Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => DIY => Skip Bike and Bodge It => Topic started by: Somnolent on 24 January, 2010, 09:29:22 am
-
What is the worst (or most un-necessary) bodge you have ever seen on a bike ?
I'll start:
These were all found on same e-bay "bargain" when it arrived.
Front wheel - clincher tyre on tub rim
Brake levers - old non aero type, hoods from aero type, cable holes punched through top.
Brake inner cables forced into gear cable outers - with a few loose strands curled up inside levers
Seat post filed away at saddle end so a short allen key could be used to adjust clamp bolt
seat post diameter too small - sides of frame slot forced together by overtorqued bolt.
Rear derailleur hanger thread stripped, mech designed for axle mounting, bolted to hanger with a bit of M10 rod & 2 nuts
And - I have no how or why this happened, but when I took the BB out, one of the bearing cages was so distorted, the balls were floating around loose.
-
:o :o :o
Hope that you manage to get it to rideable condition without too much hassle.
And how the hell can you even do this?:
Front wheel - clincher tyre on tub rim
-
Some years ago, one of my colleagues decided to get back into cycling and dug up his old BSO. It wasn't a very stable ride, and when I looked at it, it had an old mechanical speedo, with a pickup fitted between the hub and fork. In essence the wheel was slightly sideways from where it should have been, so the front and rear wheel tracks weren't in line.
Once we binned the speedo, the bike worked OK, well better anyway, it was still a heavy old BSO!
Admittedly, it wasn't strictly speaking a bodge, but it was a damned bad idea by whoever did it!
-
... so the front and rear wheel tracks weren't in line.
I see no problem with that. ;)
-
... so the front and rear wheel tracks weren't in line.
I see no problem with that. ;)
Maybe I should have caveated it with the phrase "...when he wanted the bike to go in a straight line". :)
-
... so the front and rear wheel tracks weren't in line.
I see no problem with that. ;)
Maybe I should have caveated it with the phrase "...when he wanted the bike to go in a straight line". :)
A certain well-known cycle engineer designs his bikes that way.
-
Not sure if it counts as a true bodge but...
An 11-year old's bike with the brakes removed (by Dad) - because they were making a noise.
It was safe though because he was wearing a hel....
-
... so the front and rear wheel tracks weren't in line.
I see no problem with that. ;)
Maybe I should have caveated it with the phrase "...when he wanted the bike to go in a straight line". :)
A certain well-known cycle engineer designs his bikes that way.
I assume you're talking about MB, and I remember one of his bikes where he did manage to build the bike that way, so angled the front forks over so that the contact point of the wheels were in line, even though the centres of the wheels weren't. I think I've got a shot of it somewhere, where you can see the angle of the two wheels to each other!
-
He's done ones with the rear cantered over to give inline contact patches, but he has also done bikes with 'parallel tracking' - they still work
-
I guess, as with many things relating to the stability of bikes, it depends on a plethora of aspects. The bike in question definitely worked better once the speedo had been removed, but that could also have been due to other elements.
Either way, binning it was the best solution!
-
I once commuted to work on a very ancient and neglected bike.
One day I noticed a small rust hole in the chainstay, near the chainring. I poked the hole with a finger and the hole increased substantialy.
Next day at work I got one of the welders to weld on two lengths of 1/4" diameter steel rod to reinforce the weakened chainstay.
Commuted on that bike for a further two years before scrapping off the frame.
-
Commuted on that bike for a further two years before scrapping off the frame.
That would appear to be a good bodge.
-
There's a gut at work who commutes on a Dahon with a broken hinge. It's repaired with a combination of aluminium plates araldited in place and loads of gaffer tape. Looks awful, but he reckons it is actually more rigid than it was before he "fixed" it.
-
........ loads of gaffer tape.
Ahh!
Doubtless, that'll be mexican welding tape.
-
:o :o :o
Hope that you manage to get it to rideable condition without too much hassle.
It's taken me a few months, partly because I was determined not to spend any money on it, partly because I was still on the "learning curve" as far as fixed wheel was concerned; but it is now rideable - albeit with wheels robbed from another bike. Now all I have to do is get used to riding fixed. 8)
-
He's done ones with the rear cantered over to give inline contact patches
That was the UFO as campaigned by Ian Sheen in the mid-90s. He reported that it worked much better once it had been fitted with a set of conventional stereo forks and had the rear casting rotated so as to make the rear wheel vertical. Last heard of lurking in Big Mal Squires' loft after having been converted to USS :(
-
Years and years and years ago I had a Vindec Speedster. Somewhow (I think I crashed it) the joint between the top tube and seat tube came apart. It was lugged construction. Fortunately there was a wee hole in the lug, and corresponding wee hole in the top tube.
So I put a nail in it, to stop it springing further apart.
Worked like that for 3 years, until it got stolen.
-
Many years ago I read of a motorcycle bodge, where someone wanted a Guzzi style brake, in which the rear brake pedal operates one of the front discs as well. So, he removed his front brake lever and bolted it to a crash bar, connected by a rod to the pedal.
This is not a bodge, it was built by the factory apparently, but I shuddered when I saw it. The bike itself must be about the least rigid tandem ever:
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/IMG_0747.jpg) (http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/?action=view¤t=IMG_0747.jpg)
The rear brake....s:
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/IMG_0748.jpg) (http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/?action=view¤t=IMG_0748.jpg)
And the operating mechanism-shaped-object.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/IMG_0749.jpg) (http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae29/cyclisttony/?action=view¤t=IMG_0749.jpg)
-
Aside from the non-rigidness of the frame, that isn't a good brake arrangement. The failure of any part of the mechanism will cause both rear brakes to fail. A not much more complex design could leave some redundancy in the system.
-
"Schwinn - purveyors of BSOs for over 100 years".
I suppose we have them to thank for the MTB. Sort of.
-
My Schwinn Rocket88 was an excellent bike, though.
Granted, I did eventually snap the frame... :-[
-
<snip>
This is not a bodge, it was built by the factory apparently, but I shuddered when I saw it....
<snip>
Sorry, but that *points back to picture of "tandem"* is a bodge. It has bodginess built in right from the off. *shudders*. It looks suspiciously like the cycling equivalent of a cut and shut.
-
I was having a chat with the group including the women who were riding the thing. They told me that it was eactly how it came from the shop, new. We were in the Puszta, the great Hungarian plain, so
not many no hills too worry about
-
Unfortunately the worst bodge I've encountered was a custom built tourer I had made for me.
The company seem to be a 2-part operation, shop and frame builder. The public deal with the shop, who then pass on the spec for a frame and on receiving said frame, add components.
So the result..
The back brakes useless because the bosses were too far apart and in any case the V-brakes were not suitable for use with drop bar levers and 'travel-agents' are a bodge in themselves.
The triple chainset would only work on 2 rings because shimano MTB chainsets were/are not compatible with STI shifters
The expensive Schmidt dynamo could not be aligned with the tyrewall track and so massive wear occurred when using it.
The really annoying thing was their great reluctance to fix anything and in the end I gave up on them and
took it to Mercian and Ellis Briggs who did a good job in tranforming the heap into a fine tourer.
(Have also used Roberts who produced a magnificent audax machine.)
-
Speaking of flexible frames.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/15729229081_6115e9b3c3.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pXWpNR)Bike with top tube cut out (https://flic.kr/p/pXWpNR) by Cycling Mollie (https://www.flickr.com/people/44681630@N02/), on Flickr
-
*wince*
-
I've seen one instance where a man hacksawed thru the chainstay to get the chain off. To clean it. Then wondered where the rattling was coming from.
Almost got the response 'Leave your bike there and go away. You're too stupid to own one!'
Another 'customer' seems addicted to baling wire, despite having threaded bosses on the frame his rack and mudguards were a mass of twisted, rusty wire. Sorted that one then he came back a week later with a supermarket shopping basket banjoed on to the rack with, guess what?
-
I thought you were going to comment on my lighting rig. :)
-
Another 'customer' seems addicted to baling wire,
In Kiwi folklore, anything can be fixed with no. 8 fencing wire.
-
The Holy Tools of HPV racing are Araldite, cable ties, corriboard and duct tape. I am pleased to say we used all four when mending Darth Stuart's tailbox in Friedrichshafen in 2003.
-
Speaking of flexible frames.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/15729229081_6115e9b3c3.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pXWpNR)Bike with top tube cut out (https://flic.kr/p/pXWpNR) by Cycling Mollie (https://www.flickr.com/people/44681630@N02/), on Flickr
I didn't immediately spot the bodge and was looking at the box on the rack.
Chapeau to the welders at Raleigh.
If nothing else it proves that the structure around the B/B is strong (although I still find it hard to believe it hasn't just folded up on itself at the first pot hole)
-
When it does let go it's really gonna hurt!
-
The old "Universal" cycle co used to operate from Southend*. They were living proof that manufacturers could bodge things.
I recall a young chap turning up to one of the National Cycling Proficiency courses that I used to run in the summer holiday in order to augment my teacher's salary, which was meagre to say the least. This young man was astride a Dawes-Kingpin-shaped-object as manufactured by Universal, except for one thing: the plate where the frame folded had been welded on at an incorrect angle. This ensured that the wheels were not in the same plane, or even in parallel planes. One angled to the right and the other to the left. How he managed to ride it I never really understood as the bike should really have been sold to a circus clown. I'd like to see Wobbly John make such a bike and ride it.
*They sponsored Southend United Football Club at one time and I believe that part of the ground is the Universal Cycles Stand. I've never seen a bike in it though.
Footnote: I believe that the make of bicycle known as "Laser Custom" was officially the Worst Bicycle Ever Manufactured, and received a Design Centre kite mark for its extraordinary efforts in this niche market.
-
Footnote: I believe that the make of bicycle known as "Laser Custom" was officially the Worst Bicycle Ever Manufactured, and received a Design Centre kite mark for its extraordinary efforts in this niche market.
Worse than an Itera? :o
-
There's one of those (well, used to be) chained up outside a bike shop in Oldham.
Last time I saw it the plastic was beginning to crumble like poor quality uPVC windows that have been in the sun.
-
Another 'customer' seems addicted to baling wire,
In Kiwi folklore, anything can be fixed with no. 8 fencing wire.
Don't they have cable ties down there?
-
There's one of those (well, used to be) chained up outside a bike shop in Oldham.
Last time I saw it the plastic was beginning to crumble like poor quality uPVC windows that have been in the sun.
Which is basically what they are made out of, hence the problems they have. A definite case of a good idea badly implemented. Shame on you, Volvo.
-
There's a couple of Instagram tags that are worth a look if you fancy a laugh
#yourbikehatesyou
#bikeshopbingo
-
Saw this somewhere else
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTEwMVgxNDY4/z/JokAAOSw1-RUaSYS/$_57.JPG)
-
Took me a moment to see it, but once I did :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:
-
It's an inspection port. Ever wonder if the bolt is still there?
-
I wonder if they are a Stem half empty or a Stem half full sort of person.
-
I once fixed a similar one at the first control of a ride. The owner had done some fettling the night before and taken the steerer clamping set screws right out, then refitteded them the wrong way around, They were nice n tight and doing nothing.
-
The best/worst bodge I've done was when I lost the balls out of both bearing on the right hand wheel of my Carry Freedom trailer while on tour this summer.
I had done around 3,500 miles with it loose after I crashed on the Serbian side of the Iron Gates gorge before it finally gave up the ghost on the German-Netherlands boarder.
I was hoping it would get me home.
When I finally took the bolt off which holds the wheel on I could see that the inner bearing has no balls left in it at all and the outer bearing had only about half the balls left which just fell out without the nut to hold them in place ...... :facepalm:
I couldn't get the old races out of the wheel because with only the outer races left in the wheel there was no ledge to get anything against to knock them out.
Luckily I was only 60 miles from Quakenbruk in Germany where the main dealer is.
How to get there after sending them an e-mail.
Bus or Cycle ??
Cycle ... :thumbsup:
So I bodged both bearings to get there.
The inner bearing came out of the center of my handlebars as they are held in place on two sealed bearings of the right size, so I used one out of there.
That went on the axle and the wheel was placed on it the wrong was around so the bearing fitted inside the nut recess in the hub.
Then a mix of spacers went in, both from the old wheel and handles bars.
This let me make the outer bearing out of a plain M12 washer ..... :o
This was fixed by the spacers so it was in the middle of the old outer race.
This not only gave something for the wheel to run on but also stopped the wheel from just sliding off the axle.
The wheel was still a bit loose on the axle but it turned.
It took my a day and a half but that bodge got my to Quakenbruk under my own power, where I got two new wheels.
-
There's one of those (well, used to be) chained up outside a bike shop in Oldham.
Last time I saw it the plastic was beginning to crumble like poor quality uPVC windows that have been in the sun.
Ah yes, outside the rather splendidly named Skidmores Cycles.
I remember that appearing in the 1980s (about 83?), I've not seen the shop for a few years, but Google caught that bike still there in 2012:-
https://goo.gl/maps/ZgTrS
-
I expect it's "extremely rare" for a reason.
-
Another one . . .
W T F ? Seriously. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-speed-fixed-gear-bike-frame-/151576448195?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Fragrances_Women_s_Fragrances_PP&hash=item234aa90cc3)
Obviously the 'designer' missed the lecture on triangulation . . .
-
I think the 'designer' of that one might have been eg Karl Lagerfeld or Yves St Laurent.