A new addition to the bicycling stable

[GS1150Pilot]

Back in September I bought a fat bike, which completely reinvigorated my love of bicycling. I am out on the trails every week at least once and can't overstate how much fun that beast is.

That bike led to my purchasing an older MTB and converting it for commuter duty. I only commute in once a week, but it's a 30 mile round-trip, so it's a good addition to my fitness regimen.

Now, as an early 50th birthday present, I bought a third bike, and I am LOVING it. I grew up as a kid who was mad for BMX bikes. I never raced, but I rode my old Mongoose and Littlejohn all over and back.

This is a 26" wheeled Stolen Zeke. It has modern BMX geometry and I am on it to run errands, scoot to the local brewery, go to coffee, or just plain clown around every day. Its simplicity is intoxicating.

 

[80GS850GBob]

I love my GT I-drive.....but thasts because I refit her with everything I like "and" cause she's full suspension...lol. I leave those stiff bikes to the younger crowd...even though I bought her back when I was in my early 30s and am now 53.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

I got into mountain biking heavily in the late 80's, even raced novice class events a little here and there. For a time, I was very into suspension. I had the first versions of both Manitou and Rock Shox, even tried full suspension for a while. I got back into power lifting in the 90's and mostly gave up mountain bikes. Then, around 2000, I built up a ControlTech Team Issue rigid singlespeed. It weighed 17 pounds and was a revelation in certain ways. Got out of riding again around 2007, and came back into it about five years ago, building up a FS Giant 27.5. That wheel size never opened my eyes, and I only rode it intermittently.

Fat Bikes have such massive tires, they don't really need suspension. I do have a Thudbuster seatpost on my El Oso Grande, but with 5" tires that can be aired down to <5 psi, that's all I need.

The BMX bike is so damned straightforward, so simple, and such a Wayback Machine, I can't stop riding it. I ride it to do small grocery trips, to go to coffee or the local breweries, anywhere and everywhere-and as I ride, life becomes much better.

 

[dorkburger]

That?s cool. Like a plus size version of the 20 inchers we rode back in the day less the freestyle gear. I?ve often thought something like that would be cool - if f I?m pedaling around town on the MTB I basically use two or three gears.

Ive been doing work in Philly and the very wide variety of bicycles parked outside of buildings there are nearly as interesting as the motorcycles and scooters. Everything from old Schwinn Varsities, to brand new high tech road bikes.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

What freestyle gear?

It's awesomeness. Totally addicting to ride.

 

[80GS850GBob]

When I rebiult my bicycle the tech was "more gears equals better adaptability....on or off". Now I see they're doing it almost in reverse...."less is better due to multiple gear copying with something like an old (my old) 27 speed set up....certain gears are actually repeted." Who knew...?

 

[exdirtbiker]

There are 13 bikes in my garage... I got magnetized towards 1990s GT Avalanche with LX / XT. They just find me. Had 4, now down to 3.
Son has a Cannondale 29er 5, single speed hard tail, hard front. I don't care for it.
Sold the Red Slash {orange / black splatter} Dyno Compe BMX last spring. I have a Tri bike on the trainer in the bedroom. It's a clothes rack... :-(

 

[GS1150Pilot]

The "road" bike is less exciting than the other two to me, but it's a full DX/LX bike and rides beautifully. The massive aspect of the fat bike is awesome, and the 26" BMX bike is absolutely brilliant. I love these machines!

 

[jibledso]

That’s cool. Like a plus size version of the 20 inchers we rode back in the day less the freestyle gear. I’ve often thought something like that would be cool - if f I’m pedaling around town on the MTB I basically use two or three gears.

Ive been doing work in Philly and the very wide variety of bicycles parked outside of buildings there are nearly as interesting as the motorcycles and scooters. Everything from old Schwinn Varsities, to brand new high tech road bikes.

i know the feeling of curiosity when seeing old parked bicycles. There are A LOT of all kinds of bicycles in Gothenburg. There's a lot of older bikes that are in surprisingly good shape. Bicycles are a very practical here since the city is so old (1400s?) and the original layout was never designed for cars. I volunteer at a place called the bicycle kitchen where you get a bike for $5 and fix it yourself there, really cool place. I've gotten a lot of bikes over the past 3 years from picking bikes up at apartments where people abandon them and the super wants to get rid of them, we're not profit so there's no ethical issues.



This is the pride of the stable right now, it's a 1936 with very original features including the original paint, and yes the handle bars are original also. There are older quick release wheels on the bike, so I assume it's the OG racer.

 

[jibledso]

They dont make'em like they use to, this lovely women is on the front fender.

 

[jibledso]

A lot of us are confused how this bike ended up being in such original shape after 80 years. It's very rare to see a bike with the original paint in Gothenburg because it rains a lot and most everything rusts.

i have more photos if you're curious

 

[dorkburger]

Very cool historical item. Along with the old (ish) generator for lighting.
We had a bicycle museum in town ran by an elderly bicycle super enthusiast, but unfortunately he passed and the place closed before I made time to visit.

 

[jibledso]

That's a shame about the museum, seems like a lot of old bikes are just looked at as museum pieces thanks to American Pickers everything old has a steep price. I don't even want to think about how much it would of cost to buy that Crescent.

This is the third old bike I've had, they've all been functional. The first one was a 38' Kungs bike made here in G?teborg. It was in opposite shape as the Crescent, rust everywhere, but it still worked. It was perfect for going into town for a beer, you could pregame on the way since it was a one speed with a torpedo tube back brake, you still got one free hand!

 

[jibledso]

One cool thing I learned that summer was when cleaning rust off an old bike aluminum worked better than steel wool.

when I got the bike you couldn't see the KUNGS embedded on the bottom tube. I felt like Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade when I wiped it down with the aluminum and the letters K-U-N-G-S magically appear.

 

[Guest]

I had a Phoenix Dutch bicycle that I bought in the late 60's that my dad brought over from Holland.Rear fender skirts, large saddle bags and a chain cover that covered the entire chain. Sold it when the 10 speeds came out a few years later. Am still looking for another one to restore. It had a lock mechanism built in under the seat with a flat key. It was heavy, but a nice bike. Went to buy it back a few years later but it was hit and mangled and went to the scrapyard. Always regretted selling it.

 

[jibledso]

Phred

we sometimes get Phoenix Dutch bikes, not super common, but they are around. If you have access to a container and want to pay The shipping cost I'm willing to help. G?teborg is a port city and shouldn't be difficult to load a bike up.

I'm curious how much it would cost myself.

i looked a little into motorcycle shipping and G?teborg to NYC was roughly $1,000, I think with more research you could get closer to half of that, and a bicycle should be very affordable.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

A few weeks later, I've modified the big BMX bike a bit. Installed a longer seatpost to get a little more comfort during seated pedaling. Replaced the stock seat with one I liked better. Replaced the 6.75 rise bars with Answer 8.5s, installed ODI grips, replaced the street biased tires with lighter weight knobbies and superlight tubes. Still have a set of Koolstop clear brake shoes to install, but this'll do for now.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Speaking of places like The Bicycle Kitchen, a very similar spot exists in Tempe called Bicycle Saviours. I go there when I want to learn a bicycle maintenance skill I don't know. Spent an hour learning how to true wheels a couple months back. Then spent an hour there disassembling a Rapidfire shifter to learn how they work last month.

 

[dorkburger]

Koolstop? Were they the ones that were shaped like sneakers?

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Glen, yeah, they did make a model like that (I think they still do in Vans style), but these are the clear, trials type shoes. Pretty much instant stopping.