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Thora Buckner
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This will take time, and for now I will have to put this Blog, the Registry and the Online Store on hold. The Dave Moulton Group Facebook was a good way to stay in touch with everyone but for whatever reason my FB account was cancelled, and they would not even correspond with me to rectify the problem.
I bought my first guitar in 1988 when I was 52 years old. It took me a year or so to master a few basic chords and I started writing songs. As had happened before in my life, I was in the right place at the right time. I was located southeast of Los Angeles and Hollywood, and within driving distance.
I was realistic of course, this late in life I was not looking to earn a living playing music, but success is not based solely on money. I was a skilled engineer; it is what I did before I built bikes. I had no problem finding a good paying day job.
If one wants to become good at any art form, it behooves them to start out in an environment where the competition is the strongest, which is what I did. When other songwriters at a level above where I was at the time, told me my songs were good, it brought joy and satisfaction in what I did.
Fast forward to the beginning of this year, (2023.) and my songwriting friends were telling me I should record my songs, if only for my close friends and family. The project started out as a normal 12 song album or collection on a single CD, then I realized I had songs in excess of this amount and finished with a total or 25 songs on two CDs.
I produced a quality hard cover companion book of the song lyrics and the stories behind each song. The two CDs are stowed inside the front and back covers. If you would like an advanced copy of the book and CDs the cost for the complete package is $16.00. Postage is included in the USA. Email me at davesb...@gmail.com, and I will send a PayPal invoice. Be sure to include your mailing address.
I missed posting last week because of computer problems and had to order a new PC. This was an unexpected cost that I could hardly afford, and I appealed for help from the cycling community on the Dave Moulton Bikes Facebook Group.
Members of this group came though and made donations that covered the cost, for which I am most grateful. The forced down-time also caused me to do some serious thinking about the future of the Blog and the Bike Registry.
Even if I live to be 100 what physical state will I be in? And at 87 that is only 13 years, and time becomes increasingly precious. I also have several other (Important to me.) creative endeavors I want to complete as soon as possible.
I need someone to take over the blog. It has been up for over 17 years and has excellent positioning on Google search. It would be ideal if it were linked to a business, or with effort it could be financially self-sufficient, or even show profit, depending how much time and effort one puts into it. I do not have that time.
I am constantly approached by people who want to advertise on the blog, but being uncertain of the future I do not take them up on the offer, also it would involve extra work in placing the ads and tracking payment.
On the high wheeler with the handlebars directly above the pedals, there was no other option but to sit some distance back behind the pedals. However, it was realized that with the chain driven bike, there was no need for the rider to sit upright, and it was an aerodynamic advantage for the frame to be made longer.
Head and seat angles did become a little steeper over the years, but this notion that one had to sit back in order to pedal fast and efficiently still prevailed in the 1950s when I started racing. Standard frame angles were 73 head and 71 seat, throughout the entire range of frame sizes.
Frame lugs were heavy steel castings, machined on the inside to accept the tubes at these standard angles. It was not cost affective to make lugs in different varying angles. It was established probably around the 1930s that 73 degrees was the ideal head angle for a road bicycle, this is still true today.
The reason for the seat angle being 2 degrees shallower was because when a framebuilder made a larger frame, the top tube became longer because the head and seat tubes were diverging away from each other.
I would simply place the removal tool in the headtube, hold the frame in one hand, while tapping out the bearing cup with a hammer or preferably a wooden mallet with the other hand. These cups are only a press fit in the frame, and only require a few light taps to knock them loose.
Even when I had my frameshop, and occasionally had to build up bikes, I worked out of a vise, which was mounted on a steel pedestal and bolted to the floor. When working on frames I could move all around 360 degrees. With a vise mounted on a workbench, one can only work from one side.
Obviously, I did not hold a painted frame in a vise, but I had steel mandrel that was a solid steel bar, 1.5 incches (38 mm.) diameter, with two flats machined on either side, so it would clamp firmly in the vise. The rest of the bar had been turned down in a lathe, to 27.2 mm. diameter, the same size as a standard seat post.
This was in effect a heavy-duty seat post that I used when prepping finished frames prior to shipping them to the customer. It served as an immediate check that the seat tube had been reamed to the correct inside diameter. I could fit a seat bolt and clamp the frame safely to the mandrel, while I fitted dropout and water-bottle screws.
The bottom bracket was faced, and threads cut on a machine before it was painted, and head tube was reamed and faced in a similar fashion. After painting, the paint had to be cleared form the bottom-bracket and other treads. This was all done with the frame safely mounted on this special mandrel.
If I occasionally needed to build a complete bike, I could quite easily fit bottom-bracket and headset bearings and even a chain-wheel, cranks, and pedals, with the frame still held in this fashion. A rear wheel could be added, and the front and rear derailleur fitted, and the limits set.
Remember that this was back when bikes were friction shift, so a chain could be added, and the gears adjusted and set to work correctly. All that was left to do was to unclamp the frame from the mandrel, fit a seat post and saddle, stem and handlebars, brakes, and the job was complete.
A work stand is pretty standard equipment in any bike repair shop where people are assembling, and working on bikes all day, but used without care by an inexperienced mechanic, and a great deal of damage can be done.
I got my first lightweight bike at fourteen years old, and could work on it, even build it up from scratch without the aid of a stand. I would fit the head bearings, and fork to the frame, as described in my last post.
Next fit a pair of wheels complete with tires, also a seat post, saddle stem and handlebars. I could now lean the bike against a wall and kneel to work on it or sit on a low seat. Fit the bottom bracket bearings and spindle.
Derailleurs could be added, and the limits set. Even with modern gears, if the upper and lower limits are set, and the cable tensions are correct, the gears will shift up and down and may only need minor adjustment after a short test ride.
I believe there is more damage done to frames in bike shops by miss-use of bike stands, than any other piece of equipment. If you are a newbie mechanic, learn by doing a few simple tasks without a work stand.
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