jambon's Walvale porteur

More Chorus parts

Fair enough.. however, I wrapped my bars just enough for each hand and there was no flapping at all. Internal routing would be much cleaner though, sounds like a neat idea. j

So will you be drilling the bars too?

Yep I've already drilled them near the centre. I read about whether this is a good idea but going to see how I go.

IRD SOS power ratchet thumb shifter arrived, mounted upside down as this felt the most comfortable.

Internal routing for the brakes

Rear derailleur cable runs through a spring suspended above the BB

Now the rear derailure is plumbed in I'm keen to get the bb and chainset fitted, the only issue is I can't get the bb to thread in easily. The bb shell is 70mm and looks every part like it takes an Italian bb but it's just not taking, strange as the threads looks fine. Any thoughts?

Quite tempted to go for these on ebay but can't help thinking silver rims would be keep with the vintage/classy look better.

Campagnolo Chorus 9 speed hubs / H+Son TB14

Both of the cups resisting or DS cup? Just making sure you are trying to thread it in the right way, clockwise both cups. Chasing threads before installing a new BB is always a good idea IMHO...

Good point, yes both cups are resisting and I'm turning clockwise.

What a wonderful build!

@Sveinung thanks very much

Just looking at the handlebar makes me smile as this comes together. I'd like to try leather sew on grips, and it seems having cloth tape underneath helps prevent slippage so just getting prepared.

Haven't really made any progress on finding silver inverse brake levers that don't require the end of the bars to be drilled, so most likely going to get these levers blasted then polished up in the meantime until I find something suitable.

I wouldn't bother polishing them, they look good like this as well!

Don't bother getting them blasted if you want them to be silver drain cleaner will strip them.

Also reminds me of my old bike

I'll give the drain clearener a go, thanks. Always liked that bike, I'm now on the hunt for a porteur posse.

Had the same issue with VO porteur bars and silver inverse levers with internal handlebar routing. I ended up polishing tektro levers. They came out ok, but not quite perfect. Drain cleaner? Curious to hear if that works better.
I was a bit nervous to drill the bars, but that turned out to be easier then I thought.
But I think yours look great in black. In fact, your whole builds looks classier than mine :)

1 Attachment

Drain cleaner just strips the finish, you still have to polish to get them shiny.

As for a porteur posse, im down, mine is getting a dynamo shortly:

@Lieven_De_Vlaminck I think the black paint on my frame goes a long way to giving that classic look. I do prefer the singlespeed/hubgear silhouette of your bike, it's just a lot cleaner visually.

Starting to see what you guys mean about the black brake levers and that risk of over-chintz with too much silver. Thanks

@spotter for every day riding that bike looks spot on

Found a matching seatpost at a reasonable price - still on the look out for some appropriate Chorus wheels though.

^ Being posted from Twin Peaks I didn't think it'd arrive before Christmas, but... matchy-matchy.

This is such a nice project, you are making me want something similar!

@jambon @Lieven_De_Vlaminck nice bikes! which bars have you both got?
contemplating VO porteur bikes for my galaxy, want to keep my bar end shifters, wondering if I can keep drop bar brake levers too, like you can on moustache bars...

They are the VO porteurs on mine. Don't know if you can fit drop bar brake levers on them, or how it would look.
This bike is coming together very nicely, @jambon!

@meneer I have the Velo Orange porteur bars too. If you want to fit a bar end shifter and road bike levers you'll need the larger diameter bar - VO porteur bars come in two diameters, road and MTB.

@Lieven_De_Vlaminck Cheers, just hope I can find some matching wheels now. I've come too far for the hubs not to match the rest of the group #tart.

I'm still waiting on finding matching wheels for the bike so have started to experiment with leather sew on grips. Velo Orange's elk hide offering doesn't look quite right from searching online so am having a go myself.

I want a clean look and the cotton bartape I'd applied as the base wasn't quite cutting it, so saw a post from @seansmiller using an inner tube as cushioning on handlebars. Without hairspray it's almost impossible to get the inner tube onto the bar I quickly found out, courteous of Madame Jambon.

preparing the leather off-cuts I'd bought from eBay.

The inner tube and leather combo feels just right, although now I'm unsure of which side to use. I'm leaning towards the suede.

The wax thread is ordered so will keep you updated how the sewing goes - wish me luck!

Suede is a step too far IMO.