To celebrate Earth Day today, Audrey and I went for a ride around the neighborhood. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with a cool breeze. The snow has mostly melted, and street cleaners have started to remove the winter debris from the roads in our neighborhood.
Audrey dressed in purples to match her bike.
We practiced signalling - Audrey is almost as good as me now - and also spent awhile practicing turns in the parking lot of her elementary school. She's ready to have the training wheels pulled off her bike. Actually, she's ready for a bigger bike. We're going to see if we can get a bit more life out of this one by adjusting seat and handlebar height. Once she's done we might cannibalize this bike to get the little blue Deelite working for when Dom outgrows his Tigger bike.
{Update: Audrey's bike appears not to have adjustable handlebars or seat. Not impressed! So we're going to prioritize getting the Eaton's Glider frame fixed up for her ASAP, and her current bike will become a part donor for Dom's Deelite and Damien's Rapido. Vintage kids' bikes FTW!}
{Update: Audrey's bike appears not to have adjustable handlebars or seat. Not impressed! So we're going to prioritize getting the Eaton's Glider frame fixed up for her ASAP, and her current bike will become a part donor for Dom's Deelite and Damien's Rapido. Vintage kids' bikes FTW!}
Everything except the skirtguards and basket is original.
I haven't changed anything on her yet, so the seat is still a bit high for me.
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| Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub marked 78 7 AW |
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| The plastic trigger shifter has lost its adhesive label. I think I'll get it replaced with the chromed SA shifter with a screw-on faceplate that came with Bert. |
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| Front rod brakes. I didn't remember to look for marks on the Westwood (rod-brake-only) rims. The tires (or should I say tyres) are labelled Raleigh Roadster, 40-635 (28 x 1 1/2), 50 lbs/in2 - 3.5 ATM |
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| Heron chainwheel, rear rod brake, pedals marked with the Raleigh crest. |
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| Both the headbadge (hidden under the basket) and the decal on the rear mudguard are marked Nottingham. Notice that the fenders have a rounded profile, instead of the ridged versions on Mary Poppins and Ms Trudy. |
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| The Brooks B66, nicely broken in. I can see how a B66S might be more comfortable for me, since the nose on the B66 feels a bit long. |
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| Closeup of the OTT Simeli crocheted skirtguards. |
Eliza still needs a thorough cleaning and some lemon-and-foil to really make her shine, and I might touch up her paint where it's been dinged - her front forks are especially scratched. At the advice of uber-mechanic Keith, I'll be considering an imported Dutch centre stand (the kind that attaches to the back wheel) to allow me to carry a grocery-loaded rack - this is crucial for me, since I need Eliza to earn her keep as my errand-running bike, and installation of any of the other double kickstands is made impossible by the rod brakes. (It is possible to install the specially-made DL-1 Pletscher prop stand, or to grind down a prop stand and install it with a shorter bolt, but those solutions aren't stable enough if you plan to carry heavy loads.). If I'm not happy with how the brakes feel after new Fibrax rod brake pads have been installed, rebuilding the rear wheel with a 3-speed coaster hub (like Velouria did) will provide secret stopping powers.
{Update: it seems that Steco make a black-powdercoated rear rack for 28-inch bicycles with an integrated swing kickstand, and this is what comes standard on the Achielle Oma - so now I know what I'm asking the guys at RedBike if they can special-order for me. Or am looking to bring back as a souvenir from Japan.}
As you can see behind me, in installing the (wave-style) bike racks at Audrey's school in a sheltered location they managed to ensure they'll be buried in a snowdrift after the rest of the snow is long gone. Oops.
