Rig of the Tamsin Trail - Elops 500 - ft. Jack The Rack

aka off-road / gravel / mud fixed-gear bike (whisper: publocross)

vision, a ratty unappealing yet functional(?!) fixed with tyre clearance for that premium grav. be used for the odd 16 mile each way commute, tamsin trail and something to lock outside with reduced bike-theft anxiety.

£70 inc. train tickets has got a well used elops 500. ideally everything from here is parts bin or cheap. going to need help keeping it ratty.

have stripped it down, too scared to see if the seapost is seized, job for the weekend but first question, wtf is this?

They’re not bad bikes for the cash. I was trying to convince someone at work to get one, but to no avail.
The rear mount? Well…
It shouldn’t have that bit of bolt sticking out and then you can fit one of these …
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rear-light-city-speed/_/R-p-336050?mc=8666043&utm_term=8666043-4391598&&iv_=__iv_p_1_g_61980133654_c_316432589974_w_pla-329717981662_n_g_d_m_v__l__t__r_x_pla_y_15177021_f_online_o_8666043-4391598_z_GB_i_en_j_329717981662_s__e__h_1006964_ii__vi__&gclid=CjwKCAiA0JKfBhBIEiwAPhZXDzs6wmz3CX7R_-XPOXLvf6ok8XLiXBFrZ9mJ8yFv_pwMc_y4fd9IxhoCKuoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Right? I thin they're banging for the money to be honest. Whenever people used to ask which bike they should buy to commute on in London. This

I've got one, for the money I think it's great . Killed the BB in 8 months though .

Sub'd! Do like a budget project

Neat light solution, like the anti theft aspect.

Publocross would be such a nice sport if it wouldn't be for all the presumed deaths. Nice bike.

Rusty bits. Lightly sand, then cover in a clear coat, something like clear nail polish OR spray the section with some black spray.bike to make it look a bit rattier?! Have a bit of both.

Once I've wrestled off the old crown race.. disc forks.

Condor carbon (top) clears 28c with a guard, doesn't have much resale value, shaves off loads of weight and has DBAD but maybe looks too nice.

CX fork has loads of room for rubber, will take the cages off. Does look much taller in this pic.

Might throw both on, see what it does to the geo and come back with pics.

Related, any downside to taking a saw to the crown race and splitting it?!

How big will the rear take? IF 28 go carbon, if bigger go BIGGER

Biggest I got right now are 32c GK SKs and actually, they are fine with the carbon and no guards.

Used some razor blades to get the crown race off the old fork and with an even more barbaric use of a stem, managed to bang it onto the new fork.

Parts bin stuff is used but a bit nice, H+Son rims with Hope up front for the disc ..

Sanded and sprayed some rust. Doing some stencils was real tempting.

Live Love Laugh

..or does that make it more appealing for some to nick? ideas welcome!

BB, S300 crank arms and a 46t. Hoped to find a 44t but it'll do.

The rear dropouts look long, recon I could get away with a single chain using..

1. 16t > 19t cogs
   
2. 17t > 20t cogs
   
   

Oh and weighed the frame, 3.4kg.

Cut the steerer down, added a new chain and some cogs and took it for a spin around the park.

Caveating that the parts bin was pretty healthy.. it's a lot of fun for £75 spent.

Be keen to try other handlebars, something more swept back, even something like a velo orange porteur but needs to be parts bin stuff.

humpert/ergotec toulouse are very nice and not too expensive for porteur bars.

Bike looks really nice imo

Looks good. You should get the frame-specific rear light for it!

Looks like a lot of fun. What size tyre are you running on the front and what's the max size the Condor (Pioggia?) fork will clear?

Edit: just looked up thread, reckon you could squeeze in a 35 or a svelte (PDW) mudguard over the 32?

whats the garmin / light arrangement?

Looks like a lot of fun. What size tyre are you running on the front and what's the max size the Condor (Pioggia?) fork will clear?

Edit: just looked up thread, reckon you could squeeze in a 35 or a svelte (PDW) mudguard over the 32?

Svelte mudguard over a 32c or cut one down at the fork but depends, a smooth 35c might be OK. I'll see if there are any guards in the parts bin later..

whats the garmin / light arrangement?

Fouriers out front with gopro mount, exposure action mount & exposure Strada.
Works best used with the smart remote.

https://www.exposure-use.com/Brands/Exposure-Lights/Products/Bike/Brackets-and-Mounts/3-Prong-Action-Camera-mount-to-Exposure-Cleat-EXPQRARMACTION2

enjoying the bike a lot but wrists are not used to flats bars, have ordered some of these, thanks

humpert/ergotec toulouse are very nice and not too expensive for porteur bars

Spotted one of these stem mounts in a sales thread and being a light placement tart, had to get one to get the light beam more over the rack.

With new bars in the post along with a large drybag coming from the alpkit sale, and about 200 miles down, this is shaping up to be a fun commuter.

If you don't get on with those, I can recommend Ergon GA3 for flat bars as well

Ergon GA3

Cheers, building up a mtb soon and can play with different options and swap bits between bikes. Have my eye on some sqlab innerbarends too.
https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/innerbarends/sqlab-innerbarends-411-2-0.html