togglechaintour bikes

[robc02]

DON'T DO IT

It's very unlikely that I will. I have tried to visualise other colour schemes for these old bikes, based on the dark colours they were originally available in (that's why my Humber is blue), but I can't imagine any of them looking good with black rims, bars etc - except for black, of course. Dark colours don't show dirt or rust spots too badly and tend to age gracefully. Over the years I've had a few bright coloured frames and they start to look tatty quite quickly.

The combination of lack of imagination, conservatism and pragmatism are likely to lead to black frame and forks with contrasting black mudguards, rims, bars - naturally with gold and red lining as appropriate .

[robc02]

Not a bicycle, but I spotted this at a car boot sale this morning.

It wouldn't fit in the car, so it was kindly delivered about half an hour ago.

Seeing the address in Coventry brings back memories. i was a student there in the 1980's and remember driving/riding down Humber Avenue and looking at an old (I think white painted) factory building which I imagined had something to do with its car or motorcycle manufacturing past.

[hubgearfreak]

Hmm, you could be right there

He's not. ignore him. He's been drinking DON'T DO IT

i am, don't, i haven't (maybe a little), you ought to

grow some testicular fortitude rob, and take notice of what your own child wants, not old farty pants;

May I remind you that i'm an old duffer wot's in the VCC, and collect sewing machines and blah, blah......

I have tried to visualise other colour schemes for these old bikes. . . . but I can't imagine

OK this link below may help, but with a better bike to start with coupled with black saddle, black rims, black or white tyres, black mudgaurds, black chaincase. it'd look stunning.
as for being a custodian - it's only a lick of paint, you're not chopping it up and re-welding it into a picnic table art installation

pinky linky

[robc02]

pinky linky

IF - I say IF - anything so outrageous were to happen, (and I must avoid homebrewed or other ale for several hours before deciding ), it would probably be more along these lines. Frame, mudguards and chaincase in pink (or whatever) with bars, cranks, rims etc. in black. Possibly with black striping?? But then it will start to look like a replica Pashley - is that a good thing for a genuine 1930s roadster?

Of course, "pink" doesn't have to mean light pink - the RAL colour charts include a number of pinks and reds .............oh, and blacks - that would look good with gold and red stripes and are a safe and trusted option.

[GrahamNR17]

pinky linky

IF - I say IF - anything so outrageous were to happen, (and I must avoid homebrewed or other ale for several hours before deciding ), it would probably be more along these lines. Frame, mudguards and chaincase in pink (or whatever) with bars, cranks, rims etc. in black. Possibly with black striping?? But then it will start to look like a replica Pashley - is that a good thing for a genuine 1930s roadster?

Of course, "pink" doesn't have to mean light pink - the RAL colour charts include a number of pinks and reds .............oh, and blacks - that would look good with gold and red stripes and are a safe and trusted option.

Why don't I have an emoticon for with someone being beaten about the head with a very large wet fish?

[steve browne]

robc02 wrote:
(My daughter would have the whole thing in pink , but I've vetoed that.)

Painting a bicycle pink for a daughter might be a shrewd move. It's not as if she's expressed a determination to get a tattoo / piercing etc. It may be handy to keep the veto for use later! Colour change on a bicycle is at least a reversible procedure.

[hubgearfreak]

Painting a bicycle pink for a daughter might be a shrewd move. It's not as if she's expressed a determination to get a tattoo / piercing etc.

also, it might get her out riding it more, rather than a boring old fuddy duddy thing like wot BOFs want

[Grumpy Nurse]

I have a tooth question here. My rear cog has 19t and a rd5 ( w ) sa hub. I've been looking at chainsets and would like some advice as to the number of teeth I need on the front. I live in East Anglia but this bike is destined to be ridden around Lancashire, where it will reside at my girlfriends house.

Obviously it will be easier to cycle around Lancashire as you don't need to pedal continuously as you do in Gods Own Country what with all the easy down hill bits where you can just relax and take it easy. But the up hill bits worry me ever so slightly. I've set my sights on a chainset where I can change the chainwheel as they seem the most sensible.

Any advice from hubgeared northern folk? Or is it a case of just seeing how strong your legs are and getting off at the really steep bits and putting up with the withering scorn from onlooking sheep?

[GrahamNR17]

Careful, there's 'ills like you never saw in that Lancsy place

My MTB had that hub, running 38/19T and the low gears felt like I could climb a wall. 46/22 would give a similar set of ratios. I'd probably work downwards from there.

But Greybeard lives around heaped-up land and uses hub gears, so no doubt he'll be here in a minutes to offer some pearls.

[hubgearfreak]

Obviously it will be easier to cycle around Lancashire as you don't need to pedal continuously as you do in Gods Own Country what with all the easy down hill bits where you can just relax and take it easy.

I have a tooth question here. My rear cog has 19t and a rd5 ( w ) sa hub. I've been looking at chainsets and would like some advice as to the number of teeth I need on the front.

that's so true

what's your tyre size?

[steve browne]

I've set my sights on a chainset where I can change the chainwheel as they seem the most sensible.

Do you mean swapping chainwheels in the garage with a set of tools or having a double chainwheel on the bike and using a front gear changer? (hybrid gearing).

Hybrid gearing works well. If you are riding over hilly terrain with luggage it may be the best way to extend the range of the SA five speed hubs. I used a 36 tooth chainring plus a 32 tooth sprocket with SA5. ( This set up used a four cog adapter which fitted onto the SA hub ). This gave a bike you could ride up 1 in 4 hills fully laden, BUT it was much more torque than SA recommend and the internal clutch broke after 3,000 miles.

A cheaper alternative to a double chainring is to use two dished SA sprockets squeezed onto the standard SA hub. To make this work you will probably need to get a flat circlip to replace the round section one supplied with the hub. I now run my touring bike with 16/23 sprockets and a 36 tooth chainwheel. It is good enough for Devon but I still miss the really low gears when I'm tired.

[robc02]

I have a tooth question here. My rear cog has 19t and a rd5 ( w ) sa hub. I've been looking at chainsets and would like some advice as to the number of teeth I need on the front

I rode the length of Wales, carrying camping gear, on a bike with a Sturmey 5 speed Elite VT. It had 700x35 tyres and 32 chainring x 17 cog. This gave a bottom gear in the low 30s. I had to give up and walk on three or four occasions - but the route was especially tough.

I was wary of going lower than this and overloading the hub, as Steve Browne pointed out.

To get a similar range on your RD5 with a 19T cog a 34 or 36T chainring would do.

[Grumpy Nurse]

Obviously it will be easier to cycle around Lancashire as you don't need to pedal continuously as you do in Gods Own Country what with all the easy down hill bits where you can just relax and take it easy.

I have a tooth question here. My rear cog has 19t and a rd5 ( w ) sa hub. I've been looking at chainsets and would like some advice as to the number of teeth I need on the front.

that's so true

what's your tyre size?

26 3/8 I do believe. Or it will be one day when I buy some tyres, one step at a time and all that.

How does tyre size affect gear ratios and hill climbing ability?

[MikewsMITH2]

Different size wheels mean different gear ratios. I am running 44 by 22t on 700c Gets me up the short steep hills Dorset specialises in; along with the long steep ones of course I thought the max allowed ratio allowed by SA was 2:1 especially on my apparently fragile 4 speed I hated my 5 speed. there was so much friction in 1st there was little advantage over 2nd like pedalling through treacle.

Rob why such big tyres on your tour we only run 32 mm on our tandem.?

[GrahamNR17]

I hated my 5 speed. there was so much friction in 1st there was little advantage over 2nd like pedalling through treacle.

To be fair, you had it fitted to a Moulton. The AW three-speed felt equally treacle-like on my Moulton. Two hubs can't be wrong; the bike with all that soft rubber stopping power transfer was the problem.

The similar 5-speed on my Pa... is fine, nothing treacly about it.