Well, since my first post on this subject, I started to draw what exactly I would want to build. You can judge how well it matches to the original design here.

I have the mindset that anything I do must have some practical purpose, since I live in a fast-changing society, where it is easy to be drifted to the fringes unless I speedily acclimate. So instead of copying the Sylph, that the Duryea brothers built over a century ago, I would create a practical bicycle while observing the uniqueness of their original design.

On the practical side I need cargo area(-s) included in the design, maybe ease of ride and transportability on the bus, as added bonuses. On the side of style I want to use all the features of the Sylph that still makes it possible to carry cargo on the bike.

So through many drawings I boiled my ideas into this design. On paper this is of size 1:10 meaning that I drew the 36 inch wheel as 3.6 inches (I know, I know, it might be 3 5/8 or so, as that is on the US ruler). So, so far I have a Nu-Vinci 360 hub built into the giant rear wheel, that makes it possible to shift but doesn’t add a dérailleur, which also has a roller brake – disc brakes would have been too modern looking so I was suggested the roller brake version of the hub. It will also have a low step-through frame that has a hinge in the middle like the Sylph, supported by wire suspension, a bent seat post, hopefully with the old-fashioned seat mount, and a spoon brake brake on the front in the style that my first bike, a German-made Steiger, had.

What is quite different from the Sylph is the geometry: the longer wheelbase allows for more stability as well as for a larger cargo area.

And those comments on the top of the pages show that not all issues are resolved. I don’t know how to make a rear fender due to the unusual wheel size, or how to make the hinge position finely adjustable, that probably means the minuscule adjusting of the wires, that lead from the back axle to the bottom of the seat post, then on to the bottom front part of the frame.

Of course I didn’t get to this plan immediately. Here are some of my other attempts, just for fun:-)

During the winter is a great time to give your bike some tender loving care. One important part of this TLC is lubrication – applying oil to certain parts of the bike.

Whether you use your bike in the cold weather or not there are good reasons to do this. If you use your bike all year, the winter wetness can attack the moving parts with more corrosion and wear because of the salt and sand applied on roads during wet weather. If you put your bike away for the winter it is better to take care of it before you put it away rather than before you plan to use it, so it is ready for use, and also, while it is docked it doesn’t rust on.

The first step is cleaning. Oil is sticky. So it attracts dust, dirt and other sediment from the surfaces you ride on. Most of that sediment is harder than the metals used on the bike, so it will chip away on the moving parts little by little. I just use a small brush or toothbrush, or a cloth to take the caking off especially from around the chain and crank/cog/sets. Breaking surfaces are better at cleaning themselves and need to remain oil-free, but it can still be useful to wipe them down – with a non-oily cloth! You can go as far as removing your chain and soaking it in turpentine or another thin oil, but todays chains tend to be thinner and cheaper than yesteryears, so it may not worth the effort. If you have the luxury of water under pressure, that can also help to remove non-belonging particles from all around the bike. In this case make sure you let the bike dry thoroughly before applying lubrication.

The second step is the lubrication itself. Any oil will be better than nothing, but using thicker oil on the chain and medium elsewhere. Bike shops know what to offer for different purposes. I like warmed up Chain L on the chain and Tri-Flow elsewhere, primarily because of the smell of it. Drip the oil of your choice all along the chain (middle and sides) while you pedal the bike backward gently with your hands. On a bike with a coaster brake this is not possible, but I trust you finding a way to oil the chain all along. That takes care of the gears also. taking down the excess oil from the surface of the chain will help with the sticking, but what helps more is protecting the chain from the wheels splashing dirty water, carrying sediment, onto it. Chain guards attempt to protect or even encase the chain.

The most important part to oil is probably the moving parts of brakes. Watch what moves, metal-to-metal surfaces, and drip some on it. While doing this, be careful not to put lubrication on the braking surfaces. And it worth to mention separately: DON’T put any oil on disk-brake disks or anywhere near it – oil is very harmful to your health and for the brake’s functionality when applied there.

Next are the dérailleurs if you have any, the complicated-looking mechanisms which move the chain between cogs. Again watch what moves and put some oil on it.

The wheels are one of the biggest moving parts but almost invariably that moving part connects to the axle through bearings in today’s bikes. Bearings prefer grease, but grease tends to dry out ofter a while if the bearing is not sealed, so putting a few drops of oil right outside cannot hurt in my opinion. Same with cracks and pedals: the oil may or may not get to where the movement happens, but if it does, it is useful, if it doesn’t, it wasn’t needed anyway.

If you have an old bike with breaking and dérailleur cables that is exposed to the weather or moisture in the air, over time those cables will have a harder time functioning correctly. My experience is, that oil (without water) in side the cable will help the sliding remain thus making the brakes and gear-changing remain safe and easy. And the more oil in the cables, the less water can get in, the less rust can develop in the cable. I would only use this cable-lubrication in the case of old or sticky cables: don’t fix what isn’t broken, eh?

The cleaning and lubing of the bike is well described with pictures on Bike Radar.

With all this work one wonders if there is a chance for needing less maintenance somehow. Well, yes. It doesn’t help in the US, that bikes are mostly sold as sport tools, which means we have specialized tools for riding under certain conditions (like uneven dirt road or high-speed racing on smooth pavement). But if you are looking for an all season commuter, I would consider internal gear shifts, so all the mechanism is hidden, thus protected, that also results in a simpler chain-track, easier to protect from the grime of the road, and maybe disk or hub-brakes to have a more weather proof operation.

I looked into the history of bicycling and bicycle building. Especially the early safety bicycles made me curious, the ones which came after the high-wheel bicycles, a.k.a. “Penny Farthing”-s. This was all before cars ruled the roads, and the 1890-s were especially intriguing, as the bicycle industry went through a huge boom at that time.

Some of the early safety bicycles were not only pretty but very inspiring and educational as well. One article especially grabbed my attention: Roads Were Not Built For Cars. After reading up about those times, I became so inspired, that I decided to attempt to build a look-alike.

I decided with the Duryea Sylph, that was an early high-end bicycle with a flexible frame, appearing in 1892. It had versions both with and without pneumatic tires, created by the Duryea brothers, who were also the first creators of cars in the United States (Correct: it wasn’t Mr. Ford).

So I got a 36 inch wheel to use it as a rear wheel, and have a loose plan to start building the frame during sometime this winter. I of course want to modify it so it can carry not only a person, but cargo and such as well. That may make the eventual result less similar to the original, but hopefully more practical. I will keep you updated in this space about how it goes, if you care.

When I visited the United States the first time in 1992, I found the state of bicycling abysmally strange. Coming from Hungary where bikes were nothing special really, but standard tools of transportation that pretty much every family had, usually single speed, old, strong and fairly comfortable – and, curiously, mostly black – I didn’t have an extremely high set of expectations. I guess I just didn’t understand what I saw here: thin-wheeled ten speeders with very low horn-looking contraptions for a handlebar, and wide-tired beasts with even more speeds, that had straight handlebars, but set just as low and uncomfortable. Not one bike with fenders, lights, bells, rear or frong bike racks or locks, which was a standard feature in Hungary. Walking into a bike shop felt like going to a men’s section of a department clothing store; lots of gray and black wear. I even remember trying to comfort myself musing, that these strange equipments at least still come with seats. Little did I understand, that they were mostly used for sport or maybe some leisure riding, but not for transportation.

The bicycle world has changed tremendously since, I am lucky to say. Now it is inspiring to walk into most bike-shops. They still have the feather light road bikes for thousands, and the uncomfortable mountain bikes with cheap shocks, but there are some comfortable bikes, as well as ones that come ready for rain and night-riding, not to mention the hybrids, the 29-ers and the cargo-ready bicycles and tricycles.

One of the most informative tools around bicycling proved to be the Internet for me. Not only informative as to what is available and where, but it also helps learning about how to integrate biking into your life. Or just be inspired by what is possible. One of my favorite site is Joe Bike, one of the largest single bikeshops in the world, and what is even better, they specialize in utility and urban bicycles. I have found evaluations, advice, statistics and user opinions about many bicycles and bicycling-related activities on their site. Incidentally we also agree about the particulars of cargo bikes: just look at their Yuba Mundo page!

I am fascinated with Tom’s Cargo Bikes. He modifies existing bicycles – drastically – to make them cargo ready. Or you can say he cuts up and reassembles bicycle frames to specialize them for cargo carrying.

These are just a few of the vast amount of resources out there in the information world. But Transition Amherst also has a list of linked resources to support bicycling, look here for more.

Every year on Halloween day my place of work, a small company, called REMI, organizes a dress-up party for us. It is a big thing, we would talk (or some would specifically NOT talk) about what we will be dressed as on that day, weeks ahead of time. It is an expression of creativity, daring, humor, and only rarely money. Throughout my ten years of history working here I have been a wise old hermit, a belly dancer, an “alien woter” (intentional misspelling of voter…), a masked exotic lady (pictured), “Dracula, hiding behind a toothache but unable to cover his accent”, “just an ol’ guy”, a glue addict, a hardcore punk fan with a Mohawk – and something else I have forgotten. So each year it gets harder as I don’t want to repeat, and I want to make up to my previous standard. Also, we make a prized competition out of the event with prizes for the most creative, scariest, funniest and overall best costumes. I shoot for most creative but have become the scariest or funniest sometimes as well.

This year I ran out of ideas so having offered some help towards it, I decided with “bearded lady with child”, that involved a mannequin doll and a black-and-white mannequin dress to match. Also a mask, as the doll had a painted face so a mask would match well. This was the most prop intensive set, and the doll or any other part of the set was not to get wet or ruffled up.

So that day I took my Mundo, as you can see, that has bags, that protect items in them from rain and rufflement. Don’t ask what all the people seeing me on the road thought, but after all it was Halloween day…

The party was fun. Below you will see my full dress. I qualified as the scariest this time, I think because of the weirdness of the mask.