New project, new therapy

The newest installment from the garage of Franken-bike/Miracle-it-went-back-together labs has began to take form. It's no mystery that I've become enthralled with simple one-speed bikes lately. Anyone who knows me has seen the crazy-eyed look I get around a noisy drive train. But this latest one was an appeasement of my desire for simplicity and a further exploration into working on bikes. Thanks to Zach donating his old steel Fuji touring bike, I was able to dive in up to my elbows in old, frankly archaic technology. Amazingly, though there is a simple beauty to these old parts.

Sifting through the wreckage.

Side note: this entire project was born from my almost defiant need to avoid studying. With boards looming ahead in about 4 months I battle between being highly motivated and desperately inactive. In the latter times I often resort to throwing a bike up on the rack and tinkering. But rarely does it get beyond an oiled chain, or a disc brake adjustment.
That all changed when I looked up at the old Fuji, in all its fender and gear rack glory, and decided to tinker. Back in the day, a company called SunTour was one of the more common manufacturers of bicycle mechanics. Known now as SunRace, they crafted some of the more hefty and classic hubs and cassettes of their day. Compared to today's technology it seems at the very least old fashioned, but again, there is a something amazing in the simplicity.

Once the bike was stripped, and the rear wheel came off, I knew this would be the crux of the project. Not only was I dealing with a thread-on cassette that had probably been in place for years, and with spokes also likely to be left without adjustment for some time, but the old thread-on hubs don't allow you to just space out the cassette to add just one cog when making a single speed. With modern hubs this is barely even an issue, but with these it's a journey into the inner workings of bicycles. I was going to have to re-space the hub, and re-dish the wheel.

The lab

Hubs had always given me trouble. I can't remember ever getting one to tighten properly. Not only that, I had never laced a wheel. I left a dab of tri flow on every spoke nipple and went to bed to sleep on it. The next day I had off, and I rolled up my sleeves and went for it. A crescent wrench and a ball-peen hammer made relatively quick work of the cassette. I worked out the measurements to re-space the hub to the right so the single cog would fall in line with the front chainring. This however takes the rim with it, leaving it rubbing up against the frame. Next was the methodical process of redishing the hub. 1/2 turn by 1/2 turn I loosened the drive side, then tightened the non-drive side until amazingly the wheel traveled easily 10mm back to center in the frame. Truly the wheel continues to amaze humans like me. But, to my amazement, it had worked! A few tweeks here and there and the wheel was true! No broken spokes, or bottomed out spokes. None of the spokes traveled up into the tube space. It was a thing of beauty!

After deciding this wouldn't be a fixed gear project, I bought a freewheel from the local fixie masters at Bicycle Shop Santa Cruz. This shop is a gem I never even knew about! Fixies are amazing in their simplicity, but in practice they can be death machines! If nothing else they are a little unpleasant to ride. The fixed gear makes perfect sense in a track racing environment, but on city streets it's just impractical. I kinda think they are a fad, myself... But, who am I! Personally I enjoy coasting, so a freewheel it was! This of course means I'll have to include at least a front break, but likely both, thus meaning I have to clutter up the simple frame lines with cables and what not... Oh well, brakes are a luxury.

As it stands a few things need to be tweeked to get it right. The bars and brakes remain as the next hurdle. I'm debating leaving the traditional bar on there, or doing the "flip and clip" style. Amazing to see where the mind goes when it needs a "vacation". Apparently for me losing myself in bicycle parts is as good as therapy!

PS: Special thanks to the late Sheldon Brown! His website continues to be a god-sent.