r0ckh0und 

Glad to see the old girl has found some love Rudi............

The Giant Quasar I used for my project is complete.................I rode it into town a few weeks ago and bowled a few games. On the way there I found an old storm door in the trash that I have since sold for $35. I had to return with my van to get it home. I have a total of $65.87 into the Giant.

Initial purchase......................................................................$39.99
2 Gumwall knobbies from the Community Thrift..........................$0.88
Bontrager Saddle from a winter swap........................................$5
Pedals, cages and straps from a swap.......................................$5
Alloy seatpost from parts bin...................................................$5
Set of beat up drillium Sugino chainrings from parts bin..............$10

After putting a whopping 4 miles on the Giant a few weeks ago I put $150 price tag on it and left it at the family thrift store..............no takers yet. I still have 18 days and 58 miles to go.

bwilli88 

This

Has become this but will not get ridden until my wife returns from the States

Still need to get some chrome fenders and put on the RD, brakes, rear rack, basket, and other misc stuff to make it a nice market bike for her.

crank_addict

I'm back at the ranch and hope to finish it tonight. At $92 and with enough change to maybe do a real bar tape job . Simply didn't have any on hand but used some old rim tape.....


'Save the Cables' campaign. Stripped the outer coating of gooey and mismatched cable housings, cleaned the inners and its good to go.

crank_addict

We'll, finished the reaseembly this evening and rode its first 13 miles in probably a few decades.

Knowing the cottered crank seize and partial shearing, ahead of time I drilled thru it anticipating it to shear completely during the ride. Sure enough, during an ascent and mashing, it started to clunk and finally all the way. A quick roadside repair with an ankle biter Allen wrench and wire... good enough to get back. (Forget to take a pic of that side bearing. I don't think its ever been serviced. Solid rock hard grease. Was able to soak, clean, re-pack and now good to go.)

The left crank arm defect bore for the pedal threads is annoying. One easily feels the eliptical motion.

Had some fun on the return and took a gravel route. Good punishment for the old tubulars. Other than the crankset, its really a decent rider. After the 100 challenge, it deserves a better crank and bottom bracket. Woo hoo!

crank_addict

ankle biter roadside repair

oddjob2

Just completed my mileage requirement!

non-fixie 

Nice! Much easier than a cotter, and adds to the clunker look as well.

Italuminium

Outstanding achievement award for this ghetto fix in perfect spirit of the thread!

crank_addict

Finally getting some miles in on it. Todays high winds and the gearing were quite a workout. Left crank eccentric is not enjoyable but the rest of it is decent.
100 clunker challenge log
Bottecchia
5/6/14 13 mile Fox Lake- Chain O Lakes State Park (notes: crank pin broke + $2.15)-Spring Grove-Fox Lake
5/8/14 27 mile Fox Lake-Johnsburg-McHenry-Spring Grove- State Park- Fox Lake.
5/9/14 24 mile loop Fox Lake-State Park-Spring Grove-Twin Lakes, WI-State Park- Fox Lake. Partial gravel route.
notes: 15 mph+ constant high winds.

On the side of the road met 85 y.o. named Leon. Was having problems shifting his Trek mtn. bike.
Exchanged info and will make time to service his bike. Told me he rides 7k miles year! Last month while in TX, he had a flat. Apparently he didn't know or had anything to fix the flat so walked 6 miles and ran out of water. Cool dude.

Planning on some more miles this Sat. AM, LBS group B speed ride.
Good old' horses

ThimbleSmash

Nearly had my C&V 100 challenge bike rolling till while taking a test ride to look for possible adjustments my tire blew out. Not sure why it failed but guess I got to pick up a new tube and tire since it blew a hole through the sidewall. Was intending on hitting up one of the local shops anyway to have them pop the freewheel off on the rear wheel so I can remove the remains of the dork disc, allow me to clean the spokes, and service the hub.

Expenses so far: (I know I got some freebies from previous stuff I'm using but I hate to see them sit around any longer.)
Bike: Free
Jetta Saddle: Previous Freebie find
Sunlite Alloy Pedals: Freebie from previous mechanic work
Kalloy Seatpost $7.99
2x Jagwire Basics Gear Cable $4.00
Gear Housing: Freebie leftover from mechanic work
Shipping: $8.99

Total: $20.98

I'm really happy with it so far, should make for a good sleeper.

crank_addict

5/10/14 25 mile LBS club ride: McHenry-Johnsburg-Spring Grove-Ringwood-McHenry.
notes: Oh nuts... bunny hopped at a small bridge entrance ramp, no biggie however a little further ahead
and the saddle tilted nose down. Not wanting to slow the group pace by stopping and re-adjusting it, I pulled up on the nose section and the leather tore like paper. The lacing helped support the saddle and simply rode on. LOL


---Back at the LBS, received my gifted Twenty. Awhile back I gave an old guitar amp to the rockstar bike shop employee (standing next to that fine piece) and in return, he gave me the bike. Rough. Plans are for a roadie drop bar conversion. Perhaps for the 20 Clunker Challenge??

Italuminium

do it. excellent base. 100$ goes a long way in buying cans of olive drab primer and some dingy old drop bars.

crank_addict

Still some time for a late entrant. A different but certainly vintage clunker.

German Kalkhoff 5 speed bike - $40 (Oconomowoc-WI)
German Kalkhoff 5 speed bike

crank_addict

5/13/14 30+ mile loop. Challenge miles now completed and enjoying the bike. Probably will log more on it this week. Today: Fox Lake-State Park-Spring Grove-Richmond-Twin Lakes WI-return route Spring Grove-State Park-Fox Lake

Had wicked storms yesterday and last night. Nice little drizzle today with an awesome looking sky. After breaking the other leather saddle, the 'Botched Chia' bike has grown back as originally acquired, suede San Marco.

crank_addict

With all the recent my 1st Schwinn threads, thought I'd post my first Schwinn.... a real genuine clunkin' Chwinn. Picked last night for $6.99 from the Goodwill. Won't have time for the clunker challenge on this one but will leave it as a neighborhood loaner or rider for the grandkids.



edit: Stripped this one down tonight. Cleaned and touched up the paint. Thought of a rattle can job but the paint would be as much as the bikes cost. Purchased a chain for $11. I'll keep it as a loaner, tow bike, winter thrasher. Made in China - c. 1993. Check out the fancy pancy tubing decal + lifetime warranty. Brochure list it as 30 lbs.. I might swap out the steel cockpit, seat and post, skewer and install a hollow axle in the rear.

Italuminium

Bravely soldiering on. I've since broke the limit by shelling out 15 euro for a new Shimano DX cog and a fresh chain, because the old hyperglide cog and chain were breaking down a lot.

Untitled by ctjr, on Flickr

DTSs

Well it certainly is not a vintage Colnago or Pinarello, but it rolls smooth, will fit like a glove, shifts well and it’s blue.

The Hunt


I'd almost given up after several weeks of looking for that special bike with which to meet the C&V Clunker 100 Challenge; until when out for a walk with the dogs, I struck up a conversation with a neighbor. It seems that he procured a road bike from a relative that he wanted to fix up. He had seen me out riding and expressed an interest in learning about road biking.


However, last year, my neighbor took a tumble off a tall bike he was cleaning up for a charity resell shop, resulting in surgery and several months rehab. He knew this new project was way too tall for him. So, after an hour of talking, in a spontaneous act of generosity, he upped and gave me the bike. Needless to say, I was quite surprised. In return, I promised to fix it up, continue educating him about road biking and to locate a correctly sized road bike for him.





It seemed to me that this 1988 Peugeot Bordeaux in its current condition and over thirty pounds fit the class of clunker. As I rolled it home, I decided to take the C&V Clunker 100 Challenge with the Peugeot, but add a bit to raise the stakes for me.


I've never owned a French bike but always had the respect for them. I finally found an excellent opportunity to get to know Peugeot. This particular bike, a 1988 Peugeot Bordeaux sat third from the bottom of their lightweight lineup during that year. Peugeot billed the Bordeaux as an “entry level racer” made from Peugeot’s proprietary HLE tubing. It barely fits in the realm of a vintage ride, only because it passes my C&V test by being a classic design road bike sporting down tube shifters, very heavily oxidized like the rest of its aluminum parts.


I decided to clean up, polish and restore the Peugeot out of its current clunker state, back to a respectable condition. I would service the required hardware, remove and replace the broken bits and stay in budget. Finally, I decided to ride the Peugeot over 100k in one day, meeting the challenge with a bit of a twist. The Peugeot certainly had the stuff to get me there, after I brought it back to its former self. If I got lucky with tires, pedals and a seat, I might even knock back some of its original weight making 100k not so difficult.


The Build


I started by removing the "Aero" bars and taking stock of what worked and what was broken. The seat, a disaster of bleeding gel, was an item for the trash. The tires had to go as they weighed a ton and were not changeable on the road. The brake levers, frozen in place by oxidation, removed easily. I discarded the dried out, torn hoods. I discarded white rusted brake cable housing that would never clean up. I particularly liked the Nervar cranks and the drilled chain ring. The drive side crank and chain ring removed easily; but, the non drive side crank did not remove at all. I was concerned about having a problem with lubing the bottom bracket.





The Shimano shifters, although nothing to write home about, cleaned up and shifted a thoroughly rusted chain and freewheel ok. I eventually removed the rusted freewheel for a service. The hubs were in great condition, considering they had little grease in them; same with the headset.





I was surprised to learn that no metal to metal damage occurred to any bearing surfaces as I could not afford the additional expense. Grease must have been very expensive the year this bike was born as there was very little of it to be seen.





Original specifications from a catalog page were mostly generic but did list some named parts:
Nervar 2020s Crank 42x52
Rigida 1320 alloy 700C 36H Rims
Maillard Hubs
Dia Compe Brakes
Lyotard pedals
Shimano Light Action 6 speed SIS


The Lyotard pedals were frozen and difficult to remove; probably no grease. I ride with modern cleats, so I saved the pedals for another project on another day and chased the crank arm threads. The rare Stronglight seat post, quite a surprise, came out clean as did the alloy stem.


I’ve not seen plastic molded cups on a bottom bracket before. Although it looked somewhat fragile, it spun without issue. After some research, I determined that it was an unserviceable sealed bottom bracket manufactured by Schaeffler - *** Industrial Bearings AG in Germany, a very lucky situation considering the crank arm was currently stuck to it. If it needs replacing in the future, I’ll be more forceful about removing the non drive side crank arm. For now, it will ride out very well.


With the Peugeot all apart except the bottom bracket, clean up and polish became the first order of business. Lube and reassembly would follow. Considering the budget and today’s parts costs, I grew more concerned about building a bike that would give me a trouble free 100k ride. I determined that meeting the challenge was just as important as building a solid, dependable and safe bike. But, the list of needed replacement parts grew longer as I worked my way through the bits, seriously threatening the $100 budget.


The Peugeot’s bits polished out nicely using a mix of Aluminum Jelly and Mother’s Aluminum Wheel Polish. However, I was surprised at the time I invested in the polishing effort, due to the depth of the aluminum oxidation.





It was apparent that this Peugeot spent much of its life in a very corrosive environment. Fortunately, after a thorough cleaning, reassembly completed as expected. I was quite pleased with the results.





During the time required to polish out and reassemble the Peugeot, I made some very lucky eBay purchases. Between my neighbor’s generosity and those purchases, I made the $100 budget. For the record:


Replaced two tires with an eBay steal,
Two Specialized Turbo 700 x 24 Tires gently used $5.11 shipped, for both (nice ride, very light)
Two tubes $4.66 x 2 = $9.32 shipped
New rim tape $2.89 shipped (the old stuff was a flat waiting to happen)
New shifter cables (can’t stand rust) $7.37 shipped
New white cable housing $4.49 shipped (old stuff kinked and won’t clean up)
New white hoods DIA COMPE traditional brake lever hoods $15.75 shipped (Ouch!)
New brake levers to replace frozen levers and match brake calipers
Dia Compe #144 Road Brake Levers New Old Stock $18.87 shipped (Serious Ouch!)
New white bar tape $7.11 shipped
Keo Elle Sprint Look Road Bike Pedals $21.80 shipped
(I guess men don’t ride girl’s pedals; even if they’re Look Sprints?)
Another incredible eBay steal a new take off San Marco SPID Saddle $2.99 shipped
One additional water bottle cage from parts on hand, fmv $3.00
(need two water bottles as it gets hot here)
Total - $98.70


The Peugeot weighed 23.2 lbs with pedals on a hanging scale, a respectable weight considering it was over 30 lbs as found and the original specification listed the weight at 25.75 lbs. Excellent tires, pedals, a light weight saddle and removing those aero bars proved very beneficial. The initial rides to fine tune the bike revealed a very comfortable rider; no longer a clunker. I found myself looking forward to its first 100k ride.





The Slog


On the day of my 100K slog, I awoke to unseasonably cool weather and clouds. Although, the previous day’s rain soaked the roads, overnight winds very effectively dried out the pavement. I could not have asked for a better day to ride. I routinely do long miles on weekend rides. I expected this ride to not really be a slog. My strategy was to join my regular group ride to get in some quick miles and then break off on a different route to achieve well over 100k.


Fortunately, the Peugeot performed flawlessly. I was most surprised with the Peugeot‘s front end. The fork, Rigida rim and soft Specialized Turbo 24 mm tire at over 100 psi mitigated any shoulder, arm or hand fatigue caused by the ride. Steering and handling were flawless. Shifting with the low end Shimano derailleurs worked like a charm. They indexed well and there was little chatter from the chain/freewheel combination.


The Peugeot looked great and brought back some memories for some of the riders. I received both compliments as well as surprise, especially when they found out about the $100 spend limit. At about thirty miles, the sun burned off the clouds as the temps rose into the 70s. The group turned east and I continued north to enjoy the remainder of the ride. However, I soon learned how badly I had miscalculated.


As committed as I am to my Brooks saddles and especially when I’m dodging the grief I get for riding my “old heavy leather saddles,” I did not seriously consider that I might compromise my ride with the design, dimensions and fit of an arrowhead style racing saddle.


Fifty miles into the ride, the nerves in my legs ceased to work correctly while I pedaled when sitting on the saddle. I could climb and coast out of the saddle, but I could not manage anything above a soft pedal in my lowest gear when sitting on the saddle. I’ve ridden centuries on my Brooks and San Marco Squadra HDP saddles, but I’ve never endured anything like the $2.99 San Marco SPID Saddle I found myself on during this ride.





In spite of my strange new stand up riding style towards the end, I enjoyed what turned into a slog, immensely. Many thanks to Narhay for dreaming up the challenge. I enjoyed reading everyone’s escapades almost as much as I enjoyed my project and ride.


As for the future, my plans for the Peugeot include swapping the saddle for a Brooks and doing another long ride or two, perhaps with my neighbor, who rides more and more every day.

RandolphCarter

^^ Nice job with the Peugeot!

Is that the original chain? If so, how did you bring it back to life?

Italuminium

Welcome to the forums DTSs, and what a great first post. Perfect bike for the challenge too. You've done an amazing job on this bike, it looks much better than new.

DTSs

It is the original chain. In this case, rust protected the chain. I washed the chain and freewheel with a stiff brush, water and concentrated Simple Green, focusing particularly hard on the chain as I rolled it around the freewheel. Then I used compressed air to blow any remaining water out of the chain. I lubricated the chain several times with Finish Line Dry Teflon Lube. After the first twenty mile shakedown ride, it looked and functioned like a new chain.

Thanks Italuminium for the welcome and the kind words.

debit

My clunker actually passed the 60 mile mark a few while ago. I'd been riding it on my usual 12 mile commute route in addition to using it for grocery runs but lacked the time to do the write up. Total dollars actually spent: $45 ($15 on the bike, $18 on the stem adaptor and $12 for the brake levers which were originally intended for a different project). The only things original to the bike are the bottom bracket, headset, seat post and tubes. However, to follow the contest rules, I've listed everything on the bike and assigned it a fair value:

Bike: $15.00
Crankset: fair value $0-was free and had broken teeth
Wheels: fair value $10
Freewheel: fair value $8
chain (recycled): fair value $2
Threadless stem adaptor: $18.00
stem: fair value $5
bars: fair value $2
grips: 0
brakes: fair value $4
brake levers: $12
used saddle: fair value $5
cables 0
used tires $ 0
pedals fair value $4
rack: fair value $5

Total: $90


I was going to go Full Metal Clunker and use as many of the original parts as I could, but frankly I couldn’t stand looking at that stem. And thus began my search for a 21.1 stem that wasn’t equally hideous or a million miles tall. The search failed, but I did find a 21.1 threadless stem adaptor, which, while not exactly beautiful, is at least not horror inducing and worked with the no name stem I pulled from the parts bin. My original thought was to do another drop bar conversion but I had these old Wald bars sitting around, so…


The Tourney crankset was pulled from a dumpster bike; it had broken teeth on the big ring so I Dremeled it into a single with bash guard. I had originally set the bike up as a 1 x 6 with a Suntour 7 RD plus the repaired original thumb shifter; sadly, my repair skills weren’t up to the task. Rather than spend more of my budget on another shifter I decided to go single speed with a used freewheel. Brakes also came from the parts pile. The VO city levers are new but cables and housing are all recycled. Grips are recycled wrap tape.


While it would probably be more in the spirit of the challenge to use the wheels that came with the bike, I decided instead to go with a set from the parts pile. Both hubs needed a full overhaul and the rear wheel had to be redished. Tubes are original to the bike, tires are some elderly Kendas I hadn’t gotten around to putting on the curb yet.

Used pedals and some cheaptastic plastic toe clips came from the junk pile. I tried to clean up the original seat post as best I could. The original saddle was too narrow, so I pulled one from my rejected saddles pile. The rack also came from the parts pile.

From my run to the pet food store this morning:




I realize the new parts are the equivalent of lipstick on a pig, but I actually find myself liking this bike. My original plan had been to Craigslist it or donate it after the challenge, but now I think I’ll keep it for errands and grocery runs - it’s also perfect for pulling the dog trailer. This was a good challenge; I didn’t need another bike, but I’m happy that this one has another shot at being useful, as opposed to winding up as scrap.

P.S. I'm going to plead for an exception to the "leave it overnight unlocked or only with a cable". I live near the U of M and even Magna's aren't safe.

crank_addict

^^^debit - That ride is choice! Especially like the 'Limited'... as if in limited build and funds.

Then we have DTS's super Peugeot. What a great post and bike. I'd swap the saddle too but surely is a century rider.

crank_addict

Today for good measure I took the 'Botched-Chia' bike for a 35+ miler. Really enjoying this clunker. Was near 90 degree and some brutal storms came in late. While out on the route, picked up some parts for clunker II, the $7 Schwinn Hurricane. Duct taped and bungeed the bars to the backpack.


Spotted this giant and beastly wheel for some unknown application. Was resting on a low-boy trailer.

oddjob2

Tomorrow is the DEADLINE for the 100 days!

non-fixie 

Yeah, it won't be easy to sleep tonight ...