Winter Maintenance, LED Lights

 We're in the thick of winter now - cold weather and plenty of snow around. I've been working on my bikes indoors, doing routine maintenance and converting some to retro LED lights. I'm using Kiley/Soma headlights and Soma Silver Bullet tail lights on these bikes. Here is a 1960s Schwinn Racer and a 1950 Schwinn Superior inside, undergoing some maintenance and getting their new lights.

Vintage Bike and Parts Fishing Expeditions...

 I normally do not cover the politics of online bicycle websites and discussion boards, but I will admit that I am not a fan of this latest change to a discussion board I visit.

The Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchange has opened a new selling format that could be described as a somewhat loose auction for parts or bicycles. Sellers post an item in the forum, and then buyers bid on the item until the seller decides to accept an offer. 

This is called "Deal or No Deal", but the name should instead be "Carnac's Fishing Expedition". 

https://thecabe.com/forum/index/deal-or-no-deal.97/

There is no stated reserve, which is to say, the reserve is whatever the seller is thinking at the time. The buyer offers are supposed to be public so people can see what is being bid, but some bids are being submitted by private message, so there is that guess work as well, and who knows where the real bidding is. Even worse, at least one user has submitted a higher offer even after the seller accepted another bidder's offer, effectively trying to kibosh the deal with a late, higher bid. Some of this behavior is against the rules, but the format invites wild behavior. Sellers can just withdraw the item at any time, even with active bids - so the rug could be pulled out anyway from the bidders.

I will admit this is a turn in the wrong direction, and it tends to work as nothing more than a "pie in the sky" fishing expedition for the seller. He is free to post whatever item, and then turn down the offers he gets if he doesn't like them. The buyers get to play their version of "Carnac the Magnificent" setting down bids.

Is he about to make an offer on that Schwinn?

This is all a little like eBay, but without some of the eBay formatting and a little more wild west. 

It's unfortunate because one of the virtues of the CABE, Bikeforums sales, and RatRodBikes, was that they stuck to their guns in terms of having only set-price sales. Either you buy or you don't with those. But this latest change at the CABE is certainly a step away from that, and I think, in the wrong direction.

Heat Shrink Tubing for Dynohub Wiring Set Ups

If you're like me, you have a variety of lighting set ups on your various bicycles. The simplest involve AA or AAA batteries powering LED lights. But the more complex set ups involve splicing a Dynohub and its original wiring into something modern like a B&M Lumotec Classic. 

The result is that you need wire hookups that will be reliable and stay tight.

I soldered B&M-friendly wire connectors onto the old wires. The solder joints were originally covered by electrical tape. The problem with electrical tape is that it seems to degrade down to gunk in just a couple of years.

So my wife bought these electrician's heat shrink tubes for me for Christmas. These are more modern invention than electrical tape and leave much cleaner wraps around the connections.

 

I took a little time this week to convert my Raleigh Sports connection covers over to the heat shrink, and I am happy with the results.

So if you struggle with electrical tape coverings that turn to gunk, give the heat shrink covers a try.

What I Wish I Knew When I Started...

 We're into the heart of winter here in New England: snow on the ground and the temperature below freezing all day. It's more hockey season than bicycle season. But there is always a little time to think things over before we get to spring.

One thing that occurred to me was to write down all the things that I wish I knew when I started fooling with vintage bicycles a long, long time ago.

I'll write them in no particular order:

• The bicycle with the highest cachet is not necessarily the bike you really want to own or the right bike for you. A 1930s Schwinn ballooner, or a 1950s Raleigh rod brake roadster with full chain case, is a great bike. But you may find that you like later bikes or more common bikes better (and find they ride better too). Ride what suits you and what you enjoy, not what collectors hold in the highest caste. 
  

• Keep spare parts around, but don't hoard junk. You never know when you'll end up with a project bike needing a rim, or a caliper, or a brake handle, etc. Don't drown yourself in junk parts, but do have the parts around that tend to be missing or broken. Bar grips, shifters, brake parts, etc. all tend to be missing when you find a bike to work on.
  

• Pay attention to your bike(s) even during the off-season. Tires get cold and go flat, saddles dry out, dust accumulates, etc. Don't put the bike away in November and then ignore it until April... Check in for preventative maintenance once in awhile, even when not riding.
  

•  Comfort is king - don't buy a bike that looks nice or that is a high cachet item only to find it isn't comfortable for you. If it hurts to ride the bike after 20 minutes, something needs to change.
  

• Don't obsess over vintage consumables - tubes, tires, brake pads, cables, etc. It doesn't need to be 100% perfectly original in most cases. It's better to have good, reliable tires than original tires. It's better to have brake cables you know will work rather than stick to fraying cables. Originality is meaningless if you get launched over the bars.
  

•  Don't obsess over vintage electrical and lighting systems. Don't be afraid to use LED bulbs, battery conversions, or whatever else you need to see in the evening. What good is an original set of lights if you ride into a ditch, or hit a pothole, or get hit by a car? "Retro" looking LED lights can be a good compromise of appearance and safety.
  

•  Don't go for tires, brake pads, tubes, or other items based solely on appearance. A better quality tire is generally better than a tire that looks good but rides badly. Tires make a difference, especially if you can get something good like a Panaracer or Schwalbe.
  

•  If you're serious about repairing old bikes. Don't hesitate to learn wheel building, tensioning and truing. You'll need these skills eventually and they bark worse than they bite. It's OK to not be sure when learning, and you eventually will learn how to build your own wheels. But don't hold yourself back by being afraid to try it.
  

• Buy the best tools you can reasonably afford and don't buy cheap ones. They pay themselves off each time you use them.
  

•  Don't be in a rush or impatient to finish a project. Let the paint dry. Don't work when tired or frustrated. Come back to the project another time and do it right. Don't force parts or fittings because you want to get it "on the road".
  

•   Don't obsess. It's a hobby. If you aren't enjoying it and you're mad about something broken or not right, then step away for awhile and come back to it.

•  Listen to experts but ignore "experts". This is hard to explain in words, but is more a sense you get over time. There are some guys who know what they're talking about and will steer you in the right direction, and then there are blowhards who appear to "know everything" but really don't have any good advice at all. The information should be the focus, not the speaker.

•  Whenever you turn down or say no to a project that is a basket case or that really doesn't suit you, that is when you effectively give yourself a pay raise.

•  Unless the bike has a familial or sentimental importance, sell bikes you don't ride. They are meant to be ridden. On the flip side, never sell a bike that you ride a lot or that has a special personal significance to you. You may never get that one back.
  

•  Work on what you love. Who cares if you like plain Raleigh Sports bikes from the 1970s or department store 10-speeds or Sears middleweights? If that's what you like, then go with it. Not everyone needs a Rene Herse or an Elgin Bluebird.
  

• Keep your eye on the road, but don't lose sight of your surroundings. The surroundings are part of what make the ride enjoyable. Focus on and deal with what is now in front of you, not what is down the road three miles. The road is ridden one foot at a time.
  

• Do not ever forget the philosophical importance of what you are collecting, repairing, riding, or doing. Everything you do should have some good purpose, to you or to someone else.

 

Thoughts on Closing Out 2021

 The year 2021 has come to a close. This year saw some changes to my bike collection. A rod brake Phillips roadster and a 1951 Raleigh Clubman left, while a 1950 Schwinn Superior and a 1964 Schwinn Traveler came in. 

 

 Out: Bikes I Sold in 2021

This Phillips roadster was a re-build I did in 2018. Like so many of the really old rod brake bikes, it needed a deep going-over. These were utilitarian bikes and performed some hard work in their heyday. This bike was in good shape and a fine example of the "old style" upright roadster from Britain. Sadly, I did not ride it a whole lot. It was limited to very nice weather and shorter rides. It was the sort of bike you want if you wanted to experience the old school "sit up" type riding, taking in the scenery. 

 

This 1951 Raleigh Clubman was an example of a fine road bike from the days when a 3-speed hub was a good touring and club riding option. The frame was very light, and it had a beautiful grey metallic paint job on it. The story I had gotten was that the bike was restored by an experienced bike enthusiast in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, and it showed. The bike was very cleanly rebuilt and was a great example of the classic British road bikes of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

 

 

In: Bikes I Bought in 2021

In late spring or early summer, I came across an example of the unusual, post-war Schwinn Superior bike that was for sale. The project lacked wheels, but virtually everything else was there. It had the hard-to-find Schwinn-built brake calipers, Schwinn script brake levers, and the unusual combination of an electroforge welded frame and cottered 3-piece cranks. The blue-green color was right up my alley, and it had creme colored trim in the style of a British bike. I bought the Superior project and after re-building, I have not regretted it one bit. It's a wonderfully comfortable bike.

This 1964 Schwinn Traveler was something I did not expect to buy. I was happy being sized down one bike, but in late fall 2021, I came across a very nice example of the classic Schwinn Traveler 3-speed in an online auction. I bought the bike and have been slowly rebulding it. The bike has hit a couple snags, but everything can be addressed. The bike is very attractive, and many of the parts that usually turn up damaged on these bikes are in great shape on this example.

Looking Ahead to 2022

I am not totally sure what 2022 will bring. There's always a chance that tomorrow, or next week, or next month will bring out yet another wonderful old 3-speed bike to be rebuilt. One never knows... But I am hopefully going to do a little more downsizing of my collection, to get down to just the handful of bikes that I ride a great deal. I'll probably look into selling a bike or two come spring, when people are looking for bikes at the start of the riding season. Everything in my collection is pretty good - no real "losers", but certainly not all of them see as much ride time as I would like to give them. We shall see... 

In any event, Happy New Year to all, and may 2022 bring you better than 2021 (or 2020 for that matter) did.