ANYWHO! Today, even with the gray skies, it has been blisteringly busy! Just like yesterday! We sent five newbies to new homes and took in a slew of rebuilds! Thanks to all the wonderful folks for hearing about and choosing us to do their work for them! We managed to put out only two newbies, though. Sad, really. BUT one of them is a WAY COOL classic Raleigh Technium!! And this one came with a gorgeous Campagnollo wheel set! SWEET! FULLY re-furbed and topped off with a NEW set of tires! Well worth the investment!
Today, we have dialed the clock back and taken an older "Big Boy" Raleigh lugged frame and are turning it into an Alley Cat single! Last week we did a modification on an OLD Schwinn Continental for a gent and set up a 3 to 1 drive train with an 18 tooth rear. The power and range was SO well balanced (Tip O' The Hat to Uncle Chip for the recommendation!) we decided to do it again on this one! Even gave it a "garage" paint job! Gonna get it put together when I get off this thing!
I gotta admit, Elijah and Angi's idea about a Facebook listing has been a boon! Many folks have been giving a peek into our day to day, and loads of "likes"! If you go to check it out, though, when you search, make sure you type in "Re-cycle Bicycles Dunedin"
So without further adieu!
Come on in and give us a big "Hiddey HO!"
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| "GO, SPIDEY, GO!' CUTE 18" SPIDERMAN BIKE! ONLY $35.00!! |
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| GORGEOUS CLASSIC RALEIGH!! ONLY $185.00!!! |
WHOA, WAIT, HOLD YER HORSES THERE, LITTLE BUCKAROO!
ReplyDeleteUncle Chippie recommends a TWO to one ratio, not three! If you have an 18-tooth cog out back, then that big pointy round thing in the middle of the bike should have just 36 teeth- NOT 54! However:
That 2 to 1 raio only applies to single speed bikes with freewheels. And if you made a true "Alley Cat", I would think it would have to be a FIXIE.
Fixed gear bikes are best equipped with what I call the Sheldon Brown Seventy; that is, a seventy inch gear. My infamous fixie, Queen Anne's Revenge, sports a macro 70: A 20-tooth rear cog and a 52-tooth chain ring. 'Tis poetry in motion, 'tis.
Once you start to climb above a 70-inch gear on a fixed gear bike, you start to sacrifice jump for top end. Jump gets you across the intersection and through traffic (and up the hill). Top end gets you speeding tickets and slicked back hair. Tough call, I know, but the SB70 is a fine balance between the two.
Queen Anne and I will stop by next week.
Yo-ho.
Ok, clarification. I should have stated alley cat in the loosest sense, meaning the "made from scratch" variety, sorry about my gearing faux pas, heard you wrong, but it still works pretty damn good on a 3 to 1! Personally, Greedo runs on a 4 to 1. Takes a while to get moving but i have yet to top out! Thanks for keeping me honest!
ReplyDeleteSteven-
ReplyDeleteA single-speed "alley cat" might be considered as neutered, compared to a fixie of the same genre. As for the gear ratios, there are spinners and there are plodders. I'm a spinner, so that two-to-one ratio works well for me. Other folks find it too low, as they can't move their legs that fast. (I roll along at about a 90 to 100 rpm leg cadence.) Big gears SEEM easier, but they put a tremendous strain on your legs, knees, ankles and hips. Plus, we're only working with about a tenth of a horsepower, so we really don't have the torque we need to spin them big rings as we should. And besides, around here, in this crazy traffic, jump beats top end for need.
Lemme know you wanna go for a ride with this old hobbit.
I'll agree with your assessment there. The Klein I am currently using as a daily ride is kept in the midrange. Give' me good jump and I can really work the cardio. BUT, when I just want to go crazy and really pound on myself, I would take Greedo out to shake off the cobwebs. But you're right, not something I would hammer on everyday! And yes, I appreciate your affinity for a fixie, but given most car drivers inability to recognize they share the roads with pedestrians much less bike riders? I like the security of knowing I can stop pedaling and hit the brakes without breaking my legs!
ReplyDelete