Custom steel 'Old Faithful' build

For the time being I am planning to keep the head tube as it is.

In the meantime Kamil brazed the chain stays to the front end and capped them. Next step is to miter the seat stays and braze them.

Pretty much the only thing that still remains undecided for the build is the choice of wheels.

On my last build (copper plated Fondriest X-Status) I went with Corima carbon wheels. Although these were really great all round wheels, they never quite won me over. Part of that was due to the fact they were quite pricey, which made me ponder the potential financial loss every time I rode through a pothole. Also, they never felt quite as fast as their looks would suggest.

That is why I had initially planned to go with regular (aluminium) wheels for this build. I say initially because something happened a couple of weeks ago, that made me rethink this: I got into a minor crash with my commuter bike. The crash ruined my both the wheels, but luckily everything else on the bike was undamaged. In an effort to get the bike up and running again as quickly as possible I put in a set of Spinergy Rev-X wheels. These wheels had been lurking in storage for some time now, but I never really found the right bike to use them for. That is, up until a couple of weeks ago.

I have done a couple of hundred kilometres on the wheels so far and I must say I am surprised about the way the wheels perform. Although they have to be at least 15 years old, they feel fast, solid and predictable. Given the price that they sell for nowadays, that wasn't something I was expecting. Although they don't match with modern bike to well, I love they way they look on retro bikes.

Any thought on using Spinergy's for this build? I suppose they would spice up the frame quite a bit.

I'd dig it, I like them on pretty much anything though so I might be biased.

It has to be said your new geometry owes a lot to miro's contribution:

Maybe I should paint it red ;)

Concerning the wheels, is there a Campagnolo 10-speeed replacement freehub available for Spinergy wheels? Or is the only way to run these with Campagnolo by using a conversion cassette of some sort? From what I have been able to find out so far, Spinergy sold their Rev X wheels with an Ultegra/XT freehub, so I am guessing a conversion cassette is the only option.

I'd never feel safe riding spinergy rev xs

Just sayin

I have seen the pictures of busted Spinergy wheels and I have read the stories that accompany them. They don't really scare me off though. Just the fact that so many of these wheels are still around after 2 decades (of use) says a lot, if not enough, about the quality of these wheels.

a conversion cassette of some sort

Ambrosio or Marchisio (SP?) I think.

Go for the Spinergys, I'm sure they will look great on here.
Afaik the main concern at the time of the ban was in case of crashes.
They didn't like the fact that the wheel could become a shredding saw once snapped.

saw this pic and thought of your bike.

Haha! First balalaika/bike I've ever seen :)

bikalaika?
bike-alaika?
balabika?

That McLachlan is one cool frame. Such as shame these unusual bike designs are scattered all over the web.

Here are two other fairly similar designed bike I came across recently. The first is by Chris Shrubb. The second is by J. Foster. Both are amazing in their own way.

The second reminds me of this Bianchi

And this (sorry both not steel but just some more inspiration)

i have wanted one of those forever. so out there

Not much progress since the last update. The seat stays have been brazed in place, but otherwise the build has came to a halt, pending new parts to arrive.

One more inspirational bike design, this time by Don Walker.

Surely this needs the right combination of discs and trispokes?

want that in my life

Kamil sent me some pictures of the seat post plug he built for the frame. I must say I am very impressed by it. It uses Thomson seat rail clamps, which should make it really easy to set up.

With the seat post ready, the frame is one (important) step closer to completion.

Neat!

Parts for the fork and some other bits and pieces like the brake bridge have come in. The fork blades in particular look very nice.

Another mental forum build:

Neat.

How is the height adjusted?