The rear wheel, rear derailleur, and chain of my 'new' Ventura 10-speed bike. If you look closely, you can see the chain was rusted throughout, and rusted frozen in places -- especially the curved spot directly between the crank and the derailleur freewheel gear cluster. That section was not flexible at all. Frozen stiff.
I took a look at the bike and it seemed it could be rideable and fixable if there was anything wrong with it.
It was a 1980's Japanese ten-speed, a Ventura, with stem mounted gear shifters, a Shimano 600 rear derailleur, and a cotterless crank (no cotter pins holding the crank arms to the crank axle -- a definite plus).
The Ventura badge on the front of the bike, photographed the morning I got it. It was hardly ridden, and outfitted with the standard front and rear reflectors that were common in the late 1970's and in the 1980's on 10-speeds.
Here you can see how rusted the chain was, and a rusted link is holding up the rear derailleur at a high angle.
I went home, came back to the house where the bike was, and took the bike home. When I tested the bike, the wheels turned freely, which was a good sign.
Aside from some minor scratches and a broken fender, it looked like it had barely been ridden. It has a license sticker on it that says August 1981 on it -- so it's at least that old.
The Ventura bike after I was done cleaning it up, lubing it, and freeing up (and oiling) the chain. Perfectly rideable.
A close up of the drive train, showing the chain and rear derailleur both hanging normally, with the chain rust-free and oiled.
A close up picture of the Shimano 600 rear derailleur and the freed-up, oiled chain. The derailleur is now hanging normally. It's amazing what some penetrating oil, spray lubricant, and hard work with with a couple sets of pliers will do.
The Ventura had several rusted spots on the chain, including a three and a half inch long stretch of chain that was rusted frozen: probably why the original owners decided to give away the bike.
That night -- after work -- I worked on the bike. The chain was the biggest challenge. A few of the links I was able to free up using spray lube and penetrating oil... but the three and a half inch stretch of rusted frozen chain was a real bear to free up. I had to use lots of penetrating oil, two sets of pliers, and a wire brush to free up the rust. Even that wouldn't work on the last three links of chain.
A chain link removing tool. It is normally used to drive out the little pins that hold the chain together -- you can remove bad links, and remove chains from bikes that way. But you can also use a chain link tool to free up rusted chains -- sometimes the rust will work its way into the pins. Working the pins with the tool will free them up.
So I used a chain-link removing tool. It's a small bike tool that is used to remove links from chains, and remove chains from bicycles. It pushes out the little pins that hold the chain links together.
With the chain link tool I moved the pins back and forth, eventually freeing up the links, because the pins themselves apparently had some rust on them.
I used auto bearing grease on the front and rear wheel, and the crankshaft. It is weather resistant and works really, really well. Applying it to an old bike will usually make it ride like a brand new one.
Some motor oil on the chain is a good, readily available lubricant. I always use a paper towel to rub off the excess: this also cleans junk off the chain. I oil my bike chains whenever needed, usually every other month or so (always cleaning them off with a paper towel) -- I do it when the chain starts to look dirty.
Silicone spray on the tires softens up the rubber and extends their mileage -- you can get more miles out of older bike tires this way.
About two hours after starting work on the bike it was rideable. The chain worked like new.
Then I used auto bearing grease on the wheels and the crank, and sprayed lubricant on the derailleurs, and finally spray cleaned and then oiled the chain.
A view of the Ventura 10-speed bicycle after it was lubed and cleaned up a bit. The Japanese made high quality bikes.
The bike now rides like brand new.
God Bless the Japanese... they knew how to make great bikes (as well as great radios and great guitars -- their cars have a good rep, too). Their bikes were generally high standard, even the budget models. The Shimano 600 derailleur shifts very smoothly. The Japanese made (and make) excellent derailleurs -- even the lower market ones from the 70's and 80's still work well when cleaned and lubed. Shimano and Suntour were both excellent companies (Shimano still makes bike parts, Suntour is out of business).
Sammy the Cat.
The Ventura is a smooth riding bike because the frame is heavier than modern bikes (most 70's era frames were well engineered, but heavier than today's bike frames), so the heavier frame absorbs shocks, and because it has a low center of gravity it is a very stable and comfortable ride. It's not so heavy that it is hard to ride.
A free bike was the last thing I expected those few mornings ago, but the bike is now my main rider.
The sunset earlier yesterday. Taken with my Nikon L32 -- I got a new SD card for it.
"Hill Henge": A pic of the sun going down over the hill to the NW. I marked the picture, showing where the sun set on Solstice, and how far it has moved southwards in just one month (southwards is to the left of the picture).
Yesterday it was about 80 degrees F around 9 in the morning -- a beautiful, bright sunny day. Later in the afternoon it reached 92F (around 34C).
My shadow on a bright, warm sunny Summer morning. The headlight of my bike is an LED flashlight attacked to the goose-neck of the handlebar with zip-ties.
NOTHING MUCH HAPPENING
Aside from the new bike, nothing much else exciting is happening. The weather has been good here, mostly 80F/25C or above during the day, and a few of the nights have been warm also (15C or so). My radio hobby is on the back burner because DX conditions are mediocre, so I just listen to it in the background while reading or doing things around the house and yard.
It took a second for me to figure out -- they were looking for Pokemons!
They looked like they were having fun. It looks like a high-tech Easter Egg hunt.
A lone Trail walker during the bright 80F sun early Friday.
Three fly-fishermen wading the Cedar River on a warm, sunny summer morning, July 29th. During Fall, Spring and Winter the water would be two feet higher and impossible (and dangerous!) to attempt to wade in.
LOOKING FOR POKEMONS
While I was working out with weights the other day I heard a couple boys talking excitedly out on the street. I looked out the window, and there were three boys on bikes, all staring at their smartphones. They went down the street, and then turned around and rode back past my place, talking excitedly, before they rode on to the next block.It took a second for me to figure out -- they were looking for Pokemons!
They looked like they were having fun. It looks like a high-tech Easter Egg hunt.
The Cedar River at its summer water level -- low and warm in July and August, and sometimes warm and low in early September.
Some colorful graffiti artwork on the 100 year-old concrete support for the Cedar River Trestle. Taken July 19th on my Canon snapshot camera.
Himalayan Blackberries are a non-native plant that grow everywhere here in Western Washington and Oregon. The berries start appearing in mid- to late July, and they truly ripen by early August. Sometimes while riding down the Trail you can smell the sweetness in the air from either blackberry flowers (in early summer) or blackberries themselves. Blackberries can be a pain to deal with in a back yard, but they do provide free food, and are the world's cheapest security fence. :-)
MICHAEL CRICHTON'S 'TIMELINE' NOVEL
I've almost finished a book I got at a thrift store: Michael Crichton's "Timeline", which I thought would be boring, but it turned out to be very interesting. It's about time travel from the present day back to the 1300's in Medieval France, using wormholes in 'quantum foam' to transport yourself to a separate universe. Apparently physicists confirm that we live in a "multiverse" -- a universe made up of thousands, if not millions, of other universes, all existing simultaneously. It's a bit too much for my head to take in, but the book doesn't delve into that part of it much.
Soon after I took my first ride with the Ventura bike I went down towards the river and the park. Someone left a bit of 'artwork' in the sand.
A pair of women's sandals that were cast off by the side of the Cedar River Trail for who-knows-what reason.
The main thing I've gotten so far from the "Timeline" book is that the Medieval world in Europe in the 1300's was a violent world. It has a lot of description of a Medieval village and castle, as well as some romance in it. I read 120 pages of the book in an hour, so it was a fun enough read.
A pair of Redwing Blackbirds on a Cable TV line. The male is on the right side of the picture, the female is to the left. Every Spring and Summer the redwing blackbird's cheery call brightens the day.
Here's hoping your world is a peaceful one, and a happy end of July to all my readers.
C.C. 7-28-2016
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