Monster Cross Junker Junker Klunker

[us56456712]

 

[KOTA]

I can't think of a better use for a new Columbia.....I have to say new, old, whatever, that frame looks NICE!

 

[scrumblero]

Love the stem!!

 

[squirreldh]

Those hubs!

keep the rubber side down!

 

[OddJob]

I dig the concept, and the parts pile! RaT oN!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice pile of parts for sure!

 

[us56456712]

Well it's a nice pile but I can't find My MAFAC front canti brake and I also can't find the left crank arm. I have had this stuff for years and why it got separated from my semi organized parts boxes is beyond me. I have been tearing my shop apart but I can't find them. If I don't find them this project is dead in the water. If I had the left crank arm I could slap it together with my 26 x 1 3/8 wheel set with a coaster brake and ride it in tomorrow nights gravel grinder. This was my planned test but it isn't happening. I have a set of 700C wheels but no tires yet. I want to race it June 3, but that will be tight to finish. Nuts!

 

[sdframe]

I bet you will find a a way. You have all of us cheering you on.

 

[Funkme]

Been looking for a stem like that, it seems everyone has gone nuts on pricing.
Goodluck in the build-off same great parts in that lot.

 

[squirreldh]

All the Mafac stuff I come across gets forwarded to a friend, or else I might have had a set of cantis for ya keep searching, hoping you make the race in June!

keep the rubber side down!

 

[us56456712]

A little progress. I found My MAFAC brakes but one spring is missing. I'll probably have to move the brake bosses up to accommodate

the 700c rims? I still can't find my left crank arm. I'll keep looking but I have pretty much exhausted all the places. Hope I didn't toss it?

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Glad you found the brakes!

 

[kingfish254]

This is gonna be a sharp looking bike!
Love the frame/tank/parts you have planned.

 

[squirreldh]

I have some random left arms floating around, but I dont think I have one that matches that SR Maxy crank if I did it would be yours!

keep the rubber side down!

 

[us56456712]

I moved and my computer broke so I haven't posted since early May. I just got a new computer but don't know how to get pictures into it. Anyway, the bike was done and I rode it 70 miles in Hiawatha's Revenge gravel grinder June 3. I rode it single track prior to the Revenge to work out the bugs and got a flat. Stan's Sealant took care of that. Because it is a single speed with road gearing the chain side plates popped on a 600 foot one mile climb while I was training for a cross country race last Friday. I missed the race last Saturday as it started at 7 AM. After the chain explosion I didn't have a good replacement. It now has a double step riveted 8 speed chain and that is holding. The bottom bracket must have been made out of unhardened steel as it kept wearing loose every 10 to 20 miles. It now has a sealed bottom bracket. The Chinese $7.50 23 tooth freewheel is very noisy and may blow at any time but so far it works with a lot of clicking. I have put many miles on it (gravel, path, road and single track). It's an all around bike that does a lot of different things, but none of them well. It's best suited as a single speed gravel grinder. It's too lightly built for me to be real comfortable with on single track so I plan to retire it from that before it gets permanently damaged. At first I thought the gearing was too low but I was able to climb all the sand hills at the start of the Revenge and was very glad for the 39 x 23 gearing on the hills, especially after about 60 miles. I coasted down all the hills as I would spin out anyway. It is really fun to ride. I'll try and see if I can figure out how to load pictures into this machine and I hope to post a picture.

 

[us56456712]

Rear brake, 1910 - 1930s Philco center pull. It's long so it reaches on the repop Columbia frame. It has a fancy stamped plate that fits on the back so that it could slide between the seat stays to accommodate chain stretch or different gearing on the old single speed race bikes. Right now it is bolted to the seat stay and has no adjustment. When I get my shop out of storage I will fabricate a plate to mount the brake to so it can slide for adjustment. I will also cut out the chain stay brace where the kick stand was mounted and move that forward. This will give me the ability to fit different gears. I'm calling it done but they never seem to be.

moved brake bosses to fit 700c rims

The brake bosses were too low so I built a jig and moved them up.

It's been strange weather for 3 seasons here. We had a warm winter so I rode almost every day as the city bike paths was clear. Spring has been very cold, overcast with a lot of rain. The leaves still weren't all fully out on June 18 and they are always all out by Memorial Day. What was real weird was that the small oak and maple trees are turning red in many places. They are confused and think it's fall, before all the trees have fully develop leaves. It was 36F up here at Spincich Lake on the first day of summer! I think it has only reached into the 70F twice all year. Lots of mosquitos.

The finish of Hiawatha's Revenge

Trail groomer at the finish of the Revenge.

Homemade jig

Coordinates for the Revenge

I decided to use my Brooks saddle on my vintage Peugeot road bike as the Ideal leather saddle got badly cut during the move. I recovered an old seat with red leather from a thrift store suitcase and used that saddle instead of the Brooks. I think I will use the Ideal saddle on my 1940 DX Klunker. This new computer has me confused, I can't figure out how to get the pictures in order.

 

[us56456712]

The reproduction so called 1952 Columbia was purchased last winter for $149 from Sam's Club. I bought it to use the parts on a 1938 CWC woman's frame that my daughter wanted me to fix up. The frame was sitting around and I decided to use it for this BO. I got two bikes out of one Sam's Club bike.

 

[OddJob]

Rear brake, 1910 - 1930s Philco center pull. It's long so it reaches on the repop Columbia frame. It has a fancy stamped plate that fits on the back so that it could slide between the seat stays to accommodate chain stretch or different gearing on the old single speed race bikes. Right now it is bolted to the seat stay and has no adjustment. When I get my shop out of storage I will fabricate a plate to mount the brake to so it can slide for adjustment. I will also cut out the chain stay brace where the kick stand was mounted and move that forward. This will give me the ability to fit different gears. I'm calling it done but they never seem to be.
View attachment 54766
moved brake bosses to fit 700c rims
View attachment 54760 The brake bosses were too low so I built a jig and moved them up.
View attachment 54758 View attachment 54763 It's been strange weather for 3 seasons here. We had a warm winter so I rode almost every day as the city bike paths was clear. Spring has been very cold, overcast with a lot of rain. The leaves still weren't all fully out on June 18 and they are always all out by Memorial Day. What was real weird was that the small oak and maple trees are turning red in many places. They are confused and think it's fall, before all the trees have fully develop leaves. It was 36F up here at Spincich Lake on the first day of summer! I think it has only reached into the 70F twice all year. Lots of mosquitos.

The finish of Hiawatha's Revenge
View attachment 54765

Trail groomer at the finish of the Revenge.
View attachment 54764
Homemade jig
View attachment 54759

View attachment 54761 View attachment 54762
Coordinates for the Revenge
View attachment 54767 View attachment 54769
I decided to use my Brooks saddle on my vintage Peugeot road bike as the Ideal leather saddle got badly cut during the move. I recovered an old seat with red leather from a thrift store suitcase and used that saddle instead of the Brooks. I think I will use the Ideal saddle on my 1940 DX Klunker. This new computer has me confused, I can't figure out how to get the pictures in order.

That last pic in this post would make a perfect final pic for the Finished Build thread!

That is one unique and cool gravel grinder! Are you really in the drops that much that the brake levers are mounted that low?

Would love to see a ride vid with you charging through the U.P. on this! Nice job!

 

[us56456712]

That last pic in this post would make a perfect final pic for the Finished Build thread!

That is one unique and cool gravel grinder! Are you really in the drops that much that the brake levers are mounted that low?

Would love to see a ride vid with you charging through the U.P. on this! Nice job!

I use the drops all the time on single track and about a third of the time on gravel. The drops are really comfortable with so many hand positions on long gravel rides. I think we only saw 2 cars during the whole 70 miles of the Revenge so you could be relaxed and not worry about braking. The terrain is pretty flat as there was only 2000 feet of climb in the 70 miles I did. I coasted down all the hills to conserve energy and to prevent spinning out so I didn't use the brakes on the downhills. I have no problem with the drops on single track either. It has been so cloudy and rainy that I can't get good light for a picture. I went to the the small falls with the intention of getting a pic for the Build Off but the sun didn't shine when I was there. I hope to get a better picture with more light. We are in the final days of moving to our cabin on the lake and I will have to get a set up for the net as we will be semi off grid (no cable or cell phone service). We are using the computer right now mainly to cancel stuff. Our cabin is in the woods in the Hiawatha National Forrest and I have incredible riding of all types, right out my door. I have a secret single track course I laid out but it needs to have the ferns cut out now so you can see the track. I like the idea of a video and may try that if we get hooked up before the build off ends.

 

[kingfish254]

I really like how this one turned out.
I am going to have to keep my eyes peeled for one of those new Columbias.
Nice work!