High Water in August... and a Classic Schwinn Superior

 The weather over the past couple of weeks here has been truly unusual. We had two weeks of rainy weather, capped off by a heavy rain last Sunday (August 18) that was not predicted by any of the local forecasters. What was predicted to be a mostly dry Sunday with a few showers late in the day turned into a solid three inches of rain over the course of a few hours. 

A few miles south of me there was even more rain, along with severe flooding. More can be seen HERE.

Even a couple of days after the storms, the local swamps and streams were still very full. The stream below is normally a few feet wide - just enough for one kayaker or a small canoe. After these rains, it's much wider and deeper than normal...

August is usually a dry month when we have to mow the lawn only every two or three weeks. This year, August has been as wet as the late spring or early summer when we usually have much more rain. To make things even more unusual, after the rains finally passed, the temperatures dropped to a level not normally seen until late September or early October.

I took this nice 1950 Schwinn Superior out for a ride this week. The roads were damp in places, but the high water on the roads was gone by the time I went for a ride.

I would still like to raise the handlebars a little bit on this bike, though the stem is pretty well extended to its max. American-made three speeds often have stems with much less adjustment than their English cousins. I am considering a longer stem, though there may be a little adjustment left with this one...

I tend to like my bikes with a small cockpit and relatively upright riding position. This bike is pretty good, though there always seem to be a few more tweaks to be made...

 This is also a good time to think about safety on wet roads.

• Don't ride into water of unknown depth.
• Don't ride into water where you can't see the bottom.
• Don't ride into salt water (it's very corrosive).
• Don't ride into mud or sand washed onto the road (slippery)
• With steel rims - keep an eye on if they are too wet to stop effectively.
• Allow extra distance in traffic if it's wet.
• With a leather saddle - bring a good rain cover if it's raining. 
• Make sure any batteries or electronics are safely out of the water.
• Bring a cell phone in case you get stranded by high water areas on the road.
• Make sure your lights work.

 These are all basic safety tips, but they are worth remembering, even for the more experienced rider.

Acorn Brown Small Saddle Bag Review and 1953 Raleigh Lenton

 I recently purchased a brown Acorn Small Saddle Bag because I thought a change of color on at least one of my bikes would be nice. I figured with brown saddle and with green and white paint, the brown bag would go nicely on my 1953 Raleigh Lenton.

I think it looks pretty nice. 

 

I reviewed the black Small Saddle Bag awhile ago (HERE). I love these little, versatile bags.

The size is small enough to be compact, but large enough to hold your phone, keys, wallet, basic tools, and a snack. These bags are plenty for a couple hours, or even a half-day, of riding. 

The Small Saddle Bag is very nicely constructed of canvas and leather. It has a zipper to seal up, and a top flap to go over the zipper. It's kind of like a small version of the Carradice Zipper Roll, another bag I love. These bags are lightly waxed to give a little water resistance. A nice feature often missed on bags is present on this one: the front is tapered to prevent the bag from banging against the backs of your legs as you ride. The leather straps are heavy-duty and go nicely in the loops of a Brooks, Gyes, Wright's, Cardiff, or Velo Orange saddle.

I give this brown Small Saddle Bag a thumbs-up, just as I did for the black one. The brown goes nicely with this bike, and I think this one is a keeper.

 

Rod Brakes with Calipers? Yes - They Existed...

 A bit of trivia on a rainy Tuesday - did you know that Raleigh offered a bike where rod brakes were used to operate cable-style calipers? They did exactly that on the Raleigh "Safety First" line of roadsters. Let's look at the 1939 catalog example.

This bike shows a typical light rod brake roadster frame: it's similar to the common Sports cable brake light roadster frame, and it even has 26 x 1 3/8 inch endrick rims. The rim brakes are calipers, but they are a center-pull caliper actuated by a rod yoke type assembly. 

While the common wisdom is often that "rod brakes go with Westwood or Westrick rims" and "endrick rims only go with cable brakes", that is not always the case. These Safety First models are certainly rare to find today, but their unique brake system makes them all the more special if you are lucky enough to find one.