Silver Case

I measured the cog-to-centerline distance as 4.4cm.  I measure the chainRing-to-centlerline distance as 5.2cm.  I need to get those two measurements closer to each other.

I don’t think I can do anything with the English bottom bracket or spindle.  The 68×116mm spindle doesn’t have any provision to adjust left or right.

Alignment on the rear wheel. Cog to centerline.

Crank arm alignment. Chain to centerline.

Hack to move the Chainring close to centerline.

Have a problem with the Favorit project.  The chainline alignment is way wrong.  The chainring  is  too far out from the centerline of the bike. The chain would have to angle back towards the centerline dramatically to reach the rear cog. This won’t work on a single speed bike.

I did a few experimental hacks like putting the chainring on the inside of the crank, but it still wasn’t enough.

Tomorrow I’ll add some spacers between ring and crank, but I fear that won’t be enough.  The only remaining things will be to jam the rear wheel further right, re-dish the spokes, and if all that still fails, find a new, shorter spindle for my bottom bracket.  I need to check my diagram again, but I’m pretty sure there was no alignment capability on that spindle last time I took it apart.

Ling and Luke in Malaysia this weekend. As of Friday night, my big plan was to get up early, buy a single-speed crankset for my vintage Czechoslovakian bicycle and finish putting it together.

So on Saturday, I woke up at the crack of eleven thirty.  Then found that TR Bikes, which ’specializes’ in singlespeed bikes didn’t have the parts. All he could offer me was a 49cog Campagnolo crankset “that ought to fit” and which cost $190. Too expensive and wasn’t even new (had a big chain-tear in its armpit), and it seemed sort of goofy putting an expensive Italian crank on the bike. It’s not period and not authentic. For 190$ I can buy a lot of interesting bike parts off ebay instead.

So I bailed out and went to Koba electronics at Peoples Park Complex. I handed them a list of parts for a simple regenerative receiver. After all, my Czechoslovakian numbers bike isn’t much good for an agent if it doesn’t include shortwave receiver to listen to infamous numbers station OLX.

Twenty minutes later I had most of the parts and headed home.

I didn’t really know where to start, so I spent half an hour identifying the parts to familiarize myself. Then I wired in the audio LM386 audio amplifier and started building out each of the components from there. I stopped when I’d get to an external device, like a speaker jack or a pot. I am missing a critical device, an air-dielectric variable capacitor for tuning. I also haven’t found a case to build into yet (I want something in a nice vintage bakelite). So I’m a bit stuck right now. Once I get it all together, hopefully it just works.

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

Does anyone have, or where can I get, a 150-350 pF air-dielectric variable capacitor?

Assembly Begins

Originally uploaded by karavshin.

I spent a productive afternoon in my workshop putting together the vintage Czech bicycle that I blogged about many months ago. Since I last wrote, I had the frame and fork sandblasted and repainted, with a customized Favorit Logo and my bike’s title ‘VVV DE OLX OLX 206 206 206.”

I originally thought I’d toss out everything but the frame, replacing the components with new stuff. Then I thought, “why bother? it’s just a simple bike.” So the I ripped out the grease and dirt-encrused bottom bracket and spent an hour with a soapy brush, a can of lighter fluid, and a dremel tool wire wheel until I got the stuff all cleaned up and passable. None of the parts are in great condition, but certainly enough to give many many more kilometers of service before they need replaced.

The components are very typical 1980s-era Shimano. Nothing obscure. So I have all the tools necessary to work with it.

I do seem to have lost the cranks. I may have pitched them during a purge. At any rate, it doesn’t matter. I need to do some research on what transmission gearing to set up as a single-speed bike anyway.

The wheels are totally shot, but I have a new set for the bike.

I’m going to chop the handlebars into bullhorns and install a single, front caliper brake (the old-style Favorit calipers should work).

The seat is a hideous hard plastic thing, so I’ll have to replace that with some more period, or at least neater or more comfortable.

Took a scan of a tiny, ripped, dirty, poorly-printed Favorit sticker and tried to turn it into a vector logo.

Was an excuse to use Vector Magic more. It has some clever heuristic questions it asks during the import process and has a suprisingly good post-import editing function. Was much more like a client application than a web app.

Dirty Scan

Vectorized Logo

Oh man… it’s worse. I exported a png from Vector Magic. VectorMagic generated a 4-color vector file. When I imported the png into Illustrator, and re-traced it, Illustrator insisted on including a fifth color. Totally retarded. VectorMagic is clearly far superior. Hope Adobe buys them an incorporates their technology into Illustrator.

Spent some more time researching Czech intelligence agencies during the cold war, hoping to get some inspiration for my Favorit bicycle design.

Turns out their is very little that’s inspiring about the Czech StB, the Czechoslovakian secret police that functioned like the East German Stasi, feverishly crushing domestic dissent, real or imagined.

The only thing that attracted me was the former Czech numbers station OLX. I have a few recordings of it from the CONET Project. It broadcast across Europe and is known as the only numbers station that has ever acknowledged a QSL card!

Anyway, I’m thinking numbers stations, instructions to agents, dead drops, bicycles, urban, agents in plain view, simplicity and it occurs to me, “why not integrate a crystal radio receiver set into my bike?” I can wrap the tuning coil (insulated) around the seat tube, in attractive shiny copper wire. Now I need to think of a fun way to mount the crystal detector package. Finally it needs attachments for ground and antenna (could the bike frame be an antenna?). I guess I need to find an antique bicycle seat bag to keep the wires and ear piece in.

Any clever ideas how to do this? It needs to be highly aesthetic and stylish.

Ooh! I just had an idea how to integrate the antenna.

The frame has small attachment points for pannier racks on the read dropouts. I can thread one of those and permanently attach an antenna aerial line. Then I can keep that wrapped up in a tidy antique leather pouch mounted to the seatstay.

Uploaded with Skitch!

I am doing some research into Czechoslavakian intelligence and espionage activities between 1945 and 1985. I want to get some inspiration for how to detail my Czech Favorit bicycle.

I was reading through some ancient intelligence documents on Cryptome this evening, dated 29 December 1947. One document was apparently an analysis of a potential informer. This was written by some US Intelligence organ:

[Redacted] is obviously a small man of weak character, quarrelsome and devoid of tact. It is felt, therefore, that putting him in a position of trust and conidence is inadvisable. His penurious dishonesties and the smallness of his relations with his neighbors indicates strongly that intelligence necessary to operate as an undercover agent is lacking.

I love the wording of these comments. Reminds me of Jesse Reklaw’s “The Candidate”.

The “smallness of his relations with neighbors” was referred to earlier in the letter, mentioning neighbors accusing him of stealing “her wood (fuel) ration coupon and a pair of rabbits.”

In addition to replacing the hydraulic brake system of my Trek Liquid 20 this weekend, I also started working on my Czech Favorit singlespeed project.

First thing I did was rip the frame apart.  The bottom bracket came out easily (it’s english style) revealing bearings caked-in dried-out grease, but in mostly OK shape.  The fork put up much more of a fight.  The knob that helps tighten the stem/handlebars into the fork tube had totally rusted into a terrible, seized lump.  One clown at a shop suggested cutting the fork tube off (which wouldn’t have fixed anything anyway… the knob would have still been in there.  The other guy had a better idea and utilized his nice heavy workbench and monstrous vise.  He locked it down, twisted and turned and pulled, and it pried out.  Oh lord the amount of friction from that made the stem burning hot. Anyway, it is out.

So now I have a totally-disassembled frame.  Time to start prepping it for a paint job.  I first tried some paint remover. This stuff was horrible and toxic. The first thing I did was open the lid, and the can burped at me, spraying my neck with caustic jelly.  I seemed to be unable to use the jelly without getting burnt, so I decided to halt.  I flushed it down a street drain with a lot of water.  I don’t need that around the house with kid and dogs about.

Next I tried a wire wheel on my drill. This work but was slow-going.  I did about half the frame. It still looked rough. I wanted to see what the painting shop advised, so I rubbed it with some grease to prevent further corrosion and took it to a very interesting bike shop, The Rebound Centre.

The Rebound Centre is a fantastically interesting place.  Located in an industrial estate, it’s anything but a retail bike shop. They specialize in fabricating bespoke bicycles, repairing bicycles (cracked frames and other hardcore problems), and painting bicycles.  In addition to welding and painting equipment, they had a computer-controlled milling machine.  I saw them mid-job in taking a steel frame, cutting it at the top tube and the down tube, and silver-soldering in special joints from Cane Creek that allow you to break the bicycle into two pieces for transportation. That’s  precise work.

So turns out the Rebound Center actually sandblasts the frame anyway, so my wire wheel work was unnecessary.  Doh.  Anyway, I am glad I did it long enough to remind myself how much that kind of work sucks.  It’s already sand-blasted and primed. They tell me they need to fill in some of the rust pits to make it smooth.  I thought they powder-coated the frame, but in fact the spray it.  I saw many examples of their work, and it’s quite nice.

My lunchtime mission took me to a paint store in another industrial paint to pick out a color for the job.  I was told to get Dupont Centari 600 automobile paint.  I want the bike to look copper like a brass penny.  I managed to find a close fit, and from the Skoda line. Pleasing — the color I want from a line of Czech cars.  500ml cost me 19$.

I want to get a nice bike repair stand. Jim Langley recommended a Park Tool PRS3.   Sulaiman agreed that the Home Repair stands were too light and would kick around.  But instead of buying the heavy stand, he said to just buy a clamp and then they’d fabricate a very heavy steel stand and base for it locally, to avoid the expensive freight.  So I manage to get the top-of-the-line Park repair stand for the same price I’d buy a Home Repair stand from a local bike shop.

My paint job and stand should each be done in about 1.5 weeks. Then I’ll be able to start putting the bike together after that.

Favorit

Originally uploaded by karavshin.
I bought this old Czech road bike, manufactured by “Favorit” for USD 12.50 today. I’m going to rebuild it into a singlespeed commuter bike for myself. Does anyone know anything about this bike? The guy who sold it to me didn’t know much/anything about it.

I took the wrench to it and tore it down to parts.

The wheels are junk.

I got the bottom bracket off. The grease was all dried-out and dirt-thickened, but the races and the bearings actually seemed to be in ok shape.  I’ll have to find some old-fashioned cranks for the square axle.

I couldn’t get the headset off.  The wrenches I have for removing headset nuts are all too big.  I don’t want to do some obscene with vise-grips or channel-locks, so I will have to go find the suitable tool to remove the headset/fork.

The stem is very cool-looking and has a nice “favorit” embossed on it.  However, I’ll want to replace the handlebars.  Not sure how to get them off though…  the stem is not going to release the bars.  hmmm.

The seat is totally hideous. It’s like sitting on a smooshed batting helmet. awful.

The chainstays appear to have been slightly crushed by clamp-on kickstand (even though there is a mounting for a kickstand welded onto the frame).

The frame is quite quite rusty.  It will take a lot wire wheel work before it’s ready for painting. It had enough ambient rust that my nose was on the verge of sneezing the whole time. (rust makes me sneeze like a maniac)