531 brian rourke touring full bike,21.5" SOLD
- Thread starter bulldog
- Start date
Finished with a few weeks to spare before going to L'Eroica Britannia…
Treated it to a full strip down, new cassette, chain and cables – a 100mm quill stem, swapped an old saddle and got a new set of cheapie Weinman 27" wheels and Schwalbe tyres – here I (when I say "I", I mean the bike shop who put it all back together) hit a snag that seems to be a bit of a problem with some old bikes – getting wheels to fit. The wheels what were on it were very shallow, the tyres were 27 7/8, but the new wheels and 27 1 1/4 tyres wouldn't line up with the brakes and barely rotated without catching the rear brake bridge. After a good bit of head scratching a workable, if inelegant solution was found – a 700c wheel on the back and the 27" on the front – I suppose I could put a matching 700c wheel on the front if I could find a set of brake callipers that didn't look like a BMX's?
I've got to fiddle with the fit a bit yet, it is really too small for me, but I really liked it, so thanks once again to the seller for letting me have a very nice bike, which despite a few head scratching moments I've enjoyed putting it back on the road.
After L'Eroica I'm not sure if I'd keep it long term, but I don't think it'll be the last retro bike I ever have.
Treated it to a full strip down, new cassette, chain and cables – a 100mm quill stem, swapped an old saddle and got a new set of cheapie Weinman 27" wheels and Schwalbe tyres – here I (when I say "I", I mean the bike shop who put it all back together) hit a snag that seems to be a bit of a problem with some old bikes – getting wheels to fit. The wheels what were on it were very shallow, the tyres were 27 7/8, but the new wheels and 27 1 1/4 tyres wouldn't line up with the brakes and barely rotated without catching the rear brake bridge. After a good bit of head scratching a workable, if inelegant solution was found – a 700c wheel on the back and the 27" on the front – I suppose I could put a matching 700c wheel on the front if I could find a set of brake callipers that didn't look like a BMX's?
I've got to fiddle with the fit a bit yet, it is really too small for me, but I really liked it, so thanks once again to the seller for letting me have a very nice bike, which despite a few head scratching moments I've enjoyed putting it back on the road.
After L'Eroica I'm not sure if I'd keep it long term, but I don't think it'll be the last retro bike I ever have.
