Current Projects chat and miscellany

@WimVDD loving the colour of that Serotta, looking forward to seeing that built.

A few changes to my MX Leader, some voluntary, some not. Its a bit small for me this bike but its such a great ride I've given it a few upgrades.

First up I snapped the pin and lower bracket of my carbon Campag seatpost. I'm hoping I can find spares, I posted over in the Campagnolo thread but if anyone knows if they are available and from where, please let me know, details here: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16636367/
So until I can get replacement parts or a new Campag carbon post if no parts are available, I've put in a ti post for now.

I stole the yellow Flite off this for my Somec, so this now has the saddle from the Somec. Also I got some NOS Look delta pedals....shamefully the chain has not been cleaned...

.... and as it appears its never going to rain in London ever again, I don't need to fret about muddy gumwalls anymore, so got some new 28c Vittoria Corsa's. And to finish off a new sexy 10 speed carbon Record crankset.

The attack sofa now looks like this: until I get that carbon seat post sorted.

Swapped the wheels over, might need to change the tyres but might just leave them, feel really comfortable on this

Oh boy, I'm not ready for that thing in my life yet. Someone with a lot more courage than me would probably pull it off superbly, though. 😅 It's not the colour, but rather the blockiness that bothers me.

Crustiest mech I’ve ever seen

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It is kind of angular...but it'll look great on the right bike!!

This may finally… finally get a proper build after my constant plans and procrastination.

Trying to source affordable yet adequate silver rim brake wheelsets is impossible. Will get something built up maybe in the very near future. Rigida / ryde to deore hubs etc…

I think a slightly longer and lower nitto stem will fit well. I rode a non branded 100mm tall flat stem with this previously. I really want to try a bar end shifter as well so I can use the bar in front of the levers as a hand position. For this I am thinking of going to 9 speed as a 10speed friction mtb shifter is £££.

I can’t bring myself to repaint the frame, even though I’m not the biggest fan of the red and blue. I like the mismatched blue anodised bits, everything else will be black and silver. Trying to find a 2nd hand c17 with silver rails to try out.

I rode this last year from North Yorkshire to Nottingham via the Yorkshire dales, Peak District, Derbyshire dales. The 42t chainring and 30-something cassette was a bit of a struggle with lots of luggage. I am thinking a fat cassette or 94bcd spider with a lower tooth n/w from that fancy danish company we all love. I am too lazy to think about doubles and triples. As long as the range is wide, I don’t mind fairly big jumps between gears.

I am confident I can fit 42+mm tyres at both ends looking at the clearances. I will go as large as possible.

I don’t have the same love for buildings and swapping around bikes / parts that I used to have. So this will very much be a build and ride for many years kind of affair I hope, asides from a possible dynamo and rack upgrade if I am riding longer distances more regularly.

In short it will be a less fancy, lugless, european Rivendell.

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I’ve built my 853 Fugio back up as a comfy road bike to try and get back on the road cycling. Rides really well. Very glad I didn’t sell it.

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Yep nice!

Love this, and keep the paint — it’s rad.
Those 90s koga touring/all-round frames are great. Do you have a build thread?

this is great - anymore pics? what kind of frame is that with the clearance - a tourer? i am keen to build something very similar up

@michaelcox
I did have a build thread but I am not very good at updating continuously. I have since fitted Albatros bars which have less distance on the sweep back and less rise so I think I'll keep with the current stem.
@swedeee
I believe it is a tourer / trekking / hybrid of some sort, @platypus has the exact same frame I recall. This is how I collected it when I was living out in Rotterdam, for the grand sum of 50euro. It was pretty much stock but I had to strip it down mostly to transport it back to the UK. Similar bikes can be found in the NL for pennies.

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awesome :--) thanks for sharing

This is how I collected it when I was living out in Rotterdam, for the grand sum of 50euro. It was pretty much stock but I had to strip it down mostly to transport it back to the UK. Similar bikes can be found in the NL for pennies.

I bought a similar one for 70 euros in Rotterdam two days ago. :) Although mine is aluminium unfortunately.

such great bikes…few more of mine…ridden every day for 8 years now. it's almost part of me at this point.

I settled on sram X0 9spd, 32t chainring and a 34t cassette, that’s been enough to get me up anything loaded. avid arch rival V-brakes with the black ops levers for a bit of bling.

I fit 35mm voyager hypers (bought as many as I could when they discontinued them) under 45mmish metal guards, so def clearance for 42s.

The frame rides nice with the two low riders and a carradice bag. It didn’t feel so great when I tried a longer front end and weight high up at the front. The fork is a bit flexy when you load the panniers up but I don't mind.

I wouldn't repaint it, but you do you!

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Lovely Koga tourers guys. Looking forward to getting mine back from being repaired!

Great set up, very utilitarian! Thanks again for more inspiration, especially regarding guards which I will definitely fit for the winter.

I am thinking of going with a 11-46t cassette now and keeping the chainring as is, should be ample range. I have trp mini V ready and waiting which are very lovely.

My touring set up last year was almost identical but with front panniers higher up on a pelago commuter rack and a shopping bag strapped to the top. It was a bit front heavy especially on Yorkshire rough stuff downhill with a loosening headset. Next time around, I will pack less, via an alpkit dry bag mounted to the bars containing light stuff, a half frame bag along with rear Carradice saddle bag.

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Not quite as good as those above, but here’s my koga traveler, still needs a load of work, larger tyres/mudguards, needs a bit of bdhu, and the cabling needs redoing.
Bit of a heavy beast, but they’re great bikes.

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Lovely Koga tourers indeed but for me yours takes the cake. Lugged, koga « max », great colour scheme and nice build - 10/10.

Thanks!
It’s FM1, so not max, but there’s a fair few ovalised tubesets they played around with in the 90s.
It’s a shame they seemingly made the fork out of lead though, so it’s not all roses.
Impossible to find an inline silver seat post for 26.8 too…

I know, hence the quotation marks :) They used actual max on the full pro for a short time but it was soon replaced by the fm1. Zoom/shogun posts come in 26.8 and have very little setback. Would be a nice match with the stem.

What size is yours?

This is the first iteration that i had to rush together real quick before a trip.

It got knocked into by a delivery lorry while parked on the pavement so I’m having some repairs and mods made..

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Ah, apologies! And a good shout on the zoom post.

It’s a 57, but a bit long for drop bars if I’m honest with myself.
Yours was one of the builds I was looking at before I managed to find one on Marktplaats — looks great, so good luck with getting it fixed up.
I’d love to get mine sorted with dynamo routing in the fork, what mods will you do?

Getting the fork replaced, 1" threadless with through axle and disk brake. Then yes ideally have internal dynamo routing in the fork. After I wired up the dynamo the first time around I noticed the holes in the frame for internal wiring, so yeah will try and make it mostly internal once i get it all back! Other mods are just a rear disc tab and then routing for the hydro cable. oh and getting the kickstand plate replaced so it can take regular stands (the only one i found that fits it currently is proper crap). Maybe a couple of extra small things for easier mudguard mounting but nothing else major.

Will go for a tubus tara on the front like platypus, and nicer mudguards too. didn't really enjoy being heavily loaded on the rear panniers. Also that gear ratio was beyond my capability for loaded touring in the hills of Wales.

Sounds perfect, would love to see the build as it progresses