Bought on the street, in its box, for $30.00. Was told it fell off a truck. Lost when my apar was broken into two years later. Loved it.
Posted on 07/03/2020 11:29:05 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Welcome to The Bicycle Thread. A monthly PING List for bicycle enthusiasts to share experiences, information and ideas.
Bought on the street, in its box, for $30.00. Was told it fell off a truck. Lost when my apar was broken into two years later. Loved it.
I’m putting a single track on my property and it’s gonna need gravel. Any tips on the best gravel to use? TY!
Silly bicycle question: Where would you go online to buy a decent used bicycle for a nephew in another town who is in difficulty due to a combination of Coronavirus and bad choices? I figure he has a few months before it gets stolen because he will eventually forget to lock it, but I also figure it will help him get to work and the grocery store in the intervening time period.
If a miracle occurs, that might be the window where he finally grows up, but I don’t want to put out the money that a new bike would cost. Suggestions?
I was just thinking the other day that when the decent 2 wheelers came along people must have loved, reletively speaking, zipping around at such “high” speeds. Maintaining 15 mph on a bike isn’t hard but at the time it was fast.
Craigslist, yard sales, resale shops, flea markets, maybe even a decent buy at a pawn shop but don’t bet on it..
shopgoodwill.com might be worth a look. Shipping would be insane but you might find something local for pickup. I just got an electric impact wrench and picked it up locally.
Thank you! Happy 4th of July to you too!
God bless and protect America!
Thank You for all you do FRiend!
Great article.
Chainreaction Cycles (https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/)
They have a house brand bicycle that used to be a major brand (Vitus) and they ship around the world for free.
Back in the stone age circa early 1950s inexpensive American made coaster bikes from Western Auto were zippy enough for my age cohort. Especially racing downhill over the terraced neighborhood lawns, rather like mogul skiing...made more exciting carrying our bamboo carpet poles playing Bengal Lancers.
My next door neighbor received an “English racing bike”, Raleigh as I recall. For awhile the rest of us envied the 3 speed with hand brakes...until we learned that Alan could only ride it when his dad was present, too delicate, and too costly for our rough and tumble riding, dropping them on the ground at the ball field or gravel roads. Poor Alan had to use his little sisters bike, enduring the occasional taunts.
All about mind set, isn't it?
A local bike shop might have some used machines in stock. Or try Craigslist or ebay. Or a local shopper. You’re probably going to get a clunker, but it sounds like that’s okay.
Oldest son works in a bike shop so I'll tell you what he said on this topic: Good luck finding a new bike online. All the good brands are sold out through the end of 2020 and into 2021.
New bikes arriving in bike shops today are those that have been sitting in customs for months already and finally clearing. These bikes are far more often than not already sold (they were ordered, customers were waiting for them.) Bikes that are in transit and un-sold are almost always sold before they get to the shop. In these cases, the bike shops are telling customers what is coming that isn't already sold, and customers are paying for them before arrival so it's "theirs."
You may find some decent used bikes at a local bike shop, those are going for premium $$ because of extraordinarily high demand.
OfferUp (an app) often has bikes for sale, some are legit, some are scammers. Use at your own risk.
Caution about buying a bike from one of the big-box retailers like WalMart or Target for example: they're often assembled haphazardly and probably aren't assembled to spec. Most of these bikes sell for cheap $$ and don't last very long. Buy at your own risk and when it breaks expect your local bike shop to charge more than you paid to repair it. You get what you paid for at WalMart, Target, etc.
Finally, repairs. Every shop around me (of which there are three within a 25 mile radius) has a backlog of 2-3 weeks for repairs. They're SWAMPED. Two of the shops near me are by appointment only. The shop my oldest son works in still takes walk-in service. I've been to his ship twice in the past few months and the behavior of some people is absolutely disgusting. If you walk into a bike shop and need service, be nice. Both times I've been to my oldest son's shop he's tossed people out for being assholes.
Full disclosure I am not an engineer just somebody who has built a few brick patios, sidewalks and about a dozen retaining walls and flower boxes using landscaping wall blocks.
IF you can get AB3 in your area consider using that.
AB3 is 3/4” gravel down to dust and will compact to an almost concrete like surface if you use a plate compacter.
I don’t know how big of a track you are wanting to build but as a quick rule of thumb 3” thick AB3 gravel will make a length about 30’ long by about 2’ wide.
You can find calculators on-line to get a better idea of how much gravel you would need
I have used this for parking spots for some vehicles and the footings for retaining walls and brick sidewalks and patios.
The key to compacting in my opinion is to compact about 1/2” to 3/4 lifts at a time. A light misting will help it to compact and also help to hold down the dust.
It is easy to repair if you have a wash out due to a big rain event. just fill in the washout and re tamp or compact if it is a really big washout.
one other idea That just popped in would be to lay out the track and spread some 1/2’ or smaller gravel down maybe 1/2’ thick or so then either run a plate compacter over it or try riding around the course a few times to see if the bike will compact it. This would probably require several applications of gravel as well as an annual application in the spring I would guess.
Hopefully this will give you some ideas for thought.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
He has an accent so must know what he is talking about.
6 Bike Repair Mistakes Every Cyclist Should Avoid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG06ooQBIx8
Thankfully I have a very experienced bike mechanic @ home (oldest son) who takes care of my bike for me.
Thanks.. I’ll investigate the AB3. Around here quarter minus decomposed granite is widely used. Compacts nice, weeds are discouraged and takes water well.. to a point. A heavy monsoon rain can erode it all away. I think 1/2 or 3/4 would compact better.
I’d prefer plain dirt but with the rains the soil get way muddy.
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