You may remember my last vintage bike rebirth — the Nottingham Phillips. Also lanquishing in my garage was a U.S. made Murray bike with twin rear baskets, a chain guard and fenders. This was the most massive bike I have ever hefted. Acquired as part of another deal consummated about a year ago, the bike was quite rusty, missing a rear spoke and some cables and fittings, a flat tyre, and just not viable. So I disassembled it and stashed the parts for future use. The frame hung on a couple of rubber covered hooks from my shop rafters.
Meanwhile, the Bike Oven regulars had reached a fever pitch, buying old bikes from garage sales, Criag’s List, thrift shops, etc. Sometimes for themselves, sometimes for other Oven denizens, sometimes for resale to the ever-growing used (and cheap) bike market.
I got caught up in the frenzy and dropped by St. Vincent du Paul (thrift shop) a couple of times looking for something interesting and cheap. Nothing, nada, zip. Then my glance fell upon the ol’ Murray frame hanging in my workshop. Hmmm… it is in good shape; fewer than normal nicks and chips. I would need to find a spoke for the rear wheel, I could get out the 000 steel wool and knock off that rust. It would need all new cables, new brake pads, the flat fixed, and the wheel hubs and bottom bracket rebuilt. I decided to go for it.
197? U.S. Made Murray ‘Alpine’ Bicycle
Above is the result. I floated an ad in Craig’s List L.A., my price was well below the magic hundred dollar point of inflection. The allure of a vintage American made bike with a famous name overshadowed the cheaper Asian made more modern offerings and the calls flooded in. First to arrive was a 6 foot 2 gentlemen who rode the bike and declared the frame too small. Next to gaze upon the green beauty was a new-comer to the area, a young man from Oklahoma who wanted to ditch his car and pedal to work. It was love at first sight; the deal was done. As we loaded the bike into his soon-to-be forsaken car, I commented that the all-steel rack and twin basket setup added a lot of weight to the bike and he might want to remove them. Not a chance, he said. He would be toting a change of clothing and other stuff on his ride to work.
So, another pile of bike bits resurrected, another motorist converted, another happy face pedalling to work. For me, more nods of approval from the Bike Oven gang, and we advance the “Life Can Be So Car-Free” movement another notch.
That is awesome news Igor. Congrats on getting that sweet ass machine fixed up. I feel like we should all be in a commercial with american eagles in the background and slogans like “Keep America Moving!” scrolling across the screen.
There are a few totally stripped, old, super-heavy, steel frames in the Bike Oven that are looking for some lovin’ attention.