Monthly Archives: January 2017

Shimano Saint Pedals: a heavenly review

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Shimano Saint Pedals

As part of my ongoing quest for cycling Nirvana, I have been thinking about replacing the $9 bear trap on my Panasonic winter bike, shown below, which have drawn blood from my shins a few too many times.

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Bear Trap pedals with sharp teeth

There’s nothing really wrong with these bear trap pedals, other than their sharp teeth, which provide grip for rain riding, and have therefore been forgiven for this sin.

One criteria I require of all pedals that I buy is that they must be fully rebuild-able, with cup and cone adjustment.  And, I want a steel axle for a long lasting component.  I have often used MKS pedals when vintage pedals are not available or appropriate for a particular application.  I have found MKS pedals to be enduring and reliable, but they are often shipped very dry, and with a too tight bearing adjustment.

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So, I was fully expecting these Shimano Saint platform pedals to be totally dry and adjusted too tight when I received the shipment.  Not so.  The pedals had so much grease applied that it was oozing out of the Cro-Mo axle. The cones felt a little tight, but not excessively so.  And, if you really want to geek out, the pedals come with alternate pins, washers and an Allen wrench to help you fine tune this pedal for your riding application.

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The Shimano Saint pedals are overall very similar in size to the bear trap pedals I had been using.  So, I was skeptical about them at first – what could they offer at $70 that would be better than the $9 bear claws?

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The Shimano Saints weigh 9 oz per pedal as compared to the bear traps, which weigh a mere 6 oz.  Surely, this meant that I would feel sluggish and bogged down using these heavier Shimano pedals, yes?

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In practice, the opposite was true.  I enjoyed riding these pedals.  I felt that the weight on my feet was being more evenly distributed, and I did not experience any unpleasant hot spots as I rode out today on a beautiful Portland winter morning.  Did I mention how much these pedals weigh?  Ha.  I was sure that the extra weight would be noticeable.  Instead, I found myself tackling hills I don’t normally undertake, and enjoying every minute.  If you are looking for a nice platform pedal with adjustable cups and cones, and fully customize-able pins on the pedal surface – these Shimano Saints are for you.

Sharing Technical Resources

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Restoring vintage bicycles is a wonderful undertaking, made more efficient and rewarding by the existence of technical resources published from days gone by. In order to legally obtain these resources, without violating copyright laws, you may need to purchase the original item in question.  But, can you share such an item, such as an old cycling magazine, without violating copyright law?  It would be great if you could, so that others could simply download the material they need and use it in their endeavors.

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Ads for Simplex and Stronglight – 1966 Le Cycle Magazine

I have occasionally shared pages from vintage cycling magazines and catalogs, such as the page shown above which is from a 1966 issue of Le Cycle Magazine. When I do so, I usually photograph the page in question in an amateur way, in order to discourage unscrupulous individuals from stealing that photo.

In the U.S. there is the “fair use” doctrine which allows using snippets of someone else’s copyrighted material in order to illuminate or expand on a particular subject. France’s equivalent of the fair use doctrine is much more restrictive.  However, I think it’s important to always attribute what you are sharing to its original creators, whether they be dead or alive, and whether legally required or not.  (Caveat:  I am not an attorney and am not giving legal advice – please seek your own legal counsel in regard to any copyright law questions.)

Daniel Rebour drawing of 1962 Lambretta

Daniel Rebour drawing of 1962 Lambretta

But what about sharing artwork?  Here is a lovely Daniel Rebour drawing of a 1962 Lambretta scooter.  Before I originally shared this item, I conducted an extensive web search to determine who owned the copyrights to Rebour’s drawings (surely, they are not in the public domain, I thought).  After finding no record of Rebour’s copyright’s on the French government’s copyright site, I tried contacting the publishers who have used Rebour drawings in their published works by various authors.  I wanted to know who owns the copyrights so that I could obtain permission to share the above drawing on my blog site. I heard nothing back.  In France as in the U.S., copyright protection extends 70 years after the creator’s death.  However, in the U.S. magazine copyrights expire 28 years after publication, unless renewed by the publisher.  That shorter time period does not necessarily apply to the individual authors in a published magazine, who may have their own copyrights which last 70 years after death.  So, let’s just say that sharing potentially copyrighted material should be done at your own peril, and that you should definitely consult a qualified attorney before doing so.

1962 Le Cycle Magazine - Daniel Rebour drawings

1962 Le Cycle Magazine – Daniel Rebour drawings

I have taken the trouble to digitize all of the vintage cycling material in my possession, but, pending advice and research from my I.P. attorney, am not able to share these resources yet.  If they can be shared, I think the images and articles (learning to read French is a good thing), will prove to be very informative and helpful to those of us who have committed ourselves to keeping these wonderful old machines alive and on the road.  And, what’s old is often new again.  I am often astounded at the innovations I see in the 1930’s and 40’s, which were long since forgotten, only to be rediscovered again.  I have especially noted this in:  rack design, crankset styles, centerpull and cantilever brake engineering, shifter applications, handlebar shapes as well as the return to steel as the material of choice for a long lasting frame and comfortable ride.

1962 Daniel Rebour drawing - Goeland randonneuse

1962 Daniel Rebour drawing – Goeland randonneuse

 

Mid Century Mercier Meca Dural

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This winter’s crazy weather in Portland, Oregon finally gave me the time and focus needed to complete the restoration of a very interesting bicycle – a late 40’s/early 50’s Mercier Meca Dural.  The frame is constructed with aluminum tubes joined with ornate aluminum lugs and internal steel expanders.  The front fork is good old steel, but the rest of the frame is 100% “duralumin” – the same stuff that blimps were made from.

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Once I finally had the rear wheel’s axle spacing and dishing issues resolved (the 650b Mavic rims/F.B hubs wheelset installed replace the incorrect 700c wheels on the bike when I acquired it), I could devote time to mounting the 650b tires and dealing with fender line issues.  This bike’s beautiful hammered Le Martele Lefol fenders were meant for tires a bit larger than the Panaracer 40 mm Col de la Vie tires I mounted to the the vintage Mavic rims.  That meant spacers. And, my favorite spacers are wine corks.  Therefore, it was necessary and advisable to open a couple bottles of champagne (the higher priced, the better), to obtain the corks needed to meet this objective.  The photos above show the champagne corks installed on the front and rear fenders.

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Another issue was the chain line adjustment.  Once I had the rear derailleur installed – a NOS Simplex Grand Prix – it became clear that even after adjusting it to push the derailleur as far in toward the frame as possible, and after re-spacing and re-dishing the rear hub, the chain line was off.  It was going to be necessary to push the crankset away from the frame, by a few millimeters.  Fortunately, with this unique frame’s method of joining of the bottom bracket with brass bolts to the chain stays, I determined that I could remove the bolts, and then re-position the bottom bracket accordingly.  I removed the bolts from the frame, lubricated the bottom bracket shell – which is a beautifully machined aluminum cylinder, then began the process of moving it slightly over to the right.  This took the work of a mallet as well as my Lozan BB lockring wrench, but finally I moved the BB cylinder enough to provide the chain-line I needed. One of the many interesting things about this bike is that the BB axle is hollow (to save weight) and the crank bolt on the left side is threaded backwards.  Something not to forget in the future!

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Ideale Model 80 leather saddle

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Simplex shifter

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Luxor headlight bracket

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Luxor 65 headlamp

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C.M. calipers with reversed hardware

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Vintage french rack, Huret wingnuts

The bike’s leather saddle – an Ideale Model 80 – might be worth more than the bike itself if eBay seller pricing is to be believed.  The saddle is a little dry, but after reconditioning it, I think it will prove to be very comfortable.  The “C.M.” brake calipers are a long reach mechanism from the 40’s that I used to replace the incorrect CLB 700 brakes that were on the bike when I purchased it.  You’ll note from the photo above that I reversed the hardware on the rear brake to accommodate this bike’s brake routing – to allow the cable to enter from underneath the caliper.  I also installed a French rear rack from this same era, as the original rack was missing.

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The above photo shows that the seat post lug is pinned, as compared to the rest of the lugs on this bike which are joined with internal steel expanders.  There were other methods of joining aluminum tubes back in the day when these bikes were built, but I think these Meca Dural examples are likely to survive the test of time.  We’ll see once I get this bike out on the road.

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Before

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After

It’s funny (but not really) that the before and after photos of this bike don’t look that much different.  Perhaps what’s different is my perspective – the bike is now ready for a test ride, with appropriate components, and a period-correct restoration to make the bike 100% rideable.  I threw my leg over the saddle today just to see how the bike felt and I was startled to find that this bike fits me perfectly.  I can’t wait to get it out on the road.  For that, the weather gods must provide.

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