Great info Harvey - I kind of knew it would spark someones neurons !! Love the visual of that 64 Lark with the bikes on top !!!
Re FrostLine - not only was the quality of the materials they offered superb, their instructions were fantastic. Even if you had sewing skills, you probably didnt know about mounting drawstrings inside the head of a mummy bag !! Due to these great kits, plus my sisters attention to detail, I am lucky to still have a 0 degree goose down bag, a blue down jacket, and that great little handlebar bag (all with my own name tag sewn in ! brings back my Boy Scout memorys !). As I was riding the other day, it hit me how that the 'strap based' mounting system works just fine - not really 'quick release', but it holds the bag nicely suspended between the bars.
WOW... check this link out I just unGoogled :
http://www.oregonphotos.com/
This isn't the list for it, but its truly interesting what I (we) was able to cobble together to strap or lash on a bike, to get us out there on the road !! On my first LA --> SF big sur ride (yes, you read it right, we went NORTH the first time !) we went down to the army navy surplus and bought canvas saddle bags for the ride !!
Ok... back to vintage lightweights... (see next post for a Raleigh Gran Sport story)
Rich Pinder Van Nuys,CA [ ... headin out tomorrow for an overnite ride to Santa Paula, Ojai, and Carpenteria ... wooHOO... ]
hmsachs@verizon.net wrote:
> Rich Pinder wrote (but I <snip> liberally)"
>
> ( the matching handle bar bag was made my my sister, in something like
> 1970 - from a kit company called 'FrostLine' - anyone recall them ?
> Off topic, but they offered GREAT kit projects for cycling and other
> outdoor sports. <snip>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Rich, thanks for bringing that up, because I'll argue that Frostline
> kits were a part of our touring scene Way Back Then, and you're
> unleashed the glow of memory for me. Back then, ca. 1970, Susan and I
> were a Starving Grad Student Couple in R.I, where we helped start the
> Narragansett Bay Wheelmen. We wanted badly to tour, to bike camp, to
> explore New England. To stay in the Hostel on the Hill across from
> Chuck Harris's place in New Hampshire. My bike for this was a Dawes
> Double Blue, with a 48 front to which I'd bolted a 28 FW cog as a
> granny, and a close ratio rear. Shifted with a remarkable Shimano Lark
> derailleur. Susan had her high-end but beaten-down Atala. We carried
> the bikes upside down on a home-made rack built on the carcass of a
> ski-rack and mounted on our '64 Valiant. Frostline was a great
> resource, because there just wasn't much good gear for bikes back
> then. Frostline assembled all the obscure piece-parts, from high-zoot
> rip-stop nylon to special fasteners, provided good instructions, and
> sold it for less than I could buy the stuff. I learned to sew on a
> Frostline sleeeping bag kit, when Susan informed me that she wasn't
> doing this stuff by herself. Frostlne was in the same spirit as
> ordering TA rings from REW Reynolds in England, or lusting for the
> CycloPedia goodies.
>
> And somehow, with cobbled-together gear we toured and had a wonderful
> time. In New England, in Oregon, and a great ride from Cleveland OH to
> Atlanta Ga, 840 mi. in 10.5 days with full camping gear. Eating grapes
> from our handlebar bags while riding. Susan on her renovated OTB (see
> Sheldon's site) with Lyotard Berthets, and I don't remember what I rode.
>
> A decade later, Bill McCready introduced the Santana tandem, and it
> book-ended that era. For the first time (at least so I will argue),
> one could buy a tandem, assemble it, and ride w/o worries. We
> discontinued the "broken spoke" awards at tandem rallies, annually
> given for the worst mechanical failures, since things no longer failed
> so frequently. Mostly wheels and freewheels. We joked that the tandem
> community had shifted from "pioneers" who could do anything, and
> thrived on it, to "farmers" who were great productive people, rock
> solid, but not adventurers in the same sense.
>
> And, I think that this was true in the bike scene, too, as equipent
> improved, shops stocked more stuff, and riding became more mainstream.
> I think I still have my Frostline kit polarguard vest. Like everything
> we did, I modified it. It has a great big red reflective triangle sewn
> to its back. With a plus sign, since I wanted to think of myself as a
> rather quick slow-moving vehicle. Or, in Brave New World terms, maybe
> a Delta (low caste), but at least a high-ranking Delta.
>
> May all your roads be smooth, and you never be stranded on the road.
>
> harvey sachs
> McLean Va USA