Bikehacks reader Will, who sent us this great headlight hack also sent us a couple of links to some nice hacks. The first one is this nice little drilling job done by stinky pete on the front brake pads of a 1974 Raleigh tourist rod-brake 3-speed…pete explains:
Photo credits go to stinky pete
This one is for replacement brake pads for the front rod-brakes only. These pads were a little longer than the originals & as such wouldn’t work when mounted in the original mounting holes. Since these pads are hard to find in my area, I improvised & drilled holes where they would work.
The second one is also by stinky pete, and very interesting to say the least. Its a no-weld swing bike constructed from “…cheap Wal-Mart MTB crap” and a little elbow grease.
Photo credits go to stinky pete
Since I don’t know how to weld or have access to such equipment, I figured I’d build this without welding. This started as a cheep duel suspension MTB. I cut off the lower half of the down tube, along with the front mount for the rear shock. I likely could have retained the original multi-geared drive train, but since this was my first try at a swing bike I decided to keep it simple with a coaster brake. I left the front brake on incase I need it, but I recommend not grabbing a handful of brake on this bike…
The key here is the bar-stock I used for the seat post, as it goes all the way down to the bottom bracket where it’s secured with a self taping screw. The blue back half of the frame is steel. It’s all one piece so the drive train doesn’t care. The silver front half of the frame is aluminum, and the seat tube swivels around the steel seat post with a post clamp on the seat post it’s self so that it stays put. Because the aluminum rubs around the steel, I lube it with 80/90 weight gear oil.
All in all, the bike rides pretty well in a straight line & almost feels normal besides a little “float”. The fun comes in when you throw your hips out while turning, and once you get the frame to pivot it can be held there as you ride by leverage through the bars. Also very tight turning radiuses are possible. Ideally though this particular design restricts your peddling while the frame is crossed up. True swing-bikes don’t have anything to get in the way below there top tubes, so they can latterly be ridden with there wheels beside each other…
Hear is a nice vid about swing bikes:
Thats a nice hood ornament with the rastaman vibration (2:53)…
UPDATE ON THE SWING BIKE: SOLD at auction at the 29th Annual Ann Arbor/Saline, Michigan Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet April 26th, 2009. Sorry folks, but at my age on the occasions that this bike rode me I though it better to pass it on to some one who healed faster than I. Build your own and have some fun! It wasn’t that hard to do…
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