Last year two colleagues of mine bought each a new bicycle, they were very enthusiastic or at least one of them were! The bikes arrived and they assembled them and...well, perhaps it was difficult for the result to keep up with the hype! One of the guys said flat out that he was not a fan of it. But when I looked at the bike I saw potential!
I said to him that I was interested in it, but somehow he did not want to part from it, and I didn't really have the funds to buy it. When we met this year he had gotten himself a new bike and said to me, that if I were interested in the old one we could strike a deal! I made him a low offer which he accepted, very quickly I might ad! And voila, I had now bought a bike that I was going to refurb, and here it is:
All over the bike these warnings are featured, I kept them for the fun of it!
Since July is an exceptionally good month for refurbishment I decided that this is the month when great things will be done! To start off I read a book by David Perry Bicycle Obsessions and browsed through a few old catalogues from various bicycle companies. After this "theory" of sorts it was time to get my hands dirty!
First of all I cleaned it with soap and water and I brought it up to my kitchen, where I was going to make the build. At this moment I studied the bike to see what worked and not, and I decided to discard the following:
saddle
both tyres and inner tubes
pedals
reflexes
handlebar
I carefully noted the measurements of the items that I needed to buy and the following day I went shopping for:
saddle
tyres and inner tubes
pedals
handlebar
handlebar tape
bar ends
mud guards, front and back
lamps, front and back
a lock
Unfortunately I got a cold that same day, so the build was halted for a week! It was NOT an opportune time to get sick when my small kitchen was occupied by a bicycle build! Well, I got better and could soon continue with my bike.
The build went smoothly but there were a few hick ups:
1) It was difficult to find a handlebar that fitted the original handlebar stem, I had to order it.
2) The mudguards presented the toughest challenge since they needed to be tweaked a bit to fit this particular bike. I do not know if it is visible on the picture but the fit for the back mudguard from the tyre is SNUG! This might be something that I will have to look at later. I dabbled with the thought to buy removable simpler mudguards, but I do not care for them...
3) On the "how to" video on Youtube the taping of the handlebar looks very easy, it was not! I might have to redo that one...!
There might be some small finishing touches to be done later, but yesterday I took it for a spin and it felt great! Here it is in all its glory!
For this short and sweet project I have learned:
A) To refurbish a bicycle I want to stay true to the original design but also make my own design decisions, if I were to make another build that is the route I will take.
B) I am not completely sure about this, but I think that it will be easier to refurbish a bike with standard measurements, perhaps then the tweaking will be kept to a minimum...
C) As I wrote above this was a short and sweet project, if the bike were to have gears and what not, it would have been a more complex build.
So, what kind of bike did I buy and refurb? It is called Every B:kez and it was launched in 2018, and is a single speed. I am not sure if it is available still, and the website everybikez.com can't be found by the server...! In the user manual they say that they have "chosen the best parts from the best factories" and in an interview one of the founders of the company behind the bike Sebastian Vocanac, says that their vision is to create a simpler, more fun and better future; and later that their goal with the company is to produce a product that all kinds of people like and finds joy in using.
In my refurbishment of the bike I would like to think that I heeded and met their vision and goal!
Take care!
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