The Freewheel Spa is possibly the world's only shop dedicated to servicing and repairing older freewheels. If your old freewheel can be brought back to life, owner Bob Merrill is the guy who can do it. And if a standard freewheel won't give you the exact ratios you need, Bob can also assemble a custom freewheel to your specifications--a service once provided by many good bike shops, but now practically a lost art.
As an aging writer and editor who started out on a manual typewriter, I have a soft spot for print magazines. Bicycle Quarterly is a solid piece of work all around--clearly written, well-illustrated, and featuring an unusually high percentage of useful information to filler. Great reading for any vintage bike enthusiast.
Sheldon Brown was a remarkable bike expert who wrote widely on bike mechanics, with a particular emphasis on older bikes. Since his premature death in 2008, his Web site has been maintained and updated by Brown's friends and the staff of the Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts, where he was a technical consultant and parts manager. Poking around the somewhat chaotic site can give you a pretty good grounding in everything from basic preventative maintenance to wheel building. I still rely on this site for Brown's "crib sheets" of technical specifications for things like bottom bracket spindles and headset parts.
For anyone wishing to understand the difference between crossover gearing, half-step gearing, and the oh-so-esoteric step-and-a-half-gearing--this Bike Kitchen article is a great place to start--and probably an equally good place to stop. That's because a little knowledge of gearing theory goes a long way. It's easy to get so caught up in the fine points of gear ratios and shift patterns that you don't actually have any time to ride a bike. Skim through it, get a good handle on the basics, and move on.
http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/181-Classic-amp-Vintage
As an aging writer and editor who started out on a manual typewriter, I have a soft spot for print magazines. Bicycle Quarterly is a solid piece of work all around--clearly written, well-illustrated, and featuring an unusually high percentage of useful information to filler. Great reading for any vintage bike enthusiast.
Sheldon Brown was a remarkable bike expert who wrote widely on bike mechanics, with a particular emphasis on older bikes. Since his premature death in 2008, his Web site has been maintained and updated by Brown's friends and the staff of the Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts, where he was a technical consultant and parts manager. Poking around the somewhat chaotic site can give you a pretty good grounding in everything from basic preventative maintenance to wheel building. I still rely on this site for Brown's "crib sheets" of technical specifications for things like bottom bracket spindles and headset parts.
For anyone wishing to understand the difference between crossover gearing, half-step gearing, and the oh-so-esoteric step-and-a-half-gearing--this Bike Kitchen article is a great place to start--and probably an equally good place to stop. That's because a little knowledge of gearing theory goes a long way. It's easy to get so caught up in the fine points of gear ratios and shift patterns that you don't actually have any time to ride a bike. Skim through it, get a good handle on the basics, and move on.
http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/181-Classic-amp-Vintage