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ang1sgt

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Jun 5, 2009
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Found this site by accident, but love the breadth of it. Seems like you welcome all from restorers
to Rat Rodders.

Me, I am currently a Full Time Bike Mechanic working at a high end Bicycle Shop. Very high paced, very high
strung customers and it wears on me. The folks I love to talk too are the one''s that are doing restorations
on much loved bikes. I'd rather put a set of wide whites on an old Schwinn than work on a new Road bike.

I started in the Mechanic world as soon as I could find my way into my Dad's tool box. (Thanks Dad! Miss you tons!)
Worked sweeping and cleaning at a local Schwinn Store in my youth. Joined the USAF in 1974 and got out of cycling for a bit, but learned more wrenching skills working on Jet Fighters.

Worked at various Bike Shops part time to keep myself in cheap parts, cheap tools and the like. Started working at my current shop about 3 years ago, Part Time, until my main source of income/job downsized me. Cards lined up and I got the Full Time position at the shop.

I always need to have a project going. I am tired of the run of the mill Road or MTB or Hybrid. Work on too many of them to care. Souless mechanic beasts that seem to have no half-life at all.

Started looking at my Father In Laws 55 Rollfast I have in the garage. He gave it to me many years ago and I need to get it back on the road. When I started looking around for resources, I found this site. Hopefully, I'll start the rebuild and document it in these pages.

I want to thank all of you for giving a glimpse into what you love to do.

Chris
 
Welcome to the forum Chris.....glad to have another mechanic around for advice! :wink:

Just curious....when you say you found the site by accident...how exactly did that happen?
 
Rat Rod,

I think I found the site when I was doing a Google search on Bendix 2 speed Hubs. I've been lurking now for about a week
and between the call I got yesterday about a Woman that wants to re-do her old Schwinn and that Old Rollfast sitting in the garage, I decided I'd better start doing something with it.

I took some Before shots this morning and I'll post those sometime soon. Looks like the Rollfast is not as old as I thought. It's got a Bendix RB-2 Coaster Brake on it which means early 60's to be sure. I've not found any serial numbers, the head badge is gone, and what little is left of the seat tube decal leads me to believe early 60's.
 
WELCOME!.............Old man!
 
Welcome and Greetings from another old guy from Upstate. I'm in Indianapolis now but lived at the head end of Seneca & Cayuga Lakes for 20 years. I could never go back to that much snow again but I have a brother that loved cycling there so much he did move back into the Webster area. Have fun!
 
Thanks Everyone!

I guess my first love and hobby has always been Bicycles. Worked at a shop as a teenager sweeping floors and then learning to build bikes. By the summer I joined the service, they had me doing some wrenching. I hated to leave, but duty called and off I went. Worked on the flightline bikes as a sideline to my regular job in the USAF. Some of these bikes were SO BAD off. No one cared for them and they were just appliances for most folks.

Gosh, I really like this forum. The ideas and the thought put into some of these creations is just amazing! I hope I can get my grand son interested in wrenching and the bike I am working on just might do it.

Thanks Folks!
 
Show your grandson this site and you should have no problem getting him inspired to build his own ride. I wish I had access to something like this when I was BMX'ing my way through the 80's.
 
My grandson is into cool things. Right now he can't envision what I am really doing. He's only 5!
Reminds me of the time I had him at the Bike shop and I was working on building up my tool box. Had him helping me put the new tools away into it and he asked what this one tool was. It was a new Metal File. He asked what it was used for, and I showed him, I put a piece of scrap metal in the vise, pulled up a stool for him to sit at and showed him what to do. My new mechanic was watching this and he said, "that was more instruction than I ever got before this!" LOL!
 

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