Trash Bike: Year 3

There is beauty in the rat bike. I've always known it, but it's been proven during this past year – year three – of riding the Trash Bike. I've changed the parts around and made a few refinements.

First, I had the good people of 718 Cyclery in Brooklyn build me a rear wheel. Because the rear spacing was initially 126mm, a 135mm hub never fit properly. I compromised and had them put in a 130mm (traditional road standard) hub, with an Alex brand touring rim and three cross spokes. Matched with a Suntour 7 speed cassette, it's been a rear wheel to completely forget about. It's solid – it's true. It cost about $200 and it's worry-free.

Shifting remains friction (not indexed), thanks to the fantastic, fantastic Suntour Power Thumbies. Though they are antiquated, these are great shifters. Again, they are worry-free.

In a huge bit of good fortune, I discovered Nomad Cycles. It was initially in Long Island City / Sunnyside, and I stopped in after seeing their bicycle made into a sign, locked to a pole, pointing to the shop. Immediately, I knew I found something special. Their founder, Damon, is an architect turned bicycle guru. He loved the Trash Bike and has a whole fleet of vintage Treks for himself. In fact, at a shop that has tons of bikes, his go-to bike is a blue townie vintage Trek. I told him I wanted to lower the gear ratio, so we added a Sugino 38 tooth (110 bcd) chainring to the front. I removed the front derailleur, front shifter, and the large and small chainrings. He ground the original middle chainring into a chainguard. It works wonderfully and has lightened up the setup (every bit helps)!

Before I discovered Nomad, I gave the bicycle the romantic equivalent of a diamond ring: a Chris King headset. I wish I had gotten one in a fancy crazy color, but I just went for silver. I changed the fork to a new 1” Tange fork I purchased from the famous Bruce Gordon cycles. It's not a fancy lugged fork – I couldn't find one. But, it's a worry-free item. It doesn't match the color scheme of the bike (as the original fork did), but after a week or two I forgot about matching.

The plan is there is no plan! The rules are there are no rules! (Actually, the only rule is: put the water bottle in one pannier and the camera in the other.) THE COLOR SCHEME IS THERE IS NO COLOR SCHEME. I found out Spurcycle has discontinued their excellent silicon grip rings. So I went on Amazon and bought enough for many bikes. I blindly selected them from a bag, in a lottery type of method, and now the Trash Bike and the Rivendell have random colored ones! I like it a lot.

The Brooks – well, tragedy has struck – the nose is loose and broken. I tried shoelacing it together, which added a very cool contrasting yellow color, and it held the seat together. But, on a ride back from an M83 concert, in the rain, I realized the Brooks is unsafe at any speed. If I ever hope to have children, I need to get another Brooks and retire this one, perhaps put it into the ground just like the cow it came from. Or perhaps I'll give it a viking burial by dropping it off of the Triboro. Is it a badge of honor? You wore out 1 Brooks – congratulations Padawan, soon you'll be a Jedi Master of crappy bike rides in the rain. I've just graduated to my third motorcycle helmet, for years of scooter riding. It's just the passing of time.

The tires! I decided to get even more vintagey, even more basic Pinterest level “sooooOOOooo rETrooo” by getting the Schwalbe Fat Frank tires in the 26” by 2.35” and the crème-de-la-crème color. Wow – was this a mistake. Maybe if I lived in some place like San Luis Obispo, it would have been a good idea. But, at home in the “Borough that Time Forgot,” the selection was just plain myopic. I rode a half a block and the tires were filthy. Bummer. I aimed for vintage, but I got old and dusty.

I have also replaced the bottom bracket with a newer sealed cartridge Shimano one. Then, most recently, at Nomad, I got the Wipperman Made in Germany chain. It cost $35, but it's silent and amazing. It's been a fantastic upgrade. (It was also the finishing touch on the Rivendell.)

The Trash Bike has been amazing. It's likely been the best vehicle I've ever owned. It's cost me nothing, except for hundreds of dollars in upkeep and replacing parts.

Here are the parts that still came from the trash:

the frame

the handlebars

the brake levers

the brake straddle hangers

the rear derailleur

the shifter

the cranks

the seatpost

maybe the cables???

Everyone should have a Trash Bike.