99

The bike held together, although I did lose the left turkey lever on the gravel ride. Positron was a fun experience, but I won't use it again (ever). The brakes were awful. I've already torn the bike down, it's going to get a coaster brake 26" wheelset and giant Wald handlebars over the winter.






Looking forward to doing this again next year!

JWilde16

Just picked up a handful of options at the end of the season for the low price of free. I will now keep one as cheap as possible for when the weather improves in the spring.

gilesa

This is not really a legitimate entry, as it is on loan to me (to be returned in working condition), and cost the owner more than $100. Since then it spent more than 10 years in an open-sided shed, where a creeper grew threw it, so turned into a clunker. And it has been quiet here recently.




After stripping it down, I cleaned up the front brake and temporarily rebuilt as a fixed gear. Since that used a different pair of wheels, the rules were violated more, so those rides (more than 100km) do not count.



I have had the bike since July, slowly cleaning up the parts. The freewheel and the last of the spokes finally yielded to penetrating oil last week. To somewhat legitimise its appearance here, I decided to try a rebuild with no replacement parts. A lot of "free" oxalic acid, PlusGas, WD 40, oil, grease, Brasso and an ugly coprporate T-shirt were used. If this post is not booed off, I will follow up with that.

ollo_ollo

WooHoo, a Claud Butler! Only ever came close to having one of his Tourers years ago, but couldn't haggle Seattle's recycled cycles down enough.

Looking forward to more posts & pics. This year's Clunker challenge has really nice C&V bikes. Don

ollo_ollo

See posts 329 & 330, I thought 10/10 was last day, but looks like it's 10/11 Don

michael k

Not much happening here other than a few short trips to the bike shop. The old-timer shop owner wanted to see the Garlatti and even made an offer to add it to his museum, which is quite incredible in itself.
Changed out the seat and will add some pedals and possibly some panaracers pasela and she will be a keeper,It's actually fun to ride and the comments are nice.

I did get a little side tracked with this new project. A Zenith beach cruiser that I picked up in Port Angles a couple weekends ago.

ollo_ollo

Nice find. Should be a nice Winter project, although I would have trouble not starting right in on the rehab. Don

coffinjewel

Doesn't look like I'm going to get my clunker finished in time sadly the project took a back seat to a bunch of other things. Hopefully I can get it put together before snowfall as I'm in need of a winter beater. I'll post it up when it's finished anyways. Looking forward to next years!

gilesa

Here is the Claude Butler in its current form:



The main problems seemed to be the cables, chain (many links frozen), gears (FD stiff, RD frozen) and rear tyre (nasty-looking cracks). With a bit of oil, the brake cables work fine. Probably the stainless-steel inner wires saved them. The rusty-looking spring-like item in this close-up is actually dried creeper tendril.




The chain was de-rusted with oxalic acid, washed and soaked with WD40. Wriggling with two pairs of pliers got the links moving, but many rollers are still stuck. It will be replaced when 100km are done. I dismantled the gear mechanisms, cleaned and re-lubricated; they seem fine but I am not trusting that chain. The tyre has some nasty-looking cracks, but they do not penetrate the fabric, so I think it is safe to use. They closed-up on inflation.



So far, I have done two rides of about 30km that included a lot of bumpy footpaths, to test the wheel trueing and tyres. With shopping errands around town, I am very close to 100km. The only problem was unwanted gear changing; it seems a multi-speed freewheel is not good for a single-speed. After some adjustment, that stopped.

gilesa

I have finished the 100km with an extended shopping trip, and that chain is already off. A trip to the country:

bikemig 

Yeah, yeah, there's always a reynolds 531 ringer coming in at the end trying to beat out all the hi tensile steel clunkers . . .

Narhay

We must be getting close...

michael k

Ha! I couldn't resist.
I was given a few cans of Zep penetrating lube from a rep that came to our shop awhile ago.This stuff really is incredible. Lubed and let it soaked and it saved every nut,bolt, screws (stem/seatpost too)


Also Purchased a set of Panaracers for the Garlotti. After mounting them realized they are directional and installed them backwards. Doh!

rustystrings61 

While we await the determination of the judge for this year's round, who else is planning for next year? Behold, next year's contender, currently mothballed until it is time -
- early '70s Bottechia De Luxe, missing a seatpost, saddle and rear brake cable stop with mis-matched brake levers. Nutted 3-piece hubs, steel 27-in rims, original Simplex Prestige derailleurs with nicer shift levers, alloy bars and stem ... currently stashed with pedals and front wheel off and bars and stem turned in to make it a smaller presence in the already over-crowded workshop. The owner of the shop I bought it from said it had been languishing in the store room for eight years before he bought the place, and he's owned it for 22 years - so at $30 I paid a storage fee of $1 a year. We'll see if I overpaid here - next time.

Oh @Narhay, any rulings on this or last year yet?