At 1/24/2010 03:43 PM +0000, Stephen James wrote:
>Hi,
>isn't it true, at least theoretically, that "all" the moving parts
>subjected to wear will eventually wear out at some point? This
>probably won't happen in our lifetimes, and perish the thought, but
>what do you suppose will be the result?
Eventually lovers of CR timeline bikes will be in the same situation the antique bike crowd are in now.
I know gents who are as uninterested in bikes with them new fangled pneumatic tires as I am in bikes with brifters. They often ride with parts everyone else would consider worn out. Badly pitted cones, chains of types that haven't been made in a century that are stretched so badly that they can be heard from 100 feet away. Parts in terrible shape are considered salvagable. NOS is almost unheard of and parts in "fair" condition sell for "very good" money. Many don't have enough miles left in their wear parts to be ridden except for Wheelmen events.
The guys who machine the bodies for my cotter presses reproduce a lot of parts for fellow "Wheelmen". While they do bike work 1/2 price it's still expensive. They obtained a rusted and bent backbone and fork from an Ordinary so rare that only two were known to exist. They borrowed a complete bike and completely dismantled it, measured every part and reproduced every piece. Hubs, crankarms, pedals, everything. Even faithfully copying the intricate bearings.
Mark Stonich;
BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
5349 Elliot Ave S. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 USA
Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com
http://mnhpva.org