Deathtrap is dead in the water - new bike project needed!

Well. I spent last weekend stripping Deathtrap's bits from her frame in preparation for powder coating it. I could only do so much as I was missing a couple of relevant spanners/sockets, so took the partly-disassembled bike around to a friend's. Steve has a fab garage and full-on tool set. He put her frame in his vice and together we took wheels and other parts off. But... we hit a snag. The stem wouldn't be parted from the frame. It appears, somewhere deep inside, that rust has taken its toll. We followed appropriate processes for removing the stem - undoing the bolt at the top, tapping it with a hammer to release it, then pulling and - nothing!

Copious applications of WD-40 and an hour or two for it to sink in didn't help either. The wretched thing is stuck solid.

To make matters worse, Steve noticed that where we'd put the frame in the vice to hold it steady, it had dented. The steel used to build the frame is horribly cheap and light it seems. He reckoned he could feel the top tube bending under his fingers when he pushed it hard enough.

Is it worth persevering in that case? I'm looking at spending hundreds of dollars on new components, and attaching them to a very cheap frame. I think I'm being a bit daft. Although the frame size is good for me and the lugwork is lovely, it's not a good solution.

So poor old Deathtrap, her stem still eternally attached, is heading for the bin. There's stuff all worth salvaging except the chaincase cover and the mudguards.

Back to square one. I'm now looking for vintage bikes on eBay that might not require a full rebuild but will be the right sort of frame to utilise my 8 speed hub.

It's been HOW long? Ooops...

So much for posting on a daily or almost daily basis. It's been a month. We've had people staying with us and have been touring around - to the NSW south coast, to Canberra,to the Hunter Valley, as well as playing tourists ourselves in Sydney as we showed our Scottish visitors around the city.

Sydney isn't as bike-friendly as Melbourne. Bike racks in the downtown area are not utilised as well as they could and should be, but then it's a brave cyclist who takes on aggressive Sydney drivers, particularly in the city itself. That being said I did see some nice bikes around, particularly some 80s vintage ladies' cycles; however my camera wasn't at the ready and these bikes were in full flight, carrying their riders sturdily.

Canberra is a cycle city. In fact there's a shop which combines bicycle and coffee culture quite nicely in Kingston:

A peek through the window showed tables in front and bikes in back. My visitors aren't really cycling people so I didn't dash in to get a fuller measure of what was inside, but a brief inspection through the front door showed the back of the shop laden with city bikes, road bikes and fixies.

But my favourite bike photo from my touring comes from the farm cottage where we stayed. The owner has created a little paradise (more in another post), with touches that really make this place a special haven in which to relax. This poor bike below...many years ago she was abandoned cruelly by the holidaymaker who propped her against the shed, forgetting even about the flowers so carefully chosen and picked from the roadside, and dashed inside for a cup of tea.

Poor thing! She must have been a very graceful creation in her day. She wasn't a brand I recognised - the headbadge was so rusted it didn't make much sense, especially with me lifting the basket of flowers with one hand and trying to shove my compact camera under and around with the other. It looks like a bow, doesn't it? Aside from the pretty headbadge the bike has been plainly built: lugs, but not fancy ones. As always when I see a sight like this I long to have the knowledge and capability (and money) to do a restoration job, as her geometry looks very comfortable. I doubt her owner would let me, though - I've been coming to this place for ten years and the bike has been there all that tine (so, actually, have the plastic flowers!). She's a landmark on the property.

As for bikes I can ride, the hot humid weather broke over Easter, and I was able to take Petunia on a good long run rather than just around the block or to the shops. I hadn't had a decent ride on her for ages - she had a broken valve in her back tyre I didn't fix over summer as it became clear it was a summer from hell and too sticky to do much riding. Any riding I did was on Penelope. Oh dear... it felt so weird riding Petunia again! I had trouble balancing. I even had to put the saddle down nearly two inches, as I'd also lost the art of mounting the proper way and needed to have a toe on the ground. After an hour I was used to her again, but still not as confident on her as I was last year.

So lots of relearning for me and Petunia. Penelope has spoiled me with her lovely balance and relaxed geometry. I'm so glad it's autumn, riding weather! Now... if only it would stop raining :-)

Melbourne, cycle city (part 2)

More ramblings around the centre of Australia's second largest city...

Here's a Kronen that was used to advertise a boutique - tethered firmly outside, it was supposed to make you want to come inside. I was more interested at looking at the bike though! I'm guessing the boutique owner used it as transport to and from work. At least I hope so; what a waste otherwise!

Below is an interesting one that you don't see every day in Australia - a Golden Pigeon. Manufactured by the Flying Pigeon company these are the premium end city bikes that they make. 3 speed Sturmey Archer, Shimano Nexus front hub. I didn't even realise these were sold in Australia, but they are and one can be yours for a princely $395 apparently. A company called Cargo Cycles has been importing them, but has chosen not to import any more. Why? Here's what they say about the bike:

"The problem? They are a design dating from the Chinese Revolution, with build quality to match. They need a "Revolutionary" approach to assembly, which may involve liberal use of a hammer, and possibly even a grinder. The bike will almost certainly require replacement parts (pedals, saddle) before it is fit to ride.

You purchase one of these Pigeons on the understanding that you are buying a project, not a working bike. You will need bike mechanic skills, tools and the aforementioned Revolutionary attitude; or an understanding and patient bike shop mechanic (and deep pockets to pay for workshop time)."

So someone with a hammer, grinder, and other tools has clearly taken the time to get his Golden Pigeon up to spec. More information is available on the Cargo Cycles website.

This pretty little bike you see below will never be ridden again unless someone puts some serious work into her. She's used to advertise a florist, and has been cruelly treated - she's been painted from top to toe, including her chain, and is destined to spend her life right here as a static display.

I can't believe they even painted the saddle!!

Aha... a Peugeot mixte, in the wild. I didn't see many mixtes around - was good to spot a Peugeot!

I do like the headlight on the Peugeot! Aside from the modern basket at the back it looks a reasonably original bike to me. I'm no expert though.

What's nice about this little pink bike? I love the rear basket, with a top that's hinged in the middle. No chance of groceries jumping out of this one when you ride over rough bits. Note in the backtround more bikes are parked across the road. And on the extreme right of the pic that's another bike tyre. How had I missed seeing bicycles on previous trips!?

The bike below appears to be a single speed with a coaster brake (quite a few of them around actually). A pretty colour, but the nicest thing about it was the fluted mudguards - see next photo for a close up.

This ladies' bike is apparently white - but the owner has decided to decorate her with all manner of stickers. She's a very utilitarian ride with that milk crate on the back!

Here are a couple of lowrider bikes I spied in a bike shop. Now these aren't my thing, but they were striking enough to take a photo of. Especially the arrangement on the front wheel which appears to be some kind of suspension.

Take a look, it's very attractive with that spiral bar. I've never seen this kind of thing before on a bike - maybe I haven't been around enough! LOL! The metal looks cheap though... you can imagine this bike will rust pretty easily.

So that's Melbourne in a nutshell. There were many more interesting bikes but for various reasons I didn't get the opportunity to use them as photographic models.

Melbourne, cycle city (part 1)

I'm a Sydneysider born and bred, and have grown up with Sydney/Melbourne rivalry, in the matey way Australians do things, as a fact of life. Sydneysiders think Melbourne is stuffy and old-fashioned. Melburnians think Sydney is brash and just a wee bit tarty. Until my stepdaughter moved to Melbourne last year I hadn't visited Melbourne much at all; a few flying business visits which gave me precious little chance to get to know the city.

I've just come back from a long weekend there, and it only reaffirmed what I was already thinking: that Melbourne actually wins over Sydney in many ways. The shopping/Central Business District is well laid out and really, the shops are nicer. The trams are fantastic! Sydney gave up its trams in the 1950s but Melbourne kept them on and they whizz along in traffic snarls with lean efficiency.

But what I noticed most this time was the bicycles - in fact I knew I was in for a treat as the first one I saw was a vintage 70s/80s pale pink lady's bike being pedalled along on a big wide bike lane by a cheerful young woman who was clearly enjoying thumbing her nose at peak hour traffic. This was the first time I'd visited Melbourne since I'd got back into cycling, and boy, does Melbourne do it better than Sydney! Cyclists everywhere in the CBD, lots of women as well as men. There are a few reasons for this:

• Melbourne is flatter; Sydney is pretty hilly and if you're cycling 10kms or more to work those hills are going to make you pretty sweaty
• Melbourne's CBD has wide, wide footpaths with plenty of bike parks - several per block usually, and most of them in use
• Melbourne has easier approaches to the CBD. In Sydney you have to take your chance on the Harbour Bridge (from the North ) and Anzac Bridge (from the west). These are fairly nasty multilane roads driven on by drivers who don't take prisoners when it comes to cyclists

That being said, we saw bikes all throughout the inner suburbs as well, down Chapel Street in Prahran, which is a cool place to wander for a coffee or to check out vintage clothing and other shops. I don't see as many bikes in equivalent Sydney suburbs.

I thought I'd capture some of the more interesting bikes I saw parked in Melbourne's CBD. Apologies for the size of these pics- I processed them fairly small for this blog and then realised some of the details might be a bit hard to spot. The funniest thing was that in taking these photos I felt like a voyeur. It was a little embarrassing taking pics of someone else's bike :-). So I was a bit shy at first and didn't get too close in case someone asked me what I was doing and I blurted out unthinkingly "bike porn!". Some people just mightn't understand...

So let's start with Federation Square. This was around 10pm, and bikes were tethered safely while their owners caroused.

Below.. look at the handlebars on this. I'm not sure what the owner was trying to achieve or indeed how comfortable it is to ride.

Here it is again from the side. Looking at the saddle height and the size of the frame it's not a tall person's bike. And apparently it's a single speed with a coaster brake... those handlebars are devoid of any ornament!

Bikes happily parked in downtown Melbourne. The orange one in the middle caught my eye because of the searing colour.

And here's a closer look at it:

It's wearing a Kronen badge but I wonder if the colour is original; if not, it's thoroughly painted. Even the insides of the mudguards are orange. The owner has chosen to fit a headlight (in this case, spotlight - it's pointing skyward!) on the mudguard and leave the original mount in place.

More on my voyeuristic journeying through Melbourne later.. my cats are both pestering me for dinner :-)

I've gone bike mad

Last year I picked up a lovely 25 year old Centurion Accordo mixte frame road bike on eBay. I hadn't ridden for years, and the last time I had was on my just-as-old mountain bike. I had the road bike a few days before swapping the saddle for a gel one and changing the handlebars to sit up and beg. I don't have the best sense of balance, and the drop handlebars terrified me, especially turning corners going down hills.

Since then I've been out on my bike, which I've named Petunia, every week. I ride her to the shops with baskets front and back if I don't have to grab a big load of groceries. I go for half hour rides along a super bike track for a bit of exercise, and now my husband has a road bike too we load the bikes on the car and head for the country or somewhere like Olympic Park with 35km of bike tracks.

It's brilliant. I love it. I've now swapped the tacky rubber handlebar grips for Brooks leather ones, and my husband is buying me a Brooks saddle for my birthday. The gel saddle can go on the MTB to replace the existing ancient one and I'll sell the MTB on eBay I think. I'm unlikely to ride it again.

I bought a lovely new oldstyle bullet light for Petunia but the blasted thing won't fit 'cos of the front basket, which is really annoying. I need the basket though. So I'm doodling away on designs for attaching it to the basket instead. Could, I suppose, mount it on the SIDE of the forks rather than under the basket where it won't fit? Note to self: fiddle with that.

But now I've found something I really really really really want. This. I've been trying to turn my bike into something old-fashioned, but when I saw this bike my heart somersaulted. I want it. I'm saving up for it now. While I love Petunia, she's rough and ready, the gears do change by themselves despite regular servicing, and while I adore her for her vintage bike charm, I'd love to have this Rolls Royce of a Velorbis Victoria as well. Not that I'd be riding it to the shops. Around here someone would take chain cutters to the locks and make off with it. So Petunia would still be my shopping ride. You might say there are cheaper bikes around that look a bit old-fashioned, any kind of cruiser would do, but I know myself and know I won't be happy with something cheaper, especially once I've had a test ride of the Velorbis which I plan to in the next couple of weeks. I want a bike that will last me the rest of my life. The Velorbis ticks every box. I researched the Pashley Princess too, but it's only available with 5 gears and I live in a hilly area, and it's several kilos heavier than the Velorbis. See the bit about the hilly area again.

I've started to obsess about bikes. I try and find time every day to nick out on mine even if it's only for ten minutes to the shops. It's healthy. It's getting me fitter and heaven knows I need that, I'm far from fit at the moment. This can only be a good obsession, right? Right? :-)