Picked up a 1950's Rixe Tandem with Girder Fork today

bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
i saw one of these for sale on ebay a few years back, and thought about how cool it would to use those forks.

well, today, i scored one.

it's a pretty crazy bike.

awesome lugged frame, eccentric front bottom bracket, Carlisle lightning dart tires, 120g spokes on alloy drop center wheels, with a front drum and a rear Durex coaster.

i'm not gonna build a motorized tandem (that's why i'm posting in the tavern instead of the trikes and tandem section,) but i am gonna steal all the parts off it to build something different...
 

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Nice score, but I've become a little sentimenal about kewl old bikes that have survived un-molested for so many years just to be parted out. :(
 
i hear you. but it's a tandem, so i'm never gonna ride it.

it's missing a chainguard and a fender, and the rear bars, stem, and seat are different, and i'd never find the parts.

it might bring me some money if i cleaned it up and sold it, but it's got a lot of parts i've always wanted to use, like the fork and the durex coaster brake.

they used those hubs on old motorized sachs bikes, and it's wider and i can make a sprocket adapter to go on the outside of the spoke flange.

i've also been looking at the lugged frame and getting some crazy ideas about chopping it up. if i can un-braze the lugs and pull it apart, i can create something totally different.

right now i'm just staring at it and waiting for it to speak to me... :)
 
here's some pics of the hub. it's got an inch of space to mount an adapter outside the spoke flange.
 

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Nice find, that is a great front fork.

Every now and then I see one and think about how I'd do a tandem, but I'd probably end up creating with a motorized version of something like this out of one.
 

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Hi Baird

1st sorry to hear about your shoulder still plaqueing you-- I'm facing a similar surgery

regarding the tandem --I always thought fitting tubing over the lugged pieces with a few extra inches may be the way to go with interesting builds using chopped up bicycles

regarding the front fork i always scrounge old auto floor jacks whose stamped metal sides are very similar in shape and their construction may lend to making such old style forks fairly easily

best
 
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thanks buba. :) just waiting on the doc to call me back anyday now with a date for surgery.

azbill, yeah, they're pressed steel. they look kinda cheesy, but they seem really strong.

i was thinking about getting the pieces laser cut from 1/8" steel and remaking a few sets, but not set up for that yet...

i saw that thread. that's an awesome bike!
 
Hey guys, i am restoring a Rixe tandem for a customer. other than surface rust and time getting to the paint and chrome, all is well on the bicycle. the Rear hub is toast and needs parts to make back to functional. So, if anyone can direct me to something more sensible than a $200 rear hub on ebay, to correct this problem. that would be great. I'll post pictures here in a bit.

thanks,
Kevin @ Bicycle One
 
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