Bicycle fairies at the bottom of the garden!

[brokenbetty]

Hi Brokenbetty-

If you need any mech help let me know - I can do some stuff but not all of it - I reckon we could meet somewhere in the middle location wise- PM if you do - I also know of a place that does free repair/workshop skills for cyclists if they bring their bikes in and all the parts needed (not tools) - I'm heading there tommorow.

It's a beauty of a bike! Love the Hercules chainset!

PS how did you get on with the roadbike btw?

Hi tt

I appreciate the offer but the bike is in Newcastle right now! I've got some family stuff on which means I'm going back and forth a fair bit until Christmas so the Hercules is my Newcastle Project. To be honest it's nice to have something to do up here rather than just drifting around mum and dad's house reading papers and drinking tea.

Ah - the roadbike! I demo'd a couple but they were both Treks so pretty much the same frame with different hardware. None of the London Evans had any other makes available in my size and ordering them for demos is a right hassle.

So, I hit on a cunning plan to buy to cheapest old roadie in my size off ebay, do the minimum to make it safe and rideable and commute on that a while to see how I like it! So far it's done a one way ride home, during which I learned a lot about steel rims in the rain so it's not going out again til it's got new pads at least.

So although the Hercules is currently a Geordie bike, I might well need your help getting the London bike on the road

 

[ttcycle]

Lol - you have two projects on your hands? How did that happen?!!
Hahah well drop me a line if you do need some tinkering or some advice- anything I can't help with I will try and forward you on to somewhere - and glad that the Geordie bike will keep you occupied.

Did you make sure that your ebay bike was legitimately owned and not stolen?
The free bike workshop may be worthwhile for you if it's easy for you to get there-it's in Hackney run by LCC and is every couple of weeks. Here's a link:
http://www.hackney-cyclists.org.uk/workshop.htm

 

[brokenbetty]

Did you make sure that your ebay bike was legitimately owned and not stolen?

I didn't run any checks, but the guy I bought it off seems to specialise in very cheap old bikes so I think it's unlikely. I'd imagine he gets them for pennies from tips and house clearances.

Certainly this one hadn't been anyone's daily hack for a very long time: when I deflated the front inner tube the tyre actually crumbled

Cheers for the link to the Hackney workshop - one possible upgrade to the road bike is new rims and I don't think I could handle that myself, so this sounds ideal.

Although I may have problems getting there: my bike does have gears. I'm not sure I'm allowed to ride it through Dalston

 

[ttcycle]

Hi Betty

you could always take the bike on the east london overground as the workshop doesn't start until 7pm and ride some of the roads in Hackney to get there- I think Hackney central is your best bet.

Sounds like a very interesting project you've got on your hands!

 

[bauldbairn]

Doh...sorry hun..I put the pic into my private album..am an eejit.

So to save you going hunting again..here she is:

(yeah..i know the saddle is crap, but i hate the brookes ones I've got, and that weird one was on it when I got her. )

The log she's leaning against is where I used to sit with my friend before she died and left Bessie to me. It just seemed like the right place for a photo.

Nice bike and the right place to take the photo, with the logs significance.

 

[brokenbetty]

mini Balmoral update...

I was up in Newcastle for my granny's 90th last weekend (go Granny!). Not much time to look at the bike, but between the festivities I sneaked time to reassemble her plus put on brake pads and new brake and gear cables. I took her for a teeny test ride round the block and everything is spot on except she's a little big for me, but not so much I can't ride her. I even got the sturmey archer cable adjustment right first time!

Next visit I'll sort out the final touches - lights, cable clamps, chain guard, reflector and the right bolts for the mudguards (the test ride was cut short when a bolt I knew didn't fit but thought I'd get away with came off ) and then it's a ride to London on the East Coast Main Line.

I can't wait!

 

[Cubist]

mini Balmoral update...

I was up in Newcastle for my granny's 90th last weekend (go Granny!). Not much time to look at the bike, but between the festivities I sneaked time to reassemble her plus put on brake pads and new brake and gear cables. I took her for a teeny test ride round the block and everything is spot on except she's a little big for me, but not so much I can't ride her. I even got the sturmey archer cable adjustment right first time!

Next visit I'll sort out the final touches - lights, cable clamps, chain guard, reflector and the right bolts for the mudguards (the test ride was cut short when a bolt I knew didn't fit but thought I'd get away with came off ) and then it's a ride to London on the East Coast Main Line.

I can't wait!

Hope the saddle springing works, that sounds a bit bumpy!

 

[brokenbetty]

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!

I finally finished the bike (was foiled at the last minute by a frozen pedal) and it's too darn big for me

I'm going to try swapping the saddle as it's quite a high one If that doesn't work there'll be a Hercules looking for a new owner