Tinkering Bug 6/9/21

Scenes of late teenage boys under a shade tree working on a car were commonplace in the 1960s. For many, that tinkering urge may have had it origins in their earlier years "maintaining" a Schwinn or other brand cruiser bicycle.

Fast forward 60 years. Cars have gotten so technically complex that you don't dare even try to do scheduled maintenance. But, completing basic regular maintenance on a bicycle (e.g., changing tire and tubes,cleaning and lubricating chains, cleaning gear cassettes and derailleurs, adjusting brakes and derailleurs), is still within the still level of the average male or female, especially with the help available via You Tube videos. And in a multi-bike family like ours, it can be a money saver verses having the work done at a bicycle shop.

We are a five bike family, and I have reconditioned used bikes for Penn State Humphrey Fellows who use them for transportation during their fellowship year, so investing in a few bicycle tools and a maintenance rack (the orange stand in the photos immediately above) can make the work easier and still be an overall money-saver. Regular maintenance can keep 20 year old bikes operating and looking like new (two photos immediately above and the one below).

Note: The top photos is of my brothers Joel and Charles in the summer of 1968 helping me work on my 1962 Pontiac, which my father supposedly won in a card game. The second photo is my brother Joel on Christmas Day 1959 posing with the three Schwinn Panther II bicycles my brothers and I received.