Custom Oak Cycles 650B French Randonneur Project.

That is not a bike shop, that is a scrap heap.

Worked in some pretty small shops before, but generally (as I would hope with any shop) is that if the bike is not a shed, it gets a bit of packing foam tube thrown on it, takes 5 seconds, shops always have boxes of the stuff kicking about, avoids hassle with bikes getting damaged.

Cons of having a vintage looking bike.

To be fair it took me an hour and I had to weld up a tool to get it done. Well beyond the avarage bike shop.

Oh man, that is uncool, even we store bikes better then that, and that's saying something.

True. Obviously an hour with Greg felt like half an hour!

It wasn't that they couldn't do it, it was that it took about two months to figure that out, which is pretty ridiculous. But it was more the scratching that bothered me.

While my Paul Components brakes are awesome, they're not exactly the stiffest of centerpull, this result in it's squealing like a muted pig, and required compressionless housing for it to bite properly, modulation and power however is still the best combo with the centerpull.

The good thing is that I was aware that there'll be a new centerpull coming out that's inspired by the Mafac Raid, and now it have;

Not only it's almost a direct copy of the Raid, it also have some improvement;

We did improve a few things compared to the original Mafacs:

• We made the arms slightly thicker, to make sure the brakes work with the higher brake forces generated by modern pad compounds. The weight gains are minimal.
  
• The bushings of the original were cheap plastic and often developed play. Ours are special IGUS bearings that should last a long time.
  
• The original pad holders were made from stamped aluminum, and the posts could come loose. Ours are cast as a single piece, with integrated posts.
  
• The mounting bolts of the Mafacs, with their thin heads, also are known to fail when you aren't careful during tightening. Ours are stronger, with integrated washers based on a René Herse design.
  
• We improved the finish of the arms and the plating of the screws.
  
• Our braze-on pivots don't have the ugly aluminum plates to hold the spring. Instead, there is a ring with the spring hole that the builder brazes onto the post. (The photos still show the Mafac/Dia Compe braze-ons, since ours weren't ready when the frame was built.)
  
  

It address some of the issues of the original Raid, once it's avaliable, it'll replace the Paul Components after the bike get a revamp.

It may also get a new rack as well to replace the Velo Orange that come with it;

ignore

So are you going to remove your old bosses and have some brazed on for the Compass centerpulls? Paul Racers use canti bosses. Awesome move if so!

Yup, frame will undergo another (and final) work.

It will all match nicely with the Rene Herse crankset too, only obvious modern part are the front dynamo light, the brake lever, and the unfortunate SMP carbon saddle that will have the logos removed.

No full chrome job sadly, it transpired it cost a lots more nowadays, between £800-1000.

If you're doing all that, it's definitely time to get the forks converted to threadless and run a nice custom stem.

You could always re-cover the saddle: http://busymanbicycles.blogspot.com/2011/04/honey-walnut-smp.html

Nah, the problem is merely not having enough anti-seized paste in it, and the two material (steel and alu) does not always play well together if left unattend for a prolonged period.

New stem is steel, so should play well with the steerer, I already have the modern Elephant with threadless, disc, and 11 speed, I prefer it with threaded as it fit the whole bike well.

Good call on Busyman, bit overkill when the leather is lovely on the SMP already, but does help make it a little less ugly;

Gonna have to experiment with the Forma shape first before deciding, the Composit now felt closer to find a perfect saddle (no more numbness or getting pressure on soft tissue/sit bones).

No full chrome job sadly, it transpired it cost a lots more nowadays, between £800-1000.

Crazy.
Doesn't chroming messes up steel anyway, getting mad hot in the process?

That's the risk, but the advantage of chrome on the long run that it preserved the frame far better than powdercoat even as well as looking awesome;

Chrome plating is nice but a bit of an eco crime.

#oldchromorgohome

Yup, frame will undergo another (and final) work.

Yeah right!

Nice, the compass cp's and rack will look great. Shame about the saddle, but the butt wants what the butt wants.

Found two more issues, rear mudguard got a couple dent and the tailight is bend out of shape, fuck sake.

Found two more issues, rear mudguard got a couple dent and the tailight is bend out of shape, fuck sake.

Not only Matt have removed the offending stem, he even managed to save it!

Matt - 1
Brixton Cycles - 0

1 Attachment

Front and rear braze bosses removed, and seat tube stripped.

2 Attachments

CBA to read through 50 pages, but what is going on with that stem?

It looks like the clamp has been wedged to accept a larger bar than it was designed for!

Say it isn't so Ed...

Nitto shim 25.4 to 26, it's legit, I swear!

Stem was stuck solid, could not be removed from the steerer by mere man, only by mere Matt.

coldharbour?

seat tube stripped.

How come?

I see the shim, it 's the wedge in the clamp that struck me as odd: doesn't look OE...