Tom wrote:
> nuzeta <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Cheers for the help. Since posting my first message, the chain guard
>> fell off whilst changing gear. The rot has started...
>
> Don't see it as a fault, think of it as a feature. It's not rotting, it's
> evolving. The beauty of BSO's (bike shaped objects) is that it cost nothing,
> it's worth not much more, so it doesn't matter what happens to it.
They certainly can cost nothing when they arrive as disposed of by a
local chav.
>
> The natural state for no suspension BSO's is single speed(1), so when it
> stops shifting, bin the derailleur. Line up a front chainwheel and back
> sprocket, and shorten the chain to suit.
One this mature materialised ripe for picking in my hedge a few years ago.
> When the freewheel packs up it has
> evolved into a fixer.
Or a free-er, depending on what went US in the mechanism.
> As long as the brakes work and it goes where you point
> it, it's still worth more than you paid for it. The paint will blister off,
> the chrome will flake, it will be an unstealable pub bike.
Sadly the only things left doing any kind of impression of working were
the steering and the freewheel on the one I was "given". There was some
evidence of it still having been ridden in this state. A dose of
hammerite solved the flaking paint issue and a complete rebuild got a
number of essential things working again, although the rear derailleur
did fail terminally about a week later. Around here there is a need for
an NBC bike for the winter (OK, maybe not the nuclear, for a while at
least). When the gritters are out I abandon normal lubrication in favour
of plus gas.
The only Emmelle I have seen was also an abandoned bike, but it had been
stripped and had a dent in the top tube which looked like someone had
used brute force to remove a lock from it. The undented lower bits of
the frame got recycled when I built my recumbent. The dented bits got
used for welding practice. The quality of the steel was sufficiently low
that when the welding resulted in a slight twist to the front bottom
bracket (it has two "bottom brackets") it could be straightened out by
two people and a broom handle. I'm hoping this weakness was in a plane
through which I won't put as much force in normal use. Does this mean it
is a BSO - 'bent shaped object?
--
JimP
" " - John Cage
