Project cruiser: back to our roots (sort of!)...

 

 For those who don't know, this is the birth of mountain biking (though there are those who believe that this was not the only birth of mountain biking). On Mount Tamalpais, California, during the 70s, a group of pioneering riders took their modified Schwinn Cruiser bikes and raced them down the mountain, in a race that became known as Repack. The name was coined after the fact that riders would have to Repack the grease in the roller brakes, as they would heat up so much on the descent that the grease inside would boil off! I've long lusted after a Schwinn Cruiser of my own, though the original 1940s bikes command premium prices these days. I've seen several very cool models from Electra (Trek), with Bosch motors, but I wasn't after another ebike. Though my knees could never power me on a real mountain bike ride, I am able to ride my static bike and most normal bikes, if ridden on the flat. Riding to the park is within my abilities, for now, so I've been looking for an appropriate bike for that purpose.

 Enter this, a Felt cruiser, one of a limited edition that was produced for Carhartt (a clothing brand) and used as dressing in their shops. Apart from the Carhartt branding (I've never worn their kit), everything about this bike appealed greatly to me. In the first instance, it's a nod to my military past, even with a hint at my cap badge! It was in fairly good condition, though the journey down here has caused a bit of unwelcome damage (more on that later), and has little rust, for a 15yr old steel frame. It has that properly laid back cruiser geometry, including some seriously swept-back bars. I have plans to make this a real standout bike, with some serious upgrades and modifications, all whilst maintaining the character of the original bike.

 One of my first tasks was to strip the whole thing down, so that I could see what I was working with. The headset, on the 1" threaded steerer, was feeling a little notchy, so that was the first thing to get opened up. It was actually in a fairly decent condition, so after a thorough cleaning of the bearings and cages (using Muc-Off dry degreaser and a thorough rinse in clean water, along with time for them to then dry), I applied fresh Muc-Off grease and refitted the fork/headset.

 There are a few of these rusty blemishes on the frame, somewhere between 6 and 10 in total. I treated each of them with Muc-Off's new HCB1. It's a new product that can be used to not only remove rust, but to protect against further rusting. Having tested it previously, I was genuinely stunned at how this product was able to clean a rusty rear mech, so I had no qualms about using it on this frame. Once I'd cleaned the rust as best I could, I then applied a coating to provide protection, until such time as I can get some frame protection applied. I'm going to heli-tape as much of the frame as I can, though the shapes and contours of the frame are going to make that a bit tricky!

The other job for today was the front brakes. In the UK it is illegal to ride a bike with less than two brakes, and this bike had no front brake fitted. I did ponder fitting a hub brake, more in keeping with the original cruiser era, but the fork had rim brake mounts and I was able to get this XLC set from one of my suppliers. They'll be paired with a Shimano grip shift compatible lever, which brings me on to one of the big mods I'll be making! This bike came as a single speed, which is absolutely no use to me at all, so I'm converting it to a Nexus 5 speed. Once I have the hub, I'll be building the wheel myself and fitting it up to the bike. It's a coaster brake rear hub, meaning that backpedaling creates a braking force through the hub, giving me my front and rear brakes and keeping the bike road legal. I'll be updating as I go, so there'll be future posts as and when the parts come in. Really hope to have this bike up and running by the time the weather warms up and (hopefully!) dries out...


I should point out that I am not supported by Muc-Off, but they are one of my suppliers and so I stock and use a lot of their products.

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