Current Projects chat and miscellany

Got this old bit of cinelli kit in the post today, needs quite a bit of work to get it comfortable though. All the foam padding has evaporated over the years so gave it a good clean an removed all the leftover bits of foam. Need to measure the grey areas where the padding should be and then research where to get some thin foam from. Also look into some fabric to plastic glue. Anyone have any recomendations?

Heres what im dealing with! -

so this old shed find, a freddie grubb comet or meteor, possibly ? can't really find anything on grubb frame numbers and the brochures aren't really that detailed
the paint job was a rough one done by hand by the previous owner and it wasn't patinaed by any means so no puppies were killed.

has become this




will finish tidying it up tomorrow then try and find a large alan key to undo stem and get forks and plastic head set off
hopefully the bb will come out although it doesn't feel too bad if it's stuck
will leave bare metal as i've always fancied raw finish with a bit of lacquer

will rebuild with relatively inexpensive bits as a commuter / beater for the time being see how it rides
may get rid as it isn't quite my size

https://www.flickr.com/photos/99782232@N00/sets/72157647508224316/

I think he's just saying that it looks great.

Really struggling to enjoy my new frame, it's a 54sq and at 5'10" is technically perfect for me but I've gotten used to riding a frame with a much smaller St and Ht.

I have 175mm cranks on now, which won't be helping. Thinking of selling up and buying a nicer 53sq frame.

Old frame

Anyone else prefer frames too small? More manoeuvrable etc

silicone adhesive is probably your best bet, depending on the kind of foam you want to use

I'm tall as you but it was the opposite for me, I used to ride a 54cms square frame, and realized that it was too small. Now I ride 56cms frames and finally feel good.
Have you calculated with the inseam and upper body lengths?

Only the size of the horizontal tube is fundamental.

Hot melt glue gun, I stuck back the edges of my saddle (arione) and some bits of my car back together (leather and seat pad foam), a month on, both are still in one piece

I haven't no, I have short legs and a long torso. although I started with a 56sq moved to 55 and had what I thought at the time was perfect, now this one looks like a garden gate! I ride a 54cm tarmac as my proper bike and it fits like a dream.

Glue gun, evostick, copydex. Just buy a camping mat and cut it up, pretty thin foam and they're dirty cheap at decathalon.

@dicki what paint stripper did you use on that?

@Borek, @BrickMan,@WilliamJohn thanks for all the help. Will grab some stuff on the weeekend
, try an get borrow a glue gun and crack on. will keep you posted on the progress

theres still a cm of slammage to win. plus if you get some giro ditalia style drops youll win a bit in drop. i recommend some levers too; to get a nice extra position.
same here; 5'10", ride 54 ct and 54 tt with compact drops. winter beater will be bit more upright with 55ct and 55 tt.

oh and also small inseam; 31" or there abouts. 175mm is long though; i prefer 170mm crankarms.
with 170s youll accomplish another 5mm of drop (seatpost up to compensate shorter cranks) so youll be fine with the range the mercian will give

What's my best way of cutting a nice round circle out of carbon fibre sheet?

Slowly working away with a file is a noisy, but effective, solution. Bit of bodging and my Mavic Ellipse wheel covers now fit my Powertap/Archetype wheel, giving me a reasonable approximation of a Zipp Super-9 Powertap, at about a quarter of the cost.

kirkov - used nitromors, admittedly the paint was a poor quality done by hand with a brush
it was probably just regular household paint not a proper factory finish

it came of very easily

Ah I was hoping you'd discovered some hooky stuff on ebay or something. I've not had much luck with the new EU-sanctioned Nitromers on anything with a proper finish.

Thanks for the info anyway!

it was an old tin in the shed
a good few years old

this is the tarpaulin merckx

was 25 euros, full sr eddy panto gruppo, and a brooks saddle

frames is too big for me, and stays are fucked from rust, not sure if salvageable or needs new ones

I got a champion modial aa, ab, an alan , the merckx, and 25l rucksack full of campy for 150, the lady's husband had passed away, i only had 100 on me as i initially turned up to buy two frames, then she opened up, and kindly gave me credit for the last bullseye,(paid when i got home natch)
i hobbled off with the rucksack, two frames over me shoulder and two bikes with flat tyres, I had to get on a tram, then a train, then walk as no cabbies (slags) would take me

also, shout out to the balfe's bikes crew, nice people!

That Merckx gruppo has got to be worth some coin. Are Merckxs still the hipster's choice?

Unless you want decent pay for a day's work...

My new WIP will be around 7.8 kg when fully built :D

Did you lay the fibre yourself, as per folder?

Pretty sure that's a Giant XTC and some Taiwanese bloke did the layup.