It's not done yet, actually. But I've got the basic structure of the bike complete. There's still a few odds and ends. But they're minor.
Then I'll need to route cables and such.
I started with the intent to make my bike a tribute to this bike. It's a 1940 Victoria. A German manufacturer.
And I think my bike is catching the flavor of that bike. But regardless of my intent, the bike also has a mind of it's own and it's getting to look a bit like this later Latvian bike. From the early 60s. It's called a Gauja.
In one respect my bike is more authentic to the Gauja. The Gauja has a D series Soviet engine. A direct ancestor to our happy time engine. But the Gauja, though sweet, looks just a bit flimsy to me. I'm building my bike more stout than that. More like the Victoria. Which was built like a tank.
So my bike is a fairly successful tribute. But it's a bit fuzzy about just what it's a tribute to.
I started with a Huffy step through frame. It looks to me like one of the last from the Dayton, Ohio days. For paint I used good old Rustoleum. I brushed it on using a cotton ball held in a pair of pliers. The reason I used such an odd painting technique was my hope that those fibers would brush on with the paint and imitate the surface of an old, old bicycle. Sometimes when I look at it it seems to me as though I've succeeded. Other times it just looks like a very amateurish paint job. In any case, I lack the equipment and the patience to give a bike a professional quality paint job. So my bikes are gonna be hand painted.
My first modification was to double up on the brakes. Two mere C brakes or V brakes just aren't enough.
I was going to do the same thing on the front. But I decided instead to get better wheels. Not so much because I was thinking about brakes, but because I simply want better wheels than I've had in the past. So I bought a front wheel with 11 gauge spokes and a drum brake. I'll still mount a V brake. One hand will control the drum brake plus one rear C brake. The other hand will control the front V brake plus one rear C brake.
I ran into one small issue with the drum brake. You see I also mount a bracket onto my front forks that serves as fender stay anchors plus it's the foundation for front cargo racks. It was in the way of the clamp for the drum brake's torque arm. So I had to fabricate a new clamp for that torque arm.
So that torque arm is not mounted in exactly the standard position now. But I doubt if that'll be a problem. Still, I've never had a drum brake. The only things I know about them are those things that I can figure out myself. So, who knows? But I'm not worried about it.
Then I'll need to route cables and such.
I started with the intent to make my bike a tribute to this bike. It's a 1940 Victoria. A German manufacturer.
And I think my bike is catching the flavor of that bike. But regardless of my intent, the bike also has a mind of it's own and it's getting to look a bit like this later Latvian bike. From the early 60s. It's called a Gauja.
In one respect my bike is more authentic to the Gauja. The Gauja has a D series Soviet engine. A direct ancestor to our happy time engine. But the Gauja, though sweet, looks just a bit flimsy to me. I'm building my bike more stout than that. More like the Victoria. Which was built like a tank.
So my bike is a fairly successful tribute. But it's a bit fuzzy about just what it's a tribute to.
I started with a Huffy step through frame. It looks to me like one of the last from the Dayton, Ohio days. For paint I used good old Rustoleum. I brushed it on using a cotton ball held in a pair of pliers. The reason I used such an odd painting technique was my hope that those fibers would brush on with the paint and imitate the surface of an old, old bicycle. Sometimes when I look at it it seems to me as though I've succeeded. Other times it just looks like a very amateurish paint job. In any case, I lack the equipment and the patience to give a bike a professional quality paint job. So my bikes are gonna be hand painted.
My first modification was to double up on the brakes. Two mere C brakes or V brakes just aren't enough.
I was going to do the same thing on the front. But I decided instead to get better wheels. Not so much because I was thinking about brakes, but because I simply want better wheels than I've had in the past. So I bought a front wheel with 11 gauge spokes and a drum brake. I'll still mount a V brake. One hand will control the drum brake plus one rear C brake. The other hand will control the front V brake plus one rear C brake.
I ran into one small issue with the drum brake. You see I also mount a bracket onto my front forks that serves as fender stay anchors plus it's the foundation for front cargo racks. It was in the way of the clamp for the drum brake's torque arm. So I had to fabricate a new clamp for that torque arm.
So that torque arm is not mounted in exactly the standard position now. But I doubt if that'll be a problem. Still, I've never had a drum brake. The only things I know about them are those things that I can figure out myself. So, who knows? But I'm not worried about it.
