The rain today inspired me to finish up my rainy day bike. We had a hectic morning which included an early event at the kids' school, a misunderstanding between us and reality, me loosing track of time and having to high tail it by foot from the school to my office to catch a 9am meeting. Luckily it's only six blocks and through the park a bit. Anyway, I hadn't been on a bike today and was feeling the need to do something bikey.
G had worked on the fenders a couple of days ago so we finished up that task. Fenders can be difficult, especially if you're robbing them off another, not so similar bike. I'd been thinking about putting VO porteur bars on this bike but wanted to flip the current bars first to see if that got me the look I was going for. It does. With the flipped bars I decided the old Raleigh cruiser seat wasn't the right look. I contemplated putting on an old Sprint leather saddle which came on a mid-60's Chicago made Schwinn we had for awhile. It just didn't work for me. I do want to figure out a use for this saddle though.
So I switched back to the seat which came on the bike. It actually isn't that bad, but then I've not ridden this bike any further than around the block, so we'll see. This bike has been a great exercise in frugality. We've been able to stick to modifications of the existing components or robbing from other bikes with a few exceptions.
Bike = $40
Bell = $12
Rack = $15
Half-clips = $18
Tires = $24
Total = $109
We need to make a couple of small fender adjustments and I still need to modify the Samsonite bag to use as a pannier. Aside from that, she's ready to ride....so I did....in the rain.
I'm only sneering because it was pouring.
That's a sweet looking little bike, especially for the price! A rainy day bike is essential :)
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