B4H

Awesome!

WOEIMB? TRAILER from Bicycles for Humanity- TBAY on Vimeo.

Mixte

All of this mixte chat on the blogs is infectious. Picked up an 1984 Miyata Ninety mixte last night. The paint is pretty beat up, but the bike is all original and rides well. I will either wait for my daughter to grow into it (a long time!) or refurbish is with new wheels- internal gears and front hub dynamo- or both. Pics to follow. Here is a link to a brochure photo. Ohh- $65 CDN. Not a $20 garage sale find, but a fair price for a complete bike. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9W3hWVfv73WLspawBlh5wYR6NcnSQDEMxmjLiuy7KfN5mtyPhSwy3ynT1E5uOeB4mhQ2KyAZPKhMh03lKiMFjptp13KPasSNUCEmpAwHyRLPsjmADQWaWvXT9A1NgB8N655Qr-St8vf2Q/s1600-h/img067.jpg

Panda

Wow. Tough to take a Panda on a bakfiets- and get everybody in the shot. Perhaps need camera with a wider angle lens.

Here is one that at least gets some of the three of us.............

GAMOH!

I really believe a longtail bike needs a front rack. Yuba makes a nice one- I wasn't sure about the principle of cantilevering off of the frame. Puts a lot of moment on the steerer tube. The idea of transferring the load down to the front axle appealed to me more.

Anyway- not a lot of racks that I could look at before ordering- I liked the look of the CETMA, but being in Canada there isn't a dealer close.

The LBS had a Gamoh. I liked it. I installed one on the Mundo and replaced the wooden slats with aluminum checkplate so as to match the rear deck and footboards.

I am surprised how it makes the steering feel heavy- but I guess on gets used to it. I had over 6 kilos on the front yesterday- no problems.

3-bike day!

I guess its a good day when you get out 3 times all on different bikes! Went out after lunch on the Mundo- did some grocery shopping.

After that made it down to the park with the kids in the bakfiets. Cool, but a good time. Really need a name for the bakfiets- something more endearing than "contraption" or "frankenbike". It rides so well!

Lastly, took the usual spin with the dogs and the Kona Ute.

BoxBike Success

Wow, where does the time go. Over a month since the last post- and so many things to blog about! Family over to visit for the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend- Got some use out of the box bike- dropped 4 kids in for a photo op!

Hoima Bicycle

Thoroughly enjoyed this video. If you haven't seen it, check it out..........

Bike Blender!

Thought about making a bike blender for a while- read a bunch of stuff on the net, and studied the Rock the Bike offerings as well. http://rockthebike.com/ As a side note I bought a Down Low Glow from them, and found them excellent to deal with.
I then came across this little gem at a thrift store for $10 and the plan was in motion.



An old exercise bike- Made in W. Germany-it appealed to me as it was made with real bike parts, old cottered cranks, nice old rubber block pedals. I then attached a base from an old Osterizer blender onto an aluminium bracket I scabbed onto the crown of the front fork:


The drive is a hard rubber cork attached to an piece of 1/4" threaded rod that runs in a couple of pillow blocks I scrounged out of the shop. The whole gubbins actually works really well. I was concerned about the 20" wheel not spinning the blender shaft as quick as a 26", but it works fine. If I stumbled on a bigger chainring I would change it however. At 30 mph on the speedometer it makes quite a vortex if you can keep the cadence up!

I don't think I would use pillow blocks again- I have since seen photos of one that utilized a high flange front hub- fasten one flange to your plate and use the front axle as the drive. Nice.

I also have the rig fixed up so I can pop the Chariot wheels and towbar onto it and tow it along to self-propelled parties!

Fiets of Parenthood

Alright, so we didn't have an event like they have in Portland- or Seattle. What we did have was my wife's brother come to visit with two of his sons. We had a great time biking to the park- both on the Mundo and with the home-built bakfiets. The two visiting boys are 5 and 7 years of age. The older one rides really well. The 5 year old is very good too, but wasn't up to the task of riding to the park. He either rode on the Mundo or in the Bakfiets. We strapped his bike and a trike onto the back of the Ute so kids of all ages would have something to ride at the park.

This morning we started the day with some home-grown eggs and fruit juice/yoghurt smoothies spun up in the bike powered blender. (more on the bike blender some other time) We then found ourselves in the yard running the kids through a bicycle slalom course made of windfall apples, pears, and bottles from the recycling. Here is a pic of Uncle Steve running the Civia through it.

Of course I had to try the bakfiets. I am actually getting the hang of it. Perhaps a road trip to a Fiets of Parenthood competition next year! Here is a video of the frankenbike.....hope it works; I did have some technical difficulties.

KIVA

A while back a friend introduced me to Kiva. What Kiva.org does is partner with micro-finance organizations worldwide to raise funds for entrepreneurs. You can hop onto Kiva and be part of a team of people that each lend a person $25. You then get repaid in installments and can then use the credit in your Kiva account to help someone else. I have made a dozen loans to Kiva, and currently have one borrower that is late in making a payment. The beauty is even if they totally default, I am only out $25.




One of the hurdles I experienced on Kiva was how to "focus" my loans. With hundreds of loan listings this is a challenge. One thing you can do is focus on an interest.......say cycling. Or join a team. Lending teams are structured either geographically or via some special interest. I currently am counting my loans towards the Bicycles for Humanity Team. There is another team called Carbon Trace that focuses on carbon free transport, there are religious teams, atheist teams, country teams, workplace teams- you get the picture.

Fitness Cycle

Okay, I have been on this build cycle infrastructure and save health care dollars kick.....here is an article that came out in the local paper yesterday.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/peninsulanewsreview/community/100484254.html

Is pasting this link here like re-gifitng?

Family Mundo

Here is a very short clip of the whole family on the Mundo. The kids would need Peanut Shells or some such to ride the Mundo- but we had to try a lap around the driveway! This bike continues to impress me- it feels so good, even with 4 humans on it. (albeit a couple of small humans!)

Bakfiets

I have been getting a bit of shop time in lately. Working on the bakfiets again. Maybe it is time I share the frankenbike with the world?

I took a Rocky Mountain MTB, an cheapo Peugeot MTB, an older Bianchi racing frame, and a sturdy little kids bike with a 20" front wheel and hacked them all apart. Then tried to weld the pieces back together. Here is a fellow from work giving the prototype a spin.

I managed to scrounge up a 48 spoke BMX wheel with a 14mm axel. Skookum. The double horizontal tube seems very strong and plenty stiff. It just means the upper tube will run through the box. This will make it less flexible for cargo, but offer up a tube to tie stuff too. Surprisingly enough, the bike is quite easy to ride--- maybe a little twitchy at low speeds, and the front brake will lock up the front wheel in a blink. I expect these conditions to improve with the addition of a plywood box. (and cargo)

Electric Assist

Okay, so we often hear that walkways and cycle paths contribute to “healthier” communities. What does that really mean? I imagine a lot of people just take that statement and face value and don’t break it down to healthier individuals. Some recent literature out of the United States claims the cost of bike lanes and cycle infrastructure is more than offset by savings in health care costs. Big claim.
Here is what happened the other day. An elderly gentleman came by the shop on an electric assist trike. I got chatting to him- and put some air in his tires- seems that a while back he was having a very hard time getting around and it looked like he was heading for knee surgery. A friend of his had just got a new E-trike and suggested he try the old one. Well, he hasn’t looked back. He says his mobility is greatly improved, he has lost weight, bikes to appointments, and generally loves exploring the Saanich Peninsula. His biggest complaint about the Lochside Trail? It needs to be widened in some spots- so many bikes! Here is a pic of his bike; he didn’t seem to want to be in the photo. Can’t blame him.

This has given me chance to reflect on electric assist bikes. I don’t know if I previously pooh-poohed them or not. I am not sure I had an opinion- but after reading Bike Snob now realize I should have an opinion. I think they are great- especially for cargo bikes and older riders. We are seeing a mini boom of retired folks on e-bikes around the peninsula. Think about it- these folks likely wouldn’t ride at all faced with some of the hills in our region. Now they are zipping around- mentally and physically happier for it.

Opus Bikes

Not that we need another bike here, far from it. Opus has caught my attention, however. Perhaps they are not well known outside of Canada? Check out opusbike.com

This bike is beautiful: http://www.opusbike.com/site_urbain_10.php?lang=en

I haven't ridden one, (or a Lugano- which might be more my style) but hear they are sweet. Check out their whole urbanista line.

Crossing the Streams

Don't cross the streams! Well it had to happen sooner or later. I kludged the Kona Ute bags onto the Mundo. Easy.

If you happen to have access to a Ute Bag or two, they fit on the Mundo perfectly. Nice to have something interchange!

Runners Bikes

A short time ago, while visiting Nelson, BC, my wife bought a couple of wooden balance bikes for the kids. We knew that they wouldn't be ready for a while, but they had a pink one that we hadn't seen before. Enough said. We tucked them in the basement, intent on bringing them out at Christmas.

At the playground this morning both of these little toddlers surprised me by showing great interest in another little fellas bike- I tried to get them to walk along beside the bike and steer it- nothing doing, they had to try and sit on it.

I have now assembled their bikes and mom and I will have some fun soon.

These wooden bikes seem very popular, and kids sure seem to find their balance with them. This brand came highly recommended to us. http://www.runners-bike.com/

113 kilos of cargo in the summer heat.

Summer is here, the clear blue skies that high pressure systems bring to the west coast. Some would call it a boring sky, not a cloud to be seen for days on end......

Gave me a chance to haul some freight on the Mundo and get out with the kids in the chariot.

Zipped over to the feed distributor yesterday- made it home with 5 sacks of chicken feed and a bag of dog food. 113 kilos (250 pounds) of freight on the wideloaders and rear deck. No problem. I read some posts where people pooo-poohed the Mundo hauling 330 pounds at the San Francisco food bank race- they said it couldn't be done without all of Ben's "handlers". Well, I am here to tell you that if I had a front rack I could have easily taken another 80 pounds on the front. I rode home solo with the 250 without a blink. Of course terrain would be a factor!
On the other front, getting tired of the Chariot, don't like dragging the kids behind. Working on a home-made bakfiets in the shop. Next post, perhaps.

Civia Loring

Had to do a quick trip to the hardware store this morning. For some weird reason I didn't feel like hopping on the Mundo to pickup a small little bit that would fit in your pocket. The Ute had the bike trailer attached so for a change of pace I hopped on my wife's bike. What a sweet ride. The Sram I-Motion 9 has a very wide range of gears and shifts well- some may say a bit clunky- but it never misses a beat. I did notice that the gears are opposite on the twist grip to the external gears on the Mundo. That is if you twist the grip as if you were accelerating a motor bike you end up in a higher gear-whereas on the Mundo you head for a lower gear.

Canada Day

July 1st is the Canada Day holiday. (they used to call it dominion day) What's a Canadian to do to celebrate? First off, go to the parade with the kids. Fun fun. The only thing left to do after that is to pack a replacement woodstove up to a log cabin in the mountains. No biking, no canoeing, but I guess it qualifies as self propelled adventure. I met Dave at the trailhead and we strapped the stove body to a pack frame. Dave slid all of the cast iron baffles, legs, and the door into his pack, and helped me off up the trail with the stove body.

Resting halfway up the trail. This doggone thing is heavy.

Arrived! Warmth for next winter!

Grease Job

Here is a little trick that I haven't used for some time and just thought of it when reading Megan's last Wandering Time post. When I used to mountain bike alot in really wet conditions I would use this little adapter on my grease gun to force grease into the pedals, bottom bracket and hubs. (loose ball bearing days) The adapter fits on any standard grease gun, and I imagine you can get it at an auto parts store or industrial supplier.

It worked really well on pedals. Drill a little (maybe 1/16") hole in the plastic end cap and force some grease in. The only trick is you have to see a little grease come out the other end- with some of the super sealed equipment these days it may be tough.

In aviation they use a small little fitting that presses into about a 1/8" hole and has a ball and spring to keep things sealed- they accept this needle fitting. I mucked about with such devices but ended up just leaving a small hole in the end cap- maybe water worked in- but it must have worked its way out again. These pedals are probably from the early 90's and have never been apart- just had grease pumped into them. Maybe this is where I should go with the Yuba, its agricultural enough.....

Cheers,

John

The're everwhere.....

Now I must really resist.

Kona Ute Bag Repair

Kona's large Ute Bags are pretty good. It still puzzles me, however, why they sell the Ute with one bag. I guess you may not want to use their bags. So why supply any? Also, they do sell a sell a small Ute Bag. I thought that would have been the best of both worlds- you could travel balanced with 2 smalls for daily operations, and use 2 smalls and 1 large for the heavy days. This fell apart when it I discovered that 2 small Ute bags won't fit on one side.
I would be interested to hear comments on the Ute bag versus the Yuba Go-Getter-never having seen a Go Getter. The photo on the right shows how Kona looped the pull strap back on itself to keep it from dragging on the ground when a bunch of slack is taken up. Works well. Another good feature is that the straps may be buckled to the lid to cinch it down, or be buckled under the lid up near the top of the bag. There are 3 straps on each side.
One day as I was zoooming home I cut a corner a little sharp and caught one of the straps on the edge of a guardrail. This is when I found out that the buckles and slides on the Ute Bags aren't a very common style. (they are not fastex or national molding) I eventually (with the help of Kona tech support- THANK-YOU) learned that these buckles can be replaced without having to re-stitch the webbing. To repair the buckles you will need a "quick attach" buckle.
After you break a male or female buckle end you will need (1) male slide buckle, (1) ladder, and (2) female quick attach buckles. Remember you need 2, one for the lid and one for inside the lid. I replaced all 6 males and 12 females and now carry spares as shown in the picture. The quick attach is the one on the left and has a notch in it which to feed the stitched loop of webbing. You will have to cut or break the old female out. (not hard) I was a bit skeptical, but they work really well- and you can repair in the field with no tools.
The ladder slide is to attach the loose end of the strap back onto itself through a ring as seen in the first pic. Kona stitches this at the factory- just cut the stitching and put the ladder slider on before threading the female end. Cheers!

Ute at the Farmers Market

Here is a shot of the Ute and Chariot in tow at the local farmers market. (and the kids with their little Nutcase helmets)
Its a great little market, with vendors selling a good variety. The produce gets better as the summer goes on. Its very well attended, but we were probably the only ones that went by bike, yaah, its a real carfest. At least people are out supporting local agriculture- more people will bike in the future, I am sure.
I know a few of the growers, its a nice way to shop. Just beware of the reseller standing in gumboots with a widerange of produce you just know they didn't grow!
As an aside, the Chariot is a good piece of kit, but I don't like not seeing the kids. I am going to try and get them into a home-built bakfiets this summer- but lets save that for another post!

Self Propelled Egg Ranching

Well, got the first really good load on the Mundo today. 4 sacks of chicken feed and one bag of dog food. 205 pounds and the Mundo was awesome. Changing the perception of what a bicycle can do indeed! Love the wideloaders. Here's a pic of the chickens checking out their feed delivery. The bike is very stable- even on the grass- on the Rolling Jackass stand.
All of this craziness started a year or two ago when I was listening to a radio program where they were interviewing a CEO of a national organic dairy producer. The host asked the gentleman about it being better to buy local- the 100 mile diet and so on. The CEO's reply was that their transportation network was very efficient and that the most inefficient link in the chain was the end consumer driving to the supermarket to buy a tub of yoghurt. I gave that some thought- and now take to the bike much more. We are fortunate to have a farm feed distributor a few miles away- they bring in truckloads of feed- and I pick it up there on my bike. (Previously the Ute, and now the Mundo)
I still believe in local, but also now see that the big dairy CEO knew what he was talking about. Check out this post from Joe George's Urban Simplicity blog- the amount of fuel burned by Pickups, SUV's, and sedans is over the top.

http://citysimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/06/im-gonna-be-honest-here.html


Ohh, the feed is "whole earth", but not organic.(yet) The hen scratch is non-gmo. They have lots of room to roam in green grass and eat bugs and worms, great eggs, stop by and pick up a dozen.

Shopper 20

Well, here is a pic of the vintage Raleigh. I don't think it has clocked more than a handfull of miles.............

Nottingham's finest

Well........it's here. I tried my best to hoodwink my inveterate bike collector friend Kryn into buying the R20 Shopper, but he didn't bite. Being the good guy he is he bought it for me. I went over to his house tonight and towed it home behind the Mundo. (I don't plan on repainting it to match, however) Other than missing the pump, toolkit, and bags the bike is stock and near mint. Original tires, Brooks saddle, the works. Other than the extra weight on the hills you wouldn't even have known it was in tow behind the Yuba. Easy. Its a funny mauve colour- The serial number starts with NB94 which according to raleightwenty.webs.com would be a 1979. One thing I did notice is that the rear brake is on the left- is this a UK model?

Hole Finder

Here is a little gubbins I used to "find" the holes when making my Mundo footboards. Being aluminun is wasn't as easy a giving it a rap to telegraph a mark into the plywood- although I have used and like that trick.

Essentially you take 2 strips of metal- in this case hacksaw blades- and bolt or rivet them together at one end. You then drill a hole through the the loose end. The lower hole gets a rivet or screw so that it "finds" the hole under your sheet metal. The top hole is above the sheet metal and marks the spot.

Raleigh 20

Saw this on the local used web last night. Must resist or I will end up like Sheldon Brown.

Sunny Sunday-Mundo Rollout

At last a great sunny day. Got out on 2 wheels twice. Once with the Ute taking the kids to the park in the Chariot, and then again this evening with the Mundo. The 2 bikes ride very differently- and I think each are very good bikes in their own way. The Ute is aptly named, a longtail "utility". The Mundo is a cargo bike.
You can see by the pic that I have gussied up the V3 with Sweetskins, Aluminum Checkplate, Stoker Bars, Electra Fenders and a Rolling Jackass Stand. I am just waiting for a Gamoh front rack that has been backordered. Every cargo bike needs a front rack of some sort!
The Electra fenders went on quite easily- although i did have to collapse them a tad so they wouldn't interfere with the Vee brakes. Perhaps discs will be in my future after all. The RJA stand is over-the-top. Very well done Val. Glad to support someone who still manufactures stuff themselves. The stoker bar is a snap thanks to Keller74. The only thing you will need is a shim for the bars. I had to make one- but using K74's setup it only requires a small bit of 1/16" aluminum as you are shimming 1" bars into a space that is made for a 1-1/8" steerer tube. Easy. I just realized, however, that the stoker bars will complicate my life if I try and surf my Mundo. Probably just as well. Stayed tuned for more thoughts on the Mundo. John.

Wheels4Life

Hey, I just see on Yuba's webstore that they have a limited edition Wheels4Life Mundo. This is too cool- for $899 you can be riding a Mundo AND Yuba will supply a second Mundo to a worthy party in the developing world via Wheels4Life. Spread the word!

Blogging. Day 1

Okay, here goes. I get such good entertainment value from reading the blogs out there- mostly related to the Yuba Mundo- that I thought I should try and hammer one out myself.
Warning: This may, or may not, last!
My everyday ride is a Kona Ute- great bike, but I felt the need to join the club and get a Mundo. (is it a club or a cult?) I now have a BLUE (and its a bright blue) Mundo. Awesome. Stay tuned for chat on it.
Other stuff in the stable- an older Kona Chute for mountain biking, and a homemade bakfiets project bike. The fiets runs great, the bak (box) hasn't got underway yet. My wife has a Civia Loring- which I got her for her birthday- although she claims it was really for me.
The goal (for me) is to become increasingly self propelled as a family- with very young toddlers this is hard- but they are becoming better travellers for sure!
Most of my bike activity is tinkering in the shop after the rest of the household is tucked in asleep. Updates on the Mundo soon!