Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 My current old bicycle.

A  mid 1980's Marin Muir Woods.
Hard to believe that it's forty years old!

Not from my childhood, but from my middle age.

I know that I had a bike when I was in college, a ten speed of some type. I used to put the bike in the back seat of my '57 Cadillac Sedan de Ville and take it to Coyote Hills park in Newark. I don't recall what happened to that bike. 

The bike in the picture I bought some time in the early 2000s. 

When I first moved back to the Bay Area in the mid 1980's I'd bought a bike at Service Merchandise in Campbell. Service Merchandise was one of the catalog stores that became popular in the 1980's. It was a very pretty, green ten speed. I rode that bike quite a bit. I haven't been a lightweight person for a very long time. My weight put quite a strain on that bike. The rims got distorted, and I even managed to warp the crank sprocket! This was a bike designed for a slim young kid, not a thirty something porker.

When my son got old enough to get his first real bike I needed something to ride with him. I had an old brown ten speed that I'd found in a thrift store, that was what I used, it was pretty sturdy. That was quite important.

I'd learned something after the green bike.

As kids will, my son got older and riding with his Dad wasn't something that he wanted to do any more. So his bike was hung up in the garage, and my bike sat outside alongside the fence.

The brown bike met it's demise after it sat out in the rain for many years. The chain and derailleurs had rusted solid and the tires had cracked completely. I decided that it could not be saved without a total rebuild, which was just never going to happen.

I started looking for a replacement on CraigsList in the early 2000s.

I am not a bicycle enthusiast, I don't know very much about them. I'm certainly not the kind of guy to get dressed up in spandex and wear a tear drop helmet. Bicycling should be a casual activity in my eyes. I know that rabid bike riders are much like rabid motorcyclists; they are very particular about their machines.

There was an ad from a used bike rebuilder who had a shop in Mountain View. It stated that he had a big selection of used bikes and that he could help you select a model that would fit the buyer and their needs. I know that good bikes can get very expensive, I wasn't prepared to pay a lot, but I was ready to spend around a hundred bucks.

That alloy kickstand was salvaged from my old brown bike.

I told the dealer that I needed something strong enough to hold up under my weight. He showed me this odd looking grey primer bike with bright green forks and handlebars. 

At first I thought that the bike had been spray bombed, but there were what appeared to be original badging and stickers on the finish. So that was how the bike was built! It also had a white saddle. The whole thing struck me as a kind of "rat rod" bike. Considering that I was driving a slammed '66 Buick Riviera, it seemed like an appropriate choice!

The price was 180 dollars to the best of my recollection, which I thought was kind of expensive for a used bike, but the shop had adjusted and lubed everything and put on a set of new tires. The dealer also assured me that this was a sturdy bike, which was what I really needed. I don't want another bike that wilted under my use.

I'd never heard of the brand Marin, but the only brand that I had ever been familiar with was Schwinn. The Varsity ten speed was the status symbol of my youth. 

Growing up, I'd only had a couple of brand new bikes, and those were department store brands. My first was when I was in third  grade, it was a candy red single speed bike with aluminum fenders that had dual indentations with red stripes. It came from Swann's, a large well known, lower level department store in Downtown Oakland. A few years later, Schwinn StingRays were all the rage. Of course I wanted one, they were the cool bike. My parents were not going to buy an authentic StingRay, but they got me a very nice gold colored clone, that sported a white banana seat from J.C. Penney. I was pretty happy with that. As I got older I quit riding bikes. Once we were in the 7th and 8th grades the thing for us boys was to ride the bus. We rode all over town, the big thing was to ride over to SF for the afternoon. Bicycles were for kids and we were just waiting to get our driver's licenses.

My recent search online provided me with a lot
more info on this company. The bike was manufactured in Taiwan.

I rode this Marin for several years then put it away around Covid, where it was hung in my backyard lean to. Just recently I had ridden my adult kid's bikes and I found that I enjoyed it. So I took my bike down, aired up the tires and started riding around the neighborhood.

I wanted to ride for the exercise, I have a Life Cycle, an exercise bike that I use, but I find it to be boring. Riding an actual bike seems like a better idea, and much more fun.

My bike needed some things, but I found it to be usable until... I noticed that the rear tire felt like it had run over something that was stuck to the tire. It turned out that the sidewall of the tire had ruptured and there was a bulge.

The tires were pretty old and cracked.

This was going to call for a new set of tires and tubes. I couldn't find the 26x1.50 tires offered on the Walmart and Target websites and thought that I'd have to look for a dedicated bike shop. I'm always a bit embarrassed to go to a shop. Most of their customers are enthusiasts, and they don't mind spending a lot of money. 

Of course looking on Amazon I found the right tires as well as tubes for a good price.

Back when I was a kid I'd had lots of trouble changing tires. I used a couple of my Dad's screwdrivers and usually managed to put several new holes in the tube while trying to remount the tire. 

This time I used a few of the paint can openers that I got at Home Depot.

Care was taken and the process went smoothly.

I was somewhat amazed that bike tires are now packaged in boxes. They are folded and rolled up. The flexible wire in the bead will return to a circular shape.

It's much more efficient to ship them in a box.

Tightly rolled up.

There are two tight bends.

It readily re-assumes it's circular shape.

Of course, new tires call for new tubes.

We used to flip 'em over like this when I was a kid.

Back on it's wheels with new rubber.

This tread pattern is biased towards street use.

After I replaced the tires I decided that it needed a new set of grips. I made a trip to Walmart and found a pair of ergonomic grips and also picked up some real chain lube. I'd initially used WD40.

Out with old taped up units.

Ergonomic.

Using the real stuff couldn't hurt.

The bike rides well on the new tires. I am comfortable sitting on it, I don't know if I should require a larger frame bike, but I feel in good control. I refer to the bike as a ten speed, but it actually is a 14 speed, and there is a large third sprocket on the crank that can't be engaged. I don't know if it was available originally, but when the bike was refurbished it ended up in this configuration. 

The gearing works well for me, I find it pretty easy to ride up the hill next to my house in the lower gears. It is not geared that high, even in top gear it doesn't go that fast, but it suits my needs.

I suppose that I look like the crazy old man of the neighborhood riding around in my purple helmet. But I enjoy it. I used to take the bike to Lake Cunningham Park and Vasona Park because I feel much safer riding away from traffic. Chances are I'll start doing that a few times a month.

I doubt that I'm going to become a bicycling fanatic, but I happy to have my old bike returned to serviceable use.