The Toaster

[Freeman]

My bike I have put the most miles on over the last few years. A tall frame someone gave me because they were short, a rear coaster brake hub from an old ladies bike that was rotting away in the woods, handlebars from a scrap-yard and other parts sourced cheap here and there. I have 4000 miles on it and it has just needed a new chain each year and this year had to flip the rear sprocket around as the teeth were getting work on one side.

 

[Jonny69]

Great story! What’s the frame? Was going to say Pennine but on a closer look the faded lettering doesn’t actually look like it says that! You should put some bar tape on it though, even if it’s budget cork tape. It’ll make the handlebars way comfier and take a surprising amount of shock out your hands and wrists when you inevitably go down a pot hole in the road!

 

[doctor-bond]

Love it. Props for the seatpost mounted security device.

 

[Nob]

To make it road legal it should have a working front brake if in the UK I believe

 

[jim haseltine]

True, but clues like a coaster hub, kick stand and Schrader valves suggest to me that it's on the west side of the Atlantic.

 

[Freeman]

True, but clues like a coaster hub, kick stand and Schrader valves suggest to me that it's on the west side of the Atlantic.

Sharp eye. I am in a city on the Great Lakes in North America. The frame is a USA-made "Schwinn" and there is nothing special about it, just a cheap straight-gauge thing. Most all the bikes I grew up riding as a child and teenager had nothing but a rear coaster brake, it is really nice to ride such a simple bike that has no controls except pedal forward to go, backward to stop. I can easily lock up the back wheel on dry pavement, and I am impressed that the rear wheel stays perfectly in alignment from the abuse. I never got in the habit of using tape on handlebars over the last 58 years of riding, just something I am used to. I had fenders and a rear rack on this bike for a while, but I usually use a backpack for carrying things, a messenger bag, and I just try to avoid riding when it is too cold and wet if I can help it, and if it is warm outside, I just do not care if I get wet. I took the rear coaster brake apart and re-packed it at 2500 miles and was surprised it looked better than new, with no perceptible wear, and the bearing races looked better as they had bedded themselves in and polished themselves. I am planning on building up another similar bike but with a more modern tire size, as it is getting hard to find good quality used tires in the 27" size anymore. Currently I am running on two tires I got out of the skip behind a local bike shop, the rear with an anti-flat strip between it and the tube, and it is proving very reliable over city streets full of broken glass, screws and bits that have fallen off of motor vehicles.

 

[Nob]

So your acting out. the part of the film “premium rush” then

 

[Freeman]

I took a photo of the donor for the coaster brake after I took it out a few years ago.

 

[Freeman]

Well, a few weeks ago I laced up a set of 700c rims so I could run more modern tires that are also easier to find, also went from an 18t to a 16t rear sprocket on the coaster brake hub. Bike works well and is on the average faster now. On a flat 20km stretch I averaged 19.2mph even though I was tired. I am hoping for a nice day with low wind after I have had a few days rest so I can try for a 20mph average on it. Since the photo was taken I put a used 23mm gp5000 tire on the front a friend gave me after he bought a new set, and on the back in a larger 28mm gp5000 I got with a box-lot of used tires. So the bike rides better too with the new tires compared to the old 27" ones. I am having a lot of fun with it. I ride with a group of old retired guys and we are all in our 60s to 80s and I am the last holdout on a steel bike, they all have new carbon-framed aero bikes.