Donohue 559 low-trail conversion

How is this these days, @Paradroid? I think this is my forum favorite of all time.

Saw this thread pop up, went to post it in Favourite Forum Bikes, turns out I already have

A bit neglected, I have to admit. Bullitt rides with the kids tends to take precedence.

Braking hasn't been great, and possibly slightly worse with the wide rims, so I've bought V-brakes and levers + bar-end shifters. Haven't gotten around to installing them yet.

And cheers guys, appreciated.

Just read through the whole thread. Great bike and mods!
Did you ever get around to installing the v-brakes?
How's the bike looking nowadays?

Decent dredge, and thanks! I'm actually in the process of recommissioning the bike after a fairly extended period of disuse. I think I was originally too precious about it, I guess on account of how much effort I put into it. Both these things amaze me a bit looking back :-)

It was embarrassingly obvious that a V-brake wouldn't work with the front rack, so the current plan is to try low-profile cantilever brakes. I'm hoping the different brake geometry will work better with the wide tyre + mudguard combo. Coincidentally I gave up today after waiting for a month for Shimano cantis to arrive from wiggle (br**it and/or hermes, take your pick I guess) and splurged on Paul Touring cantis.

I'll definitely update when I get to try out the new brakes.

New brakes installed. So far I've just ridden up and down the street, but I could lock up the rear wheel on tarmac so I'd say that's an improvement. A few snaps -- not too many changes besides the brakes, just new pedals and handlebar tape. I expect I'll need to consider more puncture proof tyres for commuting.

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Yikes, that’s good.

The goodest. @paradroid if you're ever thinking of selling, hit me up

Amazing, the rack is great.

Looks awesome! Thanks for the update and pictures. ;-)

It's back! <3

One of the best bikes here hands down.

Thanks once again. You're too kind / much appreciated.

@ough Not really expecting to, but sure, I'll keep that in mind. Also I'm really bad at selling stuff. Which in a roundabout way brings me to this next sad and neglected bike. The bars probably don't make sense here, unfortunately. Or at least I'd need a taller stem :)

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No updates as such, just chuffed I managed to do my first long rides in ages over the Midsummer holidays. And I did get to swim in the river, go to the sauna and drink a few AF beers, so mandatory bits sorted as well :-) [No bonfires though, it's been too dry.]

Obviously the low-trail lark isn't really fashionable anymore, but regardless the bike just handles really well IMO. Even pulled off an improbable save making a careless turn at the base of a sandy descent. Seems like the brake update has also been a genuine improvement.

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This is THE best bike. Period.

No argument here. Excellent.

Agreed. Those forks are the best and the whole understated package makes every single Crust or similar off the peg build seem ZzzzZzzzz Zzzz

Thank you guys.

There may be a tiny bit of attempted hulsroyproofing in the photo selection. I joke, but some #bdhu might be beneficial.

Yep, still does it for me. Perfect.

You get a free pass

Only thing I’d pick at is the Dynamo wiring. Makes me feel a bit itchy.

Imperfection is perfection

Randomly remembered this bike exists. So good.

Thank you for remembering, always nice to see this again.
What a bike.

Ta.

I don't have many changes planned for the future. I admit the dynamo wiring could be neater. I haven't been too keen on drilling the front rack, but that could be an option for routing. Rear light would be nice, but usually not really essential for my use, with clean wiring being an issue. The front bag has been very useful, but there are some minor things that could be improved on, so v2 could be on the cards at some point.