How does he do that?.. Danny MacAskill

When I was alot younger my friends and I would gather on our bikes in the little park at the back of our houses. We'd construct ramps out of old bricks and bits of board that we'd found lying around and spend the afternoon taking turns to race off the end...hoping that we wouldn't be the one to fall off and embed six tons of gravel in our knees (which, with a sinkfull of dettol, our mums would have to carefully pick out later). Jumping off the top of that ramp felt like a real achievement, particularly on my mates grifter, which had 3 gears and weighed as much as a car. It's summers spent in the park falling off my bike that make me appreciate how amazing guys like Danny MacAskill are, someone showed me this video the other day and its blown me away- have a look and see what you think

Knitting bikes

I think its fair to say that my partner is as passionate about knitting as I am about bikes. Living with a knitter means that I'm never short of a jumper or two, living with a bike addict means that my partner is forever bored to death with endless conversations about small bits of bicycle. The other day when talking about a couple of bikes that had come in with nasty saddles we got to talking about what the possibilites might be. Up until that point damaged seats were removed and stored in a dark corner of the workshop...until some remedy could be found for their decrepid state. She disappeared and returned a couple of hours later with this solution...

 A fabulous knitted seat cover!

...and in her other hand was this, a bike sock to protect the frame from nasty boots and heavy locks....thanks chicken!

Recycled saddlebag

Sometimes its nice to get away on the bike with no more than a puncture kit and a drink. I used to have a lovely leather brooks tool bag that sat under my seat for exactly this purpose, but age got the better of it and after making a few repairs to the straps i've decided to retire it. Sitting there instead now is my tetrapack saddle bag- made from a recycled milk carton, its cheap, easy to make and less likely to be stolen. Here's how to make your own...

Your going to need, an old drinks container, a couple of old spokes, some gaffa/ duct tape, a pair of pliers, a holepunch and a sharp knife/ scalpel.

using the scalpel, cut into the side of the carton across the two shorter edges and ONE of the longer edges

This should leave you with a flap which (hopefully) will still be attached to the carton, if its not- find another carton and start again!

Next up you'll need to make yourself some buckles, take your pliers and your spoke and bend it into a buckle

Buckle making takes a little practice but is really easy to do, they should look like this (look left) when they're done

Your buckles should be the same width as the straps you're going to make. Using a length of duct tape attach your buckle to one end. I never realised how difficult it was to cut a length of duct tape- after several aborted attempts I ended up asking for help to hold one end.

With the buckle attached and at the top, begin to wrap the length of duct tape around the back of your carton- at the front trim the tape to meet the edge of your carton.

You will now have your buckle attached to the back of your carton. In order for the saddlebag to attach to the seat you'll need another length of duct tape which is attached in line with the first buckle on the underside of your flap.  Stick this around the flap and onto the outside face until the second piece of tape has reached the buckle. 

 Fold over this length of duct tape so that you now have a strip of tape which is joined by its two sticky edges and forms a strip which will fit into the buckle

Your carton saddlebag should look something like this. You now have a saddlebag which is perfectly functional- you can hold the flap closed with a piece of string or innertube tied around the outside.  I use a tag to hold mine closed- if you'd like to do the same read on...

 To hold the flap down (to keep the weather out) you're going to need a leftover piece of spoke, a piece of inner tube, some pliers and some scissors....and some more duct tape!

Stick a piece of Duct tape onto the flap in the middle of your saddlebag

Make a hole in the new piece of tape on the flap. With the flap held closed mark on the main carton where the hole sits, reinforce with more duct tape and make a hole which should then line up with the hole on the flap.

From the piece of spoke cut off two short pieces from which you are going to make a treasury tag, using the piece of inner tube

It should look like this, either snip a small hole 1/3 of the way down each end of the inner tube and thread the bits of spoke through or simply snip the ends and tie a knot.

Here it is, finished and attached to the bike. Due to its un-environmentally friendly plasticied in/ outside, these cartons are remarkably weather resistant...as is the duct tape.

As with most things, its easy to make if you know how- if you get stuck making yours drop me a line and i'll try to help.

Tools you can make...

Like most cyclists, I've a growing collection of tools- some useful, some not, some that rarely get used and others that never seem to leave my hand.

The best of these is my chain retainer- which I use when taking the chain off and stops the chain from springing back when you pop the rivit out with your chain-breaker. It was completely free and made out of an old spoke- why not make your own...here's how

Find a spare spoke and a pair of sturdy pliers

Snip off the end and then bend the spoke, using the pliers into this (look left!) shape. Once you've done this, do the same at the other end. Make sure you tidy up the ends 'cause they'll be a bit sharp.

Thats it, all finished- all you need now is a reason to take your chain off! Enjoy!

Bike wheel fence update....

Last year, in an effort to stop our determined pooch from pooping on everything, we put together a quick fence out of a few bike wheels we had lying around ( click here for the original post). As you can see it still there, the dog hasn't yet managed to find a way through and as a result we've had a bumper crop of gooseberries, strawberries and a few raspberries...Brilliant.

Bikes I wish i'd never sold

Over the years I think I've probably had just about every kind of bike, I've been lucky enough to have had most of the bikes that I'd have ever want to have ridden. Unfortunately I've not always been able to hang on to the bikes that I've bought, usually due to poverty or arrival of Christmas. At one point I had been due to move away and sold the bikes I couldn't justify taking with me...only for the 'Big move' to fall apart at the last minute leaving me with no new adventure and a greatly diminished bike collection. I guess this must be my top 5 bikes that I wish I still had and am unlikely to see again

This was my Sun Supalite, made in Birmingham prior to Raleigh taking it over and ruining it. Not sure of what it was made of but nice and light. Bluemels mudguards, brooks saddle, 5 speed. I still have the wheels and am currently using them on my John Atkins.

I can't even find a proper picture of this bike- I only have this picture taken just after the previous owner had pulled it out of his dad's garage to sell it.







Made (or sold by) 'Two Wheels Good', a bike shop (now closed) up north somewhere (Leeds?) I think. Came with a 531 frame and reasonable bits and bobs- this bike took me to uni and back for 3 years without a whimper.

This is a brillant piece of kit which I bought when I was commuting  alot- its a Rudge Bi-frame. Definitely one of the best full sized folding bikes i've ever ridden. Made under licence from Montague
who I think make bikes for the US military, so proven technology.



  

(copyright Adhiyara)

15 years ago old Moultons didn't seem to command the massive prices that they do now, I never really understood why at time because they are fantastic.







I managed to buy a Moulton Speed and a Moulton Standard for £30 from a guy locally who was clearing out his garage. Brilliant in the city, good for carrying loads of stuff (I moved house with mine) and fast. They've chalked up countless records and achievements- have a look here.

Everyone should own a Pashley at least once. There is nothing quite like riding a Pashley, always comfortable, endlessly reliable and easy to fix.







 I managed to pick up this retired Royal Mail Pashley for £26 in a bit of a sorry state. After a day of cleaning, oiling and puncture fixing it was back on the road again. You can carry a huge amount of stuff on these- I used to use mine to take parcels to the post office once a week- stacked so high that I'd just be able to see over the basket at the front.

Writing this has reminded me of all the other bikes that I wish I'd kept, Tandems, Bromptons, cool MTB's, choppers, racers and the odd 80's BMX. I suppose the reality is though, that if I had kept them I'd be very short of space and probably very lonely because my family certainly wouldn't want to live with them!

Boris Bikes

A recent trip to London finally gave me the chance to have a sit on one of the Boris bikes. The bike hire scheme in London seems to have been amazingly successful- everywhere you go in London now there's someone nipping past on one...I wasn't brave enough to take a trip out -I was a little too easily distracted by the bright lights and big city to be safe. I understand the scheme is open to visitors in much the same way as Oyster cards for the underground are- so if you're feeling brave you can find out more about hiring a bike here

Having had a good sit on one now i'm not sure i'd want to spend a long time cycling one, they weigh a fair bit...somewhere around 23kg which (although great for toning flabby legs) is two and a half times the weight of the bike I ride most days- despite this, one was recently ridden the 450 miles from Newcastle back to London. There's some great blogs out there dedicated to a growing community of Boris bikers- you can join in here

London is a fantastic city for cycling and cyclists, it seems that everywhere you look there's an old moulton, a vintage tourer or a fab fixie resting casually against a railing...I'm popping back in a week or two so will try and get a few more pictures of the best.

Recycled tyres- Make your own grips

Being a little keen on recycling and alot poor has sometimes lead to some great solutions, particularly when fixing the bikes. I've found one of the trickiest bits to reuse has been the old cycle tyres which are nowhere near as versatile as the inner tubes they protect. Not so long ago I decided to try and make some grips for a bike that I had been given which other than the grips was perfect- very much to my amazement they turned out to be fantastic- have a look...

If you'd like to make your own this is what you have to do...






Cut yourself a piece of tyre roughly about the size of the grip you want to make-











Its easier if you hold it to the handlebar to get an approximate size. When measuring make sure you measure the width properly- too wide and it won't grip the bar, not wide enough and it'll have an irritating gap.









Mark out and drill/ poke small holes at roughly a finger width apart along both sides of your grip sized bit of tyre- its much easier if you drill the holes, but make sure you put something behind it and keep fingers out of the way











You will now have a bit of old tyre with several holes in it- should look a bit like this...











Using a piece of scrap inner tube 'lace' the piece of tyre as you would a shoe- joining the two long edges together- I used an old punch to aid with the poking











It should begin to look like this...












Once finished, tie the ends of the inner tube off and fit to the bike. I've found that the tyre grip grips the handlebar better if you first wrap it with a small piece of inner tube. If you have any to hand- pop a old cork in each of the bar ends to finish it off.



As always I'm assuming a reasonable level of tool competance and dexterity, if you feel you may injure yourself in attempting to make the grips please don't as I accept no responsibility for any injuries resulting.

How to make a quick single speed (Part 3)

If you have all of your bits and pieces and plenty of time, putting a bike back together again should be the easy bit. If you've followed the single speed project ( Part 1, Part 2 ) you'll have a stripped down frame, a pair of wheels and a pile of bits leftover from when the bike was originally taken apart. At this stage its up to you to decide whether you're going to reuse some of these bits or whether your going to find some nicer, shinier bits for your new steed. I ended up using the same handlebars, but replaced the brake levers for some nice old school Leechi levers.





After stripping down the red frame I decided that the frame wasn't quite big enough for me, so I swapped it for this one which I had been using and had partially stripped down for repair.













The only difficulty using this frame presented was that the brake calipers I had didn't quite fit alongside the bosses for the V brakes that i'd removed- I therefore had to make a little adjustment by trimming the bosses down












For the next part you'll need for following tools which you'll have probably already used in the other parts. You'll need a chain splitter, a adjustable spanner, a socket ratchet and a 14mm socket.










You'll also need to source a single speed 3 piece crank and a 1/8" sized chain, which typically you'll find on an old 3 speed bike (you can pick both of these up used on ebay for a few pounds). Remember that if you intend to use the same axle that you'll need to get a cotterless crank.

Bmx's use a 1/8" chain, but although of a similar size for the purpose of making a bodged single speed the older chain seems to work better.



Now you'll need to loosely assemble your bike, I tend to put the wheels into the frame so that the bike is at standing height for me to work on- if you have a bike work stand you can stick the wheels on later. I also put on things like handlebars so that i can get the brake levers roughly in place and can begin to get a sense of what the bike is going to look like.





With this done you can stick the crank back on, make sure the nut is done up nice and tight.













Next, thread the chain onto the rear sprocket and over the new chainwheel and fix it back together again with your chaintool.










Finally, with your chain connected and your wheels loosely attached adjust the tension in the chain bike moving the wheel, when you are satisfied with the tension tighten the wheel nuts. Too tight and the chain will wear and snap, too loose and it'll just fall off.




All thats left to do now, is to fit the cables, properly attach and adjust the handlebars, brake levers, seat and post- you should now have a very basic but beautiful homemade single speed

Homemade bungee- strong enough to hold a.....

Its amazing how many things you can use bits of a bike for. One of the best and most versatile bits has to be the inner tubes, I have a million and five uses for them. I reckon the simplist and most useful though is as a luggage bungee. I use these all the time when moving bikes on the trailer- mainly because they are so strong.


.....which got me to thinking...how strong are they? In a not very scientific experiment conducted over a very short period of time (and not by a scientist) I discovered that they were in fact very very strong.









They were strong enough to hold most of the pans from my cupboard....


















...strong enough to hold up 5 litres of lovely magnolia paint

















...and strong enough to hold up my daughters bike, the bungee was so strong in fact that I lost my nerve before it broke!







If you'd like to make your own bungee's you'll need one inner tube, an old spoke (or two), and some scissors- the spoke is used to make the hook for the end, you can just use the tube by itself as a tie down but it does make life easier and quicker if you have the hooks on the end.

Simply cut the tube to the length you want and the width of your thumb. Shape the spokes to the shape you want ensuring that on one end you make an eye for the tube to thread through and on the other end you make the hook. Now thread the tube through the hooks and voila!.... A free bungee.

NB- I accept no responsibility for any replication of my bungee test, there is a very real possibility that suspending weighty items with a homemade bungee will result in real injury.