Thursday, March 20, 2014

Old Bikes, New Gimmicks


Here in California it's been sunny and warm for like 2 weeks. It's been so warm in fact, that I've started researching ways to stay cool. You see there's nice weather, the kind that doesn't require you to unzip your jersey, then there's half-unzipped jersey weather, and finally there's totally unzipped, flapping in the wind jersey weather. That's basically all the types of weather I know, but now I've learned there's a new kind of weather that requires you to pay $250 for a device that basically pisses on you.


Meet the KoldRush. A device that you've never needed, until NOW!




My favorite thing about this video is that neither of them ever acknowledge that they could just use a water bottle to do the exact same thing. Perhaps carrying an extra 5 pounds of water and AA batteries makes more sense. Especially since you can cool yourself off while you wait for your wife to pick you up when you get a flat tire. A flat tire that you can't fix because you've ditched your saddle bag for a water dispenser.


Save yourself some money and just do this:



Ancient technology called a "plastic water bottle".

In my last post I mentioned that a friend of mine found a bike in the trash. The bike was a Raleigh mixte and it looked like this:




It fit his wife so he asked me to get it set up for her to ride. Her only requirement was that she couldn't ride the bike with its current handle-bars. Her idea of a nice bike is just a beach cruiser so "roadie bars" were too weird for her. So I grabbed my tools and started working.

I started by hacking off the bars with a grinder. I know I should have pried the stem open but I couldn't find my good screwdriver so I ended up with this:

I lack finesse, apparently.


The new bars!
Then I tried to true the rear wheel which was so badly bent that I ended up cracking the nipples from over-tightening. When I learned the rim had a flat spot on it I ditched the wheels altogether and ordered some new ones.

The new wheels are rounder, true-er, and shiny-er than the old ones. I think that's an improvement.


Busted nipple. Did I mention I lack finesse?


The new wheels.
For a bike that was found in the trash it wasn't in bad shape. No obvious signs of rust, bearings were in good shape and the chain has plenty of life left in it. It needed brake pads, wheels and some serious derailler adjustments but it's more bike than what you can get at Wal-Mart or Target. You also get the satisfaction of knowing that someone put a lot of time into building this bike in the first place.

It's brown, I know but brown was cool at one point in history.
Here's some detail shots for the bike dorks:

Awesome details at the head tube.
Back in the day bike manufacturers branded the components even though they were made by someone else.
This bike was sold originally in Deerfield IL at "The Pony Shop".
The head tube is split into two narrow tubes with the rear brake cable in the middle.
SunTour downtube shifters.
Yes it's a Brooks but it's made of vinyl not leather, so don't get all excited.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for your comments about KoldRush. Some of your statements need clarification. First of all, it's not 5 lbs of water, it's 24 ounces. The entire objective of the KoldRush system is to eliminate the need to pour water out of your bottle while you're riding. If you have not seen the video, we show that the water reservoir sits under the seat, encased in a themo cover that keeps the water cold, and has a built-in tool kit. The system is not designed to piss on your head, it's actually designed to reduce the heat of your head. It has been proven scientifically that keeping your head cool increases your performance and reduces the chance of heat stroke. You're really not paying $250 to piss water on your head -- you're buying a system than can enhance your performance. Being a cyclist myself, I use this system and it works. Besides, it's a lot better than putting lettuce on my head. Please see the video and description again if you need clarification.
    Thank you so much for your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Scott, you're very welcome. I'm glad you appreciated my in-depth coverage of the KoldRush. For the record I did watch all of your promotional videos and accompanying material. After that, I still felt your product was redundant. Squirting water on my head with a water bottle provides the same refreshment as the KoldRush. If you think I still require clarification perhaps you should also clarify the same for Mr. BikeSnob. He's come to the same conclusion as I have and he is the foremost authority on bike-snobbery. I've provided a link of his summation of the KoldRush below for your convenience.

      Stay cool. Or should I say, "StayKool"?

      http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2014/04/water-is-essence-of-wetness-and-wetness.html

      Delete
  2. Hmm, I *just* tried the lettuce-on-my-head technique and I do have to say that the KoldRush is marginally more effective, so Scott here may have a point. That aside, the Raleigh looks great! Except... you didn't leave the reflectors on, so you might as well put it back in the dumpster where you found it.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete