Finally finally finally I've got the Puch Prince that was rescued for 30 quid from a police auction back on the road.
Such a solid bike, it was a shame to see it going to ruin. Mel has used it a couple of times in the past to commute, but there were niggles. The only major job initially was to replace a completely knackered front wheel, get some new tyres and new brake calipers. Oh, and a new saddle.
Since then it was clear she wasn't confident at all on the drops, so a straight bar sorted that out, which meant I could use a couple of brake levers that had been lying about, and all of a sudden the brakes worked a charm (the old Weinmann with the top pull bar were like braking with Edam on the rim). A thumbshifter was procured for the 5 speed gears, the downtube shifters again caused too many wobbles for comfort in traffic, so she ended up just riding in the easiest gear, using it as a singlespeed.
And finally just before the weekend I got the mudguards on so it can be used properly in all weathers. It might look odd, but by god it's solid, and easy to ride, and Mel loves it compared to her slick-tyred mountain bike (her commute is more or less flat, so the five gears are perfectly adequate).
As soon as the lightness returns to both ends of the working day this should start seeing action again.
All worthwhile for a smile like this.
And I really had to have a go myself (proving the frame was way to small for me to have ever done anything with it (I'd thought about 'fixing' it).
