u/BarnacleSea9077

Hi. Building a 1976 Schwinn Scrambler. The fork I'm using is an Ashtabula BMX fork (not the one that comes stock on a Scrambler.) I would add that it is chrome-plated, and the one with the gusset under the crown. The chrome forks were given to bike shops as a promotional item in the 1970s as Ashtabula was trying to create a market outside of Schwinn OEM. So, tried to find a crown race, and have several Stingray forks of the era, including the OEM Scrambler fork, but all crown races are too large. Mechanic measured CR diameter of the chrome fork as 25.98, so almost 26.0. I think the other CR was I want to say 26.4. In the end we used a shim. Mechanic has 40 years experience, and so do I.

In 1976, my local Schwinn shop (Safety Cycle in Hollywood, CA) had a chrome fork hanging on the wall. They said it was "not for sale," being the afore-mentioned promo. Couple weeks later, I see a kid with the chrome fork, and I asked him about it. He said he just kept upping his cash offer to the shop until they said yes, which I think was about $125, a princely sum in 1976. Anyway, I'm building a replica of that kid's bike, which was an outrageous custom, full of neon colors, pre-dating the 80s neon freestyle bikes. You will need sunglasses to look at this bike.

TLDR: What is the crown race diameter of an Ashtabula BMX fork 1977 vintage?

Hi. Building a 1976 Schwinn Scrambler. The fork I'm using is an Ashtabula BMX fork (not the one that comes stock on a Scrambler.) I would add that it is chrome-plated, and the one with the gusset under the crown. The chrome forks were given to bike shops as a promotional item in the 1970s as Ashtabula was trying to create a market outside of Schwinn OEM. So, tried to find a crown race, and have several Stingray forks of the era, including the OEM Scrambler fork, but all crown races are too large. Mechanic measured CR diameter of the chrome fork as 25.98, so almost 26.0. I think the other CR was I want to say 26.4. In the end we used a shim. Mechanic has 40 years experience, and so do I.

In 1976, my local Schwinn shop (Safety Cycle in Hollywood, CA) had a chrome fork hanging on the wall. They said it was "not for sale," being the afore-mentioned promo. Couple weeks later, I see a kid with the chrome fork, and I asked him about it. He said he just kept upping his cash offer to the shop until they said yes, which I think was about $125, a princely sum in 1976. Anyway, I'm building a replica of that kid's bike, which was an outrageous custom, full of neon colors, pre-dating the 80s neon freestyle bikes. You will need sunglasses to look at this bike.

TLDR: What is the crown race diameter of an Ashtabula BMX fork 1977 vintage?

I have a 2-speed Bendix hub from my 1965 Schwinn Fleet. It was making noises and a little rough, so I took it to a good local shop, and one of their mechanics said he could rebuild it. I got it back and it didn't seem much better. It looked like they had really cleaned & polished it, but not much else. That shop does a lot of stuff for me for free, so I didn't complain. Now I know that Bendix no longer makes parts, and you can find some NOS parts online, but maybe not all of them. MOst shops will tell you it can't be rebuilt, but I mean; taken apart, cleaned, inspected, and if it were possible to replace any parts, like bearings or brake pads, do that.

Does anyone know of a shop who can really rebuild a Bendix 2-speed? I now have a wheel with one, and just a complete hub, used but unlaced. I could ship it to them.

People either love or hate the 2-speed. I'm a big fan. Thanks.

TerraTrike Rover here. Took it to a recumbents-only shop for a tune-up, and got it back with the seat angled waaay back, almost flat. They hollered at me for having it to my liking, which is not bolt upright, leaned back, just not fully laying down. With their way, my chin is on my chest, and my neck hurts. How is that safe/comfortable/efficient?

I get that mechanics may have strong preferences, but at the end of the day, it's my trike. What am I missing here? What is the 'proper" seat back angle?

I want to apply decals to a fresh powdercoated bike frame. The coat is thick and smooth, like glass. Two types of decals: a) Old-school waterslide decals b) Modern vinyl decals - I hear, "Oh, you can't use decals, they won't stick." Really? I could see the waterslides might not work so well, but vinyl with a strong adhesive? I don't want to powdercoat clear over the decals, the baking alone would destroy them. But what's the real issue? Is it the glass-like smoothness, effectively a non-porous surface? I've seen vinyl decals work well on powdercoated bike frames, but I've heard they don't always work. Lot of mystery around this topic. Who knows?

Will waterslide or vinyl decals stick on a powdercoated bike frame? I do not want to clear over them.

Back in the day, there were regular gauge spokes, like 14G, and then 120 gauge, which are called 12 gauge now, and 105 gauge, which were in between the 14G and 120G. They were strong, but not as heavy as the 120s. It's laughable now, because the problem wasn't the strength of the spokes, but the rims were weak, single-wall thin steel. What could go wrong?You could have railroad spikes as spokes, but it wouldn't make a difference with a weak rim. As rim technology improved, the heavy spokes went away. Oh, but they looked cool.

Anyway, I never see 105 gauge wheels anymore, although I do have a set on my Cycle Pro beach cruiser.

Does anybody sell 105 gauge wheels? I'm building a bike.

I should know this, but what if you have, say, a 39t chainwheel in front with an 18t cog in the rear? Would the odd difference require you to use a half-link, or a half-link chain? 36t - 18t, direct 1:2 ratio, no problem there. But get into 41t - 20t, or what if both are odd numbers, like 39t - 19t? They say your chain will wear out quicker with an odd ratio, but not so bad with the half-link. I had a 41t Takagi on my Schwinn back in the day that quickly chewed itself up.

Math geniuses, physics majors and engineers: Discuss.