Beewee - Home of Rob's Miscellanea

Well, I have been messing about with bikes for a long time - firstly as a teenager in the early 1960s when I had a series of second-hand bikes that needed work to keep them usable and to get me to school … I suppose I must have “created” four or five bikes from various bits, and then pretty much ridden each of them into the ground.  I was never a very quick cyclist, but just enjoyed riding … and it was the only way to get around to places.

As I grew older cars, girls and going to work got in the way and my interest waned - to be rekindled in the late 1990s when I started cycling again, primarily to rehabilitate a knee that had been repaired.  

From then on it has become almost* an obsession as perhaps my website indicates - with the Boys’ Outings and other rides, organising the annual MacRide (www.macride.org.uk) and the collection of machines that I have amassed.

My tally of bikes hovers around 12 complete machines and a couple of work-in-progress projects - and about another 8 machines have passed through my hands and been sold or given away.  Of all those machines only 3 were purchased new.

Much of the fun, and satisfaction, is in maintaining and building/rebuilding the machines - and lots of people have asked me “How do I …?” - so I thought I would spend some evenings and wet weekends writing Rob’s Briefings

As is fairly obvious, I’m a practical person and happy with most DIY tasks (except plastering!) - the topics covered in the sheets assume that you have some practical ability, a reasonable selection of tools and are not frightened to give bicycle repair and maintenance a go.

I have ignored the basics and started with the more unusual tasks - but I expect to add more sheets to the series - I’m still learning!  (I haven’t braved anything to do with wheel-building or truing . . . . yet)

These pages have been compiled from my own experiences and are in no way the definitive answers - if you have any tips or tricks I would delighted to hear from you and add them (with an acknowledgement, of course)

Rob
January 2008

* My wife says there is no “almost” about it!