# Hard Pedaling '59 Western Flyer



## Vetteman61 (Jun 22, 2020)

About 9 years ago I restored my dad's 1959 Western Flyer he had as a kid.  It's been hanging in his garage ever since and he's been too afraid to ride it, but I have finally convinced him to get it down and use it.  The problem is that it pedals too hard and we aren't sure why.  We have taken the chain off and adjusted the torque on the pedal bearings and they are not too tight.  I had to get new wheels for the bike, the front sprocket is original, but I can't remember if I had to get a new rear sprocket or if it was original.  I'm curious if it has the wrong rear sprocket on it causing the issue.  Also, I put larger, balloon style tires on it (26 x 2.125), but I don't feel that would cause it to be as hard to pedal as it is.  How can I determine the correct size sprocket?  Does anyone have any other areas to check, I feel like we've covered everything we can think of.






Thanks,
Brandon


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## rustystone2112 (Jun 22, 2020)

try lifting the back wheel off the ground and peddle it and see if the wheel spins freely without to much drag from  an over tightened cone


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## Rivnut (Jun 22, 2020)

If it's been "hanging around" for some time, you should probably clean all the hardened grease from the bearings and re-grease everything. Bottom bracket, front and rear wheel hubs, steering tube, and soak the chain in your favorite de-rusting formula.  You're sure your new tires aren't rubbing the frame?


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## phantom (Jun 22, 2020)

Beautiful bike....I too would back off the cones a tad and see if it helps.


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## Oilit (Jun 23, 2020)

You're checking the air pressure in your tires, aren't you? Low air pressure makes a bike a lot more work. Whatever it is should be an easy fix, once you find it. The bike looks like it's in excellent shape.


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## rustjunkie (Jun 23, 2020)

how many teeth on the rear cog?


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## Vetteman61 (Jun 23, 2020)

When you say cones, are you referring to the bearings in the rear hub?  I'll count the teeth on the rear sprockets and report back.


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## Rivnut (Jun 26, 2020)

The bearings ride between a cup on the hub of the wheel and a tapered cone threaded onto the axle. There is a very fine line between "pinching" the bearings between the cup and the cone making the wheel hard to turn, and having too much "play" in the bearings between the cup and the cone making the wheel too loose which lets it wobble.  It will take a thin wrench to get on the cone to back it off.

Have you turned the bike over letting it sit on the handlebars and seat and turned the pedals by hand or spun the front wheel and observed how easily they freewheel once you've turned loose and just watched them spin?


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## Adamtinkerer (Jun 27, 2020)

Besides the other suggestions, you can swap to a larger gear on the rear hub. Bendix makes a 22 tooth, really makes a difference!


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Jun 27, 2020)

"The problem is that it pedals too hard and we aren't sure why" 

pedals too hard like you need an easier gear or something is rubbing somewhere? do the wheels spin freely?


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## GTs58 (Jun 27, 2020)

I don't know squat about Murray's, but it looks like there's a possible fender mounting bracket going across the chain stays just to the front of the tire. I can see something red right in front of the tire. Is the rear tire rubbing that?


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## all riders (Jun 28, 2020)

I agree that you may have hard-baked grease in that rear hub, especially if the bike is in a garage in Arizona. I live in Texas and have found several like that.


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## Vetteman61 (Jun 28, 2020)

We counted the sprockets on the rear hub.  There are 18 and it is 3" wide.  Is this a typical size for a 26" bike?

It does not feel like anything is rubber.  We have already turned the bike over and adjusted the rear hub bearings.  I don't think the bearing grease would be caked on because everything is new on the bike, including the bearings.  My first two suspects would be the larger ballon tires or possible and incorrect rear gear (the front gear is original, the rear gear is new and came with the new wheels I purchased).


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## GTs58 (Jun 28, 2020)

The 18 T. rear sprocket is pretty normal and standard. Optional is 22 and easier on the legs. Did you mention how many teeth are on the front chain ring? That ring looks huge, maybe a 52 tooth? The old Schwinn clover ring is 46 tooth and after 1958 that's all they used. No more 52T rings were used again.


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## Rivnut (Jun 29, 2020)

Could it be that you're getting like the rest of us?  Older and not as strong as we used to be.  My 73 year old body can't keep up with my 29 year old mind.  Stuff just don't work like it used to.  In college I used to run a sub 50 second 1/4 mile; now I'm out of breath when I get to the top of the stairs.


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## rustjunkie (Jun 29, 2020)

how many teeth are on the old cog?


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## SKPC (Jun 29, 2020)

Turn the bike upside down on its seat and bars, then just spin the wheels....do they spin freely?   If so, then change the front or back sprockets....these bikes with 52 tooth front chainrings and small rear cogs are very difficult to pedal...change them out to a larger rear cog and a smaller front ring.


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## partsguy (Jun 29, 2020)

Take out those fat tires, and put on the correct ones. 26 x 1.75. The previous owner of my wife’s bike but those on her Mainliner. I put the stock tire size on and the wheel rub was resolved.


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## THE STIG (Jun 29, 2020)

bearings in backwards ?   seen many with the flat side of cage inwards


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## srfndoc (Jun 30, 2020)

partsguy said:


> Take out those fat tires, and put on the correct ones. 26 x 1.75. The previous owner of my wife’s bike but those on her Mainliner. I put the stock tire size on and the wheel rub was resolved.




I bet its this.  Much less space on middleweight bikes with factory 26 x 1.75" tires to support balloon tires.


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## Frank and Pam Skid Kings (Jun 30, 2020)

srfndoc said:


> I bet its this.  Much less space on middleweight bikes with factory 26 x 1.75" tires to support balloon tires.



Without being there I'm leaning toward tire rub like the other guys think. Sometimes hard to detect. And oversize tires usually leave little or no room for error. As others also said, flip bike onto handle bars. Spin both tires by hand and watch if they make contact with frame or fenders or whatever. Should spin super easy by hand. If they don't, they must be rubbing or too tight cones like rivnut said. The wrench for the cones is commonly found on the thin multi bicycle wrench/tools available from a bike shop or probably Walmart.


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## AndyA (Jun 30, 2020)

THE STIG said:


> bearings in backwards ?   seen many with the flat side of cage inwards



Whoa! That can't be good!


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## Rivnut (Jun 30, 2020)

I bought a 24" Western Flyer some time ago for the chrome wheels and a couple of other things.  It came with a 46 tooth front sprocket and a 20 tooth rear sprocket for a 2.3 ratio. This coupled with 24 x 1.75 tires makes for an easy riding bike for a child.

You've yet to tell us how many teeth are on the chain ring.  If there are more than 46 teeth, I'll give you the 46 tooth chain ring if you're willing to pay the shipping.  I'll see if I can get the 20 tooth cog off the rear hub if you think that you'd want to go that far.  My chain ring looks exactly like the one on your bike. The closer in number the teeth are together on each gog, the easier the bike will be to ride (like one to one.) Just don't expect to go very fast without rapid leg action.


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## Vetteman61 (Jul 3, 2020)

Thanks guys.  I have an update.  After reading through this and talking with dad he was convinced the wheels that were with his bike were incorrect.  (This bike I dug out from under his house.  It was in a pile of parts in a garbage bag).  He got under his house and finally found what is the original rear wheel to the bicycle.  We don't know how the other one got there or where it came from or why it was with the parts from his bike.  This "new" wheel has 20 teeth on the rear sprocket as you mentioned so we're going to be switching that and also going to get the correct size tires (and fenders) for the bike.  

Also, he found his original fender mounted headlight, too!  (1959 Western Flyer) so we'll be restoring it and putting it back with the bike.


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## Vetteman61 (Jul 4, 2020)

Here are the photos of the wheel.  Dad spent quite a bit of time cleaning the hub of his original wheel he found under the house.  It has the 20 tooth sprocket on it.  I'm curious to get some different opinions from you guys.  The hub cleaned up amazingly well, especially considering how rusted the rest of the bike was.  The hub is original of course and has an alemite to grease the hub as well as the original coaster brake arm.  I can't decide whether I should put the hub into the new wheel or only change the sprocket.  I know changing the hub would be re-spoking the wheel and I'm not sure how difficult that is.  What is you guys' recommendation? 

Also, is there a preferred place to buy the correct size tires and fenders?  We think the same tubes will still work.  We would really like to have an original set of wheels for the bike, but I'm not sure if those are possible to find in decent shape.


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## Rivnut (Jul 4, 2020)

Probably nothing wrong with the fenders.  If you like the looks of the chrome wheels and chrome fenders, find an 80's era middleweight Murray bike - Murray built bikes for the big chain stores each of which sold bikes under their own brand.  I had a nice older Hiawatha that had ratty wheels and tires, and needed a seat and a set of handle bars.  I found a really nice 1984 Murray bike for $40 on FB marketplace.  Took the wheels, tires and tubes, seat and handlebars and put them on the Hiawatha.  Looks good, rides nicely, and was cheap to do everything that needed to be done.  I actually found two that day. One I still have waiting to donate its parts to the next project.

I I kept the chain, handle bar stem, chain ring and crank, all the bearings, and chucked the frame and fork into the dumpster.


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## Vetteman61 (Jul 26, 2020)

To follow up with this, my father was able to find his original wheel under his house.  That sprocket had 20 teeth.  The wheel we had on his bike before had 18 gear teeth.  We swapped the sprockets and it made a huge difference.  The bicycle pedals with a normal amount of effort now.


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## rustjunkie (Jul 26, 2020)

rustjunkie said:


> how many teeth on the rear cog?


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## Vetteman61 (Jul 27, 2020)

When I said spokes earlier, I meant to say teeth.  I have corrected it in the original post.


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