My Klunkerz.

[fuldatramp]

This thread is epic, your posts speak to me! the amount of time I look at things and think, if I don't take it no one else will want it. My wife sometimes calls me Mr Trebus - it was the name of an old man who was a serial hoarder, he appeared in some old life of grime type program.
I've not yet ventured on tip trips specifically to procure new bikes but I have been known to dip in the odd skip! Great work, it's refreshing to see such enthusiasm for items that are so unloved by the majority keep the updates coming,

[jpr1977]

Aug 29, 2016 14:08:00 GMT pistonpopper said:

TIt make no sense to me, and one of my biggest annoyances of modern society, infact, the only thing that annoys me more currently is people who think it's ok to let their dogs curse word everywhere, and then just leave it...



On the estate where i live it is everywhere, i've even stood in it in my own drive, and i don't even have a dog! It really freakin annoys me, but what i really don't get are the folks who bother to bag it up, and then just tie the bag in a tree? Whats that all about? There's a tree near where i ride sometimes and it's got dozens of bags of poo tied to the branches, like some kind of sh!tty christmas tree, they're all hanging there like stinky little black ornaments, YUK!! What is wrong with these people, bag it up, put it in a bin, it's pretty simple. I can understand not wanting to pick up dog poo, i couldn't do it, and thats why i don't have a dog! Simple.

Hang on... I think i'm on the verge of a full on Victor Meldrew if i go on... Back to the bike, so my plans for this afternoon include stripping the few parts from it that i may be able to use (Hopefully, if it doesn't just fall apart in my hands!) And then take whats left of it, which to be fair will be most of it, to the tip to be disposed of properly!

 Keep Britian Tidy folks!

I hear you, as a responsible Dog owner it drives me up the wall, both the floor minefield and the strange stinky plastic fruit in the trees, whats even more annoying is that round here the forest mantra is 'stick and flick, so there really is no need yet there is still curse word everywhere. Its up there for me with the coffee cups/take aways out of windows...

Anyway i'll put this back in now



Back to

[Thanatos]

Hi PistonPopper I may be going out on a limb here but that black one piece sorta frame may be a British Eagle Xcess/X-ESS.  Been a while since I've seen one but it looks exactly like that

[jaykay]

[Source] jpr1977 said:

My bicycle adventures this weekend were limited to rediscovering these in my loft, as mentioned in dispatches on pg1. (don't ask why they are in the loft and massive blurry pic alert..) 




The Dyno is the one that came with the 'Bongoose on the previous page and just had a refresh and going over. It really does need to come out of the loft and be used but other things need to shift from the garage first, (and yes the forks are back to front, the stem is lose...)

The chrome BMX frame and specialized are for Mrs JP's bikes that i'm yet to finish (sounds much better than yet to start) 

They may* be done by the period I will not mention before the 1st of December.

* this statement does not imply any form of real action....

That dyno vfr is just perfect. Ive been looking for a vfr or compe for the last few months but nothing local turns up...

[jpr1977]

It maybe available in the near future as I really do need to have a rationalisation of the projects and free up some space..

[jaykay]

Sept 2, 2016 10:23:01 GMT jpr1977 said:

It maybe available in the near future as I really do need to have a rationalisation of the projects and free up some space..

Let me know when it does...

[pistonpopper]

Aug 29, 2016 21:10:48 GMT mrbounce said:

Carnielli bike - looking similar to yours, albeit with a few minor differences:

I reckon that Carnielli is pretty much what i've got, and now that i've seen what make it is, the name seems familier to me, so it's probably because it's on my bike!

Aug 29, 2016 21:31:37 GMT fuldatramp said:

This thread is epic, your posts speak to me! the amount of time I look at things and think, if I don't take it no one else will want it. My wife sometimes calls me Mr Trebus - it was the name of an old man who was a serial hoarder, he appeared in some old life of grime type program.

Ah Yes, Mr Trebus.



Edmund Zygfryd Trebus 11 November 1918 – 29 September 2002 RIP.

He was indeed a compulsive hoarder, who came to fame when he was featured on the BBC television documentary series A Life of Grime. I remember it quite well, as i remember Mr Trebus was constantly arguing with council workers who had been instructed to clear his house of the 515 cubic yards of rubbish it contained. Thankfully i have not quite got to this stage, but i am quite careful not to step over the line from collector of a few things, to collector of everything! My brother however, well, it wouldn't be a very big jump for him to become very Mr Trebus like, infact there are several rooms in his house that you cannot get into for stuff. I must admit, i do worry about my brother becoming the next Mr Trebus, but i doubt that i ever will, mrs Pistonpopper won't let me... Thank goodness!

Aug 30, 2016 14:43:26 GMT jpr1977 said:

I hear you, as a responsible Dog owner it drives me up the wall, both the floor minefield and the strange stinky plastic fruit in the trees, whats even more annoying is that round here the forest mantra is 'stick and flick, so there really is no need yet there is still curse word everywhere. Its up there for me with the coffee cups/take aways out of windows...

Yep, littering, thats another one of my pet peeves, especially as nine times out of ten theres a bin within walking distance of where the rubbish has just be dropped on the ground. But having said that i'd rather pick up a hundred coffee cups than one dog turd lol!

Aug 31, 2016 20:27:55 GMT Thanatos said:

Hi PistonPopper I may be going out on a limb here but that black one piece sorta frame may be a British Eagle Xcess/X-ESS. Been a while since I've seen one but it looks exactly like that

A quick search of 'tinternet show up this...



Which is indeed very similar to...



But not quite the same. I wonder if this was a later development of the British Eagle EXS. I say this because really the only difference would appear to be the addition of a bracket to the seat tube, and if you look at the British Eagle the seat tube would appear to be bent a little. I wonder if they found this was a common problem and so started to stiffen it up with a bracket on later models? I'm not sure what i'm going to do with mine, but at the moment i reckon it's probably going to be yellow eventually, but no matter what, i'm not going to just throw it away.

Aug 29, 2016 21:10:48 GMT mrbounce said:

Am loving this thread. I remember trying a Raleigh Bomber and it was like riding an armoured car. I doubt I could have broken it at all. But at the time I had a future classic, and one I wish I still had: A bronze coloured Raleigh Chopper Sprint GT. That's right - the one with the dropped handlebars. I have never seen another one. Sadly mine was thrown out 30 years ago. Fond (?) memories of slipgear and that t-bar shifter. OUCH! I had it for about 5 years and fell off many, many times, mainly doing things it was not designed for...

It looked like this, although rustier... *Edit - have just seen a mint one advertised for £2000!!!!* 

I'm glad to hear i'm striking a chord with so many of you, and it's good to know that your interested in my little two wheeled adventures. I was looking you picture of the Raleigh Chopper Sprint, and i was thinking that i'd heard of them before, but never actually seen one. Last weekend i went to Beaulieu Autojumble, as i quite like looking at rusty curse word, and sifting my way through it all. My mission was to find a good pair of sills for my Carlton, but that didn't happen. However i do always find myself looking at the bikes, and one of the first bikes i saw was this one...



A Raleigh Chopper Sprint... First time i'd ever seen one, and it was up for sale for a meagre £2000!! I wonder if this was the same one that you saw advertised mrbounce ? I must admit, i looked at it, and it was in great shape, but i thought that no one would buy it at that price. I passed the stall later in the day on my way home, i just wondered if he had dropped the price at all, and it was gone!! He'd sold it? It never ceases to amaze me that people are actually wandering around the autojumble with that amount of cash in their pockets! There were quite a lot of Choppers there for sale, but the Sprint was the most expensive. Here are some of the others.









For me, i've always been a Mk2 Chopper man, i like how the rear tube has that curve that Raleigh incorperated in order to move the riders weight infront of the rear wheels axle as apparently the Mk1 had a tendency to lift the front wheel if you were sittign right back when you hit a bump at speed. This inevetably meant flipping the rider off the back of the bike... Not ideal, but as i said, i prefered the look of the Mk2, so i never experienced the supposed danger of the frame design of the Mk1. Anyhoo, of the lot that were up for grabs at Beaulieu my favourite was the freshly restored green Mk2. For me that would've been the one that i would've taken home with me if i'd have had more money than sense, but at £800 i left it there. I just don't think they are worth that kind of money.



I particularly liked this little Beach cruiser/choppery thing, and at £60 i think it was far more reasonably priced, but as it was way to small for my lardy ass, i left it there, although i did try to talk the eldest pistonpoppet into it, and she was interested, but it was just too small for her too, so once id managed to get her interested in it, i then had to back pedal and talk her back out of it. I'll bet the stall owner loved me for that!



I quite liked this little thing too, the main part of the frame appears to be made from the front forks of a Raleigh Budgie, or Boxer. It was too small to be used by anyone i know, and i wonder if it was created to just be an ornament? I did toy with the idea of bringing it home to be just that, an ornament, but i wondered were we would put it in Pistonpopper towers, so after a while i just left it, which was quite sad, as i really kinda wanted it... Mr Trebus would've had it lol! However i did nearly buy one bike, a racer... This one...



I have had many Talbot Alpine cars over the years, but never a Talbot bicycle, and even though it has bent forks i thought to myself, i'm having that. Just as i walked over to it to have a closer look some bloke said, "How much for the Talbot mate?" The seller said, "Twenty Quid" And by this time i had it in my hands. But the bloke said, "Done!" and handed over the cash... curse word!! lol. I'm guessing that it's probably an old Peugeot bike, made in the factory along with all the other Peugeot bikes but stickered up as a Talbot when it reached the end of the production line. Needless to say, i'm after one, goodness knows why i don't even like riding racers, but it would be nice to have one at some point. Anyway after wandering around the Autojumble all day Saturday on my own, i always wander around it all day Sundea too, but this time with Mrs Pistonpopper and the Pistonpoppets so they can have a look around too. The Pistonpoppets get £10 each, and the objective for them it to get the most toy cars that they can for a tenner! There is no prize for this, just bragging rights. For the last couple of years the youngest Pistonpoppet has been unbeatable, getting over 80 cars on one occaision! But this year she lost, getting just 41 cars to the elder Pistonpoppets 63! Anyway, the eldest Pistonpoppet has been on the lookout for a new (to her) bike. As she's 11 now she was looking for something like a small mountain bike with 24" wheels. I have shown her countless nice looking mountain bikes in good condition, but not one of them met with her criteria, and worse than that, she wouldn't tell me what her criteria was, so really i was looking in the dark. Like always i might add! So i'm wandering around with her, and suddenly she says "There!" I said "There what?" She said, "There it is, my new bike!" And pointed at this rusty filthy looking thing. I must admit i thought it looked pretty cool, but i answered her with, "Good laaaaawwd!! Are you sure?" She just looked at me and said, "Yep, thats the one i've been looking for, now lets get over there, i don't want to miss out on it like you've just missed out on that Talbot bike!" I faked a laugh and said, "Right-o." So she grabbed hold of the bike, and i said to the seller, "How much for that thing?" He said, "Give us a tenner mate." I said, "Five!" Pistonopppet the elder said, "Daaaaaaad!" The seller said, "Seven!" I said, "Done!" and forked over the cash before someone else could buy it lol! So what did Pistonpoppet the elder get for my seven English pounds?



This, a 24" wheel Apollo Retro beach cruiser. Its a single speed machine, and she reckons it is fantastic (so do i secretly!) I must admit i am quite proud of her for choosing such a project when all her friends would've gone for the shiny mountian bikes i was trying to get her on. She is quite an individual. This will be the second bicycle project she has embarked on, the first one being a choppery looking thing that she found as a frame at our local tip, and turned into a complete working bicycle on her own when she was just six years old! (I did make sure everything was tightened up properly after she'd gone to bed. But apart from that, she did the whole thing!) Anyway, i'll keep you posted on how her project progresses!

So then, my latest bike project, the Magna Fugitive. Well, i've done to it what i wanted to do, and it rides beautifully, i really quite like it. I shall give it a clean at some point and post a few pics of it for your appraisal... Soon!

[brickie501]

Hi PP

I've never really been a bike person but you got my interest having read this after enjoying various other threads of yours!

Having said I'm not really into bikes, a few semi-wrecks / parts were in & around my lockup when I took it over... my 'inner Mr Trebus' meant I've kept them, thinking I might make some up & sell any decent leftovers.

As I know next to nothing about them, would you mind if I stuck pictures here for ID / suggestions?

[pistonpopper]

That'll be fine brickie501, if you think it'll help please do carry on. Glad to hear your enjoying what I'm writing.

[duncanmartin]

Your e-stay MTB reminds me very much of this (back wheel up to the fork, though obviously the Kingcycle has a 20" front wheel):

It would be interesting to see if you could turn it into a funky recumbent, but I suspect you are thinking that you're just going to fix it and ride it!
Cheers
Duncan

[brickie501]

Thanks for letting me hijack your thread PP

These aren't actually the bikes I mentioned earlier - I'll try to take pics of them later - but see what you lot have done to me !!!!

Linking to earlier discussions of our 'throw-away society' & littering...

I had a day off yesterday with permission to "do car stuff" (no real photo worthy progress on my Scimitar, but some progress) but during a quick run I found two bikes dumped in a local wooded area. Don't think they've been there too long as they're not overly rusty or anything but it looks like someone has tried to set fire to them !!?

Raleigh Vixen & Apollo Outrage:


I've stripped a couple of parts off them which might be useful to complete the others I 'inherited' but I think what's left above is probably heading for the scrappie due to the burning. However...

... bike tech newbie question but how to I get the pedal cranks off the Vixen? I've removed the bolts; should they just pull off BB now - with the proper amount of force - or am I missing something?

[duncanmartin]

Sept 10, 2016 7:51:08 GMT brickie501 said:

Thanks for letting me hijack your thread PP

... bike tech newbie question but how to I get the pedal cranks off the Vixen? I've removed the bolts; should they just pull off BB now - with the proper amount of force - or am I missing something?

Once you've removed the bolts, the cranks are held on by the friction of the square taper. There's a special tool to remove them called a crank extractor (eg www.chainreactioncycles.com/x-tools-crank-extractor/rp-prod10181?gs=1&gclid=Cj0KEQjw3s6-BRC3kKL_86XDvq4BEiQAAUqtZ2Y0H9BVYWeZbgNbnotY73q3UNCwWAkPy1zMkuHUle8aAozJ8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds). It essentially screws into the threads on the crank (there should be some around the inside of the crank hole where you removed the bolts) until it's secure, and then you wind the inner bolt in to pull the crank off the bottom bracket tapers.
Cheers
Duncan

[brickie501]

Thanks Duncan,

I was thinking a special tool might be the correct way to do it since just smacking it loose was likely to cause damage... but not sure I could justify buying something.

Something like the above shouldn't break the bank though!

[brickie501]

Well the poor dumped frames have gone to the big bike-rack in the sky!

Thanks again Duncan for the dismantling advice - had to spend nearly a tenner for a puller in my local bike shop (& I think the one you posted looked better made) but I had to get it today so I could get rid ... otherwise I would have suffered the wrath of SWMBO for having a half-burned frame lying around.

The 'pulley' side crank is fixed to the gears, which may be slightly damaged (& seem quite cheap), which is a shame as they looked like nice alloy. Still it was worth doing as its only a small part (or piece of scrap) now!

Anyway, these are what I originally asked to hijack PistonPopper's thread with...

Dual suspension MTB - don't think this is anything special (but if I get loads of requests for it I'll know different  )

Even I've heard of Specialized - nice light frame:

Another light frame - Claud Butler?  (I know stickers say so but it looks hand painted so they could have been added?)  Seems to have some nice 'billet' parts too:

The most complete of them - Carerra Vulcan - again, quite a light frame:

No bracket for the bike it'll attach to, but that looks straightforward to sort - definitely going to keep this as it'll be ideal for my little lad in a couple of years 

[duncanmartin]

Nice haul. The dual suspension bike is curse word, but you could always chop it up and make it into something cool!
The Specialized frame is pretty decent, the Carrera is a useful sensible bike, he "CBR" looks like some sort of jump bike, and I've no idea how to evaluate them.
Cheers
Duncan

[steveg]

I have been tidying up my garage and took a couple of pictures. Not very clear but there are six frames and forks of various types, 2 racers that were my Grandfathers and my mountain bike. What you can't see are another racer of mine in the roof, and a couple of childrens bikes and my other half mountain bike. That doesn't include the computer room with 2 BMX's and the loft with our childrens older bikes in !
Oh and I nearly forgot the ladies bike I rescued from the tip thats in the shed. I've not counted up before but thats a possible 19 bikes ! Oh dear.

[pistonpopper]

brickie501 what i would do with your bikes and bike parts is, starting with the Tag-a-long, if it's got the bit that clamps to the bicycle thats dragging it along, i'd sell it, they sell quite well. On to the bikes, Starting with the Challenge Sceptre full suspension mountain bike, well, in my opinion this is rubbish, I think it was made to a budget for Argos, but by who frankly is anyones guess. It's one of that class of bike that is so bad that its value is actually negative - if you were given it for free, (as you were) that was a very poor deal. These are probably the worst quality bike sold in the UK, you will find returns on sale in many catalogue return shops, however, still a good source of parts so don't just bin it. Do you have the back wheel for it? The Specialized Hardrock, i'd try and create a complete bike with that one, using parts from the previously mentioned Challenge Sceptre (YIKES!), and parts from the CBR. Personally speaking, i reckon the Specialized is the best bike of the lot. The Carerra Vulcan, i'd leave as is. It looks like quite a good, and complete bike and probably rides very well. Have you tried riding it at all? Good luck with them all, and keep us updated on what you create with them. I once had a selection of bike bits like yours, and turned them into this...



A Carerra Hellcat (in places!) I'll admit that it's not the best looking bike i've ever put together, but to be frank this was thrown together out of boredom, frustration, and because i had all these bike parts taking up space in my garage! It rode pretty nicely too, and when i sold it i got about 50 quid for it!

[pistonpopper]

You may remember that i was saying about Pistonpoppet the elders Beach Cruiser project?

Sept 8, 2016 20:14:31 GMT pistonpopper said:

This beauty! Well, work has slowly progressed on it... Very VERY slowly! This is because she has started 'Big School' in the last couple of weeks, and has been trying to come to terms with the changes that secondary school brings... I don't envy her, i remember what it was like for myself, and i wouldn't want to do that again. But first things first, she decided that we needed to take it on a test ride to see what it was like. Ok i said, we'll give it a quick check over, and take it for a spin for a mile or so. So, after we managed to get the back brake going, and finding that the front brake was siezed solid and was never going to work again, we turned our attention to lowering the seat for my 11 year old to ride. This was not going to happen. I tried gallons of WD-40, and hammering it, and trying to twist it, but it wasn't happening. Eventually she said that she was going to try to ride it as it was, and we left the seat post bolt loose in the hope that riding it would free it off! So off we went, she looked so tall and was having to ride on her tip toes, but she did manage to ride it, and about half an hour or so later we were back home, and the seat was still in the same posistion as it was before. She said that it rode good, but the seat would definately need to be lower. I said not to worry, i'll ride it into work tomorrow, and put my stillsons on it, i'll have it out in no time! Ha haaaaaaaa... I did ride it to work, and i did put my stillsons on it, and gallons more WD-40, but that damn seatpost was properly rusted into posisition. Not to worry i thought... HEAT IT!!



Plenty of heat from my blowlamp, and probably twice as much swearing, and i still couldn't twist the damn seatpost with my stillsons. There was only one thing left to do... Break something... Probably! So, even more heat, and more swearing but this time with added grunting, stillsons on, and this time hammer the side of the stillsons as hard as i can with my hammer! I hate misusing tools like this but i was at a point where i just couldn't think of another way, and besides Ridgid Stillsons have a lifetime garauntee, so i figured that if i broke them, i'd just take them back!! Before long i was stood there puffing and panting like an old steam train, but i was looking at this...



A quite well beaten seatpost, and a pair of abused stillsons, but atleast it was out!



I've gotta say, i was that day! Happiness really is a Ridgid tool! Ahem, anyway, moving on! Before too long i had dug through my spares and found a new seatpost and saddle, and was standing there looking at my handywork.



I was glad to have done it for Pistonpoppet the elder as she had quite a gruelling first week, and to be honest is struggling a bit with secondary school. However she's on her second week now, and starting to get into the swing of it a bit. To the point that she had lost interest in everything, but she's started to work on the bike herself now, or atleast, plan what she's going to do with it. She's on about riding it for a bit while she orders up parts, then it'll be a quick tear down, re-spray, and rebuild! Watch this space, updates as they occur!

Now then, the Fugitive!

Aug 28, 2016 19:05:34 GMT pistonpopper said:

Back in August when i rescued it you may remember that it looked like this. Well, i have been fettling it a little, and digging through my spares and now i am happy to say that it looks, and rides far better than it probably ever has!



It now sports two new Weinmann aluminium lightweight wheels that i took from another mountain bike before putting it up for sale and selling it! On those wheels are a pair of Schwalbe City Jet tyres, also from another mountain bike that i later sold. Free tyres and wheels... Happy days! Changing the wheels and tyres has made an enormouse difference, not only does it not now buzz along like an old Land Rover, but it was the wheels that made this thing heavy! The old steel wheels were probably twice the weight of the new wheels and tyres combined! Plus...



The new wheels have a 7 speed block on them, so i now have 14 gears!! I still only use three of the gears though obviously! I have also changed the saddle too for one that is, A. comfortable, and B. not full of water! Anyway, the Fugitive now looks like this.







I've got to say that it is unbeleiveably nice to ride, so nice infact that it's been the only bike i've been riding lately! To be honest i will be sad to sell this bike, and have considered keeping it for a while, which if i'm honest i've not ruled out as it's so good to ride. Another thing i really enjoy about it is that i can leave it anywhere, and when i come back it's still there, untouched. I don't need to worry about it, because no one else wants it! It is much better than it looks, but at a quick glance it's just some old mountain bike!



So the other day when i rode it into the tip just to see what other bikes they had i managed to pick up a front light from a bike they had there, this made me think that this might be my evening bike as the days are getting shorter, colder, and darker. It was just a little clip on type light, which was nice as it clipped off really easily, and fell into my pocket whoops!



As you can see, pretty bright. Unfortunately someone had already half inched the back light, but i figured that i would get one at some point before it got properly dark. Later that evening i was sitting browsing fleabay, and i just thought that i'd see if i could find a matching rear light. So i typed in LED Rear bicycle light, and was immediately faced with thousands of different tail lights for my bike. As i browsed Pistonpoppet the younger joined me, and had soon pointed out a light that i should buy. To be frank the tail light that she had picked out was not really what i was looking for, but at just £2.65 with free delivery i thought, what the heck, lets have it.



So i selected that i wanted to have a red one, as there were a variety of colours to choose from, and clicked the 'But It Now'. I then waited for my new tail light to drop on my door mat... Oh Dear! I must admit i did have reservations about having a heart shaped tail light on my bike, but my little girl thought it was cool, so i figured that i would have it as she liked it, and then deal with the ridicule from my friends later! However, as ever when i'm dealing with fleabay, it didn't go smoothly. You're probably thinking that they sent the wrong colour, or that the damn thing never arrived at all, but you're wrong, it arrived alright. But lets just say that the picture on the ebay listing didn't really show you how it looks when it's mounted on your bike! Stand by...



So it's a one peice affair, and the hangy bit is at the bottom of the heart, which ofcourse means the heart (if you're still calling it that) is upside down! So i put it on my bike, Pistonpoppet the younger said that it  looks like an upside down heart, she's only 6... Pistonpoppet the elder who is 11 said, Dad, you've got a testicle light, and then they all laughed at me! Yes i was expecting ridicule, and believe me i'm getting it, but i wasn't expecting the ridicule to be for this reason! However all is not lost, because it sways too and fro as you're riding, and really does attract other peoples attention who are following you. I also think it's kinda funny when you think about my first outing with this bike, and that stupid woman with her dogs lol! It was obviously destiny that brought me that tail light! Needless to say i did email the seller and suggest that they might want to put a photo of the light actually mounted on a bike so that people buying it could get an idea of how it will look on their bike, and they have indeed changed the picture, which was good! Might get one for Mrs Pistonpoppers bike!

[duncanmartin]

Hi Pistonpopper
If you ever need to get an alloy seatpost out of a steel frame again, you could always try caustic soda. It dissolves the aluminium and leaves the steel alone. And it's a fun chemistry experiment!
Cheers
Duncan

[pistonpopper]

Thanks for that duncanmartin , i shall bear that in mind. I was building a bike for Mrs Pistonpopper once and that had an alloy seatpost that was stuck in the frame. I chopped it off as low to the frame as possible, then used a hacksaw blade to cut it down its length in three or four pieces from the inside of the tube... Took me forever lol! On Pistonpoppet the elders bike though both the seatpost and the frame are steel, it really was a case of brute force and ignorance!



So then, on Saturday the Pistonpoppets were driving mrs Pistonpopper crazy (which if i'm totally honest wouldn't actually be much of a drive!) so i decided to take the girls out for a ride on their bikes. I have done this quite a lot as they like to ride, however Pistonpoppet the younger who is still only 6 has for some time now been asking me to take her further a field, as usually we just ride around the field behind Pistonpopper Towers which is flat and grassy. I figured that we would go for, i guess about a two mile ride that would be mostly flat, with a few small hilly bits to see how she got on. I was riding my Fugitive.



Pistonpoppet the elder was on her rough and ready beach cruiser that she has decided to ride until the winter comes, then a complete strip down and restoration will occur ready for next spring.



Pistonpoppet the younger was bringing up the rear on her little PUKY bike which she found at the dump, and decided that she would have it after her old(er) bike got too small for her. I must admit i sometimes worry about the fact that my kids have never had brand new bikes. I see them with their friends sometimes, and they've all got new bikes, but for whatever reason the Pistonpoppets are happy with their second hand machinery, so i guess its ok. The thing i find most odd about the Pistonpoppets and their friends is how they treat their machines, my girls seem to park up their bikes when they finish riding them, and stand them against the wall or something, whereas their friends with the new shiny stuff just seem to stop, get off, and then let their bikes fall to the ground! Wierd, anyhoo, so the girls and I were out riding, and Pistonpoppet the younger was for the first time experiencing hills on her bike. All was going quite well, and we got to the furthest point on our ride, (the viaduct where these pictures were taken) without any trouble, she had to get off a few times going up some of the hills, but it was going down them that i was initially concerned with as we normally ride on the flat field she had never really had to use her brakes before. She knows how to use them, she just never had to, and i was concerned that she wouldn't be able to stop if she needed to, or regulate her speed on the downhill bits. But as i said, they had both made it to the furthest point on our ride without a hitch. The younger looked more and more confident all the time as i followed them along the path. As we neared home and with one more descent to go she was looking pretty confident, and i was happy with how she was riding, and using the brakes etc to control her speed. However, for whatever reason, on this last bit of downhill she decided in her wisdom or otherwise that she was going to go for it! The hill wasn't particularly steep, but it is long, and by about 3/4 of the way down the hill she was going like the clappers! Then it came... The wobble! As a Dad following watching your youngest daughter as you followed her down a hill fighting the wobble at speed it is quite a scary thing to see. I mean i, as most, if not all of us have, have experienced the wobble myself, and it is scary, but not as scary as watching your little child fighting it! At the bottom of the hill there are a couple of sweeping curves, first left, then right. Pistonpoppet the younger decided to forgoe going around the curves, and instead just cut a straight line through the curves, across the grass, and back on the tarmac path again! To be honest, by this time she had, from where i was looking, almost got the wobble under control some how, and i was thinking to myself, crikey, she's got that back! But leaving the path upset her balance further, and the wobble got really big, and from behind i knew that she wasn't going to get it back from that, even though she was still fighting it and hanging on, and even her feet hadn't left the pedals yet! But this was about to change, and the change in height from the grass bits between the curves of the path, and the path itself just removed the bike out from under her! BANG!! Onto the path and then another six to eight foot slide/tumble along it until she hit the wire fence that eventually brought her to a stop! Awww! That didn't look comfy! I was a second or so behind her and by the time i had arrived to pick her up she was already getting up off the ground and telling me that she was ok! She was a little scuffed up on her arms and forehead, but just kept saying, I'm ok Dad, i'm ok! I think i was more shaken up than she was! She decided to push her bike for a bit after that, but after about five minutes she was back on it and riding again, which i thought was good, although clearly she had hurt herself, but there was no way in the world that she was going to admit that to me! Or anyone else for that matter! I didn't sleep too well that night, just kept thinking about what had happened! The following day i discussed this incedent with my Dad, and how she had crashed, got up said she was fine, and more or less shrugged it off, even though it was pretty clear to me that she had actually hurt herself. According to my Dad, this was exactly how i used to be, he said that he watched me a lot as a child doing stupid things, or riding too fast, or whatever. He said that the way i used to pass the house on my bike, skateboard, scooter, go-cart at speed used to cause him a great deal of concern! Hmm, i remember doing some of these things, and how painful some of the outcomes of my riding style could be! I really hope that my girls havn't inherited my 'stupid' genes! Anyway, the good news is that Pistonpoppet the younger and myself have been out on our bikes since, and she has decided that now she's going to wear her helmet (because she wasn't before when she crashed!) And she has also learned how to regulate her speed a bit better, which is a relief!

Moving on... This week i found this...



A Raleigh Twenty Stowaway! Now then, before i go on, i quite like these, but never get around to doing anything with them, so if you've seen the Raleigh Twenty built by Littlepixel and want one yourself...

Sept 7, 2016 11:23:04 GMT Littlepixel said:

Then it's up for grabs at just £20!



It's got a three speed Sturmey Archer hub, and 'Grifter Shifter'.



It's a folding bike.



And it was made in England, back when good things were made here and made properly! Condition wise it is in good shape, with minimal rust, even on the chrome bits! I think all it really needs is the puncture in the rear tyre fixing, and the front brake cable re-attaching and then you'd be good to go!

Meanwhile back on the Fugitive! Today after work finished i decided to go for a ride, as i often do. I work just five minutes walk away from home, but usually ride my bike into work, and often it's a twenty or thirty minute ride home as i usually have a bit of a ride about on the way home! Now i have mentioned before pesky dogs and their owners and how they have impeeded my onward travel but todays ride was brought to a halt by...



COWS!! I kid you not they were all standing at this gate that i needed to pass through, and worse than that, when i arrived they were all looking the other way. So for about ten minutes i tried in vain to attract their attention as i didn't fancy walking up to the back of a cow, because, although it is unlikely that they give you a kick like a horsey would, on occasion, they will kick you, and kick you hard. However once they see you, they're usually happy to let you through. After about ten minutes there were almost as many humans waiting to go through the gate as there were cows gaurding it, then finally one of them looked at us, then another one looked, but, they didn't move, they just looked. Well that was good enough for me. I said to the rest of the humans that i was off, but they all decided that i was mad, and that they would stay put until the cows moved! Fair enough i said, well i'm off, and started to walk towards them and as i neared them they parted and i went through the gate, and away, leaving the rest of the humans to wait for the cows to move! I wonder if they're all still stood in the field waiting? lol!



As i rode the Fugitive i came to thinking that it was time to sell it. It's not that it's a bad bike, it isn't, and it rides very well, and i even enjoy it, but it's built now, it's finished. So if someone would like to put £20 in my hand and come and ride away on a mid eighties American mountain bike, then that would be great! Besides... I've got this to build...



A Murray Timber Mountain! I've had this bike for a long time now after rescuing it from a skip. I had even started fixing it up, but then lost interest and left it on the balcony of Pistonpopper Towers to deteriorate further! It's very VERY similar bike to the Magne Fugitve, infact i wouldn't be surprised if they were made in the same factory. So after riding the Fugitive around for a month of so i have decided to build this Murray MTB in a similar road going style... Watch this space!