More Accessories for the Super Mirage

Earlier this month, I added an antique prune crate to Ginger's new Motobecane Super Mirage. I bolted it on to the rear rack, giving the bike a bit more capacity to carry her gear. The look was really great, and we were both happy with the way it turned out. A couple of weeks after installing the crate, the vibrations and jostling from everyday riding had begun to work loose the nails that held the walls of the crate to the floor. The addition of 4 small wood screws fixed the problem quickly and easily.

Another issue was that there was nothing to hold down the load that was being carried in the crate, so we decided to install some straps to keep Ginger's belongings from flying out. Ginger and I both have to cross a set of railroad tracks on our daily commute, and I could easily envision her purse unknowingly being tossed out of the crate when bouncing over the crossing. We thought it would be cool if the straps had the same vintage style of the old prune crate. And what better way to do that than with leather? I picked up a couple of 36" lengths of 1/2" suede ribbon and some small rivets from the local craft store, and also ordered a few 1/2" stainless steel spring buckles from StrapWorks.

I anchored the straps to the floor of the crate with the bolts that fixed the crate to the rear rack, using a drill to make the appropriate size holes in the ends of the leather. I used a large nail as a punch to make the holes for the rivets, looped the ends of the suede straps over the loops of the spring buckles, and riveted them into place with a hammer. Once everything was in place, it looked awesome. And the spring buckles make cinching and uncinching the load really quick and easy.

Stringer bike date

Cody and I hired a sitter and went out on a bike date. Yay! We rode around downtown to take pictures. This flea market, the STD,  is as delightfully shady as you imagine. I hope they still have those wonderful wicker chairs I spied in there (hands off, Springfield. I have big plans for those).

How great is this mural? We work across the street from each other, and both see this every day. Downtown's buildings are full of great old art like this. It's one of the things I love about this city. Why, though, is Cody standing like that?

It's because I asked him to stand near the World's Biggest Turd. This photo doesn't even do it justice. Freakish, it was.

I tried to sneak some behind-the-back photos while we were riding. I was not as sneaky as I thought I was.

Anyway, we biked around some more until we found a rolling pub crawl. There was a great deal of awesome, including this Frankenbike.

So much about the group was amazing. We rode with them for a bit. Riding in a group of around 50 strong was so unexpectedly wonderful. It made me miss our Sunday Joyrides. We didn't really know anybody, but we did get to talk to some very nice people, who all seemed like old friends, which always makes for a fun atmosphere.

One of the places we went did not have adequate bike parking so some of the riders got creative. This, we liked.

Anyway, we eventually split off from the group and met up with a couple of friends at a sweet little place called Skinny Slim's, where I had the most delightful Old Fashioned. It was easy to spot my date in a crowd.

When we went outside to show my new bike box off to our buddies, and found a smoker's empty in my rig. Awesome.
Anyway, we do not often get the chance to have a night out together. Now that we've found a great sitter, we hope we can make this a more regular activity. Maybe, with more awesome and less littering.

Accessorizing the Super Mirage

Ginger has been interested in accessorizing her bike with a wine box or an antique box of some sort for quite a while now, but I just haven't been able to pull the trigger and get it done...until now. From the very start, she's talked about how good a wine box would look on the back of the Super Mirage. So it was definitely going to have to happen. A couple of weeks ago we found an old wooden prune crate at an antique store; it was light weight, fairly sturdy, and had a really cool look, so we picked it up. Ginger found a DIY guide via High Heels & Two Wheels, and we got to work.

The first step was to coat the box with a protective finish. I had some leftover shellac from the Columbia Twosome project that I brushed onto the box, inside and out, to act as a barrier from the elements. I picked up some 8" mending plates, bolts, nylon-insert nuts, washers, and 1/4" nylon spacers from my local hardware store. Then I did some quick measuring to be sure that the mending plates would be positioned such that they would be between the rear rack stays. Once everything was measured, marked off, and remeasured, I drilled the holes for the bolts in the bottom of the prune box.

After all of the prep, actually installing the antique box was a snap. I used washers between the bolt heads and the floor of the box to avoid any cracking as the bolts were tightened. And I used 1/4" nylon spacers between the bottom of the box and the mending plates to avoid putting too much stress on the old box (the steel bars that make up the Wald rear rack platform are 1/4" in diameter). Before tightening up the whole assembly, I made sure that the box was positioned and aligned properly.

The old prune crate looks pretty outstanding. Ginger loves it. I think it's a great way to add some cargo capacity to the bike without sacrificing the elegance of the machine. And the cat likes it, too.

Update on the New Motobecane

I put together a nice little before-and-after image of the 1982 Motobecane Super Mirage mixte, and then completely forgot to include it in the post when I showcased the finished bike.  So here is a side-by-side of one picture I snapped the day I started working on the bike, and another after I had finished work on it.

Ginger and I ride to work after lunch most every day.  It's really the only time we are able to ride together during the week.  And I have to admit that since she started riding the Motobecane, I've had some difficulty keeping up with her.  The machine really flies, and in all honesty Ginger's probably in better pedaling shape than I am, especially since she's accustomed to riding the heavier Raleigh Sports.

The Finished 1982 Motobecane Super Mirage

 

As you may have already noticed, I finished Ginger's '82 Motobecane Super Mirage early this week.  I apologize for not updating more frequently on the progress of the bike, but the basement is a bit dark and cluttered for taking decent pictures.  So I decided to just let the finished bike emerge from its dark, below-ground cocoon.

I can't say that this project was as seamless and straightforward as some of my previous machines.  The disassembly, cleaning, and rust removal went more-or-less as expected.  But there were a few snags in the process of reassembling the bicycle.  The first notable snag was how to run brake lines.  See, step-through frame bikes have rear brake calipers that are sort of upside-down - the cable comes into the calipers from below the brakes, along the seat stays.  But I replaced the old brakes on this bike with a set of brand new long-reach calipers.  The new calipers are designed with the housing stop at the top, as is traditional for non-step-through frame bikes, so I had to do some creative cable running.  As you can see in the picture above, I ran the rear brake line through the existing guides on the top tube, then between the two laterals, where it made an 's' shape into the rear brake caliper.  It's maybe not ideal, but it will have to do; and I'm pretty happy with the action on the rear brake.  I've also considered cleaning up the old brake calipers and putting them back on the bike, but I'm still undecided.  My main reason for not switching back to the old brakes is that I like the increased stopping power of the new calipers.

The second, and potentially ongoing, issue that I had to deal with was fender clearance.  I accessorized the bike with a set of hammered alloy fenders from VeloOrange.  I should preface by saying that these fenders are gorgeous.  They also come with ample hardware to mount the fenders in a number of different ways. The front fender went on the bike without a problem.  But the rear fender comes painfully close to the tire as it passes under the rear brake.  So close, in fact, that the little rubber nipples on the new tire hit the fender, making a sort of swishing sound as the rear wheel turns.  It's actually not the rear brake that is the cause of the clearance issue.  The source of the problem is the brake mount that runs between the seat stays, which is far too low and close to the rear wheel.  Eventually, though, a little elbow grease and patience was all that was required to alleviate the problem, and hopefully alleviate it permanently.

Some of the other notable additions or modifications that I made to this bike include the beautiful vintage  Suntour downtube shifters that the folks at Queen City Cycles assembled for me, and the Wald 215 rear rack.  In fact, I liked the Wald rack so much I bought two of them and put one on my bike.  It's also worth noting that one of the old Weinmann brake levers was totally shot, so I trashed them and picked up a set of nearly identical levers from The Hub.  The new levers, however, have a pretty ingenious quick-release mechanism for releasing brake cable tension that is really cool.  The wheelset, rubber, tubes, fenders, and 6-speed freewheel I also bought from The Hub.  Along with the shifters, Queen City was my source for bar tape, brake hoods, cables, and a few other odds-and-ends parts that I needed during the course of the project.

Meet my new ride

Cody just finished my new bike!

He'll bring you up-to-date on the specifics later, but I'll just tell you it's beautiful. It has a gorgeous new Brooks saddle, hammered fenders, a sweet little rear rack, fancy hoods and cork bar tape. And, hand to God, it doesn't weigh more than 5 pounds.

Okay, that last part is an exaggeration (and also probably blasphemy), but it's the nicest part about this new hotness. It's so much lighter than my Raleigh Sports. I felt like I was flying today. There's this one hill I have to climb as I'm headed home from work - normally I dread the thing - but today it was so easy!

That Cody of mine really outdid himself with this restoration. I couldn't be any happier with the outcome.

New Project: A Shop Update

Things are moving along nicely with Ginger's '82 Motobecane Super Mirage.  We've been discussing a number of functional and aesthetic ideas for this bicycle.  Ginger has veered me away from the plan that I initially had for this bike, but some of her thoughts have been bold and impressive.  And now I'm really excited to see how it turns out.

After I brought the bike home, the first step was to take the machine apart.  I pulled all of the components off the frame and found that some of the parts were likely not original - most notably the mismatched brakes.  I decided to go ahead and trash the calipers and install a whole new brake system; a decision that will enhance both the look and the safety of the bike.  I also made a list of parts that were missing, such as chain ring bolts, shifters, and decent wheels.  Then I cleaned and polished all of the components, taking care to carefully remove surface rust, and made sure the frame was clean and the bearing cups and races free of old grease and debris.

Once I had a full inventory of any parts that were missing or needed to be replaced, I made a run to a couple of the nearby bike shops in town.  I also put in a few orders for parts that weren't in stock at my LBS.  When I got home, I bolted on the parts that I had available and made sure any moving parts were lubricated and functioning properly.  Now all that's left is to wait for the orders to arrive at my home or at my LBS so I can get the thing assembled.  Speaking of which, here's a little sneak peek at one such order that was waiting for me when I got home from work today:

The New Project: 1982 Motobecane Super Mirage Mixte

 
Before we made the move to Springfield, there was a period of time in which Ginger was working in Springfield and I was still working in Columbia.  Our house was on the market and I was interviewing for jobs.  It was a somewhat trying time, but it was made even worse when Ginger's Raleigh Record was stolen.  The bike was locked to the trunk rack on the back of her car overnight and it would seem that someone cut the cable and made off with the bike.  I hadn't put an extraordinary amount of money into the bike since the Records aren't particularly valuable, but it was still a blow.  The bike was a gift from my dad, and there was a certain degree of sentimentality associated with it, especially compared to the rigs that I've picked up off of Craigslist.  But the bike was in the wind, and there was only one option left:  build Ginger a new bike.

I picked up this 1982 Motobecane Super Mirage mixte during a trip back to Columbia to see our friends Kyle and Liz a couple of weeks ago.  I should mention that I'm not totally certain of the date of manufacture, but the serial number on the bottom bracket ends in "82" and the crank is stamped with an "81," so I'm thinking the frame was made in 1982 and outfitted with components that were manufactured in '81.  I bought the machine for a pretty good price.  It had been previously converted from its original setup as a 12 speed to a single speed, which was unfortunate.  Luckily, the seller had most of the original drivetrain components, including the front and rear derailleurs and inner chain ring - the conversion to single speed had simply involved removing the inner chain ring and using the original crank set.

The frame is pretty interesting in that it's a mixte, but it doesn't have the laterals running all the way from the head tube down to the rear dropouts.  Instead, it has a single, full-sized top tube that splits into separate laterals just in front of the seat tube.  Once the top tube splits into twin laterals, the lats then run down to the dropouts like a traditional mixte.  This style of mixte frame is supposedly somewhat rare.  After looking though a few old Motobecane catalogs, I found that the company referred to this type of frame as "mixte special."  No matter what it's called, I was initially a bit uninterested, since I was shopping for a more traditional mixte.  But after seeing the bike in person, I couldn't resist.  The frame is in great shape and the color is really mesmerizing...most of the time it looks blue, but in certain light it looks more greenish or gray.

I'm hoping to have this bike fully road-ready for Ginger by the time the weather starts to warm up, so this is the project I'll be focusing on during the coming weeks.  She's been riding her Sports around town since the Record was stolen, but she's looking forward to having a lighter weight cycle, especially for longer trips.