dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal1/15/17 11:06 AM |
...had me wondering if the old bikes had something like a disc wheel, or if the righ (sic) foot would perhaps fit in above the tire, else the spokes might at least tear the sole of the shoe off and/or throw the rider over the handlebars(?)
At least they had chain drive by then!
And I guess that the slack front geometry of those old bikes would considerably assist in keeping the majority of the rolling weight behind the front axle even as severe braking effect to the front wheel was applied(?).
I learned long ago how to stop a coaster-braked bike that lost it's chain, putting one's left foot atop the chainstay and wedging the sole against the moving tire.
One of my very first rides on my first bike (as a ~six-year-old) had me testing one or more of the laws of physics as I did as this author suggested. I learned a lesson that day that has stayed with me...
And in all seriousness, one of the "black arts" of servicing old bikes that I have become particularly adept at is indeed "adjusting the chainwheel", typically using a 3-lb hammer, a wooden drift and a large adjustable wrench. Money saved is money earned with vintage and/or flea-market bikes!
EDIT: I picked this one up yesterday, a 1973 Austrian Steyr/SEARS, in part because the chainwheels and pant-leg protector ring
didn't
appear to need any adjustment. And because it was all-stock but for the saddle/post and rear tire.
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