Secret Project Revealed!

For the past week and a half Husband and I have been working on a secret project. Today is his mom's birthday and we wanted to do something special for her.
Whenever I would talk about my rides on Lucy she would comment on how she wished her old bike was ride able. It's a 1961 Schwinn Debutante that her father had given her.
Several years ago she asked her husband to have the bike fixed so she could ride it. Instead he came home with a new bike for her. It was a nice surprise, but not what she wanted and she barely rode it, then she left it behind the carport.

It doesn't look too bad, does it?

Her husband was going to put her old bike out with the bulk pick-up to be taken out with the trash because she now had a nice new bike to ride. So Husband and I took it to our house for safe keeping.

It was left behind our shed for several years, but at least it was safe. I had all but forgotten about it. Getting fenders was just the reminder I needed. I had always told her I was going to steal hers.

Not comfortable to sit on I'd bet.

Since I've been riding again my interest in fixing bikes has also been awakened and I said "Let's fix your mom's bike up for her."  Husband agreed and we pulled it inside.The road to hell and all that.

I figured it would only cost $100 and a couple of days work to get it into rideable shape. A new chain, seat, tires and a pot of grease should be all it would take. He He He. I'm so silly sometimes.

What should have been a lovely weekend project turned into a full on battle that took a week.
At first everything was going great, we spent a bit more at the shop than planned because I wanted her to have a nice seat. When we got home we started disassembly.

Nice fenders though.

These had to be replaced!

Everything was going along great until we tried to remove the handlebars and stem to grease the head set. It wouldn't budge at all. It was well and truly stuck. We let spray grease soak in over night and it wouldn't move. We tapped and pounded it with a leather mallet to break up the rust in there and it wouldn't move. We heated it carefully with a torch to expand the metal and it wouldn't move. We twisted and pulled until we were exhausted but they were fused together from years of neglect.

Finally we cut the top off the stem so we could free the fork from the rest of the frame and then we got freaky on it. We added more spray grease and let that soak in overnight. Then we heated it up until greasy rust started to bubble out of the faint gap, once that happened we dunked it in ice to cool it as fast as we could. We had to do it a couple of times before there was even hope.

The poor decapitated and mangled stem.

Finally we got out the biggest wrench we had and I stood full on the poor fork while Husband twisted for all he was worth. The force needed lifted me up and I had to hold on to the table for balance. Slowly it loosened up, and with a pop the darn thing came free. The fork was fine, they don't make them like that any more. It took us five days to get the darn stem out!

This is supposed to be three pieces, not one.

Now we were over budget already and had to find a new stem and grips that matched fast. We took the remains of the old on and the fork with us to make sure it would fit. It had to look as original as possible or she might hate it. We ended up at Bicas, my new favorite place for old bike parts. They had exactly the stem we needed and it was super cheap. All we had to do was dig through crates of them to find the one that would work. That was a Ton of fun and I found dynamos I'm going back for later. Sadly they didn't have grips though. We had to make do with some black ones we got at Ordinary Bikes.

 We hurried home to put it together and couldn't get the old rubber grips off.  I really wanted to save them if we could because I didn't like the new ones, but they wouldn't budge.They were probably glued or something. I ended up cutting them off with my Dremel, hot melting rubber burns through your shirt. I don't suggest this method at all, but it was fast.

The tires we got were the right size, but they refused to seat on the rims properly at the suggested air pressure. We tried pulling and pushing and nothing worked. Finally we took them in to Ajo Bikes and the nice man there struggled with them for an hour while we watched.  After using a huge pair of pliers to try to force them to seat he soaped the rims and over inflated them. The rubber had needed stretching because the tires are made for new style rims and not these ancient ones. It was fun to watch him work though.

It's alive!

Finally on Thursday we had the bike fully greased and put together. It looked much better than when we started, then I spun the wheels. The tires were out of true and we were out of money. I got to true the tires myself. It took awhile, but was the best part of the whole redo.

A nice straight wheel.

A comfy seat to invite her on board.

Every bike needs a bell.

It's fully functional and if she rides it we'll be happy to pretty it up. We could even redo the paint for her. We tried to keep it as original as possible so she can tell it's her bike and not a replica.

This was a great experience and a lot of frustrating fun. I want to do it again!

I got a new skill and Husband's mom got a functional bike. 

She was happy to be reunited with her bike and says she'll ride it. Yay!

I Need A Shim

I woke up before the sun and was eager to get out and ride. I was feeling strong and ready to roll. I really need to find where I put my lights and charge them up for times like this. It took the sun forever to rise today.
 I've been going around the same few blocks in my area forever making sure Lucy and I wasn't going to have a malfunction. It was time for something new.

I'm running out of neat thing to take pics of, but this is pretty neat!

After swooping around the neighborhood for a bit I decided to try the bike path. Its entrance is right by the park I like to stop at and has some nice tile murals. I hadn't been there in years, literally, and I remembered it was a little hilly and had a fun underpass. This would be great!

I snapped a pic and off we go.

One of the murals.

I was feeling fast so I put my weight on the bars to really try to pick up speed and wham!

The handlebars slipped and my soft bits slammed into the nose of my seat. My feet flew off the pedals as I choked back a yelp, swerving like a lunatic. I'm glad I wasn't on the road! I hit the brakes and danced around for a bit trying to calm things down. I'm glad no one was around to see it! That really hurt!

The bars had only moved an inch down but it was scary. So much for the bike path today.

 I remounted and rode home careful not to put weight on the bars. I tried to wrench them back into position  but they wouldn't move. Apparently they only do that when I don't want them to.

Saw this on the slooow ride home.

Once home they were still not budging again and I had to loosen the bolt to move them back into position. The bolt won't tighten any further, but I'm worried about a repeat performance so I need a shim. I have a ton of rubber ones, but will consult Husband to see if a metal one would be better.

Just when I think it's safe to leave the neighborhood! 

Lucy's New Look

Today was the test of Lucy's new handlebars and index shifters. I think it went great. The handlebars are Wald 8095 and are northroad style. They were really comfortable and my hands didn't go numb at all. The backward sweep put my hands in a very natural position that didn't strain my wrists and their being slightly lower helped to take a lot off my poor abused butt. I also love the look of them on her and they add a touch of elegance to my ride. They still keep me in a fairly upright position so I can look around and see everything.The curves will let me stretch out more and go a tiny bit lower if I want and are comfortable to hold. The only downside is I need to get a new mirror. Mine now only gives me a lovely view of my backside now.
The shifters are shimano tourney and will take some getting used to, but they worked great and shifted smoothly. All I'd ever used before were grip shifters so clicking the levers was a lot of fun. I kept shifting and they didn't skip of jerk. The left one for the front derailer will take the most getting used to because it takes a few clicks to make it shift. It's made that way so you can make micro-adjustments to stop chain rub. That doesn't seem like it will be an issue and I rarely shift that one anyway.
This was the most comfortable ride yet and the new bars made all the difference. Perhaps tomorrow I'll try them without the hated padded gloves.
Happy Easter!

Looking ready to roll.

Begging to be ridden

Her new bell looks elegant and has a great tone.

New baskets make here ready to carry anything.

A nice and smooth sweep back

The neighborhood cats approve of her new look.

My Husband The Easter Bunny

Because I've been riding almost every day my husband took me shopping today. First we went to BICAS. It's a great place that has a ton of used bike parts and bikes. Sadly, the handlebars I found were attached to a bike. I didn't need another bike so I passed on them.

Neat cactus sculpture out of bike parts.

Down the ramp we went.

The man at BICAS sent us to another shop but they didn't have any either. It was starting to look like there weren't any to be found. That shop sent us to a third shop and we hit pay dirt! Ajo Bikes was great!

They had exactly the bars I wanted. Wald 8095. They're going on her along with the new index shifters tonight. We also got her a new bell that was clearance so today was great.

Also the baskets I ordered came in today so it's going to be a busy night! I hope these handlebars help with my hands going numb, that would be great!

The bars and shifters along with another pair of locking skewers to try.

A Great Short Ride!

Today's ride was short because I'm still a bit blah, but I think I'm almost over it. I always get sick at the change of the seasons and it sucks but there's nothing I can do and I'll live.
It was great to get out and about, I really am enjoying riding again after being off her for so long. I can't wait to be able to go further and longer. I'm so glad I dug her out and shined her up, she's really shining me up in the process. It's a win!
I found a great site that made it easy to know how high to set my new seat. The height it told me felt perfect and even though my butt is still sore (will it ever get used to riding again?) it felt really comfortable.  Here's a link to the site:   http://www.ebicycles.com/index.php
I was a little surprised to learn that Lucy is actually to big for me, but only by 1". If she were a road bike she would be perfect though so I wonder if her being a hybrid makes a difference in sizing. She feels great so I wonder what a proper fitting bike would feel like. Down that road lies madness and poverty. ;)
With the seat at the suggested height I can still reach the ground with my tippy toes and it feels like she's a lot more stable. I always had it lower and you'd think that would feel safer but this just feel right. I've bookmarked the site.
I may need to raise the handlebars to be more upright, but I would need to get cables first so that will wait. I might actually get new bars if I can find any I like. I've never been fond of her flat riser bar, it makes my hands go numb and hurts my wrists if I ride too long. I would love a moustache or northroad style on her. I think they look great and the extra hand positions would really be nice.

Pretty flowers growing by the road.

You miss so much if you go fast.

This is the first red one I've seen. The ones close to home are silver. I think it looks great and really stands out!