Urban Bicycle Anthropology--Or Is It Archaelogy?

There are bikes on encounters, it seems, only when they are locked to sign posts or parking meters in large cities.

Talk about a Frankenbike!  This is a Schwinn Varsity, circa 1974-75.  I base those dates on the color and the fact that Schwinn was offering it around that time, which was when I first started to work in bicycle shops.


That a Schwinn Varsity or Continental of that vintage is being used for a city transport bike is not unusual.  I had a continental, and I recall what a tank it was.  And, it was a "lightweight" bike:  The Varsity was, if I recall correctly, about three or four pounds heavier.


Well, someone lightened this Varsity.  It has alloy rims and Continental Gator Skin tires. (I know those tires are not lightweights, but compared to the original equipment, they're helium balloons. )  And those bars--they alone save about two pounds over the original equipment!  I know they're not the originals because they're alloy.  That alone would have halved the original weight, but then most of the bar was cut away.

Is the bike's owner a messenger? Can't be a hipster:  The bike still has its derailleurs.  They're the originals, in fact:  Schwinn-branded Huret Allvit on the rear and a Schwinn-branded Huret on the front.  What's really strange, though, are the shifters.  Yes, they are also the originals, but stem-mounted shifters really look strange with those bars--and brake levers.


And on this bike we find the ultimate weight-saving measure:  no saddle.  Yes, that has to be at least two pounds of avoirdupois excised from the ensemble.  Believe it or not, I've actually seen cyclists ride without saddles.  The thing is, nobody believes you when you tell them that's how you lost your virginity!


Anyway...I concede the seat might have been stolen. However, when one sees a parked bike without a seat (but with a seatpost remaining in the frame), it's usually starting to decay, and is often missing other parts.  So I'm wondering whether the bike's owner removed the seat when he/she parked the bike.  Usually, though, when cyclists remove their seats, they take the seat post, too, because their bikes have quick release clamps.  Whoever removed the saddle of from this Varsity must have used a tool of some sort.  Given that the bike has good tires and fancy brake levers, perhaps the seat is a Brooks or something similar.


Ok,I'll admit it:  I must be a real bike geek if I can look at a parked bike and speculate as much as I have about how it might have come to be what it is now.

Progress Report: Miss Mercian II

Marianela feels exposed these days.  Well, she should see Miss Mercian II:  She’s barefoot.  Or tireless, anyway.  Wait, is that the right word?  Well, you get the idea:

She may not have shoes, I mean tires, yet.  But she’s got some nice accessories, like the fenders:

And you remember the Gyes Parkside with my DYI Carradice bag quick-release?  Well, I think MM II is going to wear her well:

Especially since she has gloves, I mean grips, that match, more or less:

The shifter is a Sun Tour micro-ratchet model.  It’s one of a pair, but I’m only using the front.  That’s because MM II is going to have only one chainring on the front:

Amazing, isn’t it, what you can find if you hit a bike shop at the right time.  That’s how I got the Origin 8 chainring, which is really the Rocket ring.  And the chainguard is from BBG in Oregon.

I cleaned the cranks (They came with the bike.) and the logos just happened to come off. ;-)  They were a bit tarnished, so I rubbed them with some fine steel wool. I followed that with a couple of dabs of Simichrome polish, and, after buffing the cranks, I wiped everything down with some Never-Dull pads. 

The cranks, by the way, are Shimano Deore FC-MT 60.  About 20 years ago, higher-end mountain bikes were equipped with them.  They are like a triple version of the Sugino Alpina, which means that they would make nice touring cranks.  But they came with those infernal Bio-Pace chainrings.  The ones that came with these cranks were pretty worn, which gave me a good excuse to get rid of them.

About the accessories:  The cage is from King—not the same one who makes the headsets.  This King makes these cages from stainless steel in Colorado. 

And the rack, which came with the bike, was made by a classic British manufacturer:  Tonard.  If you look at some of those old English club bikes, the racks and bag supports might have been made by Tonard.  I don’t know whether they’re still in business, but it seems like they made some good stuff, on par, quality-wise,  with similar Carradice, Karrimor and Chossy products

And, because I’m so self-indulgent, I’m going to leave you with a couple more shots of the lugwork and tubes.

Hotter'N Hotter'N Hell?

Yesterday, I rambled (or babbled, depending on your point of view) about a ride I've never done in a place I've never been anywhere near.   I've been to Texas once in my life, and came away convinced that nowhere is near anywhere else in that state.  Perhaps you can forgive me for having such an impression if you understand my perspective:  New York, where I live, is closer to either Boston or Washington, DC than Dallas is to Houston.  And Houston is further from Wichita Falls, the home of Hotter'N Hell Hundred, than New York or Boston are from Montreal.  

Anyway, after I declared my fascination with (which, I guess, implies some interest in doing) HHH, I was a wuss today.  The temperature  reached 104 degrees in Central Park.  Even though the humidity, by definition, can reach only 100 (percent), it seemed to be even higher than the temperature.  

Penny-farthing thermometer

I might have gone for a ride had I wakened earlier, or gone toward the water.  However, as much as I dislike the heat and humidity, they weren't what deterred me.  I took one look at the haze that smudged the sky and said, "I am not going to breathe that shit!"  I could have dealt with the heat simply by hydrating--I've done that on rides when the temperature, if not my mileage, reached the century mark. However, I do have a fairly sensitive respiratory system, and I didn't think going for a ride in those conditions would do me much good.  I might go for a short hop later tonight, after the temperature cools to, oh, about 92 degrees.  To the folks in Wichita Falls, that's probably a chilly Hotter'N Hell Hundred.  (Is that an oxymoron?)