Fixing a Victorian

[keithglos]

Common commuter bikes in 1920/30s were roadster (bolt up rear stays) 24 inch frame 12 inch bottom bracket. rod brakes 28 x 1 1/2 wheels 7 inch cranks and around 67 degree angles. , many with hub gear. generally black to make them look strong (illusion).
These usually had the saddle at its lowest and were still too large..
By the late 30s the need to stop with a foot on the ground in traffic resulted in an overdue revision. So 26 inch wheels bracket height 10.5 inches fully brazed frames , 70 or71 degree angles. and frame 21 or 23 inch.

Keith

 

[Nabeaquam]

More problems. On today’s test beat the handle bars came loose. I was cornering and put too much force on the bars and the bolt that pinches the gooseneck tight to the bars pulled right out of the gooseneck. All the threads stripped inside the gooseneck and I bent the gooseneck a little. This is a dead end threaded hole that stripped. The threading was shallow and already messed up from years of use. Before I just weld the bars to the gooseneck I’m going to see if I can drill and tap the hole for an oversized grade 8 bolt. This thing is driving me more crazy than average.

 

[Imlach]

More problems. On today’s test beat the handle bars came loose. I was cornering and put too much force on the bars and the bolt that pinches the gooseneck tight to the bars pulled right out of the gooseneck. All the threads stripped inside the gooseneck and I bent the gooseneck a little. This is a dead end threaded hole that stripped. The threading was shallow and already messed up from years of use. Before I just weld the bars to the gooseneck I’m going to see if I can drill and tap the hole for an oversized grade 8 bolt. This thing is driving my more crazy than average.

Seems like every little thing expands in a multitude of little projects and bodges. Interesting for us, less so for you. Hope you'll have it rideable soon enough mate. Great undertaking this, though, and very compelling to follow.

 

[Woz]

More problems. On today’s test beat the handle bars came loose. I was cornering and put too much force on the bars and the bolt that pinches the gooseneck tight to the bars pulled right out of the gooseneck. All the threads stripped inside the gooseneck and I bent the gooseneck a little. This is a dead end threaded hole that stripped. The threading was shallow and already messed up from years of use. Before I just weld the bars to the gooseneck I’m going to see if I can drill and tap the hole for an oversized grade 8 bolt. This thing is driving me more crazy than average.

Bugger. It's also pretty scary when that happens - had a similar thing happen when one of the two bolts in the face plate decided to pull some aluminium threads away. Riding back in the saddle one hand on the bars and the other on the stem for 20 km was not fun.

Sounds like the entire front end could do with a re-think - failed bar & stem plus a cramped position would have me trying something else.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Bugger. It's also pretty scary when that happens - had a similar thing happen when one of the two bolts in the face plate decided to pull some aluminium threads away. Riding back in the saddle one hand on the bars and the other on the stem for 20 km was not fun.

Sounds like the entire front end could do with a re-think - failed bar & stem plus a cramped position would have me trying something else.

Well, that is what anyone else would do. This thing is dangerous to ride. The pedals dig into your soles and the lip at the end of the quill make it difficult to quickly remove your foot. Riding position was probably considered aggressive back then, now just dumb. I want to get it so it’s reliable to ride a few miles 2-3 times a year.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I drilled an tapped for an oversized grade 8 bolt that I ground so a 3/8 wrench fits, as original. If this doesn’t hold I’ll drill and tap a for a bolt that will go through the stem and into the bars. I do this on my klunkers that have cruiser bars as they collapse on the whoop de doos, no matter how tight. A last resort is to weld the bars to the stem. I’m hoping this is it, good enough, perfect, done.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

All fingers crossed here

 

[Nabeaquam]

I don’t trust that shallow dead end hole. I don’t want it to let go again when I’m pulling on the bars. Fixed gear puts a lot of strain on the bars. I drilled through the stem and the binding collar on the bars, threaded it, cut off a bolt with a screwdriver slot cut in it, tinned it, screwed it in while putting solder on it, screwed it counter sink in and soldered the counter sink area in. I then sanded it flush. This should keep the bars in place and they will still be removable with heat. I was going to plug weld the bolt in but then I thought of soft soldering it in.
You can’t see it when the bike is upright.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I took it for a longer ride today. The chain is pretty quiet now that I reversed it to run as original. The left pedal hasn’t failed and the bars stayed put. I’ve been having to re tighten the crank arm after each ride so after todays ride I used the impact wrench to tighten it. I was trying to avoid this as the slot to tighten up the bolt is getting wide from all the extreme force required to loosen and tighten it. Even locking compound wouldn’t keep it tigh with hand tightening. It kept coming loose. Hopefully the impact wrench will work. Saturday there is a massive 2000+ rider point to point cross country race up here, 30 and 50 miles. On the Sunday after the race, this Sunday, there is a big classic, retro ten mile bike ride and picnic. The organizers count seats before the start of the retro as there are always tandems. There are usually 75 to almost 100 riders. The drinking starts at 10AM and ends after the 11AM ride and post ride picnic when the beer runs out. There are always vintage bicycles that have been modified into beer bikes so they can haul refreshments to share. It’s not sanctioned by anyone, word of mouth and some riders just stand at the stop lights and block traffic until everyone is through. My thighs are real achy from todays ride so I’m not sure if I’ll be up to riding fixed gear Vicky in this event. I took one of my unfinished vintage bikes out of the attic, bolted it up and took it for a ride. I couldn’t find the other half of the tank so I put on half. Good enough, perfect. The other half is black or red, can’t remember. I’ll find it someday. So I really want to ride Vicky but I’m bringing the Columbia as a back up. The Columbia has a lot of replacement parts from my junk stash, seat, bars, grips, original Columbia chain guard, wheels, new pedal rubber from my junk, and fenders from a junked womans bike.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I did the 10 mile classic bicycle ride ride today with Vicky. 96 seats, or riders. The crank arm came loose right away like always. I might pound it in with a brass or rubber mallet, then tighten it again with the impact wrench. The seat moved around on the clamp because the rails are now undersized from the missing nickel plating and heavy rust. An aluminum shim will fix that. The crank is baffling. A little more work. It rode well otherwise.