Backchaining already

So, I started on the brakes this afternoon. I knew I'd probably need new brake pads, and I was right; the present brake pads were petrified -- although not quite as badly as I expected, they weren't crumbling off yet. Pulled the old pads to take along when I get new ones and discovered that one pad was missing entirely. Guess it's a good thing I decided to wait on test-riding the bike until I can be sure of the brakes.

The brakes themselves seem to be in decent shape, with most of their stiffness being corroded cables (add cables to the shopping list). Oil and a bit of work with a wire brush should do for them, but the brake levers... well, I couldn't get the old cable out of the lever for the front brake. Not sure if the lever's little cable-slot is bent or the cable is just thickened by corrosion. They're pretty rust-spotted anyway, so I'll check prices and what's available these days is a similar style and maybe just replace them as well. Good thing I was expecting to take at least a year on this, it's beginning to look like it'll take that long to finance it.

I'll also be keeping an eye open for a new kickstand; the one on it now tends to collapse given the slightest excuse. I'd like to get one of those cool double kickstands for the Bumblebee, which falls over pretty much whenever it's parked on a hill, or grass, or anywhere at all with the trailer attached... so maybe I can use the old one on Herc without it falling over all the time.

Some more start-condition photos:

 

 

Rear rack... 

And a front rack! 

Coolest fenders ever? 

The whole grip turns to shift

 

Chain guard, a little bent out of shape

3-speed hub, eventually, I hope  

Not sure why there are buckles? on the saddle; more research needed...

 

Level 1 bike nerd

After a year as an apprentice wrencher at the Walk N Roll shop, I've "levelled up" to full bike-nerdhood (nerd-dom? nerdness?) by bringing home a backup bike... that doesn't actually work yet. It sort of works -- or will once I tune up the brakes and replace the pads -- but it doesn't shift. The internally geared hub, which I'll be keeping because I'm a big fan of internal gears, is missing not only its cable, but its index chain. So I've got some work ahead of me.

My primary bike is an 8-speed Breezer Uptown with all the bells and whistles, which I love but which weighs as much as a small horse and needs its gears serviced annually (I'm not quite up to doing that myself yet, but maybe next year). That means it spends a week in the shop every January, during which time I'm stuck with the bus to get everywhere (I got rid of my car in 2016; which makes some people treat me oddly, but some people are like that). I'd been thinking about getting a second bike to use during that time and in case of other issues with what I call "the Bumblebee," but I'd been thinking on the lines of a super-light, wide-tired racer sort of thing that would finally make me learn to use derailleurs.

 Then someone brought this broken-down 1964 AMF Hercules into the shop, with fluted fenders, a very late-50s-futuristic rear rack, a FRONT rack, and a 3-speed internal hub. And a good deal of exposure to the weather. The guys at the shop were calling it "the Jetsons bike" and trying to justify keeping it, but because of the missing index chain it eventually went into the "donate elsewhere" pile and became available to volunteers. So after a bit of waffling on my part, it came home with me.  

I'm calling it "Hercules Jetson," or "Herc" for short. Apparently you're supposed to name your bikes when you're a bike nerd....