Riding in Heat and Humidity

 

 

This time of year means heat and humidity. Some places are worse than others, but much of the United States experiences it to some extent in July and August.

• Take a lighter/sportier bike to make the hill climbs a little easier (bring that Raleigh Sports instead of your DL-1 or your balloon tire cruiser, for example).  You don't need to ride a 21st century bike with 20 speeds, but by the same token, don't force yourself to ride a bike where you're going to overwork.

• Brink a drink with you. Water is OK for shorter rides, but bring something with electrolytes for longer rides. A little sugar is OK, but don't overdo it on sweet drinks.
  

• On the other hand, drink in moderation and only gradually. Don't drink down half a bottle of Gatorade on your first break. Drinking too much all at once can be almost as bad as not drinking enough. Pace ride and pace your fluid intake to match your progress.
  

• Pick a route with more tree shade. My route runs through a wooded area, for about 2/3 of the run, which is great. Wooded areas that have shade throughout the day tend to stay substantially cooler.
  

• Ride in afternoon or evening. This is almost like a religious question - some people are "evening people" and some people are "morning people" when it comes to exercise. I'm an evening person. My wife is definitely a morning person (she claims only "weird people" want to exercise in the evening! Either way, only "mad dogs & Englishmen go out in the midday sun"). 
  

• Use a helmet with extra vent holes. There are some newer designs that are very light and let quite a bit of air through.
  

• Dress appropriately - light fabrics, light colors, shorts, etc.
  

• Always stop and take a break if you feel discomfort or distress - don't force yourself ahead if something feels wrong. 
  

• Build yourself up: work up your ride distances and speeds gradually in such conditions. Don't force yourself into that "challenge ride" where you want to go 20% farther than usual. Distance, humidity, and heat all have a multiplying effect on the difficulty. 
  

• Accept that your speed and progress might be a bit slower than usual. It's OK to go slower and take more breaks. Enjoy the ride more than trying to take a personal best.

 

Rainfall

Riding this summer has been a challenge so far, to say the least. We have had a large amount of rain, to the extent that it seems like we cannot string together more than two dry days at a time. 

On those days when it is dry, probably a third of the time, we have wildfire smoke from Canada. 

Below are a couple of photos from a recent ride to a local conservation area. The boardwalk pathway is underwater, as is a substantial part of the low lying areas. I noticed the "Road Closed" signs had been brought out in case the roads flooded as well, but luckily the roads stayed just above the water. 

 

 

A few miles north of here they were not so lucky, where there was extensive road washout and even several small bridges swept away.

1940 Raleigh Model 35 Sports

 I wrote earlier about this unusual, Model 35 Sports Raleigh from 1940. It seems like one of those bikes produced right on the eve of the transformation of the "Phony War" to all-out war in Europe. 

It's a kind of budget version of the regular Raleigh Sports. 

 The short spindle and lack of frame marks indicate it did not have a chain guard, which is in keeping with the 1940 catalog.

It handles like basically any Raleigh Sports would handle, except the Wright's Olympic roadster saddle I added gives it a very cushy, floating feel. 

One thing that has been bugging me on it is the bell. I added a period, brass Lucas bell that I rehabilitated earlier this year. The innards tend to rattle a bit in normal riding. It's not enough to actually ring the bell, but I can hear them rattling and clunking inside the hollow bell shell. I may have to swap it. I love how the bell looks and sounds on this bike, but I like my bikes to run smoothly and quietly over the road, at least as much as possible.

 

MKS Sylvan Touring Pedals ("Rat Trap" Type Pedals)

I am a fan of MKS pedals, to say the least. Today, it is not easy to find a good, vintage looking set of pedals that are fully rebuildable and made from quality parts. Often, we find that "retro" pedals are cheap, and not rebuildable parts made for appearance rather than function. High-quality pedals are often modern looking and not an appropriate choice for a vintage project.

 

My choice for an affordable, but good quality and vintage looking road bike pedal is the basic MKS Sylvan Touring type pedal. These pedals will look appropriate on an older road bike, and can be serviced at home with just a few tools (the MKS dust cap removal tool is recommended, in addition to your usual wrenches).

The one place where I think the MKS pedals sometimes come up short is in the amount of grease used in the bearings, as provided from the factory.  MKS uses a medium, clear grease that is of decent quality, but they don't seem to use very much of it. I prefer a generous amount of Lucas green grease, which is a common and affordable grease meant for bearings. 

 Above you can see the bearings of a Sylvan pedal straight from the box. Remember to use the proper tool to remove the MKS splined dust cap (channel locks and a rag can work in a pinch, but having the correct tool is the way to go). 

You can see the grease, but the amount used is somewhat marginal. This much grease might be good for a season or so of gentle riding, but there should be more grease if the bike is to be ridden a lot. I probably could get by until winter with this much grease, but they'd need to be rebuilt in a few months anyway.

The rebuild is fairly simple: remove the dust cap, unscrew the top nut and pull out the lock spacer, remove the cone and bearing balls, and then you have the three main assemblies (cage and housing; axle; cone/spacer/nut). Be careful - these are loose bearing balls that will try to escape if you pull it apart all at once. I like to use a small magnet to pull the bearing balls out of the cups before pulling apart.

I recommend a generous amount of grease because these bearings undergo a relatively high number of revolutions over a relatively small surface area. 

When you're done, you'll have a classy, well-made set of MKS road pedals. They look great on old 3-speed club bikes and path racers, as well as old 10-speed road bikes. These pedals have a 9/16 inch axle.

Happy 4th of July - A Focus on American-Made Schwinn Three Speeds

 Independence Day is here again, and so why not a discussion of the Schwinn-made three speed bikes I currently have in my collection?

I've owned many Schwinn three speeds over the years. Some of them were basic and common types, while others were quite unusual. That being said, here are the ones I have held onto and which I like to think are "keepers":

Of the Schwinns I have not sold or traded away, in order of how I acquired them:

• 1947 Schwinn New World: I bought this bike as part of a pair of bikes that were found in Indiana. It originally was a single speed freewheel bike, but I subsequently upgraded it to a three speed bike with a set of stainless steel wheels from a late 1940s Schwinn Continental. When I substantially downsized my collection after moving from Virginia to Connecticut, this was the only Schwinn I kept because I was quite attached to it.

 

• 1950 Schwinn Superior: This bike came as a partial bike from a collection based in Oakland, California. It had no wheels when I got it. I subsequently built a nice set of wheels using old hubs and new-old stock S6 Schwinn rims. It's a wonderfully comfortable bike to ride and I love the aluminum-green color. It even has a white rear fender tail, similar to a British bike. This bike is set up for a sportier feel than my other Schwinns. 

 

• 1964 Schwinn Traveler: This bike came from an online auction. I bought it because it was a tall frame model, which was not something I had in my collection. It also is a nice example of how luxurious the higher-end Schwinn three speeds could be in the post-war period. It has beautiful, stainless steel fenders and excellent chrome plating on the bright parts. The black paint is also quite nice. The frame has braze-ons for the three speed pulley, and the brake cables. It's a heavy bike that gives a solid and comfortable ride. It is not a "fast" bike by any means, but it's also not really a burden to ride either. If you enjoy Raleigh three speeds, check out some of these older Schwinns to throw a little variety into your ride and your collection.
  

 

• 1942 Schwinn New World: This bike came as a bike core from another collector, in Texas. I had a pile of New World parts sitting around and decided to refurbish the bike core with the New World parts. I put on a set of unique, pre-war Schwinn Superior handlebars. At first, I was skeptical of the bars because they were so wide and kind of a looping type design, but after riding them, I realized they are very comfortable. Because this bike came as a "core" to me, I felt freer to customize certain aspects. I built this bike up in a WWII aviation theme, with wing pedals, wing chain guard, and WWII US wings lapel pin on the bag.
  

 

• 1941 Schwinn New World: I bought this as a bike core from an online auction. It is somewhat unusual in that it is a "Planes and Trains" badge model that doesn't actually say "New World" anywhere on the bike. Yet the bike is certainly a pre-war New World with a little fancier headbadge. This bike is fillet brazed. I added a little bit taller stem and taller tourist bars to give this bike a little more upright ride than my other Schwinns (it's kind of like a Raleigh Sports). This is a comfortable bike to ride, though is not necessarily a bike that I would describe as "quick". 

 

I love refurbishing and bringing an old bike "core" back to life as much as I like doing a more exacting, period refurbishment. I take each project as an individual and use what I have to advantage in rebuilding the bikes.

 

I've also sold or traded away a number of Schwinns, as well as other classic American bikes. They're great bikes, but you can only have so many at a time... Within the last 10 years or so (I won't bore you by going back farther), here are the ones I recall:

• 1949 Schwinn New World: A red bike with a damaged frame. Retired the frame and saved the parts.

• 1947 Schwinn New World: A black women's bike that I built for my wife using aluminum rims, and brakes. It was very sporty for a New World, but my wife doesn't really like bicycles so sold it.

• 1941 Schwinn New World: A red bike core that came from an antique shop in California. I rehabilitated this bike with many period parts, but opted to put on a set of nice, post-war stainless steel Continental wheels. I somewhat regret selling this one, but I kind of have a similar bike again in the other 1941 New World that I currently own.

• 1947 Schwinn Continental: This bike came from a fellow collector in Florida. It was a beautiful blue color and very sporty. I had the choice when I downsized: keep the Continental or the black New World. I had a more sentimental attachment to the black New World. So the previous owner bought this bike back from me for the same as what I paid him for it. The Continental was a fun, clean, and very sporty bike, but there was only so much space on the moving truck. If you like the New World, but are hungering for something lighter and sportier, the 1940s-50s Continental is definitely a model to look for.
  

• 1942 Schwinn New World: This was a green bike I acquired in a swap with fellow collector for a Schwinn DX balloon tire bike. The New World was a partial black-out bike that I eventually sold. It was an interesting project, but I just didn't have space for it.

• 1941 Schwinn-Hoffman New World: This bike was one of the unusual "jobber" bikes that Schwinn made before WWII. It had a normal New World badge, but simplified frame decals and a weird decal where the Schwinn quality "cross" decal on the seat tube was actually a "Hoffman" decal with an arrow that seemed to be derived from the cross decal. I sold this to a collector in Washington State.

• 1954 Schwinn World Traveler: This bike was a beautiful, Opal Green color. A fellow collector saw it and really wanted it, so I sold it to him. It was a fun bike to ride and a real head-turner because of that color.
  

• 1940 Westfield Sports Roadster: this was a wonderfully preserved single speed bike that mixed American and English aspects. It had a diamond frame, fenders, and white rear fender tip like an English bike, but a single speed coaster brake, heavy-duty chain, and frame geometry like an American bike. I sold it to a collector in Mexico.

• 1940s Manton Smith roadster: this was a really odd bike I bought from a fellow collector. It had an ornate paint scheme like a balloon tire bike and very laid back frame angles. Yet it had the diamond frame and upright ride of an English bike. I donated this to a local bike charity.

• 1950 Columbia Three Star Deluxe: this was a very attractive, balloon tire bike that had a blue and cream color combo. As with so many old "cruiser" type bikes, it was a single speed with relatively high gearing. It was a cushy ride and a lot of fun, but it was a pain to climb hills with it. I sold it in an online sale to a guy who had a similar blue bike as a kid.
   

There are probably others that I have forgotten. I have a soft spot for the utilitarian New World bikes, both the brazed ones and the electroforge welded ones. I find they are comfortable, well-made bikes that are reasonably affordable to buy and repair.