Dawes Kingpin, Surly, old Trek MTB & an Isen (r_mash's non-welding non-weight weenie bike projects)

I am compiling a thread of my bikes. After the tragic loss of my TdF commuter (and the loss of commuting entirely) I've had more time to reflect and re-assess my bike needs. Apparently this involved an old Dawes Kingpin folding shopper bike.

I got this at a bargain this morning. I rode it around the block and it seems to be functioning alright.

I need to make it a functional, ride around town, haul a bunch of stuff on it type of bike.

Things I want to do to it:

• new grips & new saddle (maybe a splash of colour with grips but whatever saddle I have lying around in the shed will be a great improvement)
  
• new tyres (tho sadly, poor communication with seller means I was misinformed about the rim size -- its ETRTO 440 rather than the bmx standard 406)
  
• new rims? Is this possible, current ones are steel and so braking is crap. (paging @c00ps
  
• front rack?
  
• rear crate/basket type thing?
  
  

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And after a little pootle around the neighbourhood ...

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Another update ... I took my sweet old time getting my ISEN together. Finished at the beginning of lockdown.

Its swish! but it needs purple hubs, wider tyres etc aka another wheelset.

My LBS took some non-iPhone photos ...

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I took a photo with my iPhone the other day in its current state as my commuter (that I can haul into my office now that no one is there)

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You rang?

Yes, hi hi ...

How are you?

Also, if I’m swapping these still rims ... can I just get the more common 20” size (406) and keep the same spokes, etc? I don’t know anything about wheels.

Very well, ta. Hope you are too!

Yes you can. But you’ll need to check spoke length (I can’t remember whether you can just relace the same spokes with a different pattern or whether it’s a whole new set front and rear). Brake reach should be ok.

For better braking on chrome rims, you could just try better pads. Much cheaper and could work for you.

Those are probably the 451 rims. I have plenty of tyres you can try at that size. And tyre availability at that size is ok.

the tyre says 440?
edit: sjs says that there are 3 categories of 20"
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/

what pads would work better?

the tyre says 440?

And you’re absolutely right. Sorry. I had my Raleigh hat on!

I am led to believe some 451 tyres will fit those rims. As I said, I have some you can try (kenda small block 8s and schwalbe duranos off the top of my head and maybe some Raleigh records). But this could be crap info.

I’d try softer grade pads (koolstop salmons, maybe) or leather-lined pads are supposed to be better also. Don’t expect modern braking performance, especially in the wet.

I was/am a big lump, so went for (annoyingly expensive) alloy 451 rims and upgraded my brake callipers also to stiff odyssey bmx ones. Tyre choices are decent for 451 rims and brakes don’t have to be such long reach, making braking better, as there’s less flex. With bigger wheels, you’re higher up also, so less chance of pedal strike in corners.

Edit: you can also use shorter drop brakes with a drop bolt on the smaller wheels to try to reduce flex.

And for a laugh, search for the single speed shopper of death thread on here... (warning: can be a bit of a rabbit hole)

Forgot to say - nice bikes! That isen is rad. So is the wall behind it, actually.

thanks!

I'm so confused about 20" wheels now -- I believe the dawes is 500a (440). The BMX standard is 406 (tyre choices galore)? And 451 is the other Raleigh Twenty size? Ooof ...

but some tyres are interchangeable between all 3? Oof oof oof ... how does one know??

There are some gread mods of these bikes on the internet ...

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single speed shopper of death thread

according to this I'm about 8 years too late to this trend. sounds about right for me ... I haven't gotten around to listening to music made after circa 2011 yet ...

also sadly, so old most images are broken :(

edit: there's this thread
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/12601770/

and they managed to fit 451 rims. I guess sizing down could mean wider more plush tyre options but longer reach brakes and would depend on clearance. hmmmm...

I have had success with smaller bmx wheels and some home made drop brakes.

Decathlon have some cheap alloy 20” wheels but they don’t specify 406 or 451.

eBay also has some options from Taylor wheels.

Decathlon have some cheap alloy 20” wheels but they don’t specify 406 or 451.

Cheers will check it out.

In other updates.

Work from home made my RSI worse so I converted my straggler to a flat bar hydro bike. It has actually made it a lot funnier. I tried to use stuff I had so the riser bar is all wrong but it works!

I also got this Trek frame off the forum and am slowly putting it together. The blue is lovely and reminds me of a trek I had as a kid. And trying to work out of it fits me. It will become my commuter (to replace my TdF if and when my commute becomes more regular) until then I’m going to play around with the Kingpin.

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There’s a really active Dawes Kingping group on Facebook, they can give loads of advice on wheel sizes, brake drops etc. Also good for helping source parts.

Plus your shopper project was ace inspiration also!

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/274645/

any chance you recall where you got your spokes?

I chatted to my LBS about rebuilding my wheel and they'd need to hand cut each spoke leading to a cost of £73 just for the spokes! gulp.

Some good inspiration over at Peter Lombardi's blog

yes, because I never delete my emails :)

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/spokes/120-british-made-14g-stainless-steel-plain-gauge-spokes-12-mm-brass-nipple-pack-of-6/

ha wonderful, how did you calculate the spoke lengths?

I'm trying to keep the original front / sturmey archer rear ... based on some research/calcs this should be 214 rear and 216 front? but those are not showing up as sjs options ... :/

i've either calculated wrong or they've sold out ... most likely the former

edit: assuming a 3x pattern

I used a spoke calculator - this one I think https://leonard.io/edd/

Looks like I used 210 front and a mixture of 204 and 206 rear (I think they'd got limited stock and I was impatient), but I swapped the hubs as well so my lengths aren't much use to you.

Hi I was just looking at some of my old paperwork on 20” wheels I’ve built for kingpins and Raleigh twenty wheels I think they were for 406 rims(ERD 390) and spoke lengths were around 190mm rear and 192mm front both SA hubs ,
You can buy spokes from Ryanbuildswheels or Handbuiltwheels both on bay quite reasonable prices

cheers.
I'm using the Sun CR-18 (451, erd 441) rims with the original hubs.
from: https://leonard.io/edd/

I get 214.6 (rear) and 216 (front) ... so slightly different from my earlier calcs