rustystrings61 

And curbtender wins the thread for the day!

jdawginsc 

Haha!! Winner!

THere are definitely some things living in the tires that would make good specialty toppings...

jdawginsc 

what model watch is that? I need something cheapish that can keep mileage.

BFisher 

That's a Forerunner 35. Overall I'm happy with it. There have been maybe two times where it didn't pick up my heartrate. Otherwise it has been pretty consistent. Made for runners, but it has a cycling option too.

jdawginsc 

Ooo. $100 on Amazon. USB recharge? How’s the battery life? Is it pretty easy to track mileage?

jdawginsc 

The rims cleaned up nicely...Shimano 600EX stuff is sublime. Rims were needing a bit of a true, but hubs spun like butter and the Araya red label (no clue what model) still have the gold tint.

Gatorskins seem rideable after pizza 🍕 duty and one of the saddles might be usable, though then I’d have to give Bumblebina white stuff to match...



Oooooo...shiny

Removed a few critters, but in need of some armor all!



Interesting Look pedals, have no idea what cleats they take...using the white saddle and those pedals would allow some leeway with cables, bar tape and brake hoods (which I got a super deal on if they fit...)

and then the pedal choices...

darnet

COVID Bike Parts Sources for Green Super Course:
Around October, 2020, I had the good fortune to find a box of parts listed on Facebook Market Place, seller had them listed ridiculously cheap at $5 (believe it or not). One of the items in the box was a Campagnolo crank (drive side only, missing little nuts) with 53/39 chainwheels, a cartridge bottom bracket, and some derailleurs. For the record, I only used the crank. It's kind of too upscale for this project, but it's all I had!

Also, sometime during COVID, I rescued a black Fuji (unmarked, possibly a 1980 Royale) from the town dump. It was a good donor bike, and 's useable parts included a tattered seat (fortunately for me, since I needed a seat), mismatched derailleurs (rear not original), crank, bottom bracket, and shifters.

In my college days, I’d installed cotterless cranks on my very first Super Course (1973 model, coffee color). I am now somewhat older than I was in 1980, and I live among hills, so I now need easier gearing. Maybe a rear freewheel with bigger big cog (>28 tooth), or maybe a 39 tooth chainwheel, or both. Fortunately, in April, 2020, I had bought a 32-tooth freewheel (Suntour Perfect) from "BoulderBicycle.Bike" for $8.00. It was frozen, as advertised, but came loose with some soaking and WD40.

I decided to install the Campagnolo crank and the BoulderBicycle freewheel on the Green Super Course. Because the actual prices were unfairly cheap, to be fairer I’m allocating $5 for the crank alone. Since there was a square taper bottom bracket in the $5 box, I'm saying another $5 for a bottom bracket (square taper instead of cottered), and another $5 (estimated) for a non-drive side crank arm. The actual bottom bracket and right side crank I used were donated by the Black Fuji Royale dump rescue. Also in the $5 box, wrapped in brown paper, was a nicer seat post, which I also used (Kat-ching), and front and rear derailleurs (which I did not use, but I assigned $5 each for front and rear derailleurs again from the Fuji).

Incidentally, I tried to force the seller of the $5 box to take $15, he initially refused, then relented by taking $10 and throwing in some sunglasses.

My 10th post (tomorrow probably since it's 5:00 o'clock somewhere) will be the final price tally for the Green Super Course. Then I'll go back and add pics.

BFisher 

Yeah, clip cradle to USB connection for charging. Battery life is good. Never had it come close to dying on me. Specs claim 13 hours in GPS mode.

I pick "bike" from the menu, wait for it to get a signal, and then "start." Also compared it to the computers I used to use and the speed reading seems accurate. Upload to Garmin Connect when I'm done. Really easy to use.

jdawginsc 

i ordered it! Arrives tomorrow! Thanks for the info...

rustystrings61 

This morning I spent some time pulling the bar end shifters off, along with the cable stops, in preparation for mounting the L422 Light Action shifters from last year’s donor bike. Alas, I’m not clever enough to get them off the stem shifter mount - or maybe they’re not meant to come off.

I sat and drank coffee on the back deck with my wife and unbidden came the solution. I re-installed the bar ends and cable stops, grabbed the last gear cable from last year’s swap that netted me the donor bike + cables and housing and dug around in the bin of housings. There was a short length of Campagnolo shifter housing. I cut two pieces long enough to run from bar end to the base of the brake lever and ran cables through those and the too-short housings, butting them together and taping the lot in line on the bars.




Then I did the same on the other side and wrapped it all up in the blue tape that came with the bike.




So now I need to swap out the rear axle (too short!) for the rear axle on my son’s bike (too long!), fit tires and chain and pedals and it’ll be time to start riding!

BFisher 

You're welcome.

Andy_K 

I think you should count the entire $75 and build as many bikes for this challenge as you need to to get the average cost down.

jdawginsc 

nlerner

I decided that the Claridge, to be a proper “English” bike, needed a set of mudguards. Plus, I have a large pile of discarded fenders in my basement, most taken from previous flips. These SKS models cleaned up well but needed some reshaping with the heat gun. They’re also far too skinny to use on something in the regular herd, so perfect for this build. Next step: 100k of riding.

Insidious C. 

I have (had?) a set of those pedals. Mine are violet color. I think the model is "Nevada." Cleats are unique to these and scarce- NOS only.

jdawginsc 

okay...so much for those...they would have matched nicely...

Hopefully the Campy-look cleats work with the other beater Look pedals I have in the “never thought I’d use” bin...

darnet

Green Super Course cost roundup:

So far, other than grease and black tape, I’m looking at:- Seat est. $5 based on better seats I’ve bought for $5 from “Savers” store or Goodwill. o Update: yesterday afternoon I scored a free saddle, and a very nice one. I was buying tire levers at the LBS, they had the seat in a spare parts box and said “no charge”. I’ll still assign $5.

- Total cost of parts: $38

Total: $83, gives me $17 left in case I get a flat tire or want to do more stuff to the bike. For example...

I’m surprised how much I dislike the too short stem on the broken front shifter. I could just swap with Fuji shifters I guess. But then I'd have to redo the shift cables, and I'm tired of re-doing work. I am still thinking about those mismatched wheels (probably just wishful thinking since I would have to get a wheel essentially free, and, again, I don't feel like regreasing or reininstalling axles). And despite having installed two lock-nuts on the steerer, I have some bearing play in the front fork after only 8k. I’ll retighten, it might be from removing and reinstalling the lower bearing race for cleaning.

rustystrings61 

So I got up early today and went to work out in the shop. On closer examination I found I had the right length axle in a Shimano hub scavenged from the LBS discard pile several years back. I pulled the Sanshin's axle and swapped around cones and fished out the right length of spacers from the box o' scavenged hub parts and dialed it all in. Then I fitted a 14-28 6-speed Shimano freewheel from last year's free donor bike. Perfect.

Next came tires - a well-used set of Pasela 32s to replace the impossible to work with 23 Gatorskins. I’m assigning a value of $10 to those, and a value of $1 for the used brake shoes I fitted to the rear caliper.

I had to tighten up the front shifter cable considerably from where it had bedded in overnight, and I did a little tweaking and was rewarded with good, smooth shifting. I squirted Tri-Flow into the non-rebuildable pedals and mounted those and took it out to photograph.

It needs a different front inner tube, and ideally clips and straps but here it is as is stands now -

rustystrings61 

I found some more time today, along with another (patched!) inner tube that actually holds AIR. What a concept. Once the front wheel was sorted out, I pinched the rear tire and worried it was losing air - but maybe not. It's still holding, so I'll keep my fingers crossed! I rolled out without even firing up Strava to test it out, immediately noting I needed to straighten the bars, hearing things rub, and realizing the pedals that came with the bike have bent spindles. Ugh.

Back to the shop, where the spoke wrench came to my aid. It took a few tries, but I got both wheels straight enough, though the rear has a little hop to it. Not enough to bother me that much, though. I fine tuned the brakes and eventually got them to where I think they'll stay centered - fingers crossed. I pulled the Cheap McNasty pedals and retrieved a set of well-worn MKS Sylvan track pedals with Christophe clips and old ALE straps and did some calculations. The pedals were $19.95 new c.2009, the straps were less than $10 about the same time, and the clips came from the partial box of Christophes I bought c.2000 for $5, so - $35, divided by 12 years, equals $2.91. Getting close to the edge of what can be spent!

$60 for the Cannondale (trade, based on actual outlay for bikes traded in)
$20 labor fee to remove horrifically stuck seatpost
$10 for well-used tires
$1 for well-used rear brake pads
$2.91 for very well-used pedals, clips & straps
$0 for bottle cage, 130 mm rear axle, Shimano bar-end shifters, shift boss cable stops and shift cables and housings (scavenged goods)

$93.91 so far

But what's a post without pix?



Drive side

Surprisingly comfortable "cockpit"

Non-drive side, long and lean

Rack mounts

Don't think that's a standard head tube emblem!

From the little taste of up and down the street in front of the house I managed today in the course of making adjustments, I think I'm really going to like this bike. The 32 mm Paselas help that, of course. Hopefully tomorrow I can start getting my 100 km!

jdawginsc 

Is that a centerpull stop? Were there cantilever bosses at one time?

rustystrings61 

The 1986 Cannondale catalog shows what looks like this combination center pull/cantilever stop and rack mount on everything that wasn't marketed as a road racing bike. There are no signs of cantilever bosses on this frame. The Dia-Compe GX500N sidepulls are one of the few parts on this bike that I think are original.

Oldsledz

I have started my 2nd clunker this year it is a older 10 speed Columbia. There is a auto body shop down the road from me that closed down 5 years ago, the owner passed away last year and the family is cleaning the place up now. I stopped and asked if there were any old bike there they had 3 to get rid of, the Columbia was the best of the 3, I am not sure what the other 2 are. I think the tan one may be a 26 inch Schwinn at least the tires and wheels are, I have no idea on the ladies bike. the tan bike and ladies bike were already on the scrap metal trailer, they gave me all 3 bikes free. I have cleaned up the Columbia lubed the cables and derailers and patched the front tube. I swapped bars and stem with the tan bike because the have a lot less rust. I found a former owners last name and drivers license engraved into the stem. So far my only cost is a patch for there front tube. I have had the bike out for a few short rides and am at 35 miles, I am going to stop at 100 km on this one.

rustystrings61 

Work and life schedules and cycling - and most especially Clunker Challenge cycling - don't always play well together. So I rose earlier than I find ideal and got out on the bike this morning around 6:00 a.m. It's truly freaky to ride a bike in South Carolina on June 1 and be grateful for tights, wool arm warmers and full-fingered gloves! Because I've been slack and watching my mid-section spread much of this year, I settled for 11.8 km before breakfast, riding hamster-on-a-wheel laps around the neighborhood. All of the due diligence tweaking yesterday paid off, as the only time I stopped was to pull in long enough to switch to the aforementioned gloves. The bike ran smoothly and well, with Strava recording what may be my fastest time yet down the sharp little incline near the church end of the street. My only mechanical quibbles are (1) I may want to raise my saddle perhaps as much as 1 cm, maybe, and (2) I will lubricate the actual bar end shifters themselves, possibly loosening up the pivot screws to make sure they're not binding. Only 88.2 km to go!

jdawginsc 

We were talking (teachers here early) about how we got a bit of a small cold bump here in SC...feels good to me. I think I might do the same tomorrow (though it'll be 5:00 not 6:00)

rustystrings61 

I don't think I've EVER seen a Columbia with Simplex derailleurs and Weinmann sidepulls before! Cool alloy high-flange hubs, too! I'm used to seeing the stamped steel sidepull calipers, stamped steel hubs and Shimano Eagle derailleurs on BMA/6 type bikes - though my father briefly owned a 26 x 1 3/8-in tire, Huret Allvit-equipped Western Flyer courtesy the Western Auto store ...