Bicycle fireworks do it yourself

It may very well be that you have an old Soviet bicycle lying around on the mezzanine (in the closet, in the garage, in the country house, ...). It may also be that right now you are diligently paying interest on a loan for a new yacht and there is no excess cash left for a new bike. Or you are purely aesthetically pleasing to look at the bicycles of that era. In this case, you have an amazing opportunity to bring your old bicycle back to life and show off the streets of your hometown, the fields and villages of your home country on a unique machine!

As a rule, they are engaged in the revival of old bicycles of the HVZ (Kharkov Velo Plant) production: Sport-Highway, Start-Highway and Champion-Highway, Sputnik, Tourist, Champion, Starton. The revival and modernization of other bicycles or bicycles made in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine during the perestroika times is also possible, but it is of less interest due to the poorer quality of the “source material”. However, the only limitation is your desire.

First of all, since the bicycle has survived to this day since its release, for example, in the 60s of the 20th century, this already speaks of its strength. Modern bicycles with aluminum parts are lighter but wear out much faster than their steel predecessors.

Further, the degree of modernization required depends on the condition of the particular bike and your desire to modernize it. The better the initial state, the less you need to change. In most cases, the wheels are completely changed - the technologies do not stand still, and they are very susceptible to wear and tear on the rim, they are hardly preserved in good condition. The greatest difficulties are caused by the carriage and shifters.

A correctly assembled carriage and connecting rods on the wedges do not loosen up, do not play, no matter what those who did not really use them say on the forums. Straight arms decide everything. But the carriage is one of the most worn out units, so it makes sense to replace it with a modern cartridge one. This is where the difficulty arises - the fact is that at different times different manufacturers made carriages of different diameters with different types of threads. It is not at all a fact that a modern cartridge can be installed without additional effort. It is often necessary to cut the thread with a special tap. Sometimes special adapters are made from a larger diameter to a smaller one.

Difficulties with shifters are as follows. These are sports bicycles or those close to them with a curved "ram" road handlebar. Mountain brake levers and shifters available in almost every store are not suitable. The most convenient way to use the combined road monoblocks is shifter + brake lever. But they are expensive, and usually they tend to upgrade the bike with minimal investment. In addition, bicycles of those times were supplied with 3-5 stars, and now less than 7 is difficult to find. Hence the need to either unbend the frame, or select shifters for working with a ratchet for 5-6 stars, or come up with original combinations of popular components for mountain workers.

Sometimes, in addition, they weld on the frame to attach V-break brakes, bottle holders, mounts for additional switch cables. This is already a matter of taste / needs. For example, vibrake brakes are easier to find than suitable U-shaped tick brakes if family members have fallen into disrepair. If there is an opportunity and does not care too much about the appearance, then it is easier to weld on the mounts than to look for cantilever brakes with long “legs” (the distance from the mount to the rim is more than 5 cm.).

The result of a neat upgrade looks very attractive (the grace of a thin steel frame and narrow wheels) and rolls better on tarmac than an MTB. Of course, the bike is not for competition - sports and extreme loads require a completely different technique. As a rule, such bicycles after recovery are closest to the class of tourist (touring, "touring") or road bikes for training (weight from about 11kg). However, variants of a city bike with a high seating position and a straight handlebar are also not uncommon.

These upgraded bicycles are often referred to as “crocodiles”. Why it is so difficult to say. Maybe the name came from the fact that HVZ bicycles, popular for modernization, were originally green. Or the first ones restored were so scary. A very plausible version is that this is how FIDO called any old-school bike modified by the owner to something unique (now it would be called a custom bike), later the name spread to all modernized bicycles.

It may seem that the restoration of old bicycles is exclusively domestic entertainment. Still, HVZ. but as you saw in a couple of links above, English-speaking countries are also busy reanimating old bikes and customizing.

In conclusion, a few examples of "crocodiles" describing the process of their modernization.

A very detailed description of the retrofit process for this bike from a professional workshop:

Description of the modernization and its discussion on the forum.

Discussion: there is also a link to large photographs of individual nodes.

Description and discussion on the forum:

Modernization towards a hybrid

Another all-terrain vehicle.

However, the realities of the modern cycle market quickly cooled my cheerful optimism. I could not find a good tire of the Soviet standard 533-37. I also did not want to put 24x1 1/2 tires close in size, having a not very pleasant experience of such a replacement. In the end, I decided to replace the wheels with modern ones. The installation of new wheels led to a change in other bicycle components, the restoration of which was described in the article "Bicycle Salute".

This article is about how I redesigned my bike and what came of it. It is not finished yet and will be added as new changes become available.

Thinking about what components will be needed, I faced a dilemma - their price significantly exceeded the cost of my second-hand "Salut". Is this modernization justified? After some thought, I decided that I would buy high-quality spare parts, which in case of failure of my venture on the "Salute" could be easily used on other bicycles.

This approach involves the selection of universal components. What do I mean by the term “universal accessories”? For example, I need to choose the brakes for my bike. Which type of the existing should be preferred? Disc or rim (v-brakes) require an appropriate frame design. On the "Salute" there are no mounts for them, and it is not known whether they will be on a different frame if rearrangement is required. At the same time, foot or roller brakes are absolutely not demanding on the frame design and therefore can be installed on any bike, which means they are universal. Guided by this approach, I went to buy parts to modernize my bike.

It all started with the choice of wheels. There were two options:

- smaller wheels with a diameter of 24 inches;
- large by 26 inches.

Each of them has its own advantages, but given the high prevalence of 26 ″ wheels and, accordingly, a larger choice of frames for these wheels settled on them. In the wheels, I used double rims with brake track for V-breaks, similar to those used on mountain bikes.I was not going to make "Salute" a mountain bike, and there are no mounts for vibrake on the frame either, it just seemed to me that these rims were attractive in terms of strength (and therefore durability) and price.
The use of large-diameter wheels has imposed its own limitations on tire size. I bought these, 26 x 1.75 in size with a reflective strip and a Kevlar anti-puncture layer.

To install the new front wheel, it was necessary to slightly push the fork stays apart and use a file to expand the seats for the axle mounting (the diameter of the axles of modern bushings is larger than that of the front Salyut wheel).

After installing the wheels on my bike, I decided to try them out on the go. In order not to get in the way under my feet, I also installed “native” wings. Intuition dictated that the distance between the fenders and the new rubber was too small. The flimsy wire feathers holding the wings did not add optimism. And my presentiments did not deceive me. The very first exit from the curb turned the rear wing into a bizarrely curved art object that could not be restored to its original shape.

In the end, the wings had to be changed too. Replaced them with plastic ones for 26-inch wheels with stiffer and more reliable lashing eyes.

At first glance, it may seem that the rear and front hubs of a bicycle have a complex structure, and it is not an easy task to repair and service them yourself at home. But it is not so. Of course there are some design differences, but most of them are the same. Therefore, in this article we will touch upon such topics as: types and arrangement of bicycle wheel hubs, their disassembly / assembly, repair and maintenance, and also consider what, how and with what frequency they should be lubricated. We will try to present the material as briefly as possible in the form of detailed instructions, and at some points we will add a video for clarity of disassembling the sleeve.

At the moment, there are several types of bicycle wheel hubs on the bicycle parts market: with free wheeling, without free wheeling (used on fix bikes), as well as with a built-in foot brake, with a built-in dynamo machine, and the so-called planetary bushes. There are two types of bearings that can be used in freewheel designs: cone-cup type (mainly from Shimano) and industrial bearings. Since free-wheeling hubs with integral brakes are the most popular, we will discuss their design below.

This type of bushing is one of the most common in comparison to the rest and is often used on road, mountain, road and other types of iron horses. It can be used on both the most budgetary bikes and professional bikes. An adherent of this design is Shimano, which produces exclusively bushings with loose bearings (well, planetary bushings). According to them, the cone has an advantage over the bushing on industrial bearings, namely, the best roll. It is difficult to say whether it is true or not, but this is not the purpose of this article. Next, consider the design of a typical tapered bushing.

As we can see, a bushing with cup-cone type bearings consists of: body, axle, cups, balls, anthers, flare nuts, washers, anthers, locknuts (and a drum if we consider the rear bushing).

The design of this type of bush is very similar to the previous one, except for the use of industrial bearings instead of loose balls. Because of this, it lacks components such as balls and flare nuts, and the bearing is a one-piece design. The advantages include the ease of assembly and disassembly, as well as the uselessness of adjusting the tightening of the cones. This type of hub can also be used on almost all types of bicycles.

This type of hub is mainly used on single-speed city bikes.Its main feature is the brake, which is installed inside its body and is activated by the movement of the pedals backward. Due to this, it is slightly larger and heavier than its competitors. Below we give a picture of the design of this sleeve.

Bicycle planetary hubs are very similar to a small gearbox from a car and have a complex design and dense arrangement of parts. Inside this structure, there are many gears, with the help of which gears are shifted. Difficult to repair and maintain. Can often be used on city folding bikes.

Bushings with a dynamo inside the body are, roughly speaking, a small generator from which you can power various electrical appliances on a bicycle. For example, it can be lighting lanterns. Basically, the dynamo is located inside the front hub of a city or road bike.

Before proceeding to disassembly, let's decide when to service the bicycle hubs. First of all, it should be noted that the service is periodic and forced.

It implies preventive measures for cleaning and lubricating all the hub assemblies of the bicycle in order to avoid their failure, thereby reducing the cost of purchasing new parts and problems with repairs. Many bicycle masters recommend replacing the bushing bearing grease every 5000 km, but as practice shows, a lot depends on the road surface on which you ride and the quality of the bushing itself (the anther design itself). Therefore, the need for maintenance may arise earlier.

If, while riding or checking the rotation of a bicycle wheel, you find backlash, extraneous noise and crackling inside the hub, or there is a difficult rotation of the wheel, then this may indicate several possible reasons:

• Incorrect tightening of the tapers (in the case of a taper-cup bearing).
• Lack of grease or heavy contamination.
• Failure of cups, balls or bushing cone (in the case of a cone-cup bearing).
• Failure of industrial bearings (in the case of a slip on a slip).

In this case, the wheel should be repaired and serviced as soon as possible. And what needs to be done for this we will consider below.

We will disassemble and change the grease using the example of a sleeve with cone-cup bearings.

ATTENTION: When disassembling, clearly note the sequence for removing the bushing components and how they are installed. Also, parts on the left side cannot be installed on the right side and vice versa. The latter is because the balls, cups and cones rub against each other and will not fit well if you move them to the other side.

First, let's disassemble / assemble the front hub of the bike.

1. We remove the wheel from the bike, remove the eccentric from the hub axle and unscrew the disc brake rotor (if it is natural). This is to prevent grease from getting on the brake rotor and to simplify the disassembly procedure.
2. Remove the anthers on the right and left sides. To do this, carefully pry them with a minus screwdriver.

Next, we'll look at how to disassemble and lubricate the rear hub of a bicycle wheel. In principle, there is not much difference from the method for disassembling the front one (so you can read it first, there are moments that we did not repeat in the description for the back one), except for a few minor differences.

1. We remove the wheel, eccentric and dismantle the disc brake rotor (if any).
2. Remove the boot on the left side of the rear bushing with a screwdriver. There is no outer boot on the right side (where the cassette is).

If for any reason you need to remove the cassette, then this can be done literally immediately using a special tool.

Any heavy type of automotive bearing grease can be used to lubricate the bearings in the front and rear bushings of a bicycle. For example, Litol-24 or TsIFTIM-201,158 is a good fit.Of course, no one forbids you to buy specialized bicycle bearing greases, for example, from Shimano, which do an excellent job with their tasks. But to be honest, I did not notice much difference (except for the price).

But what you can not lubricate the bearings of the bushings on a bike: WD-40, motor oils for cars, oils for sewing machines, for lubricating bicycle chains and other liquid lubricants.

When working out its resource or premature breakdown of such parts as: axle, cone, bearing balls, and cups, they are replaced with new ones. And if there are no special problems with the first ones on this list, then with the cups it is not so simple. There are several problems. Firstly, buying new ones specifically for a specific sleeve is unlikely to work (unless you find the same used one). Therefore, you will either need to dance with a tambourine and order a cup from a turner, or look for a donor, knock them out and insert into the victim. Which does not always work out. There is another option. Knock out the cups from the bicycle wheel hub and put the industrial bearings in their place. But here, too, you need to clearly select everything in size and not everything can go as you would like. So if the cups break, you will most likely need to buy a new sleeve.

I would like to note that when replacing balls, you should change everything at once, and not several pieces.

In case of failure of industrial bearings, they also change without problems for new ones.

As for the rest, clean and lubricate the bushings in time, check them for backlash (if necessary, tighten as described above) and the bike bushings will serve you for a very long time.

After reading this article, you learned how to properly disassemble and repair the rear and front bushing of a bicycle with your own hands using the example of pictures and videos. What can be summed up? First of all, maintenance should be carried out periodically and in a timely manner: clean and lubricate, check for backlash and serviceability. In addition, we learned how to lubricate the bushing, and what not, and also learned its structure. Thank you for your attention and good luck with the repair!

I decided to restore and return to battle my first own bike, Salyut-Since 1986 (purchased in 1987).
The goal is not saving, but fun and simply so that the memorable "rarity" does not rot, uselessly occupying space on the balcony, but continues to please (throwing his hand never rose in all the years).
Unfortunately, the great was mercilessly exploited and stored on an open balcony, the wheels were badly damaged (spokes), the frame was worn, the unpainted iron parts were covered with rust (fortunately, the frame is in order, but needs to be repainted), crumpled fenders, all the "bells and whistles" sown, etc.
Here is a photo of the first katabatic iteration.

Installed new wheels 24 ″ and tires for 2 ″, a footboard, light (I ride at night, because it is very hot during the day). The wheels were bought at a local store for 560 rubles. piece, I do not know the manufacturer.
I also removed the Soviet call, tk. it rings on the bumps.
Rolls like new, good roll and all that. Motivates you to continue your recovery.
The plans include new chain protectors, fenders, seat, pedals, trunk, hand brakes, basket. Well, and repainting the frame, of course. Those. restore led in body kit around 1988 with new parts.
The total is more than 10 thousand, i.e. is approaching the price of a new city bike.
I am thinking about the planetary, but this is already for the next season.

I changed my native wheels, but because There are no new 533-37 tires locally, but so far I have sent them to stock. (By the way, in one bicycle service I was told that today the metal on the wheels is not the same as in Soviet times, so they are for several years, and the old Soviet ones can last for decades.)

P.S. It's surprising that this velik drove me almost normally when I was 8 years old, and it carries me now, with an increase of 186. Not bad scalability

I changed the drive sprocket and connecting rods (caught for 300r.new steel ones, in shape exactly like the old ones, only the casting of connecting rods with roughness, in contrast to the Soviet ones), tk. the old sprocket is swinging strongly, and the new pedals (170r. Chinese) are made of tin and rubber, in short, bullshit, but nothing else with metric threads was on sale. I will look for more sensible ones. They say they are sometimes imported.
I also had to remove 2 links from the chain, i.e. there is no more space for tensioning the chain.
Today we drove for 3 hours on roads and country roads with a company in four GTs - somehow I survived, and was not even the slowest link, but I was tired as it should.

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UPD: the bike had to do 2 more things: shorten the chain by 2 links and correct the deformation of the rear fork to the right. And he also took off his own trunk, as it rattles on uneven concrete. Hopefully, when a new one arrives, it will be quieter. So far, after each trip, you have to do a little MOT 🙂

I put a new trunk with DealExtreme (got up perfectly) and at the same time carefully looked at the possibility of plugging in the rear clawhead, indeed, without overlays to strengthen the jumper, there is no particular point in doing this, plus you need to drill through the serial number, do not feng shui
I put the front tick, but by and large it is decay and pornography, the maximum is to slow down the hill. Plus, the steering wheel is bent so that the brake lever is turned relative to the handle - not very convenient (I wonder if there are handles somewhere that can adjust the position relative to the fasteners?)
There is an idea to put back the planetary car with a brake, or leave it with a single-speed one, and forward the hub with a drum brake. This will allow to embed American chrome fenders for a beach cruiser 8 cm wide, which I somehow bought by mistake. In the meantime, I'm waiting for Vavert 24 ″ / 50mm carbon fenders from eBay remained on the bike).
I also put chrome-plated WALD chain protection, got up like a native.

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(Somewhere here I found successful chrome fenders for .200 rubles, and, of course, immediately bought and installed them.)

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Few new haharyashki:
- Lyotard Pedals - 14 x 1.25 Thread, Chrome Steel
- Made new straps for the original bag and hung it on the trunk
- Vintage style LED headlight

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I installed a ladies' sofa (because my wife will now ride on the bike, I started a road builder) and a three-speed planetary Sturmey Archer AWC II (with a pedal brake) with a 22-tooth sprocket (3rd gear is about 9% faster than the original, and 1 -2 is lowered in 33% steps), a new chain. This planetary gear is only 116 mm wide, the 110 mm frame can be easily unbendable with bare hands and with the right stop point. Weinmann rims with brake track, front brake worked much better. The front hub is Chinese 90mm from the ebay, the only thing that I found in its original size (I didn't want to unbend the fork to 100mm), somehow I didn't like the quality of the axle and the cones, I rearranged it from the previous hub.
I ran it just a little bit in the snow, it's cool - on a slide it goes much better on a bad road. On the ramp to the hospital nearby, you can call in without suffering at all, despite the stool landing.

I also straightened the misalignment of the seat tube and moved the couch forward in the mount, but I still haven't fired after that. Better photos - in the summer (maybe I'll get to repainting the frame)

Since the invention of the bicycle, this means of transportation has always been popular among people of all ages and material wealth due to its simplicity of design and the absence of costs for fuel and other consumables. With the help of a bicycle, you can not only cover the necessary distances, but also go in for sports, both professional and taking leisurely walks with friends and relatives.

Despite the simple design, this vehicle still tends to break down, and without proper experience and a special tool, bicycle repairs may take a long time or not work at all. Our VeloStop website was specially created to help you understand all the intricacies of self-repair and maintenance of your bike.On our site you will find detailed step-by-step instructions for repair of any complexity with photos and videos, and at the end of each article you can ask questions of interest to the site administration or other site visitors.

Bicycle device and its main parts

To successfully repair a bicycle, you need to know its structure and the principles of operation of its individual units, as well as study the names of all its main elements. If earlier, when repairing domestic bicycles, it was possible to do with only one family, then to disassemble a modern bicycle you need a whole arsenal of all kinds of keys and special pullers. You can also learn about the necessary tool from our instructions and even find out where to buy them.

Bicycle maintenance is also worth noting, which will help delay bike repairs. Carrying out timely and high-quality maintenance of the bike, you can reduce breakdowns to a minimum and save a lot of money on spare parts. In addition, the service will help to avoid unforeseen situations while walking. From our instructions, you can learn how to use different lubricants correctly and how to buy them correctly.

Bicycle maintenance

In the sections of our website you will find a huge amount of information on how to repair bicycles with your own hands of absolutely any bicycle - children's, sports, road, mountain and walking. Our instructions are perfect for any brands of bicycles such as Stels, GT, Merida, Stinger and even domestic bicycles Salyut, Minsk and Shkolnik.

Most of the bicycles produced by the Soviet industry had such a massive and heavy structure that it was difficult or even impossible to store them in a cramped apartment in a multi-storey building, or to transport them in public transport.

The Salyut bicycle has a folding design, compact size and good characteristics, which made this model so popular that its various modifications, including new ones, can be found on the roads of the countries of the former USSR to this day.

Salyut was developed and produced by the Perm Motor Plant (PMZ), along with such models as Kama and Ural.

It is designed for driving on asphalt and dirt roads, as well as on poor road surfaces. The model was positioned by the plant as a teenager, but thanks to its good cross-country ability and fairly wide wheels that could withstand heavy loads, it gained wide popularity among the urban and rural population of any gender and age.

The main feature of this bike is the folding frame, which allows it to be transported as carry-on luggage on buses and trains, or placed in the trunk of a car. It also made it easier to store it in the cramped conditions of a city apartment. When folded, the bike took up a minimum of space in the hallway or storage room.

The main characteristics of "Salut":

• total weight ranges from 14.8 to 15.5 kg, depending on the configuration;
• distance between wheel axles - 1090 mm;
• number of speeds - 1 unregulated;
• brake type - rear drum.

The standard set of "Salut", depending on the model and year of manufacture, could include the following components:

• one rear, or two wings;
• chrome or regular steel wire rack;
• leg stand;
• front brake;
• reflectors.

"Salute" has a diamond-shaped frame, only without the top crossbar. It is welded from hollow steel tubes and reinforced at the bottom with a small crossbar that can be used as a footrest or for transporting loads on a bicycle.

There are three modifications of this frame:

• foldable in two with a hinge lock, which is fixed to the handle or hex screw;
• non-folding universal frame;
• a rare disassembled model with a frame, consisting of two half frames, fastened together with a special connection.

The bike is equipped with a high headset with a long stem. It is adjustable in height and tilt to adapt the handlebars to the height and personal preference of the rider.

Salyut can be equipped with the following saddle:

• rigid spring seat made of plastic and leatherette;
• soft latex seat with springs.

You can adjust the seat tilt level and stem extension, but you won't be able to raise it to the maximum level, since the manufacturer has introduced restrictions for the sake of travel safety. These restrictions are needed so that a driver of short stature (usually a child) can reliably reach the pedals with his feet and fully use the brake.

"Salutes" are equipped with wheels with a diameter of 24 inches, which are made in the form of a single-profile rim of standard width with 36 spokes. The rear wheel is equipped with a free wheel hub and drum brake, as well as an 18-tooth sprocket.

You can learn more about the Salyut bike in this video: