Should I Try to Bike Year Round on My Vintage Bike?
Dear year-round bike commuters,
I have a lovely 1969 Robin Hood which is in fine shape and rides well on my commute to and from work nearly every day (now that I am no longer doing the preschool drop-off — yay!) but it has some limitations.
1. Lighting
In the fall, I'll start to need lights front and rear to ride home in the dark from work. Right now, the headlight works but turns off when I'm not moving, and it's not very bright. Plus, the bottle dynamo makes a loud whining noise and creates a lot of drag on the wheel.2. Brakes
I replaced the old brakes with Kool Stop pads, but braking is still less than great because of the steel rims. I don't trust the brakes on rainy days and choose to ride my cargo bike instead.3. Winter Tires
I have no idea if it makes any sense to swap in studded tires to a bike like this.Choices
That's the reality of this bike. It has a ride quality that is amazing and probably irreplaceable, but maybe I can make some adjustments and ride this bike at least through the fall! I could- build aluminum wheels
- replace the brake cables
- buy battery powered LED lights
- find out if studded tires would work on this bike
Should I just buy a new bike, though? There's the Bobbin, the Detroit, the Brooklyn, all looking splendid. A new bike would give me the option to build in hub dynamo lighting. The braking would be great (read: new), and it would probably be easier to swap in studded tires.
My third option is riding the Boda Boda in the dark and rain, and I am keeping that bike for cargo-carrying purposes, but it's really Too Much Bike for my everyday commute, unfortunately. So that's my least favorite option.
What do you think, oh wise bike commuting experts?
Hey, there. As far as I know, nobody makes studded tires in 26 x 1 3/8 (a.k.a. 590mm, a.k.a. English 3-speed size). So, if studs are a priority, you either need to get another bike, or lace the current hubs to different-sized rims. Different-sized rims would definitely require different-length spokes, which, added to the wheelbuilder's labor, could start to get you into some money. It'd definitely be cheaper just to switch the current spokes over to new aluminum rims (a must, for all-weather commuting) in the same size, but then you couldn't get the studded tires. If you were to change the rim size, your best bet might be 650B (a.k.a 584mm); Nokan A10 studded tires are available in that size from Peter White: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp . As for lights: even five years ago, I would have said that battery-powered lights were no match for dynamo lights, but the battery life really has been improving lately, esp. with the USB-rechargeable ones (I've had good luck with Cygolight). OTOH, you might be able to find a vintage Raleigh Dynohub, which would fit in your Robin Hood's fork spacing and would power modern LED lights adequately. But all this assumes that you really, really love this bike, enough to take some fairly significant trouble, in addition to spending what might be close to the cost of a new bike. OT(third)H, it'd be a pretty unique bike, in the end. Your call?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this comment. I'm getting similar advice from my bike-mechanic friend. His advice was to get a cheap modern bike for the winter commute and (as you said) get USB-powered LED lights. I do love the Robin Hood, but you're right that it might not be worth the trouble to make it a winter bike. And furthermore, as another vintage bike guy said to me on Twitter, I probably shouldn't risk the steel rusting on this bike, either.
DeleteIt might not be the trouble to make your Robin Hood a true "winter" bike, i.e. studded tires, but if you dig the way your bike rides, I say go for making the bike work better for you! I've owned an old Raleigh three speed for the last five years, and I've used it for my basic transportation and commuting through Portland's rainy winters. I modernized the wheels and added dynamo lighting. Wheel modernization isn't cheap, per se, but it does improve braking power, and since you're building a new front wheel, you can get a dynamo hub in there as well. (You can leave the rear wheel as steel for now.) If you don't want to go that far, you can try the leather-faced brake pads made by Fibrax, which are supposed to work better at stopping wet steel rims than anything else. You can replace the headlight/taillight with modern LED dynamo powered lights (about $100) while still using the bottle dynamo, or just go for some decent USB rechargeable lights.
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