Project SuperShopper

Front old 87mm so a little less than I thought, rear 115mm. I really should make some decisions about the rims/hubs/brakes this weekend

The frame and forks can be cold set wider pretty easily if it helps your hub choice.

Hi - that might be the way to go for the front at least. I assume I'll also need to file the dropouts to fit a modern hub. But then once it's done it will open up a load more options.

The frame is back from the powercoaters! Except I completely forgot to get the chainguard done as well, so a follow up trip this week.

It's silver sparkle + rootbeer. Basic lash up with the old parts to show how it's coming together:

The paint job has cost 4 times as much as the bike!

I found some unbranded cranks in the attic and got a basic sealed BB from Micycle, so the cranks are on now. (Thanks for the rec @dsalmon , didn't know about that shop but it's very close to me. Though I think I scared Alex by being very - definite - about what I wanted)

I am going for a coaster hub (the rain this week decided it) so I've an SRC3 on order as it has the lowest OLD I can find. And I like Sturmeys :) The chainline should work out with the hub according to the SA site - fingers crossed til I get the hub to try it.

I decided to go for a modern dynamo hub up front so expecting some degree of cold setting and filing the forks. Obviously I should have worked all this out before the powdercoat but then again life is all about the journey (aka making it up as one goes along). I also want to replace the headset with a normal threaded headset and quill stem which will mean cutting the steerer and extending the threads so I'll get that all done in one go, probably by Micycle.

So this is where things stand end of today:

F+F: 1983 Dawes Kingpin
Front rack: Willex
Mudguards, rear rack and chainguard: original (love those SS mudguards)
Cranks: generic alloy, possibly Sugino XD2 or a copy
Chainwheel: 46T Stronglight
Front: SP SV-8 hub
Rear: SA SRC3 hub
Rims: CR18 451 rims - going up 11mm from the stock 500A (440) to get alloy rims, but should fit fine
Saddle: B67S
Spokes: TBC
Tyres: TBC
Headset: TBC
Stem: TBC
Bars: TBC - most likely the original ones
Front brake: TBC
Seatpost: TBC
Front Light: TBC. I have a B&M I was going to use, but I'm wondering now about a edelux
Rear Light: something generic on the rack
Pedals: TBC

Planning on Dawes decals?

shit i need one of these!

I wasn't planning on decals. I usually prefer things to be anonymous/utilitarian. But I do like these little bikes a lot so maybe Dawes should get a little love. A gold Dawes decal would look good on the brown powercoat

Wheelbuilding....

The third wheel I have built, and the first for a rim brake. Fingers crossed :)

Good use of sticky note, should use that on my wheelbuild.

Oh FFS. What size headset would you expect on an English 80s shopper?

JIS apparently. Didn't realise until I'd pressed ISO cups in. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Since the cups are in now and the head tube looks ok I think I'll get the fork crown cut to ISO...easier to find ISO headsets if I ever want to replace it.

I couldn't find anything on Google so given that it's British, relatively modern and not Raleigh I assumed ISO. For anyone googling Dawes Kingpin Headset in future, it looks like 1983 Kingpins at least were JIS. Galaxys too apparently.

Grrrrrrrrr

Good work, and glad micycle were able to help. Am no longer looking to make my kingpin functional, more fun summer bike. Will post pics in the next week or so.

Is that half a machinists stool?

Yep :) the hole is a tiny bit more than 1" so it holds an old school fork or a seatpost perfectly

The fork steerer is cut down and headset installed with about 10mm of spacers

Updated parts list for posterity:

F+F: 1983 Dawes Kingpin
Front rack: Willex
Mudguards, rear rack and chainguard: original (love those SS mudguards)
Cranks: generic alloy, possibly Sugino XD2 or a copy
Chainwheel: 46T Stronglight
Front: SP SV-8 hub
Rear: SA SRC3 hub
Rims: CR18 451 rims - going up 11mm from the stock 500A (440) to get alloy rims, but should fit fine
Saddle: B67S
Spokes: generic plain guage - all I could get in the lengths I needed
Tyres: Schwalbe HS110
Headset: Tange Levin CDS (ISO - grrrrr)
Stem: Humpert steel + alloy
Bars: TBC - most likely the original ones
Front brake: Tektro R559
Seatpost: TBC
Front Light: TBC. I have a B&M I was going to use, but I'm wondering now about a edelux
Rear Light: something generic on the rack
Pedals: TBC

Ready for cables and pedals!

The colour hasn't come out clearly - this shows it better

Looking good!
Not unlike the metallic 'coffee' finish Raleigh used in the 70s ?
I'd be interested to know how a loaded frame-mounted rack changes the handling with small wheels - I didn't like the effects of weight on a fork-mounted rack on my Twenty and soon went back to a rear rack.

Looks great!

I have that mug! Nice build btw. It looks extremely classy and lots of fun.

Excellent. What sort of weight do you think it is now you've switched the steel bits for Alu and dropped the gears ?

Also any issues with the rims? I'm holding a pair of correctly sized Alu rims for when I eventually rebuy a Kingpin, but am also curious as to whether it matters.

looks excellent. did you polish any of the parts at all?

That's a gorgeous colour! Not sure I'm sold on the white chain though dude.

That is awesome.. I need one now...

The frame mounted rack is great - I don't notice it at all. And a really good match for small wheels because there's plenty of height under the bars for it.

It's about 2kg lighter - about 14kg. Not a massive saving, although the rims and crankset are lighter, the dynamo and coaster hub both add weight and the bars and stem are still steel.

I'll let you know about the rims when I've been riding it a while

White chain - yeah, I just had it hanging around so I put it on to check the chainline and it's grown on me. It'll look terrible after about 0.00000001 miles on actual road though.