I know this has been beat to death here --- but

I was wondering how it was doing. Actually this is one for Carl Fogel. I was
reading some of the old threads about the Fury Roadmaster and was curious
how it was holding up, or if you had to ditch it yet? I was in the X-Mart
yesterday and looked at the current model for $49.99 and was thinking of
getting one just for some fun!

Ken

--
Remove "-dispose-trash" for email address
My personal webstie: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/
My blog: http://mind-dribble.blogspot.com/

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 07:29:40 -0400, "Ken"
wrote:

I was wondering how it was doing. Actually this is one for Carl Fogel. I was
reading some of the old threads about the Fury Roadmaster and was curious
how it was holding up, or if you had to ditch it yet? I was in the X-Mart
yesterday and looked at the current model for $49.99 and was thinking of
getting one just for some fun!

Cheap bike fun, go rescue cool old bikes that are gonna be put to sleep if
nobody adopts 'em. Pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and wandering crack
heads will often have bikes that were once incredibly cool but are now unloved
and on their way to the landfill. In the last year I've rescued a Fisher, a Haro
and an original Diamondback for under $40 each. Every one of those bikes when
put in working order works as great as it ever did, which is a hell of a lot
better than any department store bike could ever aspire to. None has needed much
work either. Often just lubrication, including of course the Shimano Shifter
Repair Kit, WD40 with its straw. Sometimes I've have had to replace A cable or
just 'cause I'm a fearful wimp some brake pads.

There's just one rule - only bike store bikes, preferably not the bottom of that
class and you'll have a successful outcome. Even if you have to buy parts, it's
okay, they're cheap. All these online and mail order retailers corrupt our
perception of the cost of parts by hyping only what they want to sell. Real bike
parts are mostly inexpensive.

Save a classic.

Ron

"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 07:29:40 -0400, "Ken"

wrote:

I was wondering how it was doing. Actually this is one for Carl Fogel. I
was
reading some of the old threads about the Fury Roadmaster and was curious
how it was holding up, or if you had to ditch it yet? I was in the X-Mart
yesterday and looked at the current model for $49.99 and was thinking of
getting one just for some fun!

Cheap bike fun, go rescue cool old bikes that are gonna be put to sleep if
nobody adopts 'em. Pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and wandering
crack
heads will often have bikes that were once incredibly cool but are now
unloved
and on their way to the landfill. In the last year I've rescued a Fisher,
a Haro
and an original Diamondback for under $40 each. Every one of those bikes
when
put in working order works as great as it ever did, which is a hell of a
lot
better than any department store bike could ever aspire to. None has
needed much
work either. Often just lubrication, including of course the Shimano
Shifter
Repair Kit, WD40 with its straw. Sometimes I've have had to replace A
cable or
just 'cause I'm a fearful wimp some brake pads.

There's just one rule - only bike store bikes, preferably not the bottom
of that
class and you'll have a successful outcome. Even if you have to buy parts,
it's
okay, they're cheap. All these online and mail order retailers corrupt our
perception of the cost of parts by hyping only what they want to sell.
Real bike
parts are mostly inexpensive.

Save a classic.

Ron


Yeah I agree with you on the recycle bit, I have recycled a few, and
generally they work out pretty well, my kick around bike is a Western Flyer.
I am not a big MTB fan but I thought having one to ride once and a while
might be fun. And 50 bucks at the X-Mart seemed like a decent deal.
Maybe I will go check out the local Sal-Army and Goodwill places.
Ken

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 07:29:40 -0400, "Ken"
wrote:

I was wondering how it was doing. Actually this is one for Carl Fogel. I was
reading some of the old threads about the Fury Roadmaster and was curious
how it was holding up, or if you had to ditch it yet? I was in the X-Mart
yesterday and looked at the current model for $49.99 and was thinking of
getting one just for some fun!

Ken

Dear Ken,

The Fury Roadmaster still looks reasonably pleased with
itself. Of course, mine is the older and far more valuable
$54 model, but I expect that numerous technological
improvements have accompanied the reduced price.

Apart from being stripped down to racing weight by the
removal of reflectors and sidestand, the only necessary
modification was a longer seat post for a 6'1" rider who is
somewhat older and heavier than the typical rider aged 10 to
17.

Racing slicks are available for about $20 at WalMart, but
are noticeably smaller than the ferocious standard knobbies,
so the reduced rolling resistance comes at the price of
lower gearing.

A complete set of spare parts is available for about $50.

Carl Fogel

wrote:

Racing slicks are available for about $20 at WalMart, but
are noticeably smaller than the ferocious standard knobbies,
so the reduced rolling resistance comes at the price of
lower gearing.

Dear Carl,

Huh?

Bill S.

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 18:14:11 GMT, "Bill Sornson"
wrote:

wrote:

Racing slicks are available for about $20 at WalMart, but
are noticeably smaller than the ferocious standard knobbies,
so the reduced rolling resistance comes at the price of
lower gearing.

Dear Carl,

Huh?

Bill S.

Dear Bill,

Slicks roll more easily than knobbies, so they speed you up.

But the WalMart slicks are noticeably smaller than the
knobbies that come on a Fury Roadmaster, so you're rolling
along on tiny little tires with the same gearing, which
slows you down.

The Fury is, after all, undergeared for level pavement, and
switching to slicks make it seem as if you've lost high
gear.

The slicks turned out to be so small that I actually had to
expand the range of my inch-to-millimeter tire-table
spreadsheet for speedometer calibration.

Overall, the slicks ran faster, but some of the rolling
resistance advantage was offset by the even more frantic
pedal cadence on a level route.

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?se...&output=gplain

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl...4ax.com&rnum=1

Carl Fogel

wrote:
On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 18:14:11 GMT, "Bill Sornson"
wrote:

wrote:

Racing slicks are available for about $20 at WalMart, but
are noticeably smaller than the ferocious standard knobbies,
so the reduced rolling resistance comes at the price of
lower gearing.

Dear Carl,

Huh?

Bill S.

Dear Bill,

Slicks roll more easily than knobbies, so they speed you up.

But the WalMart slicks are noticeably smaller than the
knobbies that come on a Fury Roadmaster, so you're rolling
along on tiny little tires with the same gearing, which
slows you down.

The Fury is, after all, undergeared for level pavement, and
switching to slicks make it seem as if you've lost high
gear.

The slicks turned out to be so small that I actually had to
expand the range of my inch-to-millimeter tire-table
spreadsheet for speedometer calibration.

Overall, the slicks ran faster, but some of the rolling
resistance advantage was offset by the even more frantic
pedal cadence on a level route.

Dear Carl,

Oh.

Bill S.

wrote: (clip) some of the rolling resistance
advantage was offset by the even more frantic pedal cadence on a level
route.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bigger chain ring is not feasible on this bike?

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 16:22:56 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


wrote: (clip) some of the rolling resistance
advantage was offset by the even more frantic pedal cadence on a level
route.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bigger chain ring is not feasible on this bike?

Dear Leo,

Just as the low-velocity gun of the original Sherman tank
could be improved to the high-velocity weapon of the
Firefly, so too could a Fury Roadmaster be geared upward.

But the effort involved might be similar.

Here's Sheldon's table of BCD and center-to-center sizes:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bcd

Under the grime, the Fury's largest chain ring's five
mounting holes are noticeably wrong for a Shimano 53-tooth
chain-ring's 76.4 mm center-to-center distance.

In fact, they appear to be roughly 80 mm apart,
center-to-center.

(That rattling noise came from the crypt of Tullio
Campagnolo.)

Assuming that a 53-tooth Campy ring really would fit a Fury
Roadmaster, and that Sheldon would be willing to sell one
for such ungodly purposes . . .

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/chainrings/135.html

Looks like $54.95, plus shipping, a bit high for a $54
bicycle.

As for the theoretical gearing improvement, I looked at the
original Fury Roadmaster documentation here, rather than
counting all those teeth again:

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?se...&output=gplain

With its original 2073 mm knobby tire, 165 mm Ashtabula
crank, and 48 x 14 gears, the Fury's overall rubber-to-pedal
movement ratio was 6.86, requiring 75 rpm at 20 mph.

With its new 1975 mm slick, the ratio dropped to 6.53, and
demanded 79 rpm for the same 20 mph.

By taping a 53-tooth chain-ring firmly to the spider, a 7.21
overall ratio could be achieved and would allow a more
leisurely 72 rpm at 20 mph.

(I favor a glacial cadence on my touring bike of about 52
rpm at 20 mph, which is why riding the Fury seems so--well,
so furious. People who like to spin at 90 rpm can only
wonder what the fuss is about. Of course, they wouldn't be
caught dead at any rpm on a Fury Roadmaster.)

So higher gearing would require a 53-tooth chain-ring, a new
and longer chain, and possibly even a new front derailleur
capable of handling a 53 x 38 x 28 range, not to mention
encircling the Fury's mainmast--er, seat tube.

Alas, it appears that the Fury's chain rings were not
intended to be replaced. The $54-bicycle concept does not
lend itself to extensive or expensive modification. Possibly
the manufacturer feared that riders might be tempted to
tamper with the purity of the experience.

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 14:46:32 -0600, wrote:

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 16:22:56 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:


wrote: (clip) some of the rolling resistance
advantage was offset by the even more frantic pedal cadence on a level
route.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bigger chain ring is not feasible on this bike?

Dear Leo,

Just as the low-velocity gun of the original Sherman tank
could be improved to the high-velocity weapon of the
Firefly, so too could a Fury Roadmaster be geared upward.

But the effort involved might be similar.

Here's Sheldon's table of BCD and center-to-center sizes:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bcd

Under the grime, the Fury's largest chain ring's five
mounting holes are noticeably wrong for a Shimano 53-tooth
chain-ring's 76.4 mm center-to-center distance.

In fact, they appear to be roughly 80 mm apart,
center-to-center.

(That rattling noise came from the crypt of Tullio
Campagnolo.)

Assuming that a 53-tooth Campy ring really would fit a Fury
Roadmaster, and that Sheldon would be willing to sell one
for such ungodly purposes . . .

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/chainrings/135.html

Looks like $54.95, plus shipping, a bit high for a $54
bicycle.

As for the theoretical gearing improvement, I looked at the
original Fury Roadmaster documentation here, rather than
counting all those teeth again:

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?se...&output=gplain

With its original 2073 mm knobby tire, 165 mm Ashtabula
crank, and 48 x 14 gears, the Fury's overall rubber-to-pedal
movement ratio was 6.86, requiring 75 rpm at 20 mph.

With its new 1975 mm slick, the ratio dropped to 6.53, and
demanded 79 rpm for the same 20 mph.

By taping a 53-tooth chain-ring firmly to the spider, a 7.21
overall ratio could be achieved and would allow a more
leisurely 72 rpm at 20 mph.

(I favor a glacial cadence on my touring bike of about 52
rpm at 20 mph, which is why riding the Fury seems so--well,
so furious. People who like to spin at 90 rpm can only
wonder what the fuss is about. Of course, they wouldn't be
caught dead at any rpm on a Fury Roadmaster.)

So higher gearing would require a 53-tooth chain-ring, a new
and longer chain, and possibly even a new front derailleur
capable of handling a 53 x 38 x 28 range, not to mention
encircling the Fury's mainmast--er, seat tube.

Alas, it appears that the Fury's chain rings were not
intended to be replaced. The $54-bicycle concept does not
lend itself to extensive or expensive modification. Possibly
the manufacturer feared that riders might be tempted to
tamper with the purity of the experience.

Surely we can preserve the purity of our essence, er, experience and remedy this
misgearing at the other end of the drivetrain. Inasmuch as you seem to have a
disgracefully thorough knowledge of this Master of the Road, you probably know
whether it is fitted with freewheel or freehub. Cassettes or freewheels can both
be had complete and ready to install for about $15 each. No great men of cycling
will have to twirl in their coffins and you'll be spared the necessity of
spinning like a time trialer just to get to the park.

Ron