Posts Tagged: Rich Helms – Canada
Minson Restoration (3) – Rich Helms – Canada
Seat Post and Saddle
Brake lever on seat but no brakes yet
I was very encouraged by yesterday’s ride. The tire pressure was low so I pulled the tire/tube but could not find any leaks. I applied two layers of cloth tape to the rim inside to protect the tube from the spoke caps, dusted the tire inside with baby powder and reinflated. I will watch it.
I was not happy with the seat height so I need to look for another post. I got an aluminum one but it is snug. I will check the steel/chrome ones. The post is one inch but sold as a 25.4mm. A steel one is easy to find.
Next was the seat. I have several saddles at home and found this old Trak one. The hand brake lever mounted nicely and the seat is higher so I am going to try it. As discussed before I went for a coaster brake wheel. I can see the value of the hand brake so I am looking for a new one. The old one is badly corroded.
I am getting there. In the last few days I installed a 300 mm 25.4mm aluminum seat post to replace the steel 200mm one. The old post was corroded but the key problem was it was too short. Even with it extended beyond the safe limit I was still about two inches short. I believe having the seat at proper height will give better control like it does on a unicycle. The challenge was the new posts were a hair too thick. Between a belt sander and a wire wheel I removed a small amount and the new post fits great.
Minson Restoration (2) – Rich Helms – Canada
All of the new parts are on. Biggest challenge was the seat post and the crank cotters. The aluminum seat post I bought is speced as the same size but it is just a hair wider. I cleaned up the old steel chromed post and will see how it works. If I need the additional length I will work on the aluminum post to thin it or look for an older spec steel post. The crank cotters are also a hair large. I still had the old ones so I refit them.
-
- Before
-
- After
-
- Old Crank Cotter
-
- After
-
- Before
-
- After
Took the skate bike out for it’s first run since the rebuild.
First Successful Ride – Rich Helms (Minson)
GoPro on a Minson Skate Bike
I have been trying to figure out a good location to mount my GoPro camera on the skate bike. My original mount was on my helmet. As there are no reference objects in the field of view it gives a floating in space view. When I watched the GoPro video on using the bike frame mount most shots show enough of the bike to give a context to the shot. With a skate bike the problem is one of frame geometry. As the bike is basically vertical, you don’t see part of the bike. I even tried on the tubes going to the back wheel but then too much of the view was blocked. Also I do not want the camera hanging out to the side where in a wipe-out it would be damaged. I tried on the seat post looking down but you get too much of the legs. I think farther down the frame. Might try behind the down tube in front of the thin tubes going down to the wheel. This could be a nicely protected spot and give a nice shot.
Note: when the bike falls over the camera has a tendency to change angle. Check after a fall.
One last thought, I learned last weekend that knee pads only protect you if you wear them.
Minson Restoration – Rich Helms – Canada
My old Minson skatebike before I restored it.
In the mid 1980’s while shopping in Eaton Centre in Toronto, Canada I spotted this SkateBike in Collegiate Sports. It was love at first sight and I bought it. After we moved to the country it got little use as we lived on a dirt road. For years it sat in my barn rusting. In June 2013 I pulled it out and restored it.
My bike is badly rusted and the tire cracked. I have been collecting up measurements to replace parts. Fortunately most of them are common. As I intend to actually use it I want to replace the wheel with a coaster brake one. The tire is 16×1.75 so finding a coaster brake unit should not pose a problem.
A longboard truck will work on the front. The included truck is an old-school mounting with 2.5″ holes front to back. Once I settle on the tire and truck/wheel I can select the appropriate riser thickness.
The biggest challenge is the cranks. The old bottom bracket is a common British/ISO unit but the cranks are only 100 mm long. The shortest unit I can find is 115 mm for BMX riding. You can see from the videos there is room for a longer crank and as I recall the short length makes for hard pedaling. This weekend I will investigate the bike parts. I may have to just restore the old BB/crank.