All posts tagged retro

Why Tweed and English?

In the end of February, the first ray of sunshine reminded us that the spring, perhaps a bit hesitant at first, but most certain are coming. In this situation I did what any tweedian would do. I brought out the old tweed jacket from its winter hibernation in the closet, packed a small picnic basket with tea and sandwiches. I tied a woollen scarf around my neck and off I went on the rusty old Rex Duplex bicycle.

Out and about in the sunshine. While cruising around stumbling pedestrians that behaved like newly awaken sloths, whilst slightly confused, admiring the bright light in the sky and having no idea where they were going. After a long dark and cold winter, spring is in the air.

Still some snow on the ground, but quickly melting away in the sunshine

After about a 5 kilometres ride I felt that it was time to have some refreshments. While I was sitting there at the old picnic table in the park, with a steaming hot cup of tea, eating my sandwiches and the birds chirping franticly in the hedges. I was reminded of an question I got a while back – why do I keep rambling on about tweed and writing in English?
The answer is actually really simple.

Picnic in the sun, chirping birds in the background as music

Some time ago I wrote a post (why Harris Tweed) about my interest in tweed, how tweed was in a way a part of my life. As a teenager I was handed down my fathers great looking Harris Tweed coat from the 1960’s. The coat was really something special, both in quality and in style. Most certain different than what all other teenagers wore at that time. But I liked it and wore it as often as I could.

Then in school we had a teacher who wore a grey herringbone Harris Tweed jacket to our classes. I notice now that I never used his name in my post, no idea why. That is strange since his name goes a bit along the tweed jacket. He described how he went to London once and the customs asked for his name. Here in Sweden we pronounce our names in Swedish, but when talking English, the name also receives an “English treatment”. He told the story on how he just said “Mr Eccmaan” and realized how silly it sounded when he just could have said it as usual Mr Ekman. We laughed and had good times in his classes, even back then I remember thinking that Mr Ekman’s jacket looked so distinguished and comfortable. So much so that I wanted one for myself.

A few years later I was handed down a old wool jacket from an old relative. It was a great jacket that I used until it dissolved into small pieces, truly well worn and loved. Many years I finally got around to buy myself a grey herringbone Harris Tweed jacket. It is the best jacket I had so far, sturdy, warm and reliable. Suits for any occasion from buying milk at the corner shop to attend tweed international events. Timeless, stylish and practical. Thank you Mr Ekman for the inspiration.

Grey herringbone Harris Tweed

Then we have the matter of my writing.

I have a good friend living just outside London. He was curious about what this “tweed-ride-bicycle-thingy” was that I was going on about all the time. He asked me to describe what we were doing at tweed events and what it means, in my opinion, to be a “tweedian”.

I tried to describ the general idea behind the events and what attracts me to join them. Dressed in tweed and riding rusty old bicycles, listening to jazz and all things in-between. What is the secret?

The first obstacle on my journey to be a amateur reporter and chronicler, was to simply write. My rather average knowledge in the English language quickly put my writing ambitions to a grinding halt. Since I had only studied English way back in elementary school as a kid, all knowledge of how to spell, using grammar and everything else became an real challenge for me.

Since the years in school I had been on vacation, ordering food and drinks in English, but never written longer text segments. My friend in London came with helpful insights on how to write along the way. He helped me, not only to simply write, he also gave me hints about the how to design the posts, how to add more text, more photos, how to use spaces, commas and so on. Not to only make the text readable, but more interesting by showing photos backing up the texts. After all – a photo says more than 1000 words.

Soon I started to write more elaborated about the tweed events, describing the events in more details, describing my bicycles with both text and photos so others could see the small details and read my story behind the events and bicycles. Trying to create a living story.

As the years went along. I got a better understanding of the process of writing, not to the fullest, far from it actually. Writing is as many other things in life, you will never get perfect in anything, only decent. But trying is half the victory. There is always room for improvement and I got many helpful and really great lessons along the way. I am very grateful for Mr Withers amazing patience and knowledge in writing.

Bicycles ready for summer and tweed events

To a more serious note. I read somewhere on a forum, that there were a person who did not want to participate in tweed events. Juts becasue the person had the impression of that all participants in events like that were longing back to a time when the sun never did set on the British empire. Where enslaved people and colonization was a normal practice, working classes were abused.

In my personal opinion after participating in over 32 tweed rides in 6 different countries. Looking at tweed events like that, is a matter of seeing things that simply are not there. In every society, club or social gathering you can find them there. People that do not understand, or even want to understand. I can safely say that politics, strange old ideas and horrible out dated visions are never discussed or practised on these events.

I would instead like to describe a general tweed event as an odd version of a P-G Woodhouse novel. We want to dress up, ride a fancy bicycle in a kind, loving world where it is always summer all year round. Posh people are a bit silly and daft, there is tea and cake near by. Whilst the most critical problem in the world would be, if there would be no ice to the gin and tonic drinks later on.

Tweed ride events are filled with people who like to, dress up, meet other tweedians, admire their clothes, their bicycles, their picnic setups and just have a good time and a hearty laugh. Far from the problems, routines and menace of everyday life.

Being a tweedian is a fun and therapeutic, almost, full time job. Mending, writing and planning all along with a cup of tea.

Now, put on a tweed jacket. Pack a picnic hamper, bring along an old beaten up enamel cup and take a ride on a vintage bicycle. Enjoy the simple and relaxing way to get around and having fresh air at the same time. Stop for a moment and have a cup of tea, while just enjoying the moment.

Join a Bike in Tweed event and have a great time with other tweedians. Why not take part in silly games like hat throwing or guessing how many ice cubes there is in a glass of gin and tonic. We all need to have fun today, tomorrow is far away.

Ride safely and happy tweed fellow tweedians!

Rex Duplex, 1943

I might have said on several occasions – this is my last project.

Words I will regret for a long time. Every time it is the same, this IS my last project. Then, I get hold of a new exciting and fun project of some sort. Alright, fair enough. But THIS time it will be my last project. All reddy, I notice that other tweedians glance at me with disbelief – we will see about that.

Some weeks ago a fellow tweedian and I visited the ReCycling autumn sale. It is a sort of bicycle market located just south of Stockholm. They have bicycles in the thousands, collected housing associations that are cleaning out their cellars and want to throw away the old bicycles that takes up space. The market contains bicycles of every style, brand and condition. The range is from excellent modern racers to rusty ready-for-the-scrapyard vintage bicycles with wheels that reminds you of spaghetti that have been boiling for an hour.

The main reason for our adventure, to see the nature and take photos

We went there, more for an adventure, a nice excursion on a Friday morning. See the nature and new things. We both had set very clear boundaries to ourselves. Simply, no bicycles at any cost! That is a simple rule to follow, after all we went there by subway so we could not buy anything. We were just there to have a nice day out and about, have a quick look and then we would be on our way again. Short and simple.

We ended up staying for at least one hour looking at all sorts of bicycles. Old and new racers, strange experimental bicycles, vintage standards, odd British foldable bicycles and many many others.

There, in a heap of more or less rusty old bicycles I noticed a familiar sight. It was the shape of an vintage Swedish built Rex with the special Duplex frame. For me that bicycle are a bit special since my grandfather used one when I was a kid. I remember looking at the strange shape of the frame of his bicycle. Also, some of you might remember one of my earlier posts when I wrote about a Rex tandem bicycle I bought as a project. This is the same brand and design as the tandem, but a solo bicycle.

A Rex Duplex among all sorts of bicycles, new and old, worn and even more worn bicycles

The double top tubes makes a sweeping curve in the rear of the bicycle and the rear luggage rack is welded directly into the frame. An elegant and unusual design back in the day. When Rex came up with that type of frame design it became so popular that several other bicycle makers made their own versions of the sweeping style frame. All brands with their own twist on the design. The double frame with its sweeping frame is regarded as one of the best looking bicycle designs from that era. I must agree, it looks great and has a very special design.

The Rex was placed in the row of bicycles that costed 250 Swedish kronor (about €25). At first glance it was rusty, very rusty. The saddle had disintegrated into bits where the springs had broken off. The tires had decided to fall apart completely. In short, it was a sad mess, but it had a feel of – je ne sais quoi to it. I was intrigued by the old bicycle but my promise to my self, not buying anything weighed heavy on my shoulders. We went back to the city. But the Rex where still there in my mind. Haunting and louring.

Later that day another fellow tweedian, whom also visited the ReCycling event, wrote to me and asked me if there was something interesting on the ReCycling market. I mentioned the old and new racers, the strange experimental bicycles, all vintage standards, the odd British foldable bicycles and that there were an rusty old Rex Duplex. After some more talking back and fourth I decided to ask the dangerous question. – IF he were to visit the event. Would there be a possibillety, that if I could pay him to buy the Rex for me? – Of course, no problem. Did really I want that reply? My mind said no, but my feeling said yes.

Later that day, I were a owner to a rusty, worn, weather beaten Rex Duplex. The very kind and helpful tweedian even loaded up the Rex on his car and drove the bicycle home to me. What a kind gentleman in every way, thank you so much for all help.

250 kronor (€25) is a good price in my opinion – coming from the person that said no more projects

The Rex logo on the front fender is missing and I think the tires might need replacement…

… along with the saddle

First of all. I had a closer look at the bicycle. Trying to decide what to do with it, restore it – if that even would be possible? Or, if it was possible, use it as it is. When looking closer at the bicycle and all parts. I discovered it was most likely made in 1943 and almost all original. The rust was mostly severe surface rust, but manageable. Some parts seemed to be in quite good shape, while other parts were in a worse condition and some parts were missing. That was no problem, I still have my boxes with vintage spare parts in the basement.

In one box I found a double legged bicycle stand, that was the first thing I mounted since the Rex was missing its own stand. Fixing an bicycle is much easier if it stands by it self instead of falling over all the time. Then I removed the old plastic handlebar grips and replaced them with a pair of brown original 1940’s grips. The original, ever so slightly worn saddle was replaced by a more comfortable modern but worn Brooks B66 saddle. Sadly, I did not find an Rex logo for the mudguard, that is on the “wanted” list.

I also added an old Robo headlight along with a Robo dynamo, both connected with the classical spring that guides the electrical cord between them. The plastic rear light was cracked beyond repair, it was easy to replace it with a rear light from the 1940’s that looked way nicer than the horrible after market plastic one that was mounted. I took a long electrical cord and did a slightly improvised instalment. Suddenly there were light when applying the dynamo to the spinning front wheel. Along with the original bicycle bell, the old Rex was now completely legal to ride on the streets in the dark.

Robo headlight and dynamo along with brown original handlebar grips looks great

Patina or rust? That is the question

Now was the time to focus on the wheels. I was dreading to find out what state the rims would be in. A vintage bicycle like this that seems to be rather untouched and original would most likely have those dreaded cotton rim tapes they used back then still mounted on the rims. Their function were to prevent any sharp ends of the spokes or nipples to puncture the tube. Later on they started to make rim tapes out of rubber instead. But of some unlogical reason back in the olden days, they thought that cotton was the way to go. Especially in Sweden with winter and rain most of the year, using cotton as rim tapes. That is just silly.

The result of using cotton rim tapes and letting the bicycle standing outside for a long period of time. Rust

After removing the tires I found the original and still wet from water, cotton rim tapes! I removed them and cleaned up the rims with an wire brush, just to inspect what shape the rims were in. As I was brushing, the air was filled with dust and large flakes of rust were flying everywhere. But after a good workout with the brush the rims did not look to bad.

Again, searching the boxes. I found some spare rim tapes (made of rubber), along with tubes and a old pair of grey Duro HF-145 (44-635) tires that fitted perfectly. After putting some oil and lubricant on every moving part on the bicycle, the old Rex started to work again.

Not renovated or refurbished. Only serviced, lubricated and completed with time period parts

Colours of autumn, yellow, brown and rust

An old vintage rear light that fits the part

Torpedo hub made in 1943, the bicycle might be safe with front and rear light. But it lacks any ability to stop

I simply decided to keep the bicycle as it were in its current condition. The rusty, brown, faded colours together with the old parts seemed to work. In fact, my grandfathers old bicycle bag in water resistant galon cloth fitted the luggage rack like a hand in a glove.

That is a perfect all weather vintage bicycle. If riding my old Rex tandem feels like riding a dreadnought ship in high seas. Then this Rex single bicycle is more like a destroyer, even more so since the Torpedo rear hub have no capacity of braking, of any kind. Just like a destroyer, when started it takes a long time to stop.

Sound the alarm. All hands on deck, full speed ahead!

11 Comments

by schneebremse on October 20, 2020 • Permalink

Posted in A bit of this and that, bicycle, bicycleblogg, bicycles, causerie, chronicle, Journalism, photography, retro, tandem, torpedo, Transport, Transportation, travel, travelblog, tweed, vintage, weusetweed

Tagged bicycle, bicycleblogg, bicyclecolumn, bicycles, duplex, old bicycle, repair, retro, rex, Schneebremse, stockholm, veteran, vintage bicycle, vintagebicycles, we use tweed

Posted by schneebremse on October 20, 2020

https://schneebremse.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/rex-duplex-1943/

Crescent Tourist Racer 1934

It all started with a fellow tweedian that was searching for some parts he needed to complete his Crescent Tourist Racer project from the mid 1930’s.

The Tourist Racer style was a middle range of bicycles offered by the manufacturers. They were sportier than the standard bicycle. But they still had some basic equipment like mudguards, luggage rack, and so on. While the sport/track racers lacked those parts due to weight. In a way, the Tourist Racers were an everyday sport bicycle.

Back in the 1930’s, almost every large bicycle manufacturer had an tourist racer model in there range. They were dropped out of the range in the late 1940’s, when the standard bicycles became more light weight in general.

At an local flea market, my fellow tweedian found a rusty, dirty and worn old Crescent, just like the one he had. He bought the bicycle and brought it back home. After dismantling the bicycle and removing the parts he needed., the rest of the parts ended up in his attic. It was about that moment I heard about the bicycle. I too, was looking for some parts that were missing, the bicycle in the attic could have the parts I was missing.

An advertisement for Crescent Tourist Racer, available with chromed or stainless steel parts. Today the stainless steel version would cost about £500.

He sent me some photos of the remains of the old bicycle. It did not look so well, all dismantled, rusty and rather sad. But it had the parts I needed. After some discussions back and fourth for a year, I decided take over the project.

There I was, thinking I was done trying to fix old bicycles. I had earlier, very clearly, said no more bicycle projects, with missing parts and a long list of impossible issues to fix! But still, there it was in my hallway, as mentioned earlier, rusty, dirty and worn. But it still had a lot of charm.

One of the photos I got of the project

There is a bicycle among those parts

Dry fitting all the parts, I also added my old Versol derailleur to see if it fitted the frame

After dry-fitting all parts and adding some that I had laying around. It turned out to be a great looking bicycle with lots of attitude and potential. Now it was only a matter of examinate how much the rust had eaten up the frame, fenders and other various parts. The easiest way to clean the bicycle was by going to the local petrol station, and there I would do something that is not so healthy for an vintage bicycle in any circumstance. Just simply use the power wash to clean the bicycle from centuries of old grease, dirt and grime.

I had a set of vintage bicycle wheels, complete with tubes and tires. They came in handy when I rolled the frame to the gas station. There I started to wash the entire bicycle. Not a gentle cleaning with mild soap and an cotton cloth. No, it was full blast with chemicals and water pressure! Grease, grime and water sprayed and flew all over the place, on the walls, on to me, down in to my shoes. Suddenly, a faint green colour emerged underneath all the dirt on the frame. The paint was not lost, that was really good news.

When I got back at home, I did one more thing you should not to a vintage bicycle, or at all for that matter. I placed an cleaning paste direct on the mudguard, then I took some steel wool, dipped it in a strong degreaser agent and started to rub a portion of the mudguard with the solution, just to see how it turned out.

When wiping off the brown gunk that had formed, a deep green colour emerged. Not only the was green colour visible. More and more of the black pin-striping details along with the golden pin-striping decorations became visible. When scrubbing and wiping more and more, I found some painted emblems on the frame and mudguards. It was amazing, almost like archaeology, but in a smaller scale! I went to the local supermarket to buy more steel wool and more cleaning agents. Now it was time for the frame!

The spot where I first tried scrubbing. The image does not show the clear difference

After a while scrubbing and wiping, the frame and mudguards was fairly clean from surface rust. To prevent more rust I spread a thin coating of oil on the frame and on all parts. The rust will always be there, but if stored dry and warm and with a thin coat of oil, the rusting process will slow down. As they did back then.

I decided to dismantle the entire bicycle now when it was clean-ish. All bearings would be cleaned and degreased, they surely would need that after all those years and the abuse with the power wash. The front fork was easy to dismantle, clean up and reassemble with new grease. I removed the dust cap on the crank-set to dismantle it, but it felt really good when I tried to move it, no play at all or grinding in the bearings. It actually turned as smooth as the day it left the factory. In fact, I have never seen such good and free movement in a crank-set, especially not at an bicycle that is a bit more than 80 years old. The dust cap and locking ring went right back on. It was time to assembly the bicycle.

I had an old Crescent lady mascot that was missing a wing. It fitted on the mudguard there the original lady was. Now she sits there, watching the road again.

First I took my well worn vintage Brooks race saddle with an old vintage seat post. It was meant to be for a different project, but it was never used. It was the same story with the pedals, the handlebar stem and the original Crescent bicycle bell. Now they all finally came to use. In a shop I found a pair of vintage handlebar grips in a green shade, they looked to fit the green colour on the frame perfectly. The condition of all the parts fits the bicycle just perfect, all worn, original 1930’s.

I remembered the old dented and rusty ASEA headlight, the one with cracked glass along with the really worn ASEA dynamo, that I used on the £20 bicycle earlier. When scrapping the old bicycle (the frame was crooked most likely after a collision and was a pain to ride), another fellow tweedian was given the ASEA set to one of his projects. He never finished his project, and after some persuasion I got the headlight and dynamo back. Rusty headlight with cracked glass and tainted reflector, the look was perfect on the my project. Again, all worn, original 1930’s.

The ASEA headlight, green grips and Crescent bicycle bell

Quick release nuts

Lovely pin-striping and a bit of the original colour was visible when I removed the rusty pump holders

The Crescent lady looking up into the sky while resting on a crescent moon.

The wheels that came with the frame on the other hand was a sad story. They were so badly rusted, that there were large parts missing from the rim, there were holes, other than the holes for the spokes that made me question the safety or functionality of the original wheels. I decided to keep the hubs for spare parts, and recycle the rims and spokes. The wheel set I used when washing the frame came in handy. After cleaning the frame, the wheels actually had the same worn look.

I took the hubs apart and cleaned them up before greasing and oiling them again. The original rear hub had a double rear chain wheel. It was a simple way to shift gear back then. Simply loosen the wheel with the quick release nuts, give the chain some slack, lift over the chain to the desired gear and stretch the chain and tighten the nuts. Luckily the shop where I found the grips also had a two geared rear chain wheel, so now it was almost as original again.

Two geared rear chain wheel

Finally, the Crescent Tourist Racer was ready. How it rides? Like a dream. It rides like the wind. I do not like riding racers or use drop handlebars. But this bicycle is something special, it is almost like it was not ready for the scrap heap in some way. It has many miles left in the frame and seems to be happy and wants to ride fast again.

The complete bicycle

Lovely lines

When I took it for a test ride, I found a long straight with a bicycle lane. There was a lady riding her modern plastic bicycle far in front of me. “Tally-ho, here we go”, I started to pedal faster and faster, really pushing down the pedals with force while bending down and holding the handlebars in the grips. Like a green flash I passed the lady with my tweed jacket flapping in the wind. It must have been a sight for the lady, a strange tweed dressed fellow passing her while riding an rusty old bicycle. Dangerous!

When I later slowed down, I realized that it was the first time in 30 years I had made an dash like that. Riding Tourist Racer bicycles transform every day riders to pure giro cyclists.

1 Comment

by schneebremse on May 26, 2020 • Permalink

Posted in A bit of this and that, bicycle, bicycleblogg, bike in tweed, Journalism, reflection, renovation, retro, social media, Transportation, travel, travelblog, tweed, tweed run, Uncategorized, vintage, weusetweed

Tagged bicycle, bicycles, bike in tweed, crescent, racer, repair, retro, stockholm, tourist, turistracer, veteran, we use tweed

Posted by schneebremse on May 26, 2020

https://schneebremse.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/crescent-tourist-racer-1934/

Solo Tweed Ride, 2020

After attending different tweed rides in Sweden, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Denmark and Iceland. I thought it would be interesting to attend a tweed event in a new country. In my research I found that many towns in Germany have their own tweed rides. For example Stuttgart, Hildesheim and Oldenburg just to name a few. Attending a tweed ride in Germany would be a fun and new experience for me. Besides, it is not far from Sweden either so travelling there would be easy.

While browsing the internet one day, I found an page on Facebook. Tweed Ride Berlin in Germany, a tweed event with focus on clothes in a 1900 to 1950´s style, with a vintage picnic at the end. The date of the event was set to Sunday the 26th of April. To me that sounded really interesting!

It is possible to check in with the bicycle on a plane and fly to Berlin for a weekend. The thought of riding my bicycle on the streets of Berlin, along with other tweed riders and have a picnic in a park sounded really great. I signed up to join the Berlin Tweed Ride event right there on the spot. Berlin here we come!

The bags are packed, it is time to hit the road.

Then that nasty virus struck the world. Pandemic, many countries locking down and applying quarantines on cities with restrictions on gatherings of people. With the virus, everyday life took a turn for the worst for many, peoples life changed in all possible ways. In times like these, a bicycle tweed event is of insignificant importance. Health and well-being is more important.

The organizers of Tweed Ride Berlin understandably cancelled the event due to the current situation and regulations. For many of us tweed riders, a tweed event is something that we all are looking forward to. It is something to plan outfits for, servicing the old bicycles so they will work without breaking down. When the day of the tweed event arrives, we pack our picnic baskets and meet other tweedians for a great day with lots of fun. But I am sure, that we all understand and respects that events are being cancelled, as the Berlin event was.

Vintage bicycle and tweed

But some days after the organizers of Berlin Tweed Ride had cancelled their event, there was a new post on their page with an interesting message:
” Let’s do a ride together! Individually! On Sunday 26 April 2020 would have been our popular Berlin Tweed Ride. Due to Corona it can’t take place in it’s classic form. Our idea is to ride anyway! Solo or with one partner. Let’s share the experience and post your pictures marded with the hashtag #SoloTweedRide”.

Now that is truly a wonderful idea! Making sure that there is a tweed event, while adjusting to current situation. Still having an event, but remake it an individual event. So all could still make the ride, but on their own terms, simply post an photo or two later on social media to show that we still dressed up and had a great day. Not together in real life, but as a community. For me it meant that I did not have to travel to Berlin, but could make the day from home. A fun and safe event.

I lift my hat for the Berlin Tweed Ride organizers for this initiative.

An fairly new Skeppshult bicycle along a rather old Crescent.

A beautiful spring morning along the roads of Forrest cemetery in south of Stockholm

Picnic, traditional sandwiches, tea and beer.

Two riders

We were two riders from Enskede in Stockholm that attended the event, the condition of the #solotweedride was one or two riders. Far from Berlin, riding our bicycles and having a vintage picnic, at the same time as other did the same in Germany, and other parts of the world did the same. I did some traditional sandwiches for my self, they were tasty. But not as good as an currywurst in Berlin. Next time perhaps?

An virtual retro-event that everyone can attend at their own terms. I must say that it was a wonderful idea, simple and fun. Let us do this again!

Stay safe and take care.

1 Comment

by schneebremse on April 27, 2020 • Permalink

Posted in bicycle, bicycleblogg, bicycles, bike in tweed, chronicle, column, Journalism, photography, retro, social media, Transportation, travel, travelblog, tweed, tweed run, Uncategorized, vintage, weusetweed

Tagged bicycle, bicycles, bike in tweed, photography, retro, Schneebremse, solotweedride, stockholm, veteran, we use tweed

Posted by schneebremse on April 27, 2020

https://schneebremse.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/solo-tweed-ride-2020/

The eternity project, part 1

Some time ago I mentioned that I would not start with a new project, the ones I had was rather long running.

One day I talked to a fellow bicycle enthusiast. He had an old, worn, rusty 1930’s Crescent that was just standing after he had removed some parts that he needed. He asked me if I was interested to work with that project. No, not really.

I have always had a thing for buying parts that were either wrong, or did not fit the project I was intending to use the parts for. The box with spare parts just grew and grew, front breaks, an Versol derailleur, old rusty ASEA head lights, battle damaged dynamos and so on. I really did not need any more projects.

After many months of thinking about that project. It would be perfetc for me to use all my parts on that bicycle. What if… I asked him if we could make a deal.

Crescent tourist racer from 1930’s, all in parts, all well rusted and worn

One day in January I had an rusty, worn heap of wheels that had seen better days, mud guards filled with vintage mud and grime, a rusty sun bleached frame and other things. Now, this was really going to be my last project! I will use the bicycle as a foundation to mount all parts I have laying around. Create an racer of some sort. Drop handlebars, derailleur, a large head light. In my boxes of old worn parts I have old pedals that will match the future “rat-look” of the bicycle.

It looks rather nice

Now that is a deep drop handlebars

Details of the front badge and fork

The old Crescent emblem is partly still visible

Rust and more rust, the chrome plating has worn away

The rust has eaten away the rims

Rust and grime since 1930’s

After studying the parts more closely I discarded the wheels at once, they were beyond rescue. I mounted the handlebars on the frame and added a pair of old worn wheels. Now, that was not so bad. The bicycle looked rather cool.

It can be something of it all in the end. But it will surely be an project that I will work on on my spare times, as therapy, when the Nordic nights are to long and cold. Then I will work on the “eternity project”.

schneebremse

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Why Tweed and English?

Rex Duplex, 1943

The eternity project, part 1

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