1960s Columbia Cruiser

Front mud guard detail:

It has a Bendix Coaster hub:

1970s Royce Union Single speed conversion

We had that old Royce Union 12 speed bike in the corner of the Fab Lab at school:

It was really dirty, and everything had to be taken apart, cleaned and lubricated:

I de-rusted and shined the chromes:

I remounted the original rim on a cool high flange alloy hub with a quick release lever, changed the 6 cogs freewheel for a single speed 20 t. bmx freewheel, re-centered the hub with custom parts, and added a recycled chrome chain guard from another bike, just for looks:

And rebuilt the wheel:

I cut off the small chain wheel and filed it smooth to make it into a single speed crank. It's a 52 t., hence the large freewheel on the back...

And the expanded chain:

Remounted the brakes:

Put some old school levers.

Later, I painted this one yellow in honor of the Syracuse made Yellow fellow:

From Trash to Chic - Royce Union Supreme Reboot: Phase 2

Royce Union Supreme single speed conversion with all recycled parts, except for new chain.

 

 

I made this bike for my neighbor Isaia whose own bicycle was stolen from his backyard two weeks ago.

Royce Union Supreme Reboot: Phase 1

The first step is to take everything apart to a bare frame, and since we're going to rebuild the wheels, that means taking apart the wheels as well.

Repair the bent frame:

Recondition a Shimano B-Type Coaster - clean and lube it:

Rebuild the back wheel with the new coaster and the de-rusted original spokes and rim:

Make sure it fits - the coaster hub will need to be adapted to the width of the frame:

With a variety of recycled nuts and washers, I matched the width of the hub with that of the frame, making sure the hub remained centered. I also had to slightly bend the arm of the coaster hub so that it would reach the chainstay.

One of the pedal arms' thread was busted, so I changed the whole crankset with a recycled 1980s Sakae crankset, from which I removed the small chain ring.

 

 I trued both wheels and installed them to make sure they were perfectly centered:

Royce Union Supreme Salvage

I found this Royce Union Supreme 12 speed in my neighbor's trash pile. She said I could have it. I'm going to try to resurrect it. It's a heavy bike, but has nice lugs and the classic geometry that I'm looking for in a bike.

Onondaga Park is my Velodrome