Retro Restoration....

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
I've got to lose some weight, so I'm fixing up my 22 year old Cannondale bicycle, it needs some serious work!

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I might even build a trailer for it and do my daily deliveries of beer etc for the neighborhood.

I know that this is a little out of the realm of woodworking, but I do plan to make a special bike holding vice that will fit into my woodworking vice to hold the bike while I work on it..... :rolleyes: :D
 
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The last time I looked into bringing the Super V back it was going to cost more than a new bike.:thumb:
That is with all new components and new shocks. :doh:
So I didn't jump right in for the rebuild. Which is ok I guess, I got a F900 in the shop that is almost 10 years old and never really been ridden. At least it's leaning on a Silk Road that is the same age with about 200 miles on it.:doh: Maybe this year I'll get out on it:dunno:
 
My bike is sitting there on the back patio. I see it everytime I go in and out the door.... :rolleyes:

I started riding it last year, and I liked it, well, except for the part where the dogs would chase me. I was riding on the gravel roads around the valley. At least I could see the dogs from a distance and get 'psyched up' for it. I'd try to build as much speed as I could and keep it up until I got past them...

Thanks for the reminder! Once it gets a little nicer, I'll probably give it a shot again!
 
I never was much for road bikes. I sure did like the off the beaten path bikes. This is the old boy before ATV's I need to get it ready for turkey season. Has not been out in many years.
 

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The wife and I have 25 year old Cannondales (mountain bikes) that we use on a regular basis. They are great bikes that have taken a beating but unlike us, still look like new.
 
After not significantly doing any riding since college (I graduated 22 years ago), last summer I decided to get back into the activity. I was amazed at the cost of bikes and the accompanying equipment. To put it in perspective for a woodworker, I could have purchased a Sawstop for what the new bike and gear cost me -- and I didn't even buy top of the line stuff! :(

That said, I'm glad I took the plunge (again). I'm now riding 100 miles a week and hope to push that up to 150 as the weather improves and the days get longer. My primary form of exercise is still running but my body just can't take the daily pounding. Riding is much easier on my joints and hopefully I'll be able to avoid the injuries I've been experiencing the last few years.

Good luck with your project and I think the idea of combining local deliveries with exercise is stupendous.
 
Bikes and dogs!

Spray bottle with vinegar. Most dogs are 'train-able'. Good if you ride the same route.

Forgot the spray bottle (or used it all up) - zig-zag (assuming you won't go into traffic). It confuses them when you are attacking then retreating.

My bike is sitting there on the back patio. I see it everytime I go in and out the door.... :rolleyes:

I started riding it last year, and I liked it, well, except for the part where the dogs would chase me. I was riding on the gravel roads around the valley. At least I could see the dogs from a distance and get 'psyched up' for it. I'd try to build as much speed as I could and keep it up until I got past them...

Thanks for the reminder! Once it gets a little nicer, I'll probably give it a shot again!
 
After not significantly doing any riding since college (I graduated 22 years ago), last summer I decided to get back into the activity. I was amazed at the cost of bikes and the accompanying equipment. To put it in perspective for a woodworker, I could have purchased a Sawstop for what the new bike and gear cost me -- and I didn't even buy top of the line stuff! :(

That said, I'm glad I took the plunge (again). I'm now riding 100 miles a week and hope to push that up to 150 as the weather improves and the days get longer. My primary form of exercise is still running but my body just can't take the daily pounding. Riding is much easier on my joints and hopefully I'll be able to avoid the injuries I've been experiencing the last few years.

Good luck with your project and I think the idea of combining local deliveries with exercise is stupendous.

Peter,
Back when I was just into my teens and about the same year they invented the bicycle :rofl::rofl: I paid $42 for a Western Auto Flyer.. single speed, 26" wheels, foot brakes and no other amenities... the basket for my paper route was extra... today that same bike would be worth about 10 times that amount... My wife and I bought a couple of his/hers no-name brand ATB's just before we went to Tucson in '94... paid over $140 each for them... I think we rode them 6 times in the years we owned them... just before we moved to Tennessee in 2005 we had a garage sale and a young girl came by, saw the bikes and wanted to buy them. In conversation she was buying them as a surprise for her soldier husband who was coming home from Iraq in a couple of weeks.... I couldn't sell them to her... she left with a gift of the bikes.

On the running, my daughter in CA( who is 46 years young) is or was an ironwoman marathoner, until a few years back in one of her races, somebody clipped her bike sent her off into the ditch and nearly broke her back... she had a couple of vertebrae that got chipped or something... she had to give up the running and swimming after her surgery... she still rides in road bike races... she thinks nothing of doing a 50 or 100 mile bike ride... She lives just south of Santa Cruz and will ride her bike half way to Monterrey and back, just on a whim.
 
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I have a Klein Pinacle, that I rode a lot, and by a lot I mean more than 15000Km, I quit riding weekly about 3 years ago, I miss it a lot, and I want to go back at it, it is only a matter of jumping on it and there I go. Why on earth is it so difficult!!
 
Bikes and dogs!

Spray bottle with vinegar. Most dogs are 'train-able'. Good if you ride the same route.

Forgot the spray bottle (or used it all up) - zig-zag (assuming you won't go into traffic). It confuses them when you are attacking then retreating.

Good advice! I've used my water bottle before, but most of the dogs out here would give up pretty quickly. I'm also pretty sure most of them are friendly enough if I was to stop and get off the bike, but they just cant get past the thrill of the chase!
 
I might even build a trailer for it and do my daily deliveries of beer etc for the neighborhood.

Last spring I rode one day with a guy who had a BOB trailer. He highly recommended it for carrying gear. Check it out, it might give you some fabrication ideas.

Can you switch from the elevator to always using the stairs? That'll help also!
Hope you can keep it up. It's almost spring here, and I need to get out on the bike again.
 
Ive always had a heavy duty mountain bike since Im a big fellow.(as in fat)
I loved my bike.
After some back surgeries, it became uncomfortable to ride. I stopped.
When I decided to get back into it, I noticed I couldnt ride more than a half mile before my back started to kill me.
I tried different seats and moving handle bars.
I eventually too a trip up to see the bicycle man and got myself a recumbant bike I rode for a year or so before I decided to sell it.
My wife said it made me look handicapped, like I was in a wheelchair.
I decided to sell it because it was so low cars had a hard time seeing me when I was driving along, even tried a flag at one point.I got almost as much as I paid for it, that was the funny part.
I used to take it to the bike trails at Jones beach, or sometimes Id just ride around Long Beach near the water, was alot of fun.
 

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I've got a low-end ($300-ish) mountain bike that I bought 15 years or so ago, mostly to ride along the bike paths at the beach. (No hills to speak of when the trail's at sea level.) :D Even though it was easy riding, I still dumped it a few times, either swerving to miss some other idiot or getting the front wheel in soft sand when I shouldn't have. After I broke my back (in a non-bike accident), I pretty much gave up on riding it, since I don't want to risk another fall. Other than riding it around in circles a few times on our cul-de-sac to keep it lubed, it hasn't been used for 10 years or so. I should probably just sell it, but for some reason I keep hanging on to it.
 
After not significantly doing any riding since college (I graduated 22 years ago), last summer I decided to get back into the activity. I was amazed at the cost of bikes and the accompanying equipment. To put it in perspective for a woodworker, I could have purchased a Sawstop for what the new bike and gear cost me -- and I didn't even buy top of the line stuff! :(

That said, I'm glad I took the plunge (again). I'm now riding 100 miles a week and hope to push that up to 150 as the weather improves and the days get longer. My primary form of exercise is still running but my body just can't take the daily pounding. Riding is much easier on my joints and hopefully I'll be able to avoid the injuries I've been experiencing the last few years.

Good luck with your project and I think the idea of combining local deliveries with exercise is stupendous.

Peter, that is rather funny you talk about prices, I was stunned at how cheap the bike parts are here, mostly I'm looking at Shimano, as the bike is mostly outfitted with old Shimano Deore XT, but as long as I stay away from the disc brake stuff (which is not THAT expensive, honestly) I'll be good to go. I figure I'll have to pay near $300 to get my bike back in good solid riding condition, I don't know what the trailer will cost me, the thing I have to find is a decent set of smaller wheels for a reasonable price, might have to buy some kiddie bikes on auction on the cheap :dunno:

I spent a LOT of time on this bike, it was my daily commute bike to the university, 16km each way, every day, as well as a LOT of off road riding on the University Endowment Lands, which is now a park that surrounds the university. I'm on my third set of rims, second set of hubs, the only part on the bike that is still in use from when I bought it are the cranks.

So far, I've bought;

Pedals
Chain
Handlebar
Grips
Tires
Tubes
Bras
Seat Post QR Clamp
Front & Rear QR Skewers

I've ordered;
Bottom Bracket
Fork
Head Bearings & Races
Front Axle, Cups and Bearings

After that I'll have to see about the brakes.

The brakes do need replacing, I took them apart, and they are fairly bad, so I'll get some new cantilever brakes up front, but the rear brakes are of the older "U" type, which I might have to hunt for :huh:

The fork was an upgrade unit, the bike came with a really cheap fork, I broke it the first week I had the bike :eek: :doh: and replaced it with a stock Cannondale fork, which at the time was a Tange 8L, good Chromoly fork. This fork is now badly rusted just above the bottom race on the stem, and the pits in the steel are deep, so I'll not risk it, a new chromed fork is about $45 :dunno:

I took the cassette apart and cleaned it really well, it is just fine.

I still need to buy the cables and some cable stays, that I think I can still get from Cannondale, and I got a new set of stickers coming for the bike too, exact copies of what was on it, COOL! :thumb:

I'm fairly sure I'm going to paint it red again, I need to find the special aluminum primer, I hope that is not too hard.

I'll put a few coats of red on it, then let it cure, place the stickers on, and then do several coats of clear to protect everything.

Here is the frame all cleaned up.....

nakid_frame.jpg

and a comparison between the cleaned up wheel with new boots on (top) to the old grungy wheel and dead tire on the bottom.
wheel_comparo.jpg
It is coming along nicely :wave:
 
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Last spring I rode one day with a guy who had a BOB trailer. He highly recommended it for carrying gear. Check it out, it might give you some fabrication ideas.

Can you switch from the elevator to always using the stairs? That'll help also!
Hope you can keep it up. It's almost spring here, and I need to get out on the bike again.

The one wheel trailers are neat, but I'll need to be able to turn much tighter corners than would be possible with that set up.

I'm using the stairs for the trip down now, not up yet, as 7 floors kind of tires me out :eek:
 
I have a Klein Pinacle, that I rode a lot, and by a lot I mean more than 15000Km, I quit riding weekly about 3 years ago, I miss it a lot, and I want to go back at it, it is only a matter of jumping on it and there I go. Why on earth is it so difficult!!

Kleins are nice bikes! :thumb:

Don't wait too long Tony, or you might have to do a restoration on you bike like I am doing :eek: :wave:
 
The one wheel trailers are neat, but I'll need to be able to turn much tighter corners than would be possible with that set up.

:huh: There is a vertical pivot where the trailer attaches to the forks. I don't think you can quite get it to 90-degrees, but you certainly can go around corners. Am I misunderstanding? I used to have a winchester trailer for hauling the kids, and I think that one had possibly a more restrictive turning radius, since it hooked up just on the left side of the rear wheel and so you could not turn right sharply

Here, I went digging on Youtube... this guy uses two trailers, and in this video he is doing tight corners in a french back street.
 
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