And today I did......

[Hawmaw]

Popped into the Common Wheel in Chapel St , Glasgow today to source a 27" rear for the "56 Sun Super Vitesse I'm doing up.

They've got a few nice retro style bikes in just now that Neil was delighted to show me. His enthusiasm knows no bounds !

Very small Cougar track bike built with Columbus tubes
Cougar road bike with Reynolds 853 tubing .. nice
A nice Graham Weigh road bike
An old Peugeot road bike but a decent one , not a heavyweight.
A nice Kona mountainbike with a name I cant pronounce or spell. Not one of the common ones , with some decent spec stuff hanging off it.

There was also the usual jumble of frames and bit and pieces including a sorry looking '89ish Rockhopper frame,fork and wheels which would be a do'err upper

Probably some other stuff I've forgotten about. I've not been in for ages but its worth dropping by if you're in the area.

 

[gmac123]

sounds great, been meaning to pay one of Common Wheel places a visit..

 

[paulswheels]

Was playing in the shop and fabricated some linear kooka levers to swap out on my cantis to make them linear pull. A little more to go then back on the bike. Turning out quite nice.

 

[gmac123]

sounds good, a picture of that craftsmanship would be nice

 

[paulswheels]

Hopefully will post some pics later on this evening

Pics as promised. Many months labour,(well not quite), but still not one of the easier challenges
I've tasked myself with.

 

[paulswheels]

pics posted; labour of love, handmade levers modeled after some kooka v's

 

[epicyclo]

I had another go at my 1x1 for Dunkeld.

Pulled the front suspension off it and put on a carbon fork.

A quick test run around the neighbourhood showed this was a big improvement. Much better steering and feedback sensitivity on loose surfaces, and lost that pedalling through molasses feel suspension gives.

Also ironed out a few assembly bugs. Disobeyed my own rule - never slap a bike together on the "this'll do" plan - so I had to strip the cranks off to remove a creak from the BB.

Then stripped out the rear drum brake hub after I realised that I hadn't cleaned it since it was last used in the 'Puffer 7 years ago! That wasn't really necessary, but I had already pulled the rear wheel out to check the freewheel and fiddling with the drum was procrastination before I have the fight to dismantle the freewheel. That gave me the excuse to put the freewheel maintenance off until tomorrow (it's also been 7 years since I looked at it).

I may do some more changes yet. I stuck a Thudbuster on it, but I don't really like it. Works ok, but you have to set it a bit high to get an efficient pedalling height once it sags. That will probably come off.

Then I found a Ti handlebar that once graced one of my motorbikes. It's got a slight sweepback, not as good as the Mary bars, but much nicer than the usual mtb straights, so that will go on if I can find my handlebar shims.

I'll probably still be fiddling with it right up until it's loaded in the van.

 

[gmac123]

busy old night, but managed to sneak out for a late night ride

will need to decide on the bawbags bike myself, no doubt prep will be required

 

[velomaniac]

Feeling weak and pathetic so fat (heavy) front tyre back in shed but modern e-stay bike its usually attached to is still coming, basically as its already fettled and ready to go.
Typical, I get an e-stay, as retro a bike concept as can be and mines a modern :facepalm:

 

[The Ken]

Nice work Paul, are you going to soften the edges or keep them clean?

Not sure what it will be like up Dunkeld, didn't get a recce this year, tempted to put on the spikes on the Xizang just in case, although mud might be more prevalent - the fat is itching for a ride too. Has anyone driven pask Dunkeld in the last week? is there snow on the hills there?