Tires

[10E]

Sorry, made a mistake on the tire milage. I keep a diary of all the rides I go on, it should read "3,800 miles".

[jurassic]

so victor ,when are we going to see some pics of this bike of yours? we need one for the profile.

[10E]

(11-01-2009 08:18 PM)jurassic Wrote:  so victor ,when are we going to see some pics of this bike of yours? we need one for the profile.

Err--- coming --soon. bike is apart for countershart sprocket work and rear wheel work.
Feel bad, only took one photo on the last ride-- the bike wasn't in the photo

[cory]

I dug these up on the net. Have I got the right machine Victor? If indeed it is you've got one cool bike!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45519093@N00/2325107533

[10E]

(11-06-2009 10:54 PM)cory Wrote:  I dug these up on the net. Have I got the right machine Victor? If indeed it is you've got one cool bike!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45519093@N00/2325107533

Don't tell anybody, but yes thats it. It looks a little rougher in real life.
I'll try to get a photo of it in the two day ride set-up. I have a photo somewhere

[cory]

(11-08-2009 08:52 PM)10E Wrote:  

(11-06-2009 10:54 PM)cory Wrote:  I dug these up on the net. Have I got the right machine Victor? If indeed it is you've got one cool bike!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45519093@N00/2325107533

Don't tell anybody, but yes thats it. It looks a little rougher in real life.
I'll try to get a photo of it in the two day ride set-up. I have a photo somewhere

Mum's the word....

[10E]

Brakes!
There are alot of pre-16 riders out here in the west who have lots of stories to tell, including me, about brakes or lack of breaks on these old bikes.
Most have only one, rear. The stock brakes on most of the bikes seem to be marginal at best. Most guys I know have modified their brake in one way or another, --modern shoes and linings. Backing plates that will accept modern shoes etc.
I have one down hill that will test any of these old or modern rear brakes. It's 1 mile downhill, approx, that gets steeper towards the bottom with lots of tight turns in it and a 90 degree turn at the very bottom.
With modern shoes and a little engine braking I still get brake fade
about half way down. Last ride, I had to stop and let the brake cool down( I could smell the shoes) before I could start again. basically I had to walk the bike down the hill. We won't come up on many of these type downhills, but when the brakes go away life gets interesting very fast.
In other words make sure brakes are upto par and you understand how they work under riding conditions. Hope this helps someone

[knossos]

Hi Victor.

My Excelsior had some brake trouble when descending down Lombard Street two weeks ago on the San Francisco 49 Mile Ride. (the 'crookedest street'). http://www.thecreeper.net/49mileride09/ There is probably some video on YouTube if you have time to search. Riding with 215 bikes, I had to be careful not to rear end anybody when they stopped with their better brakes.

I've since learned a bit more about brake lining materials. Be careful if you use the new brake lining material, either bonded on new shoes or riveted onto your old brakes. New materials are set up to last for tens of thousands of miles. The old materials gripped and stopped better, but didn't last nearly as long. You can find brake lining material at some swap meets (check with your local brass era car club, model T club, etc). The oldest materials were woven around lead wires. The lead grips against steel really well. Modern stuff can't use lead, so they have other types of wires that don't grip as well.

If you can find the old stuff, it is pretty simple to get rivets from McMaster Carr and install onto your internal or external rear brakes. It can be cut with a table saw to width, then you need to counterbore it so the rivet heads are below flush. You'll be able to figure it out, I'm sure.

ciao,
Pete Young

(11-10-2009 10:09 PM)10E Wrote:  Brakes!
There are alot of pre-16 riders out here in the west who have lots of stories to tell, including me, about brakes or lack of breaks on these old bikes.
Most have only one, rear. The stock brakes on most of the bikes seem to be marginal at best. Most guys I know have modified their brake in one way or another, --modern shoes and linings. Backing plates that will accept modern shoes etc.
I have one down hill that will test any of these old or modern rear brakes. It's 1 mile downhill, approx, that gets steeper towards the bottom with lots of tight turns in it and a 90 degree turn at the very bottom.
With modern shoes and a little engine braking I still get brake fade
about half way down. Last ride, I had to stop and let the brake cool down( I could smell the shoes) before I could start again. basically I had to walk the bike down the hill. We won't come up on many of these type downhills, but when the brakes go away life gets interesting very fast.
In other words make sure brakes are upto par and you understand how they work under riding conditions. Hope this helps someone