All City Spaceh̶o̶r̶s̶e̶ Clydesdale

So with the retirement of the Specialized Rockhopper splatter bike kid carrier due to the frame being bent (and me not having the tools, skills or time to unbend it right now), I now found myself with a 1 1/8” Crust Clydesdale fork and no frame. I originally bought a Bianchi Osprey to replace the Specialized, unfortunately I discovered that is 1” threadless after I got it home. So that’s being built up as something else now.

I’ve been umming and ahhhing about putting the Clydesdale fork on this bike for a while, but couldn’t commit. After the Bianchi didn’t work out, I bit the bullet and put it on here. I never loved the look of Clydesdale forks on bikes with 700c (or bigger than 26”) rear wheels. I don’t know why, but I think they’re more suited to a 26” rear. I have come across a few different builds with big rear wheels and I warmed up to the idea.

So I present to you… the SpaceClydesdale.

3 Attachments

Swapping from the All City fork to the Clydesdale fork was surprisingly easy, despite the Spacehorse having a Cane Creek headset and the Specialized having a Velo Orange one (disregard how the fork is sitting in this photo, I was mocking it up). Unfortunately I rushed things and scratched my bars (you can see in the second photo). I’m hoping I can touch that up with nail polish or something.

Everything else will be staying the same on the bike, except I’ll be adding the Pletscher kickstand from the Specialized, I have some Colony BMX pedals with blue axles (seeing I have blue cable ends and bar ends) to replace the clipless Shimano ones and I’ll be trying out a new rear tyre (see below). I also have a new front wheel to replace the crappy temp one I’ve been using for the last year that you can feel the seam on when you brake.

I have to steal the thin spacers from my Paconi to match the Bullmoose bars (they’re hidden on the Paconi because of stem bag, so fat ones that don’t match will be okay) and I also need to buy a new front brake cable and housing. I’d also like a front mudguard.

3 Attachments

I am currently running a Maxxis DTH 2.2 front tyre and I wanted to run something semi-matching on the rear of the Spacehorse. Currently it’s a 38c Panaracer Gravel King (that measures at 36c). I was using a Maxxis DTH 26x2.3 on the Specialized and it looked cool having matching tyres. I looked around and discovered that Maxxis do a 29er tyre similar to the DTH, The Grifter, in 29x2.0. Now 29er is just another word for 700c so…

I know the Spacehorse can only run up to 42c tyres. Or can it? I’ve comfortably run 700x40 Nano’s AND Clement X’plors under full guards. They would definitely be bigger than 42c. The Grifter 29x2.0 works out to be about 700x50. If the tyre is anything like the DTH’s, it will probably run smaller as well. I did some quick measurements and I have about 10mm between my current tyre and chainstays. Right now I’m running the rear wheel halfway in the drop out as well, so there’s room to move the wheel back about 15-20mm.

So I ordered a 29er tyre for a bike that takes 700c tyres.

Will it fit under the brake bridge and between the chainstays? Will I be able to run a full mudguard over it? Am I insane for even trying this, seeing that this tyre is ~8mm bigger than what All City say can fit? Will it fit okay on a narrow-ish rim? Have I wasted $50 on this experiment? Well the tyre is on its way and I guess I’ll find out next week when it arrives.

50 mm knobblies rubbed the paint off the chainstays on my space horse. 50mm slicks might just be ok , I would take an educated guess that max clearance is something like 48-49mm

Good to know! Was it an older Spacehorse like this?

The other thing I could look at doing is getting the stays crimped slightly.

Yes , same generation.

Cool. Well maybe my plan of using a 29er tyre isn’t so crazy after all.

Finally got a new cable and brake outer for the front brake and some spacers today so I hopefully finish this tomorrow… ready for the new tyre on Monday. I also bought a shorter bolt for the Pletscher kickstand from my Specialized, so I can install that.

I have another rear wheel somewhere that might match the rim profile of the front wheel a bit better as well. I’m considering using the wheelset from this with the 38c Gravel King’s with a slightly smaller cassette as a spare wheelset for the Paconi when I know I’m going to be doing longer flatter rides, and have the 40c WTB Nano wheelset with a larger cassette for more rough climbing stuff.

Sooo unmmmm uhhhhhh that ummmmc space house fork? Must be uhhh taking up a lot of room?

Edit: Forgive me I thought this had the macho man esque fork, also from your lovely photos with gravel I assume you’re not in the uk (for the best not to be on this gremlin island)

Nah, I’m in South Australia. And I’ll be keeping the Spacehorse fork in case I want to switch back / get another 26” wheel frame for the Clydesdale or do something dumb like put the Clydesdale on a Surly Big Dummy.

Found the other rear wheel I want use with a similar rim profile to the front wheel as well as silver spokes, nipples and black hubs. I did forget that I need to rebuild the hub and put a new freehub body on, but I have a donor rear wheel that I can steal the hub parts and freehub from.

The current rear wheel has a higher profile, so it will be more matching now.

2 Attachments

Bought a shorter bolt and installed the Pletscher kickstand. It’s a bit frustrating, the original bolt is too long at 65mm, but the replacement bolt is a touch too short at 50mm and can’t fit the split ring washer. I couldn’t find anything in between. I also don’t have a lot of room to use the original bolt with washers because of the seat tube. I’m going to try the 50mm with some loctite for now.

1 Attachment

How about cutting off of the 65mm to fit - alternatively buy a new 65mm to cut and leave the original as spare? I've had a few kick stands come loose, so I wouldn't forego the locking washer if I were you.

Yeah, I need to go to the hardware store and try and find a 60mm. I thought 50mm would be enough.

I had to cut mine down when I fit it.

Yeah, I just don’t have the ability to cut through bolts right now. No vise, and most of my tools are packed away.

Went to swap freehubs with a spare wheel I had today.

Looks like the hub in the wheel I want to use takes a different Shimano freehub to what I have with the notches on the outside (first photo), as opposed to the one with the notches on the inside (second photo). I don’t really understand though because I stole the original freehub from the wheelset I want to use to put on my MTB wheelset, and I still have the old freehub from that and it has the notches on the inside, so I’m a bit confused. I’m going to have have a look tomorrow at the MTB wheel.

If worse comes to worse I’m going to have to change the rear tyres, but I don’t really want to do that because I want to keep that a spare complete wheelset for the Paconi.

2 Attachments

Well after fucking around with swapping cassettes and freehubs between wheels, I finally got the tyre on and in the frame and it doesn’t fit. The wheel I wanted to use was slightly out of true, which didn’t help the situation. I wish I checked that before swapping cassettes. I swapped the tyre over to another wheel that is slightly more true and it still just fits, and rubs in parts when the wheel spins. The tyre 29x2.0 measured at ~47c, so I think I could get a 45c in there easily. Now to find something that matches the Maxxis DTH front wheel. Or I just colour in all the logos and run all black tyres.

2 Attachments

Finally pulled the Nitto spacers off of the Paconi and properly installed the Clydesdale fork to discover the steerer is about 1-2mm too long to use with the spacers I’ve got and the top cap doesn’t sit flush with the stem. Off to the bike shop on Saturday to get the steerer chopped a tiny bit.

Went to my friends bike shop to get the fork cut down / talk shit and dig through his box of Shimano freehubs. Luckily he had a spare secondhand one that will fit my hub and take a 9 speed cassette. Now I can run the wheel I wanted to run on this bike with a 10 speed cassette and run the 9 speed on my Bianchi.

Please disregard dog hair in this photo.

1 Attachment

I can’t sleep, so looking online at tyres for this bike. I really want matching tyres, which isn’t that easy seeing I’m running a 20” front and 700c rear.

I’ve come across the Kenda Small Block 8’s, which fit the bill for the type of riding I’m doing. I can get a 20x2.1” for the front, which will work perfectly, but for the rear I’m not sure what size to go for. I don’t know whether to risk trying another 29er tyre with a 29x1.75” (~700x44c), or play it safe with 700x35c, which I know will fit and I will have no issues running a full mudguard over, which I want. Both tyres are readily available.

I’m just concerned that I’m going to end up with another 29er tyre that won’t fit any of my bikes if I go down that path. I already know the 29x2.0” doesn’t fit, even though it measures at ~700x47c. Would the 29x1.75” measure small as well?

Or I just keep the front Maxxis DTH tyre and get something similar for the rear and save myself ~$40 and don’t have matching tyres?

Finally fitted the fork. Even though I got the fork cut down yesterday, I still needed a tiny spacer to be able to tighten the headset properly, which I got this afternoon.

It’s a shame the 29x2.0 tyre doesn’t fit because it looks cool with it.

1 Attachment

Might just order a Specialized Sawtooth rear in 700x42c and keep the front Maxxis. Similar tread pattern, no massive logos and I’ll black out the Maxxis logo on the front tyre.

1 Attachment

ive got some of these stashed to try, intererested what they're like

Bought the rear tyre this morning, swapped the cassette over and mounted the tyre. Tightened up the kickstand and installed the pedals.

After I installed the rear wheel with the new tyre and went to adjust the brake I realised how out of true it is, so I’ll have to swap that out for the time being, back to the wheel I had in there, which means swapping tyres over. Which is annoying.

Still need to cut the front brake cable, find a 55-60mm bolt for the kickstand and purchase some mudguards because the Zefal rear one fell apart as I took it off. Probably going to get some SKS ones so the front and rear are matching. I might also swap the front tyre out to something slightly smaller so the size difference between front and rear isn’t so huge. I just need to find the spare front tyre in my stash. Very close to finishing. Hopefully this afternoon after I get home from picking my son up from school.

5 Attachments