I scored an old motobecane mixte from ebay last night for 51 bucks. Not too shabby.
I’m going to swap out the saddle for the Brooks b72 I have in my box-o-bike-parts, and hopefully, that will satisfy Brandi’s cushiness requirements without further expenditure…
The Fed-ex man should be dropping it off in a couple of days. I’ll have a better idea what I have to work with then.
If you can dig up some cruiser bars, it would be perfect. It appears to be in fine condition.
You wouldn’t happen to know where I can pick up a pair of CroMo Albatross bars and barcons? Riv’s website is famously broken still. 🙂
I do happen to know where you can get those items. I also happen to know of a source of other oddball Nitto cruiser bars that would suit smaller people: North Road and Promenade, namely. The A-bars are the only ones reamed for bar-ends, I think. A grip-shift system might also be nice for someone re-acquiring the cycling habit.
Hmm. Are there gripshifters that will index with a 6 speed? I wonder if thumbshifter would be better.
SRAM MRX 6-speed grip shifters, MSRP $16 for the set. Otherwise some old skool SunTour thumbshifters might do the trick.
Wow, those promenade bars are cool looking. Check out this fixie:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2005/feb/leanne.htm
Brandi seems to think that the flat bars will work fine, and that I just want to waste money on more bike parts…. She’s probably right on both counts 🙂 We’ll see how the flat bars work our once the bike gets here.
You said before that you can’t get 27″ tires, but that’s not true…. you can get many different brands of 27″ tires online, and I’ve found that many bike stores do have them in the back, if you ask for them.
Wide selections at these sites, for example:
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/630.html
http://www.wallbike.com/tires.html
I know I can get 27″ tires. It’s that I can’t get 27″ tires in the widths I’m interested in (like 38mm). I also don’t think i can get studded tires in 27″.
I have ordered 27″ Schwalbe Marathons from wallbike in the past. They are very nice tires, just not wide enough for the kinds of roads I like to ride.
Brooks sells a women’s version of the B72, called the B18 “Lady”, and it’s really really pretty when you see it in person. The B72 is the men’s equivalent version.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/saddles/brooks-b18.html
http://www.kinetics.org.uk/B18_Lady-back.jpg
The B72 and B18 have loop springs which are slightly firmer than coil springs. If she really wants something cushy, I highly recommend the B73, which is designed for an upright seating position. The third spring in the front eliminates the “hard nose” complaint, and also vastly increases the overall travel of the seat when you hit a giant pothole or bump, but on flat surfaces it doesn’t move around at all.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/saddles/brooks-b73.html
Lastly, if you don’t like the rebound action that springs can have after absorbing the bump, I highly recommend the B135. The tight springs you see on the bottom provide dampening, so you have excellent control. Once you’ve tried if for agressive biking on rough roads and trails, you’ll never want to go without it. There’s nothing else like it.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/saddles/brooks-b135.html
The Schwalbe Marathons are nice tires, but you should look at the Continental Ultra GatorSkin for riding on paved roads, they’re really fantastic. Also I thought they looked way better than in the picture.
Harris Cyclery does have a a 40mm 27″ tire in an Aggressive knobby tread, the Club Roost “Cross Terra”… although I don’t know if they are any good.
As far as studded tires go… I haven’t seen 27″ studded either, however you can get sudded tires in the 28″ Roadster size from Nokian, because they’re made in Finland, where the bikes are mostly roadsters, and the winters are bad… The 28” size is actually only 5mm larger, end to end, so you’ll only be moving your brake shoes up 2.5mm with the new wheels, if you even bother… they look the same to your eye!
http://www.suomityres.fi/w106.html
Hmm. I’ve never tried Continentals. I just got a pair of Panaracer Paselas for my Trek, but I don’t have them mounted yet.
I was under the impression that the European 28″ designation was really 622 bcd, same as 29’er or 700c wheels?
You’re right about that! I was looking at the wrong tires… there are two 28inch types (the new one being 622mm “700C”) but it’s true that there is a 635mm size, it’s the Old British (Dutch, Chinese, Indian…) Roadster standard… that’s probably the majority of the bikes in the world if you think about it….. You can get 1 1/2 inch (37mm) tires for it, but all the tires I see are of the “Roadster” variety, no MTB or snow studs…. Yellow Jersey has a wide variety of Spares and Accessories for Old British Standard Roadster Bicycles: http://www.yellowjersey.org/eastbits.html
Pretty cool stuff, I like the double-ended bell.. and those 40-hole 28×1 1/2 Raleigh rims would look awesome with an old-fashioned Crows-foot or Pinecone spoke pattern….
I did find another studded in the 42-622 size, the Conti Nordic Spike
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/city/nordic_spike/nordic_spike_en.html
The ISO/ETRTO size for “Old British Roadster” 28inch is 635mm, 630mm for 27inch, 622mm for 700C and 29’er, 584mm for 650B “French Heavy Duty”, 559mm for “Mountain Bike” 26inch.
Oh and by the way the bike messengers here in DC all use the Panaracers, so they must be good… they’re Japanse right?
I think the Panaracers are Japanese. If they’re good enough for messengers, they should be good enough for me.
I think Nokian makes a studded tire in 622×45 also. My frame won’t clear a tire that big, unfortunately. I am contemplating a Surly Karate Monkey for my next mad scientist project (time and finances permitting). I should be able to fit just about any tire in a KM.
http://www.balloonbikes.com/en/technik/fahrradtechnik/
This dutch site has some good info on converting bikes to largest size tires… if you look under Tire technology they also have a look at recommended tires for upsizing.
The noted that SKS makes fenders for 60mm tires, the P65… I have some narrower SKS fenders on both bikes, and they’re way better than anything else I’ve seen because they won’t dent or crack, but they’re stong enough to mount lights onto them.
I also saw that Honjo has steel fenders for 650B up to the 50 mm width.
http://www.jitensha.com/eng/fndrs_e.html
I have the 45mm SKS fenders on my trek. They are very nice.