Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on September 15, 2009 at 7:11am

All of my bike building was born out of an idea of building a library of bicycles that would be free loaner bikes for people that wanted to ride various rides I do. It is called the Big Shoulders Recyclery. Each bike is an original steel classic bike. They are stripped of all paint and rust, powder coated, and rebuilt with a combination of original and modern parts. I like clean lines....minimal graphics, and beautiful coats. All bikes are named after a famous (dead) Chicagoan, though not only the nice folks.

This is Studs, after of course, Studs Terkel. It was the build-up for the first Tweed Ride. He is a 1950s Hercules 3-speed reborn as a single speed/fixed. The original seat post, handlebars, frame, front fender, seat, stem and headset are the only original components. The original Raleight style fork was bent like a pretzel and the original front wheel had a split hub and the rear had a busted Sturmey Archer rear hub. The new wheels are Alex Rims A450s with Vittoria Rubino tires that they make for Bianchi with a green side wall built up on Formula front hub and rear flip-flop hubs. The sub-theme color is green which includes the handlebar grips and cable housing, the front fender attachment and the aforementioned tires. The powder coat is a midnight black flat with a silver glitter and clear top coat.

The crank is a Sugino messenger with a 44tooth chainring and there is a 16 tooth fixed cog on one side and a 16 tooth freewheel on the flip side. The pedals are my normal Forte campus pedals and there is some kind of mid-level Shimano sealed hub in there. The rear fender wouldn't cooperate at all so there is a bike planet no-screw rear fender and the front was crushed by moi and my clamps to force the Campy Veloce brakes on there, with brake-levers stolen from a bike found in the trash in my alley since the hercules' brakes were super trashed, including the levers.

Permalink Reply by Hector on September 15, 2009 at 7:43am

Thats a beautiful paint job there Lee.
Great name for this bike too.

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on September 15, 2009 at 7:50am

Here is the Corso I did for Big Shoulders Recyclery. I am just posting the forum discussion on it which already has the pics and the description of what it was, parts, etc. It is about to undergo a change to cruiser bars to better suit Carrie's preferences and riding style. I will post some after pics, because this will likely be a chance to mess with it a little bit. Heh heh .

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/big-shoulders-recyclerybsr002

Permalink Reply by Gecko on September 15, 2009 at 9:38am

All my bikes have been custom builds since I was 12 or so. I don't really ever get rid of anything so my builds are constantly changing. Sometimes I'll build a whole bike around a part or two. Probably the most extreme example of this is my '89 Schwinn Sprint. I started with an extra bmx hub and an old Mavic 36 spoke rim, then procured the rest as I went. It started out as a complete hi-ten steel 27" 10spd with heavy steel components and friction shifters. I wanted a relatively light, reliable city bike to ride in the winter, and it turned into one of my favorite bikes. The newest parts are the Panaracer cyclocross tires, the ODI lock-ons and the Shimano BB, everything else I got lightly used. Shimano 105 square taper cranks with pink anodized 42t chainring, Shimano 3/32" 16t freewheel, SRAM 9spd chain, Suzue cartridge bearing BMX hub laced to a Mavic rim, Shimano 105 front hub laced to a Matrix rim, VP Components (Wellgo) SPD/platform pedals, alloy seatpost with Specialized saddle, Trek System 3 flat bars with alloy BMX levers, original Dia-Compe long-reach calipers, original stem/headset/fork, and steel fenders from a 3spd English racer.

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on September 15, 2009 at 3:31pm

I like it. Excuse me for asking a stupid question but what is an "ODI lockon"? - Cheers - lee

El Gecko said:

All my bikes have been custom builds since I was 12 or so. I don't really ever get rid of anything so my builds are constantly changing. Sometimes I'll build a whole bike around a part or two. Probably the most extreme example of this is my '89 Schwinn Sprint. I started with an extra bmx hub and an old Mavic 36 spoke rim, then procured the rest as I went. It started out as a complete hi-ten steel 27" 10spd with heavy steel components and friction shifters. I wanted a relatively light, reliable city bike to ride in the winter, and it turned into one of my favorite bikes. The newest parts are the Panaracer cyclocross tires, the ODI lock-ons and the Shimano BB, everything else I got lightly used. Shimano 105 square taper cranks with pink anodized 42t chainring, Shimano 3/32" 16t freewheel, SRAM 9spd chain, Suzue cartridge bearing BMX hub laced to a Mavic rim, Shimano 105 front hub laced to a Matrix rim, VP Components (Wellgo) SPD/platform pedals, alloy seatpost with Specialized saddle, Trek System 3 flat bars with alloy BMX levers, original Dia-Compe long-reach calipers, original stem/headset/fork, and steel fenders from a 3spd English racer.

Permalink Reply by Gecko on September 16, 2009 at 3:08am

These are the ones I have. Lock-on grips. I got sick of struggling to get grips off and having to have hairspray all the time.

Lee Diamond said:

I like it. Excuse me for asking a stupid question but what is an "ODI lockon"? - Cheers - lee

Permalink Reply by on2wheels on September 16, 2009 at 9:13am

Ok here are my builds I have posted here.

Kabuki Skyway

And
Shogun
Yellow Bike

Also

and

and just a component upgrade

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on September 16, 2009 at 5:57pm

My favorite is definitely the Kabuki Skyway. Beautiful.

I still want a pair of those fenders remember! They are fantastic.

The other builds are all very nice to, but sorely lacking in detail....do tell.

on2wheels said:

Ok here are my builds I have posted here.

Kabuki Skyway

And
Shogun
Yellow Bike

Also

and

and just a component upgrade

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on September 16, 2009 at 6:16pm

This is Dwight, for Dwight Perkins. He is one of my favorite architects and a true founder of the prairie school of architecture. This bike is a Landshark Roadshark from the mid to late 90s. It was a serious score on Craig's List from some racer dude that was stricly cyclocross now. He sold me out on the first meeting so i ended up getting the frame for $250. It is straight up sweet this bike, built with a combination of fillet brazed and lugged construction by the guy that built the "Huffy" that won the Giro D'Italia for the only U.S. Rider to win it. Or something.

It has a very cool hologram finish ontop of black. It is for certain our lightest bike and it has full 600 components with downtube shifters (of course), except the levers which are Tektro, pedals which are my usual Forte campus, a Cinelli quil stem and some cheapo aluminum handlebars.

Originally, I had some mid-range Mavic rims with the 600 hubs and cassette, but I swapped it out for a full set of Mavic Cosmic clinchers that are also our lightest wheels. Had to have the Brooks B17 saddle of course. You know....in case I get to ride it once in a while.

Permalink Reply by Primitive Don on September 29, 2009 at 2:14pm

http://www.thechainlink.org/photo/lotus-elan-rebuild?context=user

I built up this Lotus for a customer who wanted a vintage road bike built with a comfortable upright position, flat-ish bars, and 'ergo' grips - all on slim budget (too cheap to buy an entry level road bike). I tossed out the original cranks and trashed front derailleur, kept the cheap DNP rear derailleur and decent Ukai wheels, put on a no-name Shimano FD and a set of basic Sugino cranks. The guy has been riding it 10-15 miles a day and is now putting together his own map of his favorite rides.

I have been goofing around converting old road bikes into indexed 6-speeds which I think is great for commuting. Once I get a new pic of my LeTour I will post here.

I really like 'Dwight' and the Kabuki - nicely done!

Permalink Reply by alex on October 8, 2009 at 2:48am

This is my new commuter, still a work in progress until I can find a better stem that isn't so ugly. Its an old schwinn Le Tour so my choices are kind of limited to what I could find at working bikes. I spray painted it and used eightinch crankset and bullhorns, MKS track pedals, planet bike fenders, and swapped my bontrager wheels and brooks b17 from my old frame.

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on October 8, 2009 at 7:08pm

Nice one Don and Alex (each and respectively). The b17 and bullhorns on a fixed gear conversion is pretty much my set. To that end, here is my daily commuter, and technically, my only bicycle.

The H.H. Holmes.

H.H. Holmes was America's first serial killer. I lead a series of tours for the Chicago History Museum based on the Erik Larsen book, the Devil in the White City, which is historical fictional account of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and in particular, the building and organizing of the fair by the great Daniel Burnham. The juxtaposed story of the villain is that of H. H. Holmes.

Holmes was a liar and a cheat. A serial killer. A conman and a thief. He never met anyone he didn't cheat, swindle, lie to, or kill. He was also a complete farce. He was not a doctor. He was married simultaneously to three women and had two children he didn't support. He abused vendors, workers, staffers, tennants and passers-by all, and those were the lucky ones he didn't kill.

To that, the Sekine seemed the perfect build up for these rides. Sekines are (or were for the majority of their existence) Canadian owned company, building in Canada before being manufactured in Japan. They had basically three lines of road bikes, namely a crappy line, a very nice line which I don't have, and the medium line which I do. the reason it spoke to me of H.H. Holmes is because of the following:

- Like Holmes declaring himself a doctor, the bike declares itself "Worlds Finest Bicycle Made by Sekine"
- Like Holmes would pass himself off as a royalty, as a doctor, and all manner of made-up persona's, including his own name, the beautiful badge of the mid-range Sekine's would have anyone guess it was the top of the line range. The artifice speaks of Holmes.
- Finally, the bike is entirely chromed. On top of the Chrome is the electrostatic blue paint. This is the same process used for John Deers and Catepillars, and like powder coating, is a baking and enameling of the paint. However, I treat my bike like shit, and as the paint chips away, you can see the chromed metal beneath it. This reminds me of the chilling, and cold underside of Holmes, regardless of what is on the surface.

Anyway, having dissed all over it, I do love this bike. This is a nice steel frame of who knows what type of tubing and fine but unfancy lugs. The ride is quite nice. I have outfitted with bullhorns and a single Cane Creek Time Trial lever for a front brake, which is a Nomco long reach brake. The bike was originally fitted with 27 wheels, so the longer reach was needed for the standard Alex Rims/Formula Hubs I always use. Super durable and light enough.

This shows the bike with the Sugino Rocket cranks but it now has an older Dura Ace crack trankset with a 44 tooth chainring and a 16 tooth Dura Ace fixed cog. The Sekine originally had some very strange quick release headset. Yes you read that right. Not sure what the hell was going on but the conversion required the use of a number of spacers on the headset which is just my usual Tange 1" threaded headset, and also my standard campus pedals make their appearance. Nitto stem, and who knows what kind of seat post and bottom bracket I swiped from something else to put on this....can't remember. Anyway, some pics have it with its fenders and others not, but I threw a rack on there for the rack-mounted PA Howard built me and for you know....stuff. here it goes.....

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