All about the (small folding) bike.
It has just turned to daylight savings here in Australia and for the first time in forever I have actually been struggling to adjust. Iโm not sure if that might partly be down to my eschewing many carbs at the moment or just that I am getting older but trying to make up that hour is proving difficult.
In other news I made a rash eBay purchase on the weekend, buying a somewhat knackered Italian three speed folding bike. It is a Cinzia which has seen better days but at the same time I think I see potential for it to become a fun little run about for girl child and me to use this summer, so I have taken on a project to give it a good clean and a bit of a restore. The paintwork doesnโt actually seem too bad and despite needing a couple of new tyres and inner tubes I think I can salvage most of it using a can of WD40 and a lot of elbow grease.
Thus far Iโve removed the wheels, saddle and seat post, taken off the cranks and pedals so I can renovate the bottom bracket, removed the mudguards, brakes and chain guard. Iโll probably give it a damn good clean using my steamer and then remove the decals as they are all shot. Depending on how the frame then looks after a polish I will decide if it needs a respray. Then Iโll reassemble, making sure everything is freshly greased and polished, replace the saddle and handlebar grips and fit a new set of lighter aluminium wheels.
Iโm setting myself a tight budget to do this and if I am honest it is may be more work than it is worth, but if I can breathe some new life into this old relic which has lain unloved in a shed for what seems like the last 30 years then I am hoping that we will have an end result which will be unique, fun and even potentially stylish to ride during the summer holidays. To aid the restoration Iโve also bought a kids bike from eBay for $35 which has the same size wheels with a coaster brake and tyres which are in good condition, it also has a decent pair of mudguards, a bell and a brake lever which I might recycle.
During the course of my research I actually came across a recent revival of the exact same bike, featured on Cool Hunting, called the Dudebike. The frame had been revived exactly as per the original but some of the components were upgraded to newer versions e.g. the wheels which are steel on the original are now lighter aluminium ones. Unfortunately it looks like the revival never really took off and it seems like Dudebikes are defunct.
However it has given me some inspiration, and hopefully the handlebars, stem and seat post will polish up sufficiently to get rid of the accumulated rust, and I have a couple of saddles already to replace the existing one which is beyond repair. While a retro leather saddle would look ideal Iโll see how the outcome is before deciding if it is worth splurging on something like that. Hopefully though this will be a pleasurable small project that will result in an outcome which will bring some fun for summers to come.
