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Green B6

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Skatelab

Finally riding a big boys bike
I rode this Green B6 20 miles yesterday. In Venice, CA. My knees are still sore!
b6.jpg
b6.jpg
 
Nice looking ride there. My knees start hurting from riding a middleweight 5 speed for a long distance so I picked up this old 61 to see if it would help ease the pain. ;)








1961 Continental Tourist 003 (Large).jpg
 
Old knees sure can hurt

Cruisers are murder on older knees. Seats are usually too low. I have done 9 miles on my '64 Tiger 3-Spd, but that's about the limit. Beyond that I get on one of my Bike Fridays, which allow a very comfortable 39" seat-to-pedal distance as well as a less upright riding position.

FYI: Simi Valley to Venice is a longway to go for a ride along the beach. Try Ventura - where we used to live. You can ride from Marina Park to as far as Santa Barbara mostly along the water. (You can also start in the Marina, if you know how to get through the Keys.)
 
Sweet B6!

The three biggest factors in making a bike ride nicely are seat height, gearing, and tires.

On many of my vintage cruisers I use a taller Sting-Ray seat post to get the seat up to a reasonable height, makes a big difference being able to use more leg muscle.

Any Schwinn with a big ring up front requires (at least in my mind) a 22 tooth cog on the back in order to get the gearing down to something my knees can handle. And let's face it, there's a reason they stopped using the 52 tooth sprockets in favor of the 46 tooth, heavy bikes benefit from lower gearing.

Tires and tire pressure are the other biggies. Modern tires, even vintage looking one, are often much lighter than the originals. You'd be surprised how much better a 45 pound bike will ride when you take 12 ounces off of each tire. Modern tires will also air up a bit higher, and the difference between running 25psi and 40psi is significant.

Cheers, Geoff
 
Tall Seat Posts Do Help

Geoff,

There are some limitations given the geometry of older bikes. (There's like 4"-5" of that seat post still in the frame.)

DSCN6587.jpg


Agree with you on tire pressure and gears, too.

Lou
 
nice ride, I have a green 48 looks identical. Took er on a 22 mile classic ride this summer. It was a great time but I couldn't walk for a couple days after that.
 
The frames on cruisers are usually quite small. They're commonly 18-20 inches, which actually falls within the ladies or juvenile range. Adult men's bikes typically started at the 21 inch size and went up from there. Many of the modern "cruiser" bikes feature a little bigger frame and more backward lean to the seat tube. This buys space for the legs in a diagonal direction to the pedals. With an original bike, a higher seatpost, and sometimes one with some lay back to it, will help. If you have to raise the seatpost particularly high, make sure it is a strong enough type not to bend. The rule of thumb was to raise the seatpost until your leg was almost, but not quite, straight at the bottom of the pedal travel.
 
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