1947 Continental Cleanup

[Miq]

 

[Eric Amlie]

Amazing difference...Nice work!

 

[Sportyworty]

I really enjoyed your journey and learned a lot. I look forward to your posts in the “what bike did you ride today” thread.
Congrats on your new ride Mike ! What a machine

 

[GTs58]

Beautiful job on that 47 Continental resurrection Mike!

 

[Miq]

Thanks guys. As usual I could not have done it without all of you. I learned a lot with this build from the generous people here.

I spent an hour adjusting and dialing in the things I noticed on my short ride yesterday. Put 60 lbs in the tires, applied some proofhide to the saddle and went for a nice ride. 700c wheels are bigger than I’ve ridden before. The steering is a little different and it doesn’t take much handle bar movement to turn. More just leaning into it, especially at speed.

I oiled the pivot point on the calipers and tightened the through bolt. I toed in the front pads a bit and there are no more squeaks. So glad this caliper design was able to work with 700c rims. It will be a much easier size to live with for decades to come.

Where do you route the rear brake cable on these bikes? It depends right. Without a chainguard I can’t do it the OG way and it didn’t look easy to route it along the top tube and not interfere with the pulley. I wanted to keep the funky pull from the bottom look so I zip tied it to the chain and seat stays. It’s close to the chain but it hasn’t hit yet.

I love knowing that the 78 year old brass cable ferrules are still with the levers ready for another 80 years.

Thought about @Krakatoa Nate and all the help he provided me on the fork while I rode no hands for the first time.

I need to tilt the seat back just a tiny amount but already this bike is very comfortable to ride. The gearing is higher than any of my other bikes (but not super high) and the wheels are larger so this bike has a higher top speed. The wheels are incredibly light and the entire 28 lb bike spins up very easily. My friends will have a hard time keeping up. The riding position is tourist style but not totally upright, a lot like my New World but the bars are wider. I am looking forward to putting lots of miles on this lightweight. This is the reason we keep these lightweight steel frame bikes rolling, they are still some of the finest riding machines around. I get to care for this one for as long as I can.

 

[WillWork4Parts]

Thanks guys. As usual I could not have done it without all of you. I learned a lot with this build from the generous people here.

I spent an hour adjusting and dialing in the things I noticed on my short ride yesterday. Put 60 lbs in the tires, applied some proofhide to the saddle and went for a nice ride. 700c wheels are bigger than I’ve ridden before. The steering is a little different and it doesn’t take much handle bar movement to turn. More just leaning into it, especially at speed.
View attachment 2250346

View attachment 2250347

View attachment 2250348

I oiled the pivot point on the calipers and tightened the through bolt. I toed in the front pads a bit and there are no more squeaks. So glad this caliper design was able to work with 700c rims. It will be a much easier size to live with for decades to come.
View attachment 2250349

Where do you route the rear brake cable on these bikes? It depends right. Without a chainguard I can’t do it the OG way and it didn’t look easy to route it along the top tube and not interfere with the pulley. I wanted to keep the funky pull from the bottom look so I zip tied it to the chain and seat stays. It’s close to the chain but it hasn’t hit yet.
View attachment 2250350

View attachment 2250399
I love knowing that the 78 year old brass cable ferrules are still with the levers ready for another 80 years.
View attachment 2250351

View attachment 2250352

View attachment 2250353

View attachment 2250354

Thought about @Krakatoa Nate and all the help he provided me on the fork while I rode no hands for the first time.
View attachment 2250355

View attachment 2250356
I need to tilt the seat back just a tiny amount but already this bike is very comfortable to ride. The gearing is higher than any of my other bikes (but not super high) and the wheels are larger so this bike has a higher top speed. The wheels are incredibly light and the entire 28 lb bike spins up very easily. My friends will have a hard time keeping up. The riding position is tourist style but not totally upright, a lot like my New World but the bars are wider. I am looking forward to putting lots of miles on this lightweight. It’s a fine riding machine.

It looks like the cable route you have will work. Even if the chain does rub, you'll know about it and be able to adjust before it wears through the outer housing.
The shifter cable clamp screws are supposed to be under the top tube, but that makes me think...what about brake housing stops to replace those screws, route the brake cable through those and under the top tube to keep from covering up those gorgeous decals?? Or if the clamping force isn't enough to instill confidence in the rear brake, there are fender brace eyelets or even Weinmann brake quick release eyelets that might serve the same routing purpose, but allow the outer cable housing to pass through.

 

[Miq]

...under the top tube to keep from covering up those gorgeous decals??

Exactly!! Must show off as much of the opalescent paint and flamboyant decals as possible from the side view!

I tried rotating the pulley and cable stop mounts so the screws were unter the toptube, but they didn't orient nicely that way. The non-adjustable little arm on the pully doesn't end up in a place that would help hold the cable when it is not under tension, and the cable stop was in a weird spot too. The pulley likely was designed to mount to the seat tube, but this seat tube is way too large for it. The correctly rotated cable stop would work better with that seat tube pulley scenario too I bet. I'm not worried about hitting them, they are pretty tucked away.

 

[J-wagon]

Nice cleanup!

 

[cyclingday]

Looking good, Miq!
But I must admit, now I’m feeling a bit sad for your old New World.
You’re never going to want to ride it ever again.

 

[New Mexico Brant]

Strike one!...any other courageous guessers? Ah c'mon all you late 80's MTB-ers! The Cabe is stock full of very knowledgeable and like minded enthusiasts like Marty for sure, and I know Marty has seen them before, it'l come to him. Very rare indeed. Kind of like that McMahon Shaka Zulu air suspension fork pried out of my ownership by @New Mexico Brant. I do still have a couple hidden gems squirreled away.

It is a great fork, thanks Pete!