Coffeeneuring - Ride 3 of 7

Beautiful day for a ride, especially after all the rain last week.  I started the ride in Paeonian Springs on the W&OD trail, and rode to Around the Block Books for my third ride of the Coffeeneuring Challenge.  This was my first visit since they relocated to the second floor above Trails Ends Cycling at the Western terminus of the W&OD trail.  They sell used books and have great coffee and sweets.  There are two sections to the store "Chapter 1", which contains the coffee and sweets, and 2008 and later books; and on the second floor is "Chapter 2", with a very cozy reading/sitting area and more books.  There motto is "We Encourage Loitering".   I normally do not use the word delightful; however, this is a perfect word to describe this place. I enjoyed my coffee and muffin while having interesting conversation with the owners.  It was like having morning coffee at a friends house.  In the course of the conversation my fondness for old bikes came up, and with that I was quickly presented with 1973 edition of "Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual", which is now mine.

Today I used my 1949 Comrade Roadster Model for the trip, built by the Comrade Cycle Co. of Darlaston England.  This is a classic 3-speed with rod brakes and quadrant shifter.  The total ride length was 11.6 miles, at one point on the ride I hit 19.77 MPH, not bad for a 48 lb., 64 year old three speed.

The Comrade and main entrance to "Chapter 1", and coffee and sweets. 

Entrance to stairway for "Chapter 2"

My idea of health food.

More health food.

Don't forget the coffee.

All mine!

Mom and Daughter owners, Alice and Laura.

Upstairs at "Chapter 2"

On the way back, end of Coffeeneuring Challenge Ride 3.

LED Lighting: Preparing the Housings

While waiting for the brake and shifter cable housings to arrive, I'm going to start preparing the light housings for conversion to LEDs.  The Sturmey Archer Dynohub and lights were an option on the 1953 Raleigh Sports Tourist.  This particular bike has the smaller front light housing, I believe the larger housings were used only on the Superbe models.  I previously converted the lights on my 1949 Comrade Roadster to LED's; however, it used larger housings.  Hopefully; I will be able to squeeze the circuit board into the smaller housing.

These are the housings before any prep work, there are some dents in the front housing, and someone drilled a hole through the side of the housing to install a switch.

I will wire brush the housings, try to fix the dents and extra hole, and repaint as necessary.  First I need to remove the internals and prepare them for LED lighting.  I'm going to use the same approach previously used on the 1949 Comrade.  Its been installed for over 3 years and I know it works with the Dynohub.  There is a wealth of information and opinions on-line for LED bike lighting.  The circuit I used for the Dynohub is a simple variation of more sophisticated options.  In addition to the LEDs, it uses only two components, a Bridge Rectifier, and a Capacitor.  Also needed is a Heat Sink for the high powered LEDs. From browsing the web, these seems to come in many variations, from commercial products to DIY versions using a bolt and some washers.  According to the "experts" a heat sink is needed to draw heat away from the LEDs to prevent damage.  I will make some heat sinks similar to what I used on the Comrade, but made smaller fit the Sport housings.  In addition; they will provide a mount for the LED's within the vintage housings.  These are the heat sinks made from aluminium rod to replace the bulbs, they are sized to be a friction fit within the original bulb housings.

Rear light heat sink.

Heat sink for rear light inserted into bulb holder.  The LED will be mounted to the face of the heat sink.

Front light heat sink

Front light heat sink inserted, the LED will mount to the face of the heat sink.

This is a patch to repair the hole that was drilled into the lamp housing by a previous owner.  With a little Bondo and some sanding and it will be unnoticeable.  I also had to shorten the screw that fits into the rear of the housing because it was interfering with mounting the circuit board.  I will use J-B Weld epoxy to affix it to the housing.

After Bondo and sanding

Shorten screw, will be epoxied to rear of housing

The next "LED Lighting" post will cover building the LED circuit board and mounting.  Please share your comments and experiences.
 

And So It Begins...

I've always enjoyed cycling, so after a forty year hiatus I started refurbishing my custom built Reynolds 531 framed 10-speed road bike.  After many trips to Velo Classique in Purcellville, VA.( www.veloclassique.com/‎ ) for parts and advice I was back on the road.  I quickly realized the 1970's era 10-speed was not nearly as comfortable as I once remembered.  My older self now preferred a more upright riding position, I still enjoyed riding the 10-speed, but I thought maybe its time for a different type of bike to "cruise" the local trails and events.

I live near the western terminus of the popular rails-to-trail Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) bike trail.  This is a 45 mile trail that links with other bike trails in the Washington DC area providing ride opportunities of various lengths, eateries/vineyards/brew pubs, and historic points of interest.  I wanted a comfortable bike to enjoy this great local resource,  I have little interest in modern bikes I wanted a classic steel, diamond framed bike.  I also wanted a bike that needed some TLC.  I enjoy old-tech mechanical things, one of my other passions is classic British sports cars.  I have a MGB that I restored and still keeps me busy.  I have found there are many similarities between researching and restoring classic British cars and bicycles.

My search started with checking thrift shops, and searching local craigslist and ebay for a suitable bike.  I found a 1949 Comrade Roadster nearby.  I was unfamiliar with this make, but it was old, needed work, and had a Sturmey Archer 3-speed AW hub .  There are more pictures here http://www.flickr.com/photos/73emgee/sets/72157624401628722/

Before

After

             














The bike was built by the Comrade Cycle Company of Darlaston England. I learned about 3-speed hubs, cotter cranks, rod-brakes, quadrant shifters, dynohubs, and many other interesting subjects during the restoration.  If you have any information on the Comrade Cycle Company please let me know.

Of course this bike is very heavy compared to my Reynolds 531 10-speed, but it rides nice, and is comfortable.  Its been on many peaceful rides down the W&OD, DC Tweed rides, DC Seersucker rides, and recently a nighttime full-moon ice cream social ride ending on the National Mall.  The dynohub with converted front/rear LED lighting worked great.

Next up is a 1953 Raleigh Sports Tourist Model 23 acquired from Velo Classique.  I plan on documenting my efforts in getting this very incomplete, rusted hulk back on the road.

Please share your thoughts and experiences.