Fixing a Victorian

[Nabeaquam]

I used aluminum roof flashing for the shim. Never thought of using a beer can. I also have a piece of steel flashing that I keep for shims.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Well, dah, I forgot coaster hub spacing is 110 mm, the bike spacing is 120 mm. I squeezed it together and the bike freewheels and stops. It’s weird being able to coast after a summer of struggling with a fixed gear high frame. The coaster needs spacers and cleaning and a proper rebuilding. So I’ve got quite a bit of work for this winter.

 

[Nabeaquam]

One of my friends has an early Indian basket case bicycle. He wants me to repair it. I’ve been putting him off for 6 years. He also has a high wheeler.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I cleaned off the original rear wood rim and found a Plymouth brand logo.

Indiana Novelty Manufacturing Company: the oldest link to Plymouth's industrial past is gone

Bird's eye view of the Indiana Novelty Manufacturing Company (c. 1898) I was spending a quiet afternoon at the home of an accomplishe...

hoosierhappenings.blogspot.com

Here is a photo of their mark on my wheel.

 

[Nabeaquam]

My Amish wheel smith wood rims from Ohio came today. I’m surprised that the mail came in the slush storm. Their beautiful and the inserts will allow 80 psi. I need to sand and stain them.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

My Amish wheel smith wood rims from Ohio came today. I’m surprised that the mail came in the slush storm. Their beautiful and the inserts will allow 80 psi. I need to sand and stain them.View attachment 672029View attachment 672030View attachment 672031

They look very nice.

 

[dorset boy]

Does your Amish wheel builder happen to look like this

 

[Nabeaquam]

Does your Amish wheel builder happen to look like this
View attachment 672035

I wish. He sounds like an old bearded guy with suspenders and an odd German accent. You leave a message at a store or someplace that’s not his shop and he eventually calls you back. You order over the phone and a few months later he sends you an invoice. I think if the elders knew he was cheating with a phone he would be excommunicated. But the Ohio Amish are rumored to be more liberal than the hardcore ones in Pennsylvania. We have Amish moving in up here. Land is cheap here compared to other places. They sell their land for a fortune and buy abandoned farms for cheap up here. Here are some local Amish from last summer. I’m pretty sure the bike saddle restoration for this bike was done by an Amash harness shop in Wisconsin. He had never done a bike saddle restoration before. The wheel smith had never made bicycles rims until recently. Someone asked him if he could make wood bicycle rims around metal inserts. He said probably but you have to take a chance, no guarantee. He now makes a few sets a year, original or with the inserts.

 

[Nabeaquam]

My Amish wheel smith wood rims from Ohio came today. I’m surprised that the mail came in the slush storm. Their beautiful and the inserts will allow 80 psi. I need to sand and stain them.View attachment 672029View attachment 672030View attachment 672031

I have a conundrum. I managed, with young stronger help, to get the fixed cog off. By myself I could only get it to move a quarter turn before it bound up. Of course a more modern cog and lock ring won’t fit the thread diameter to replace the worn out original cog. I have the original lock bolt so that’s not a problem. I have a bunch of bike junk floating like flotsam in my shop. I found an old inch pitch cog I bought years ago for 79 cents. Low and behold it fits the hub threads.
A 1950s inch pitch track cog is too small, as is a modern lock ring.
The 79 cents cog screwed on. It needs a spacer under it.
A modern lock ring is too small.
I was always planning to use the original front hub on one of my beautiful Amish wood rims. For the rear I was planning on using my 1907 armless coaster brake on the other Amish Wood rim. It’s now on a steel clad wood rear rim that requires an obsolete tire size. You can get a 33 mm tubular glue on tire on the steel clad rim but it doesn’t fill out the rim as it’s too narrow. I have another bike with these rims and I run 33s but dirt gets in the sidewall gap and it looks off with narrow 33s. I don't know if I should try to make a spacer and see if the original rear hub will work that way, or should I lace in the armless coaster brake. The armless brake would make things a lot safer and more rideable. I could use one of my old wood rims and lace the coaster to that and use the ill fitting 33mm tires on it. I can’t find a modern single wood clincher rim for sale, only pairs. I’ve sent messages out to the rim makers too see if a single is available, but no response yet. A third rim would solve the problem better. Safer to ride with a freewheel coaster and still have the original rear hub to use on and off.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I might have a solution to the above conundrum. The original wheel spoke nipples have been soaking in penetrant for a month. All but 4 are now loose. One of the stuck ones has the nipple head and the end of the spoke ground off. Two other spokes are sticking pretty good beyond the nipple head. This is because spoke tension eventually pulls the nipple head washers into the wood and then more tightening is required, eventually you run out of threads. So, I’m thinking of using the original wood rim, nipples and hub. Replace it with spokes that are a little shorter. Since it’s inches I don’t know if I can find a set that is no more than 1mm shorter. Since I won’t use this wheel much I’ll use the cyclocross tubular on this rim. The rim and hub are so dirty that it will have to come apart for cleaning anyway. It’s got a slight wobble that probably can be made better with shorter spokes. Once it’s apart I can try and see if it’s dry rotted. It’s got to have some decay just because of age. I have respoked and used wood rims that are 100+ years old and they are fine, except for the badly fitting modern tires. This way I’ll have a safer ride with the armless coaster brake hub and still have the original wheel to keep with the bike.