On December 13th, at Sydney Olympic Park there was a gathering of Vintage and Retro bicycles. We met up at the Armoury Wharf Cafe, at the site of the old Newington Naval Armoury site, chatted for a while and then we went for a ride:
Sunday, December 20, 2009
More about the Raleigh Twenty
Remember the Raleigh Twenty I got several weeks back? I've been riding around in single-speed mode using parts from other folding biycles.
On December 13th, at Sydney Olympic Park there was a gathering of Vintage and Retro bicycles. We met up at the Armoury Wharf Cafe, at the site of the old Newington Naval Armoury site, chatted for a while and then we went for a ride:
On December 13th, at Sydney Olympic Park there was a gathering of Vintage and Retro bicycles. We met up at the Armoury Wharf Cafe, at the site of the old Newington Naval Armoury site, chatted for a while and then we went for a ride:
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Gong Ride 2009
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION TO MS AUSTRALIA
Yup, I took part in the 90km ride from Sydney to Wollongong through the Royal National Park. This is an official photograph somewhere along the last 15km or so rolling eventually into the Gong. This ride is a new personal best for distance, I covered a total of 95km (based on map measurements). I now wish I rode that extra 5km to make a metric century! My previous best was 47km.
It's a bit of a brave face. Climbing out of the Royal National Park was pretty exhausting. After those climbs were completed even moderate hills made me shift into the small (28T) chainring. Most of my ride training had been on fairly flat cycle-ways that follow the creeks around Fairfield City.
Crossing Seacliff Bridge. The bridge was built between 2003 and 2005 after a particularly bad landslip blocked Lawrence Hardgraves Drive so badly that it called for a permanent road closure. The bridge is a permanent solution for what was otherwise an unsuitable road location along the escarpment.
My total ride time was 7 hours. The bicycle you see in the picture is my expedition bicycle. It weighs 17kg unladen. Obviously not the ideal choice for the Gong ride. It's more at home with 4 pannier bags and camping gear.
Fund-raising continues until November 18th.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION TO MS AUSTRALIA
Yup, I took part in the 90km ride from Sydney to Wollongong through the Royal National Park. This is an official photograph somewhere along the last 15km or so rolling eventually into the Gong. This ride is a new personal best for distance, I covered a total of 95km (based on map measurements). I now wish I rode that extra 5km to make a metric century! My previous best was 47km.
It's a bit of a brave face. Climbing out of the Royal National Park was pretty exhausting. After those climbs were completed even moderate hills made me shift into the small (28T) chainring. Most of my ride training had been on fairly flat cycle-ways that follow the creeks around Fairfield City.
Crossing Seacliff Bridge. The bridge was built between 2003 and 2005 after a particularly bad landslip blocked Lawrence Hardgraves Drive so badly that it called for a permanent road closure. The bridge is a permanent solution for what was otherwise an unsuitable road location along the escarpment.
My total ride time was 7 hours. The bicycle you see in the picture is my expedition bicycle. It weighs 17kg unladen. Obviously not the ideal choice for the Gong ride. It's more at home with 4 pannier bags and camping gear.
Fund-raising continues until November 18th.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION TO MS AUSTRALIA
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
BRING BACK THE ROADSTER!
I'd say that most people are riding around on the wrong type of bicycle for them. Today's choices are basically the Road Bicycle, The suspension mountain bike or the hybrid/comfort bike. Whilst they can be adapted for use by ordinary people, they are not really ideal for the purposes of commuting and utility cycling.
Some of you reading this might remember a time when bicycles had swept back "north road" handlebars and a 3-speed hub, typically made by Sturmey-Archer. Today, hundreds of these old bicycles are being rescued from garbage clean-ups, tips, old folk's garages, etc because people have started to come to their senses and realise that they are practical and comfortable old machines.
Most people have been duped into buying a bicycle that they don’t really need or want to ride. Your classic roadster can only be given a few modern innovations and is otherwise perfect. There are only 5 major changes in design that would make them absolutely perfect for today:
1.) Alloy wheels with stainless spokes, kevlar Tyres
2.) 7 or 8 speed hub (wider range of gears)
3.) Integrated LED-based lighting system with dynamo hub
4.) Alloy stem, handlebars, seat-post and carry rack.
5.) Lighter-weight CRMO Steel frame.
But the bicycle industry has gone through the fads of 10-speed, BMX, MTB, and now they are just being re-invented with the suspension MTB, aluminium road bicycle and different styles of BMX.
Then we have the variations such as the flat-bar road bike and the hybrid bike. All they are really doing is going back to a few of the good old roadster’s features.
BRING BACK THE ROADSTER!
Some of you reading this might remember a time when bicycles had swept back "north road" handlebars and a 3-speed hub, typically made by Sturmey-Archer. Today, hundreds of these old bicycles are being rescued from garbage clean-ups, tips, old folk's garages, etc because people have started to come to their senses and realise that they are practical and comfortable old machines.
Most people have been duped into buying a bicycle that they don’t really need or want to ride. Your classic roadster can only be given a few modern innovations and is otherwise perfect. There are only 5 major changes in design that would make them absolutely perfect for today:
1.) Alloy wheels with stainless spokes, kevlar Tyres
2.) 7 or 8 speed hub (wider range of gears)
3.) Integrated LED-based lighting system with dynamo hub
4.) Alloy stem, handlebars, seat-post and carry rack.
5.) Lighter-weight CRMO Steel frame.
But the bicycle industry has gone through the fads of 10-speed, BMX, MTB, and now they are just being re-invented with the suspension MTB, aluminium road bicycle and different styles of BMX.
Then we have the variations such as the flat-bar road bike and the hybrid bike. All they are really doing is going back to a few of the good old roadster’s features.
BRING BACK THE ROADSTER!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Raleigh Twenty!
Check out my new website: RaleighTwenty.webs.com
I have been harbouring a desire to own a Raleigh Twenty. I did research and found that they were in production from 1968 to 1984 (folding version introduced in 1971).
The late Sheldon "Capt. Bike" Brown owned a number of them http://sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-twenty.html including one which had built as a fixed gear version. His fixed-gear Twenty later received an 8-speed Sturmey-Archer hub which a gear range of something like 33 to 101 gear inches - better than most 80's mountain bikes!
I managed to score one off the trading section of a bicycle forums I lurk around and it is currently in the post on it's way to my doorstep. I can't wait for it!
Anyway, here is a picture of it taken by the seller:
I have most of what I'll need to get it back on the road. I scored a set of alloy 20" wheels off council clean-up just around the corner from my house (an extremely lucky find!) and a while ago I bought a cheap folding bike for $20 off the internet, which is going to give up it's alloy stem and handlebars. I also have a Dahon Classic III with a damaged frame, so that may also yield some useful odds and ends.
A major advantage of owning this will be that Cityrail is running a trial where folding bicycles are not required to have a child ticket during peak periods any more. There are also a number of technical advantages, but I'll wait until I have completely road-tested them before reporting those here.
I have been harbouring a desire to own a Raleigh Twenty. I did research and found that they were in production from 1968 to 1984 (folding version introduced in 1971).
The late Sheldon "Capt. Bike" Brown owned a number of them http://sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-twenty.html including one which had built as a fixed gear version. His fixed-gear Twenty later received an 8-speed Sturmey-Archer hub which a gear range of something like 33 to 101 gear inches - better than most 80's mountain bikes!
I managed to score one off the trading section of a bicycle forums I lurk around and it is currently in the post on it's way to my doorstep. I can't wait for it!
Anyway, here is a picture of it taken by the seller:
I have most of what I'll need to get it back on the road. I scored a set of alloy 20" wheels off council clean-up just around the corner from my house (an extremely lucky find!) and a while ago I bought a cheap folding bike for $20 off the internet, which is going to give up it's alloy stem and handlebars. I also have a Dahon Classic III with a damaged frame, so that may also yield some useful odds and ends.
A major advantage of owning this will be that Cityrail is running a trial where folding bicycles are not required to have a child ticket during peak periods any more. There are also a number of technical advantages, but I'll wait until I have completely road-tested them before reporting those here.
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