[CR] Mystery Bolts - What the heck are these??

(Example: Framebuilders:Mario Confente)

Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:30:17 -0500
From: "Wayne Bingham" <veloclassique@gmail.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: [CR] Mystery Bolts - What the heck are these??


And for those of you that really want to go old-school, I have what is probably way more than an ample supply of those valve stems in stock!

Another weird find in the MPI stash. I may have that market cornered. Uh, wait, what market?

-- Wayne Bingham Velo Classique PO Box 2069 Purcellville, VA 20134 USA 540-338-8376 http://www.veloclassique.com

Ted Ernst wrote: Jan has it quite right. These came in all valve types, Presta, Schrader, and the Woods/Dunlop type that had the rubber sleeve insert, and I'm sure all other styles too. They were used for some years after the war and then discontinued as the vulcanising was much better and the the cost factor also. I remember the tubes, sew-ups included, had the valve section reinforced with a fabric on/to/with rubber so that when one tightened the nut to compress the plate to the valve base it wouldn't squish out the tube rubber and compromise the seal. We always put rubber cement on all the surfaces to stick it nicely together while tightening. Those were days when one repaired instead of replaced everything and mess production wasn't yet in the command position. We even replaced some on vulcanised tubes, ground down the thick vulcanising to a flattter thickness leaving enough meat on to seal the pressure joint of the replacement valve. The old American 1-1/2 single tube tires often had two oval bases with a separate valve stem. To keep from losing the base in the tire, we knotted a thin string and put the knot under the base plate and inserted it into the tire. Then we took out the schrader valve core and fed the valve tubing over the string, inserted the valve into the tire and while squeezing the tire screwed the valve into the oval base plate inside the tire. The oval couldn't rotate because we were holding it tight. Everything got some cement on it and the outside plate was tightened and the tire had a new valve. The oval allowed the piece to go into the thick tire easier and was holdable to keep it from rotating while being tightened. We heated a cut off spoke on the gas stove nice and hot and burned the string out of the valve and bottom plate so air could go in nicely. It was rather important not to push the spoke in too fast or far so the spoke wouldn't poke thru the tire. Then you had to patch that with a plug or rubberband shooter. Good bike riders always had a way out of the hole. Screw in the valve core and tire was good as new. Remember, you are the keepers of cycling arts not to be lost.