The Klinedinst’s Saddle: Before

This is the saddle off of my recently acquired Klinedinst Special, quite severely disassembled. As you can see, everything is there and functional/moving, though unbelievably rusty. I will be tackling the job of re-upholstering this seat as part of my renovation of the Klinedinst. I have no experience with upholstery, and my experience with leather is pretty much limited to book covers, but it should be a learning experience if nothing else. If anyone out there knows anything about refinishing a seat like this, please leave a comment or drop me a line with some tips!

The Klinedinst Special

The newest addition to my fleet, and another Craigslist acquisition: the Klinedinst Special. I know very, very little about this bike and cannot find any information about it, or the company. The guy who sold it to me seems to think its from the 1930s and another fellow from a vintage and collector’s bicycle forum says it looks like its from right around WWII. Either way, its certainly old and unique. The frame has an interesting geometry: low and long with 26inch wheels. I am going to be fixing it up and making in ride able again. I am not going to throw around the word “restoration” because I am certainly not holding the original parts in reverence; but I am going to keep it looking pretty similar to how it does now.

Please, if anybody knows anything about this company or bike, let me know!

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Things no one told me about: The North American Handmade Bicycle Show

Photo by Tim Potter

Seriously people. Why was I not told about this? An entire show dedicated to hand made bicycles; I am not sure I can imagine anything I would rather attend. Luckily, the NAHBS has provided extensive photographic documentation of the event and the bikes in attendance. Click on through their galleries and marvel at some true works of art. For some more professional photos, check out Urban Velo’s Coverage of the show.

I am going to go mark my calendar for next year.

(via Bicycle Design Blog)

Meeting Nice People on the Internet

I traded an old Les Paul style guitar kit I built up about five years ago for this flip-flop hub and 19t freewheel cog today. An individual I contacted on Craigslist was nice enough to hold the hub and cog for a few weeks while I finished up school and got back to Pennsylvania. Nothing does more to renew my faith in humanity than random acts of kindness by strangers on the internet. All I need to get my hands on now is a 27″ 32 hole rear wheel to lace this bad boy to and I will be good to go. Some more pictures of the hub and my wooden handlebars from Ken Carroll in the full article. (more…)