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Showing posts from March, 2015

The PK7 goes on patrol

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NOT BAD FOR A $20 BIKE: This 2007 PK7 by Dynacraft is the newest addition to the "patrol fleet" at the college where I work as the supervisor of campus security. I now have a little more than $20 in it, but not that much more. And it was worth every penny spent. After having put well over 1,100 miles on my personal bikes last year at work, it has been pretty well proven that using a bicycle to patrol a small college campus works out just fine. But it works better if more than one officer can take advantage of it. That's where my $20 PK7 ( see it as-purchased here ) comes in. One of our other officers said if I brought in a bike, he'd use it. So this one came to work last week, and so far, so good. I don't yet have proper lights or a cyclocomputer on it, but those will be forthcoming.  The first order of business was to get it rideable. That took a little doing: The front derailleur was shot. Wouldn't work at all. And couldn't be made to work

Three speeds are better than one

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My '15 Electra Cruiser 1 now is a 3 ... as in 3 speeds, with its new wheelset that includes a Shimano 3-speed internal-gear hub. Note also the new "stubby" chrome fenders and the stem- mounted Electra "gear logo" bell. As much as I like love my new Electra Cruiser 1, it's not immune to a little modification. And I have enjoyed a few mods, a couple of which came straight out of the Electra catalog - a bell and the chrome "stubby" fenders - and one that didn't. The one that didn't, though, is probably my favorite of my recent mods. It is the addition of two gears, accomplished by swapping the original wheelset for new Weinmann AS7X wheels that include a 3-speed Shimano internal-gear hub . As computer folks would say, it was a "plug-and-play" swap; the only difficulty was in routing the shift cable up the frame to the right handlebar, but that wasn't a big deal. Zip ties every few inches hold the cable in place. The