Just dropped those two bikes at World Relief this morning. Got a call just now from a social worker at an agency I am not familiar with. He has a client who needs a bike. He got my card from someone who kept it after meeting me sometime in the past, working somewhere else. Client is 5'11. That green one would have been perfect. Ah well, another will turn up. I do have some large frame roadies. #bicycling
I have a donated 1970's era Fuji Dynamic 10 I have had for years, intending to make into a hybrid. I had gone so far as to remove the downtube-mounted shift levers and replace the handlebar with a straight bar with brake levers. So today I put on shifters, replaced brake cables, hooked up all but front brake. Tomorrow i'll make a cable sheath and finish brake, test ride, add to the 8 I have ready to deliver Tuesday.
The one I have is the ladies' model at left, same color.
And here it is with its new owner. He took it for a spin around the parking lot. Looked comfortable, said it was great, gave it a big thumbs up. Thanked me, shook hands a second time. I said good luck and left.
I know it is a rehab agency so I assume he is working on kicking a habit and moving on. Counselor felt a bike would help; so did he. I had the pleasure of being able to (i hope) play a part in that effort. #bicycle
🧵1)
I picked up two pretty grungy bikes donated to Repeat Boutique several weeks ago. They are good sturdy machines that can provide transportation to someone who shops there for free clothing, household goods, etc. But not in the shape they were in. Both are mountain hybrids with handlebar extensions and rat trap pedals. Lots of mud, 4 flat tires, 1 chain jammed, 4 nonfunctional combo shifter- brake levers, no kickstands. Ugh. So Friday I ⤵️
🧵2)
tackled them. Put twist shifters, brake handles, all new cable. Patched two tubes, replaced two blown out tubes. Replaced a tire & wheel. Built the wheel from scavenged parts. Deep sixed the extensions and pedals. I added pedals and kickstand to one, have to source for the other. Test rode both yesterday; one is 21, the other 18 speed. Both get to highest and lowest. In beween is best effort, since the 7 speed shifters I received a case of don't match⤵️
Some pedals are sold with adapters so they can wotk with either 1/2 inch or 9/16 inch crank holes. If anyone knows where to get those adapters searately, please tell me.
I am going to be one of the "maintenance experts" at an annual bike clinic this Saturday. In years past several attendees have donated bikes and/or cash The sponsoring church passes all that to me,. I hope to get an ideal bike for my newest surrogate granddaughter. She is a sweet kid, amazingly upbeat given the circumstances. I have one for her brother. The cash may allow me to buy some parts for a couple of otherwise high quality bikes. I will have to scrap them if not.
After the bike clinic I went to a refugee family friend's house to fix her son's bike. It is a dual suspension Mongoose that I gave him. The handlebar clamp had gotten loose and the bar rotates and slides sideways. I have seen that a lot on low-budget big box store bikes. I took him a few tools & lube, fixed the handlebar and then showed him some basic maintenance/tuneup stuff: what barrel adjusters and the setscrews on derailleur and brakes are for. I think he was ⤵️
🧵 1) Last Saturday I went in my truck to carry luggage with a Bumese refugee friend to meet his friend's family at the Chicago airport. They were arriving as refugees after a long (16 yrs plus) wait in Malaysia and then a 3-day delay at Dubai airport, shut down for crazy weather. Arrived at last, but luggage AWOL. That would be the family's complete stock of worldly possessions. I did what I could to file luggage claim, took one of the kids who speaks ⤵️
Yesterday I put new shifters and 4 new cables on a Mongoose bike. Today I'll finish it up and get started on one of the big road bike conversions. I have 4 of those to do. Need to buy some handgrips; I think I have everything else. Serious yard work coming soon; i hope to get those 4 done and delivered first. #bicycles#refugees
Dang it! I discovered I am out of the short handlebar grips. Ordered 2 pair but thought I'd add to wish list as a fairly low-cost item people who were inclined to help could send. None of them are available to sell via list since they are 3d party fulfillment items. $5 per bike won't kill me but it's annoying that what was a super convenient way to crowdsource got blown up by whatever triggered this policy change that they have been calling "temporary" for over a year.
I waited for the handgrips. I put grips on first, then position shifter & brskr lever snugly against. So i deferred connecting & tuning the derailleurs. Did people's taxes all day yesterday. Today the shifters arrived & i got back to the Mongoose. Got all cables hooked up, was adjusting rear brake, found s broken spoke. No, 2 broken. No, 3! So i took wheel off, removed cassette, replaced spokes, trued wheel on my newish toy, put it on, added my label.
Some kid is getting a Mongoose!
Today my phone rang just as I was taking @OldeEnglishKaz out to the back yard to pee. Phone said it was a verified number, but it was not one I recognized. I almost did not answer, figuring if it was real they could leave a message.But Kaz was taking her time, so I answered. Guy asked if I still accepted bikes to give people. I said "Yes, with qualifications; what kind of bike do you have?"
He said "My name's Jeff; you ⤵️
🧵 Why I Do This
2) gave me a bike when I was homeless. I have two bikes for you. I gave you one before, I'm in your driveway now."
I told him to stand by, took Kaz in when she obligingly finished her mission, went thru the house and opened garage door. Big white van, two guys standing by it, two bikes by them. I recognized him immediately ( he did not comment that I got all hairy since last time). He said "you gave me a bike in a library parking lot when I was homeless." ⤵️
🧵 Why I Do This
4) it harder to ride but I managed." I thanked him for the bikes, shook hands; he said "no, thank YOU for what you did for me. I had a note to leave you with this but it fell out of my pocket"... and handed me a 100 dollar bill.
finis
Make someones day
It will make yours.
And maybe some day they will come back and REALLY make your day!
in six years of accepting bike donations I have received a wide variety. Some are beyond reasonable repair and become "organ donors," with the frames going to a metal recycler. Some are in near perfect condition, getting a checkup, tuneup, air and lube and going promptly to someone in need. Some are very recent vintage models still available at big box stores but with damage someone (more)⤵️
🧵60 Years of Bikes
2)
considered not worth the cost of a bike shop repair. I have donated over 400, scrapped another 40-50, passed about 50 on to Working Bikes, to donate or perhaps sell.
And I have kept a few I consider "collectible." I am a mechanical engineer. I tinkered with my first bike, a JC Higgens received when I was six. I have had the pleasure of getting "hands on" access to a variety of frames, drive trains, braking systems, shifters. It is like getting to go (more)⤵️
🧵BIKES FOR SHOPPING
1/n: I am going to be homebound for the next ten days. No problem, just need to keep our rescue pup company while "mom" is away. I plan to spend a LOT of time in the 2CB workshop (my garage) working on the bikes I have gathered up over the past few days. I have several older model road bikes with shift levers on the head tube or down tube. I have several salvaged straight handlebars with shifters and
(more)⤵️
🧵BIKES FOR SHOPPING
2/n: brake levers. So i will make as many hybrids as I can and would like to make some of them as much as practical into "cargo" bikes. The nice new Transit bike I got yesterday while chauffering a newly arrived refugee prompted this thought. It is already approptiate configuration for the purpose, just needs a "delivery" sized front basket and/or a good sized saddlebag style rear (more)⤵️
🧵Bikes for Working
2/2) a job opportunity with DoorDash. His wife also had work, needed to get to the train.
I gave both bikes, put the big rear basket on his to enable delivering DoorDash orders in a limited territory. I also provided USB-rechargeable LED lights, helmets, & locks. Here they are outside their rooming house when I delivered the bikes. Everything I gave them was donated to me. Bike from a local individual, everything else from followers on the bird site via my wish list.
🧵 https://urbanists.social/@2CB/110891621502264174
Update:
Yesterday I assembled a new youth-sized Huffy donated to World Relief still in the box. Box was damaged, probably Huffy sent a replacement and said donate the other. They are not equipped to handle returns. I've gotten quite a few from them and Schwinn that way. Factory partial assembly was a mess. Remaining assembly was easy; then recabling, tuning brakes and shifting, straightening wheel took as long as a battered used bike. How many individuals ⤵️
↪️buy like that and end up giving their kid a clunker? For that matter, the big box stores hire someone to assemble what gets shipped to them. No doubt they do better than the average consumer might, but I am certain they don't spend the time I did. Seems like a skilled position waiting to be created.
Anyway, I delivered that Huffy and the two in the above linked thread yesterday⤵️
↪️Woirld Relief gave me two to take home and fix, and I stopped at Prairie Path Cycles to pick up a donation they called me about on Monday. So I delivered 3 small bikes and brought back 3 big ones. Garage is not pleased. 😄😄
Anybody want to help get this in some little kid's hands Tuesday? It is it great shape except tires are shot. I have training wheels and a replacement seat previously donated. I added this set of two tires and tubes to the wish list. I have six other larger kids bikes to fix and probably have most needed parts. #bike#RecycledCycles#kids#refugees
Just finished it today:
•straighten bent rim, probably from someone trying to get the tire off
○Tighten&true all spokes on other wheel
○improvise rim strip using electricians tape
○install tires
○ replace brake cable
○install flip up training wheels
○ install new seat, with handle for parent helping learn
Attached article in Propublica illustrates once again how backward the US is with respect to ROW in almost every facet of life, due to the stranglehold big business has on our supposed policymakers, implementers, and enforcers. See following anecdote.
I got a call yesterday from the first person from the homeless shelter I gave a bike to,~5 years ago. He has a job, has leased a small apartment. The bike I gave him is in disrepair; the bus he takes to work does not run on weekends. Wanted to know if I might have another.