Bicycle Chic(?) San Diego

I've been away on vacation, so haven't been posting for a while. Now I'm back, so I'll try to get a post up every once in a while. Summer is a hard blogging season, 'cause I'm out actually doing stuff and have less time to write about it.

Thought I'd share this photo of my wife and I taken on this month's Mid-City Bike Blast ride, which toured community and private food gardens in the City Heights area of San Diego. It was a great ride. In the photo, I've gallantly offered my cycling cap to my wife, who was worried about sunburn, flipped up my collar, and soldiered-on. We actually look pretty happy, no?

Original photo (and others from the ride) here.

So Much Park, So Few Picnics

Balboa Park and its satellite neighborhood parks are so vast, we could have a picnic every weekend for a year and never have it in the same place twice. We just might!

How to Fix a Bent Fender

Well, maybe more like: "how to jerry-rig something so that your bent fender doesn't rub on your tire (without spending any money)." This is a problem I'm having with the new old Schwinn Suburban. The old Schwinns were designed so that the fenders fit very closely around the tires. This is a nice aesthetic touch, but it also means that any little bend or tweak in the fender or its supports can put the inside of the fender in contact with your tire, causing undue wear and tear on the tire, and undue frustration when peddling (plus a really annoying rubbing noise).

I've been trying all sorts of ways to bend the fender out where it is rubbing (at the very back of the fender), but all to no avail. The fender itself is not noticeably bent, but I think the support is tweaked a little. The problem is where the fender support is attached on the inside of the fender (see arrow on picture above). The tire is actually rubbing on the support piece, not the fender itself. I considered taking the support off, but then the fender would flop about and rub on the tire anyway. Soooo, long story short, I think I solved the problem with a couple short pieces of plumber's tape (the metal kind) and some bolts salvaged from old brake shoes. Basically, I just used the bolts to fasten the pieces of plumber's tape on as extensions for the support arms where they bolt on to the frame (circled on the photo above), making the support arms longer and forcing the fender out away from the tire a little more. The photo below shows my Frankensteinesque innovation.

Obviously, you don't have to use salvaged bolts from brake shoes if you have suitable bolts laying about, but I didn't. Plus, it's a good reminder to save everything, because you can probably find a use for it later. I don't know how well this fix is going to work in the long run, but it all seems pretty stable for now. Of course, the front fender is rubbing too, but I think I can just bend that one out.

PS--If you use metal plumber's tape for anything, you'll need a pair of aviation snips to cut it, available at any hardware store.

The Sublime & the Ridiculous

My wife and I rode down to San Diego's South Park neighborhood yesterday to test my new basket on the Runwell. I found the basket at a thrift store and added some wire to make hooks to hang off the handlebars. It holds just enough for an afternoon jaunt. I was worried that it wouldn't hold up over our terrible streets around here, but it did just fine. We locked up at one of South Park's cool high-wheel racks, walked around a bit, and when we came back, saw that the herd had grown. It was interesting to compare our very practical and stylish old city bikes to the (I'm sorry, but) goofy-looking wacked-out new mountain bikes, which were obviously not designed with comfortable city riding in mind. I see the practicality for mountain biking, but I'm always amazed that people chose to ride these bikes around town. 'Course, I suppose the way the roads are, a little suspension might come in handy now and again. Thank goodness I have the Runwell's patented "rigid safety frame"!

1977 Schwinn Suburban

Yes, another bike. That's three, for those keeping score. We found this one at a garage sale for $40. My wife has been looking for a bike since last June, and we found it about two blocks from our house--must have been fate. Anyway, as the title of the post suggests, it's a 1977 Schwinn Suburban. It's a ten speed--no Sturmey-Archer hub, unfortunately--and it is a seriously nice-looking bike. It has a sort of red/rust/brown color and the paint is in pretty good shape, with the usual dings and scratches. It also has the usual rust, dirt, and grime all over.

It seems to be mostly original, with the exception of newish cables and a newer seat that doesn't really match the old style of the bike very well. The tires are newish, and everything else seems to be in great shape.

Today we did the major cleaning: frame, chrome, derailers, and chain. The chain is soaking in oil overnight after two rounds of cleaning with Pedro's and a toothbrush. Tomorrow, I'll buff the rust off the rims with steel wool, make some brake adjustments, some seat post and handlebar adjustments, and it'll be good to ride. Cosmetically, we'll wipe it down again and apply a coat of Turtle Wax to bring out the color. Long term, I think the crank bearings are going to need re-packing soon, and I'd like to try to find a better looking seat for it. The brake shoes are going to need to be replaced soon as well, but I think that's it (assuming the tires hold air over night).

As with all of our bikes, the Suburban has (according to one website) "absolutely no value to collectors." But, of course, the point should be whether an old bike has value to its owner. This bike makes my wife happy, it's stylish as all get-out, and that's really what matters, isn't it?

New Saddle for the Missus

I'm not the only one getting new sits around here. I found a good deal on this Schwinn saddle for my wife's 1977 Schwinn Suburban. The saddle that was on there was a newer and very crappy saddle designed for road bikes. It was too narrow and had no springs whatsoever and was not at all a good match for the bike. As a general rule, the more upright your riding posture, the wider and more heavily-sprung your saddle should be.

The new saddle has only been on a short ride when we ran some errands last weekend, but it has already proven its superiority. When we got home, my wife exclaimed: "Hey, my butt doesn't hurt." Good.

Another Sunday Ride

I didn't make it on the weekly Down Townies Ride today, but my wife and I took a slow afternoon jaunt to the park. One of the many treats of our neighborhood is that the alleys have all kinds of lovely blooming things overhanging people's back fences. A slow amble down several blocks worth of such alleys and we're at Balboa Park, which is itself a city treasure. We sat in the sun for a couple of hours, I did some reading, my wife did some embroidery, and then we headed back home. Here's a few photos. Even though my wife's eyes are closed in the last one, we both still like it. Lady looks good on a bike!

Super Sunday

Rather than ignore the Super Bowl at home, we decided to ignore it at the park with a game of Novelty Flying Disk and enjoyed the extraordinarily nice SoCal February weather. I won't say how warm it was, but I busted out the cycling knickers and shoes without socks.