Swiss Army Bike

[bdhold]

Not going to run out and buy one, and at 48 lbs, this is one stout puppy.
But thought this was a good audience to share.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/ ... nt=criteo2

[walks with gun]

What good is a Swiss bike, 7 speeds but their all NEUTRAL.

[bdhold]

got to be better than a French bike that lays down and makes you throw up your hands every time you see a BMW

[Pete44ru]

.

Or an Italian bike, that's only been dropped once...............


.

[bdhold]

of course there are still bicycle corps riding today in Afghanistan


and the first great technology boom in bicycles was for the military
https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/a-man-o ... ndy-corps/

but have to back up and give credit to the French. The second great bicycle technology boom was the occupation of Paris, and was the origin of the modern lightweight bicycle
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/12/ ... ccupation/
it's debatable whether there have been significant bicycle technology innovations since then (other than manufacturing technology)
always tough for an Anglophile to admit


btw, if I could justify the cost, I would buy one of the Swiss Army bikes. They historically sell for much higher over here (twice as much), having been imported piecemeal.

[rjohns94]

I would love to have a piece of that history. Never issued! Just am shut down now with buying. Darn

[bdhold]

have this poster at home - French bike messengers meet Polish lancers

[Streetstar]

That is neat !

burly guard over the rear derailleur

I truly shudder at the thought of paying that much for something with that age and component spec on it , -- if its actually 48 pounds , thats some serious gas pipe level tubing --- i would think 35, tops

But as a conversation piece, it would definitely be worth 2 or 300 bucks (sadly they are asking for more )

[gundownunder]

Awesome bug out vehicle after a nuclear war or an EMP
Or a silent deer stalker with a deer carrier rack both front and rear

Seriously, A bike that heavy and that light on for gears would get you fit and there's no way you'd ever wear it out.

[Old Ironsights]

Meh. If I'm going to buy a military 2 wheeler, I'll stick with the Bullet (Royal Enfield C5 Military)... because sidecars and machine-gun mounts are cool.

[bdhold]

That is neat !

burly guard over the rear derailleur

I truly shudder at the thought of paying that much for something with that age and component spec on it , -- if its actually 48 pounds , thats some serious gas pipe level tubing --- i would think 35, tops

But as a conversation piece, it would definitely be worth 2 or 300 bucks (sadly they are asking for more )

My old Raleigh doesn't weigh too far behind that, especially with a load, and I've ridden it 40 mi with a 2500' climb - in the Texas summer - though my gearing is optimized for that (it's also 7-sp rear, made up for in the front).


Again, until this surplus import, these bikes were selling for $2500 here. Using the same rear hub and only changing the cassette you could upgrade to 8 or 9 speed friction shifting, or even go to 10 or 11 speed index by changing the shifter (and chain) - max upgrade would cost about $150 (rear axle is probably 135mm, ready to go for 11 speed, but I would stick to 9 speed for chain strength). A bit more expensive option would be leave the rear as is, change the front to a compact double and add front shifter

this 9-speed compact double duplicates the range and steps of the 3 x 7 on my old Raleigh

gas pipe is thrown around too soon too often. The straight gage TI 20-30 tubing on my old Raleigh is equivalent in every way to the Reynolds 531 straight gage used on the Super Course of the same era (the new bikes weighed exactly the same, the only difference was racing fork v. touring fork). Point being Raleigh Grand Prix is too often referred to as gas pipe. Real gas pipe is seam-welded normalized (low tensile) steel tubing and no decent bike was ever made with it - at least not since early postwar. A good part of the weight in that bike is in those bullet-proof racks and bash guards, but they'd be very useful if you wanted to haul a serious load over rough terrain. Also agree it's the ultimate survival-prep bike.

[Ji in Hawaii]

The Japanese used bikes during their invasion of SE Asia quite successfully.

[Old No7]

Hey, that's really cool...

I could use it with the "Swiss Army Gun" that my friend Won Hung Low is showing here!!!

Swiss Army Rifle.jpg

Tight groups.

Old No7

[Booger Bill]

Somewhere recently I seen a old film of English paratroopers jumping with folding bikes to use when they landed.

[bdhold]

maybe The Longest Day?
They certainly still make them that way


my buddy's touring bike here folds and fits into a shipping container that is a bit bigger than a suitcase, and checks as normal airline baggage (don't say bike when you're checking baggage - most airlines have a set oversize fee for bikes that is most of a ticket price - say sporting goods)
This is a 24-lb bike - the seatpost is a floor pump - it also stashes neatly in an RV hold.



back to movies - Soldier of Orange has a couple of great scenes of Dutch bicycle troops during the Blitzkrieg.

[Streetstar]

I'd love to have an excuse to add one of the Ritchey Breakaway bikes to my stable --- alas, i dont fly enough to get my moneys worth out of it --- but i am still contemplating having a framebuilder install some S&S couplers on an old Litespeed that is seldom used ---

[nemhed]

We'll see if this works since I'm not used to posting from my iPad. Here's my version:

[bdhold]

looks great - like the frame bag

[nemhed]

looks great - like the frame bag

Thanks! Made the frame bag myself, pretty happy with how it turned out.