Current Projects chat and miscellany

Have done with this type of fork before, no issues at all.

Also, having one cut to size and threaded cost me £45 at Argos

@gbj_tester - reliable as always, Thanks so much!

@matisse Thanks good to know!

thought this would be the best thread to ask in but point me elsewhere if there's a better one

i've recently consolidated my bikes (i.e. sold some) based on the kind of riding i do these days. less long road riding, more short competition like TT and cross. i've ended up with:

Dolan pre cursa fixed TT bike
Look 595 shit off a shovel (if i was actually fast) road bike
Trek Crockett cross bike (not yet completely built, see below)
Pompino (currently frame only)
Specialized hardrock 1x7 runaround

but because cross looks to be off this year (more or less), i wanted to get back out with my club on saturdays. would you:

a) just ride the Look through the winter even though it's a 'nice' (and expensive) summer bike with no guards
b) build the Crockett temporarily as a road bike (again, no room for guards)
c) build the Pompino into a road fixed (or gear it, hmmmmm) and turn up to a club run as a virtual stranger on a bit of a curiosity

no wrong answers. don't tell me what i should do, what would YOU do? i do not have room for a new bike.

I'd be trying to ride the Crockett, but surely you could get some guards in there with narrower slick tyres.

That or the fixed, but having done a fair few winters of fixed riding I find it kind of limiting after a while, but I'll probably use my pompino with guards at some point this winter.

I really hate cleaning bikes, so for me guards are a must, although I've discovered a nearby Jet Wash which might make things a bit easier this winter.

Alternatively, don't ride your bike on wet days and turbo instead.

my default would totally be the pompino (fixed), but i can't turn up to a club run on a fixed gear bike if i can't back it up with actual speed, which i can't :D

build the Pompino into a road fixed (or gear it, hmmmmm) and turn up to Wednesday Night Ride in Manchester

Seems good. We're all slow or drunk.

I'd probably build the crockett up and use wide raceblades or other similar clip-on guards

I second this

Seems good. We're all slow or drunk.

there's an idea! are you still out every weds?

I'd be trying to ride the Crockett, but surely you could get some guards in there with narrower slick tyres.

↑This

Strange times

there's space for guards for sure, but i don't think mounting them would be an elegant experience. zip ties and p-clips (or those clip on jobs, which don't cover very well...)

would you believe it, my late-nite brain decided i might cold set the pompino and weld on a gear hanger....

Crocketts have fender mounts don’t they?

i think some do, but not mine from 2019

edit: stupid idea

It's a little inconsistent at the minute but I can let you know when things pick back up?

yeah please do. would be up for it

@coventry_eagle...ah hello Ben, yeah cheers for telling the computer that was saying no, yes :)

I tried to take @greeno's advice from a few pages back, about trying to photograph my new Nikor so it looks like the purple it is, rather than the blue I keep capturing.

I rode around looking for a few different back-drops, firstly brick…

...…..then some copper panelling….

....I even found this....

Meh, maybe slightly more purple, but still not really showing its true colour.

Anyway couldn’t dwell on that as finally this weekend I had all the parts to finish building up my other build in the time of Corona, my new Merckx. Massive thanks to my brother’s friend Jonathan in Ontario who shipped the frame to me, and after a long delay because of some pesky virus, I finished putting it all together this afternoon.

I already own a Columbus SLX 1985 Team Panasonic Merckx with lashings of chrome, that I built up with modern 10 speed Campag Chorus. This new one is a rare chrome covered 1988 Merckx made from Reynolds 753, in a similarly rare green camo which had me swooning as soon as I saw it.

I wanted to keep this looking like most 753 bikes were throughout its years at the top of the racing peloton, so the shiniest silver parts I can find, down tube shifters, and pedals with clips and straps. But I wanted to make a few subtle changes that would make it function a bit more 2020, while still looking like an old school steel racer.

Firstly I don’t like the big loopy washing line brake cables of old, so aero brake levers it is. I’ve also opted for some slightly newer Campag Chorus brakes, think they are from the early 90’s, which have double pivot front brake for better braking. The rear is still a single pivot like brakes of old.

For wheels I found some NOS Campag Croce D’Aune 28 hole hubs, and thanks to Banzai bikes who built them up with Sapim spokes and some new Pacenti Brevet wide clincher rims for me. Super plush tubular feel without the tubular hassle. There is easily enough clearance for 28c tyres, but I’ve opted for some 25c Veloflex Corsa Evo's which look less balloon-y. So rear wheel still an old school screw on freewheel, but it has a 28 tooth rear for a large cog, rather than the 21’s those tree trunk thighed old racers had to endure, so I’ll be able to get up more hills.

I totally fell for the super slab of chrome 1st Gen Chorus rear derailleur, and scored an excellent condition 1st Gen Campag Chorus crankset, and some nice Campag pedals with original Campag leather straps, a NOS 3T stem, and some 3T Merckx bend handlebars to complete the shiny ensemble.

Enough chat, some pics.





I LOVE IT!
And here it is with its brother from another mother, my 85 Columbus SLX Merckx Team Panasonic.

nnnnnnnngggggh those are hott

Wonderful!

works tho. Looks like a Ron Cooper front fork, or a Colnago

Exquisitely elegant!

Hanging bits on this frame as they arrive. Anyone have an idea what year this frame might be? It’s alu but 126mm spacing. Cheers.

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Mid 90s to early 00s. Should be 130, I'd have the frame alignment checked.

Ah thanks, I just measures the spacing, coming in at 128.5. I assumed 126 because I had to stretch the stays to fit a modern wheel. I'll get the string out.