jdawginsc 

I don’t know, I am looking at having to claim a $108 bicycle for a $100 challenge with that math...crap...I might have to ride without pedals and saddle...doable but not preferable.

but I defer to the expert since they agreed to the Uber as a non declarable outlay...

ollo_ollo

Pics of my Follis before the Big Cleanup begins..

Ratty Tape & Hoods

Simplex Bar-Cons


Stronglight 49 Crank, Lyotard Pedal

1990 SunTour Blaze Derailleur

Nisi Alloy Rims with Enhanced Braking Surface

Decals mostly there

Mafac "Racer" Brakes & Levers

Andy_K 

Find some to give you $40 and a worthless saddle in exchange for that Iris, then you can enter the Super Course and claim the +3 point Raleigh bonus.

Those are two fine looking bikes. Would you be interested in joining us for the Beaverton-Vernonia metric century? If the number of participants gets above three or four, we might need to start checking vaccination papers, but it's all outdoors so I think we can make it a CDC-compliant event.

ollo_ollo

Andy, I am interested but depends on when it takes place. Later is better for me. Having some neck pain issues currently (although improving), so I didn't ride much while in Florida. Back now and trying to deal with all the landscape carnage left from the ice storm back in in February. We left for Florida just a couple days after the storm, so lots of clean up to do and trying not to aggravate my neck/spinal problem. Later would be better. As to CV19, we both had the virus back in November, it delayed our wedding by 6 weeks. I had a few really bad days midway as the disease ran its course, but turned the corner, recovered and look forward to a nice Summer. Put me down as a definite maybe. Don

ollo_ollo

Oh Great and Sovereign @Narhay, Andy's idea has inspired me: May I hereby request a special, "Old Age" dispensation to do a $40 "buy" of the Iris saddle, put it on another bike, replace it with 1 of several I got free, literally, from a dumpster? I will just point out this will increase the number of Raleigh Clunkers by 1. Don

Andy_K 

Glad to hear you both got through OK and congrats on the wedding!

I honestly haven't even thought about a date for the ride yet. As long as you can handle the climb from Banks to Vernonia, you could arguably join the group in either Hillsboro or Banks and put the rest of the Clunker miles in another day. Either way, I'll keep you in the loop and hope you can make it.

Andy_K 

Today was paint day for the Takara, and if you think I've been overly enthusiastic about the project up to this point, you ain't seen nothin' yet!



There's a scene in "As Good As It Gets" where Helen Hunt has asked Jack Nicholson to pay her a compliment. He does and she says it may have been the best compliment of her life. Jack responds, "Well, maybe I overshot a little because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out." That's kind of how I feel about this paint job right now. I wanted to make the bike look decent again, but I find myself looking at it and thinking, "Holy Crap!"

I'm going to have to take some close up pics of all the flaws to show to my wife the next time I need to explain to her why I'm paying someone $750 to paint a bike for me instead of using a $5 can of Rust-Oleum.

Narhay

The Clunker 105.3, no wait, the Clunker 108.2...

I thought inflation was a steady 2% as long as you don't count housing, food or fuel.

Yes, by virtue of the more Raleigh clause.

ollo_ollo

The great one has smiled upon me and I will comply! Don

ollo_ollo

That blue tarp was a nice touch Andy.

rgvg

Done with my 100kms.

For the educational portion for this year,
I learned you can use threaded brake pads when it should be non threaded.
I don't think that's recommended though. It was just what was on the bike when I got it.

And I learned there is such a thing as plastic safe grease, which I didn't have so I ended up
using a thumb shifter after I had washed the grip shifter and had no plastic safe grease.

Pier on the Fraser river at the River District. The logs in the river are the product of the BC
forestry industry, still a significant contributor to the economy, though there have been a lot
of mill closures over the last few years. This area has had a lot of condo developments lately.


Everett Crowley park used to be a landfill. It's named after the owner of Avalon dairy, which was
the last urban dairy in Vancouver. It was only in the last few year they've moved out, though I still
see their products for sale in the local groceries, in glass bottles, which seems like a nice touch.
It is partway up the steepest bike path in Vancouver.

Narhay

Very cool. Not too far from my old haunt near Edmonds skytrain station.

Andy_K 

First across the finish line? Or did I miss someone earlier? Either way, nice job! Plenty of time left for a couple more builds.

rustystrings61 

I told myself that life is too full and complex right now. There are too many major situations in my life that require my prompt attention, and my full attention to detail. This year, I thought, I would sit it out and enjoy the Challenge vicariously. I kept looking at the cheap Micargi fixed-gear for $35 on Facebook Marketplace and saying, no, not this year.

Then I decided to offload a bunch of junkers clogging up my workshop by taking them to the LBS. And then the owner walked me upstairs and I saw it, in my size.




Damn. My size. And by trading off a too-big mountain bike and a too-tall hybrid with a total of $60 invested (plus a dumpster found ladies mtb) I had my Clunker Challenge bike for the year. So, yeah, I'm in.

At first glance it's a Frankenbike - old Shimano 600 shifters, Dia-Compe sidepulls with one broken wheelguide, a SunTour front and I can't see who made the rear derailleur. The rear wheel is a cassette unit without markings on either the hub or the rim, while the front is a low-flange Normandy Luxe Competition laced to what appears to be either a Mavic or a Rigida rim. The black tape that was around the seatpost was an attempt to prevent moisture getting in past the flutes - and I suspect it was a locking the barn door after the horse was stolen deal, as the seatpost is currently stuck.

But I looked closer and realized it's an old touring model, complete with what looks like a combo centerpull hanger stop/rack mounts fitting on the seat stays and eyelets fore and aft. It's actually my correct size, it has a 110/74 Sugino crankset that lacks only a little ring and some bolts to be a triple again ... and then the really freaky thing happened, I located the serial number, which if I am reading it right, indicates that it is a 23-in frame that was the 059th one built ... on May 19, 1986. And I got it today on its birthday.





So - I've never worked with an aluminum frame before. How do I free a stuck seatpost when it's an alloy SR LaPrade in a Cannondale frame? Any clues?





Oh, yeah - I also got this nice Avocet saddle thrown in with the deal. That might come in handy!





And finally, after hosing it off and giving it a quick wipedown and straightening the handlebars and removing the tape -

curbtender

Try some vinegar for a few hours than spray some penetrating fluid in. You can get a large crescent wrench on there for a little leverage.

Dylansbob 

After spraying it down, take the guts off the seatpost and clamp the head into a bench vise, then turn the frame. If it's coming out, that's going to be how.

rgvg

To be honest I wanted the 100kms quick so I can swap out the saddle. It's a bit of a pain in my butt. But I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a frame I could match up with the crashed bike I have in storage.

Mr. 66

I picked this up on the roadside a few days ago. Free bike, imagine that who just leaves a prefect bike with fenders just laying around? Dang they could have sold it for $10, Probably a Carpet Fiber rider.






34 1/2 pounds of KHS GRAN SPORT 10 Speed.

The Black Beauty, made in Taiwan, fresh tires yeah!

curbtender

If you need to by a new tool to make your project work, is that part of $100 goal?

ollo_ollo

70's Follis Overhaul: Both wheels spin surprisingly smooth and are pretty true. Once open, front hub only had a little, very dark, sticky grease, but no grit or pitting. Cleaned everything up, add grease, re-assemble. Should be good for a while now. Found an old can of Brasso and cleaned the rim. Cleaned the braking surface and sidewall with some alcohol, took a few pics and quit for the day. Don

Front Axle with Cones, Bearings

Front Hub, No Inscription

All Freshened Up

Nisi Toro Rim

Unca_Sam

The hub looks like a Maillard high flange hub. I would consider it lucky there's no pitting on the races.

ollo_ollo

No doubt. Although, of the 10 Frenchies hanging out in my basement, only 1 had some pitting on the rear hub. Meanwhile, as I ride my Clunker along the farm roads of Oregon, pretending we're in the TdF, I'm going to pretend they're Normandy Luxe with the gold foil labels peeled off from age. Don

retroshifter

This Follis is the cream of the crop of this challenge thus far IMHO. Vintage French frame with chrome, simplex bar cons, stronglight crank, racers, definitely not the typical vintage bike boom find. What is the confidence level on 50 year old rims and spokes? I have wheels I built 30 years ago that I still ride, but somehow I have less confidence in the rim and spoke manufacturing from the early 70's.

Insidious C. 

I removed the badly mangled RD from my clunker to replace with something from the bin. Then it hit me- why not just bend it back? So I chucked it up in the vise and reefed on with some channel lock pliers until it was kinda sorta the right shape again. The claw was hopeless but I found a replacement on the garage floor. I was feeling really proud of myself until I went to reattach the shifter cable and the cinch bolt sheared in half. These all steel Suntour GT's certainly are robust tho and it did a number on the rear wheel. Hopefully I can get it true enough to ride.


Oh, and here's the saddle it came with. A clunker Brooks!

Andy_K 

Now that is embracing the spirit of the challenge! I don't feel quite as bad about sanding the rust off of my spokes now.