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Holland Bike

2021-12-17T19:52

About a year ago I bought another bike to keep me going while all my others were either broken or in pieces.

I found a single-speed road bike from the 60s by a local Melbourne builder, Holland. It had a lot of unoriginal parts and fresh oil. It was probably fixed up cheaply to sell. It cost AU$50 and had a new chain so I think I got a good deal.

I haven't ridden it much, but when I have, I've found the seat and bars are pretty uncomfortable. I swapped the saddle for a Brooks B66. The handlebars mostly uncomfortable because they were missing tape. I bought some Neumann cloth tape but I didn't want to stick it to the modern Japanese drop bars it had. I put on some vintage track bars. That one change completely transformed the look of the bike. With renewed enthusiasm, I wrapped them in tape and shellacked it.

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I'm really liking how this is bike is coming together. When I bought it, I didn't intend to do much with it. It was just a cheap bike to bridge a gap of lots of broken bikes, but now I have all sorts of plans.

First, the pedals need to go. The reflectors look so wrong on a vintage bike. I have some Phillips Credelux pedals that had seized up. Last time I tried, I really struggled to get the dust cap off. It wasn't tapping off and the hexagon nut shape barely protruded and didn't fit any of my imperial or metric spanners. I tried again a few days ago and discovered that the 1/4 Whitworth spanner I recently bought was what I needed. Turning as I tapped it with a hammer got the cap off easily. Without tapping, the spanner would slip off the nut. So I'll rebuild those pedals and put them on.

I will also replace the front chainring with a spare Williams I have. I'll change the bottom bracket while I'm at it if needs it.

The last thing I would like to change are the wheels. They are currently 590mm rims which are so obsolete that only one tyre option still sold. The frame will fit the more standard 622mm wheel, and I find bigger wheels look and ride better so long as they aren't too narrow. I'll aim for around 1 3/8" (37mm) to maintain the vintage look. If I do this I will want some chromed rims that haven't been destroyed with rim brakes. Ideally something new, but old if its all I can find. The bike just has a rear coaster brake which I'll keep. I like stopping, freewheels and no break levers. As crappy as coaster breaks are, they're good enough.

I would also like to swap the saddle for a B17. Both the shape of the bars and that they're only half wrapped means that I mostly ride in the drops in a very slouched position. The B66 is for a more upright riding position.

In case it isn't clear, I'm into the style that was common between 1900 and 1950's. Big, wide wheels. Drop bars that curve down at the top. No reflectors, mud guards, gears, bells, break levers or cables. As uncomfortable and impractical as they are, I can't help it.

Fortunately where I live I think this is all legal. With cars at least, they must only abide by the design requirements of the time they were manufactured. As far as I know, there were no safety requirements for bikes in the 60s. They were almost considered toys.

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