Bicycle Recycling

I am a fan of bicycle recycling. I firmly believe that if you have an old bicycle that you don't use, please donate it to your local bicycle recycling facility. Even if it is in poor condition or has a bent frame, it will make a good parts donor. I regularly volunteer with Western Sydney Cycling Network in their community cycling program, where I fix up donated bicycles and act as "sweep" on some community rides.

I picked up this bicycle a while ago, with the crank-set and all the rubber components missing. I put all new cables on it, and had it kitted out with wider drop bars and a taller stem for a short while. I thought of converting it into a single speed after the front derailleur mechanism was damaged, but I abandoned the project after I realised that it was not possible to fit mudguards.

So it was hung up in my garage until someone on my online forum, Bicycles Networking Australia posting an advert for a frame to convert into a fixie. I made an offer, and a few days later I took it on the train to meet it's new owner.

Here is the bicycle as I had stripped it down in preparation for single-speed conversion:


And here is it after sale and conversion to a fixie.

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:

Gong Ride 2009

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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.

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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!