First stab at a restoration. Bought the bike for £5

[Ridefatboyride]

What do you think? Debadged the wheels now (pic in the dark!)

 

[Retro_10s]

That's a nice looking bike, Good classic frame and just the right amount of modern parts (that don't look too out of place) to bring up to speed a little.

i think the twin chain ring looks a little odd, but i always think that when i see a single speed conversion. How do you find it rides now that it's converted?

Nice saddle i think brown bar tape too match would look great.

 

[Johnsqual]

Nice clean build, managed to keep the look of the original build while modernising.

I'd lose the turkey wing brake levers - to me they look a bit naff and they
don't work terribly well.

Also, the chain looks a bit slack, especially on the first photo.

 

[MartinB123]

Looks nice. Where in Bristol are you dude?

I have a single chainring crank if you need one? 44T I think.

 

[ForestHill]

I'd be tempted to hack off that smaller ring (I'm assuming it's riveted) and run a larger cog on the back.
This is useful if you want to check the equivalent tooth counts http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

Also, your wheel definitely needs to go back in the dropouts and maybe even a link out of the chain or you'll find that you'll be skipping teeth when pedalling hard.

 

[MartinB123]

Is it fixed or single speed/freewheel? How many teeth does the rear cog have? I concur about removing the small chainring as well!

 

[ForestHill]

At a rough guess I'm going to say that's a 14 on the back. Front will be a 52 I assume (on the big one) so that's a BIG push!

 

[kipperthedog]

Is that a Reynolds 453 frame?

 

[Ridefatboyride]

Yes to a 453. At the moment just a singlespeed. Don't fancy the fixed till I build up some confidence. Didn't realise I could get a bigger rear cog and just use the big front ring, worth a thought, thanks. How do I tighten the chain up though? Put chain on then pull the wheel back and somehow with my third hand tighten the nuts? Lol. And the geometry is soooo nice I'm comfy in the drops so may well lose the dual levers, won't hurt me to trim the gut anyways. I'm in Longwell green. Thanks all for the advice. I was going to leave it at work as an emergency 'get me homer' - but now I've built it I can't bear the thought of it just sitting there. (Already looking for the next project!)

 

[Midlife]

Stand behind bike, undo both nuts, use both hands to pull wheel back using bolts...swap to use left hand thumb against seat tube and fingers against wheel pulling / levering hand back...tighten right nut.

Then use right hand in similar manner to keep wheel centred and tighten left nut with left hand. Check both nuts.

Chain should go up and down about 3/4" in the middle.

Similar technique with a skewer for QR but swap initial hands

We all have our own ways

Or get a mate to help OL


Shaun