Retro-modern fusion gravel build madness. The new Superb!

[dirttorpedo]

Rendez-vous at the bar. I have no idea who should buy a drink for who based on how mad we are in the mad bike world.

@Imlach is head barman and Surly fanboy.

@dirttorpedo thinks life can be simpler if we don't invite problems and buy a Surly.

@M_Chavez is a nutter. In the UK with an obsolete French bike. Living the dream and pain.

@Woz isn't much better either, but at least in France with lots of obsolete French bikes around him. Living the dream and pain.

Is there not some sort of counselling available?

While I like to tinker, I recognize my limitations and don't loath 700c wheels.

Interesting that on the local craigslist an interesting used French "constructeur" frameset has become available. Maybe I could use my Mafac Racers on it....

 

[dirttorpedo]

@M_Chavez - spot on. There is a massive irony in the bike industry, and lord knows what the French were thinking or not thinking, or if it is because of Michelin and/or Hutchinson the only global single surviving French standard is in wheel and tyre size. I'm drinking some wine right now to celebrate that.


PS: OK. So 26" MTB was a bit of a glitch from a French perspective. They must have had a FFS moment and thought the world as gone mad, had some cognac and went along with it.

If the Japanese had been Francophiles we've be having the same conversations about old Raleighs instead.

 

[M_Chavez]

I love 700c wheels, it's just that they were not made for anything over 33mm wide!

Seatpost is in, stem is in. Just realised that I don't have a suitable narrow-wide ring for the front (bugger), Might strip the one from my summer racer for the time being - summer's most certainly over.
Hanger was almost straight to begin with - I just bumped it a bit with the alignment tool instead of fannying with filing and shims.
The arse perch of choice is sitting on the workbench, ready to be installed on the rails for a test ride when the time comes.

Job for the weekend - if I get a minute - is to swap the 44cm-wide bar from Bojack onto Frannie, and install the new 38cm bar on Bojack.
Not a fan of 42cm for road bikes, but the small bit of extra width might come in handy for gravelling.

It looks like the only two risks left with the bike is that
- the old canti spacing won't work well.
- the frameset will disintegrate when I put my fat arse on it for the test ride.

 

[Woz]

Excellent news.

What did you do in the end, ream the seat-tube by about 40mm and cut the shim?

Just went back a few pages, and yes, judging by the seat-cluster squared flat top there may well have been a shim in it originally.

 

[M_Chavez]

Yes - the reamed area was going 40mm deep. About 45mm after my "clean-up, so I've chopped the shim to the right length and the post has snuggly fitted in.
The tube is 28mm thick, so 26.2mm still leaves 0.9mm of steel around the shim.

 

[Woz]

If the Japanese had been Francophiles we've be having the same conversations about old Raleighs instead.

Funny you say this. I have a great condition Shimano 5 speed freewheel from a Raleigh that I would like to use on a French build; the bad news is I can't find a Normandy large flange hub here with BSC thread. French vintage freewheels with French thread are now at stupid prices and mostly all knackered. I will have to do the ridiculous thing of buying from the UK or USA and pay duties / import tax in France for an old French made product.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Funny you say this. I have a great condition Shimano 5 speed freewheel from a Raleigh that I would like to use on a French build; the bad news is I can't find a Normandy large flange hub here with BSC thread. French vintage freewheels with French thread are now at stupid prices and mostly all knackered. I will have to do the ridiculous thing of buying from the UK or USA and pay duties / import tax in France for an old French made product.

Can't you use a BSC threaded hub / wheelset on the French frame?

 

[Woz]

You can use BSC threaded hub / wheelset on a French frame*.

My issue is finding one in the land of obsoleteness. Every hub set I see available here in France that will look right for the bike and period is French threaded - if they've been arsed to measure it. There are no markings on these hubs either . The same hub was made with BSC for the UK and USA market.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165735829244

* That said, there can be issues. Old French frames, especially pre quick release, were made for older specific axle diameters: front 8mm and rear 9.5mm. This is easy to solve with a file though.

 

[M_Chavez]

This is easy to solve with a file though.

That was my solution to the problem

 

[M_Chavez]

Well, my neighbour caught me with my figurative pants down. Riding around the garden on a bike with no chain, no brakes, no saddle and no bars, with a big dumb smile on my mug.
The steering is quite sluggish, but I hope that's just the lack of leverage when steering with just the stem.