Rawspuds builds bikes slowly

Been lurking on this forum for a year or so but ended up making an account a few months ago as I started getting into bikes again!

The first bike I worked on was a Dolan Pre Cursa that I got when I was 16 about 10 years ago (which I still have, and will hopefully appear in this thread at some point!), but I'll start off with a brown early 80s Dawes Galaxy frameset I bought from @sacredhart to use as a bit of an all round/all season bike.

Made a couple of changes - I swapped out the downtube shifters for some cable stops as I wanted STI/Indexed shifting and added a cable guide under the BB as Galaxy's don't have them. This makes cabling easier. Currently the cable stop is Epoxy'd in place. Will drill and tap at some point.

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So after some messing about with different tanwall tyres and shiny mudguards I fitted some all black 32c conti/vittoria tyres. Tanwalls with the brown frame was a bit of a 'brown overload' (as they say?), and all around made it look a bit too steal-able.

Wheels are Shimano hubs with Mavic MA2 rims (a lucky ebay dot com find), both derailleurs and cranks are Shimano 105 (1050/1051). Stem is a Velo Orange quill so I could fit some 31.8 Clamp modern bars.

Been test riding a bit and happy with it. Can also deal with some light #gravel quite nicely.

I have another project bike too which I’ll update on this thread soon !

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Beautiful looking bike!

Lovely stuff

Thanks guys!

This is what’s next on the to do list - a 1995/6 Orange P7. This bike was very cheap but needs a lot of attention. Seatpost is most likely seized and I had to remove the front mech with an angle grinder.

I want to build this up into a fun bike for chill trails, and to carry some light luggage. It’s also a perfect size that my partner can use it too. Thinking 1x and some chunky tyres.

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Went out on a much longer ride on the Dawes today, and brought a multitool so I could make some changes on the way (very helpful big brain of me). 42/53T Chainrings are much too big for Bristol so that’s something to look at in the future.

Would also highly recommend the Bristol to Pill path for anyone in the area. I was definitely massively underbiked for some of the Leigh Woods sections, but turns out blasting down hills on a completely inappropriate bike for the terrain itches good parts of brain!

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Alright, so small issue with the Orange P7 pictured earlier. I was (lovingly) taking it apart to begin its resurrection and discovered a rust hole on the underside of the chainstay. The cool and quirky side of my brain says it’ll be fine ride it, but in reality it’s not something I'd really be fully confident riding.

I contacted a couple of frame repairers/builders and got a very lovely and detailed response from @M_V which included a rough cost to replace the chainstays. It was less than I expected to be honest so was pretty keen but unfortunately the BB and Seatpost are extremely stuck, so the frame is currently in my cupboard.

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Couple days later I saw another orange P7 frame on eBay. Sent a silly offer to the seller (which I was convinced would not be accepted) and had that heart sinking "seller has accepted your offer" notification..

In true LFGSS fashion I have lovingly curated this moodboard including some forum favourite bikes of mine as #inspo

So far I've ordered some Spank riser bars and a Raceface Narrowwide chainring.

Need: Everything else

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My marin on a mood board <3

Had a chance to mock up some bits on the Orange this week. Got the frame, swapped the forks over from the frame that had a hole in it and managed to re-use the original STX headset. It seems Orange went from 1 Inch threded to 1 Inch threadless in the years between my old and new frames, but it all worked fine thankfully.

Got a used Kona stem and some Spank bars from Wiggle with a 60mm rise which works out great. I'm 6ft so there’s the possibility this 19in frame is too small for me with the modern front end. Will have to wait and see.

Frame has some nice details including two sets of bottle cage mounts and rivnuts on the underside of the downtube (origionally for mounting a crud-catcher I think). Will need to think of something to mount here - could be a fun place to put a pump!

Figuring out drivetrain next.

…

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Rad!

Nice frame set!

while I was figuring out if the orange is too small for me (spoiler: it is) I gave the Galaxy a bit of attention. Got rid of the awful tourney levers in place for some Downtube shifters which are indexed. Also wrapped the bars again because it went mouldy in the shed.

this thing is so ideal for going to the park and then sitting in the park and then going home again.

the cane creek levers are great but the brakes aren’t as snappy as they were. not too much of a problem as I literally go no more than 10mph on this thing

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and yeah the orange frame is way too small for me sadly.

good news is I’ve got a replacement in the form of this 1994 Stumpjumper M2 I bought from @launchpadboi

my allegiances have shifted from trendy anodised componentry to (also trendy) functional minimalist bikes with bespoke luggage and tan wall tyres (a side effect of spending too much time on LFGSS dot com). I’m gonna live out my B Side Ronnie Romance fantasies with this thing. the small number of parts I bought for the orange will transfer over and I’ve got a Kona P2 fork to go with it. it’s got an axle to crown of 410mm which should be a suitable replacement for the original 60mm suspension fork. got some BLB Big Smoke bars on order too.

thanks for reading the most convoluted first page of a forum thread ever <3

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that fork will be good! just keep charli on the moodboard and it'll sort itself

Collecting parts for the Stumpjumper is going okay, but slowly. I’m taking a minor temporary detour …

I was visiting my parents last weekend and got into helping my dad clear out some of the stuff in his shed. He’s big into motorbikes and races pre 1974 stuff, so there’s a BSA, a Triumph and few others. In between the sheds is this Raleigh mountain bike, which my Nan bought brand new in 1988. Original colours were beige faded into yellow (ew?) which makes it a Maverick, I think. I don’t have a bike to keep at my parents, so this is going to be that. Plan is to keep it super simple and very cheap.

rawspuds builds bikes quickly

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Stowed in the rafters of the shed was a pretty good selection of motorbike bars.

There I found some 800mm wide “Aero Flex” bars with a removable brace meaning I can get them into a quill stem. They’re 22.2 so I’ll need a shim to put them in the 25.4 stem currently on the bike.

I chucked the lot into the back of my Jazz (best car ever) and headed home.

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Had a spare hour after work and sorted the front hub. It was super rough and had some play. Took it all apart, cleaned all the bearings (after dropping them on the floor, of course). Cups and cones were in great condition considering age thankfully!

Also found a 2.2 Continental Tyre for the front. I’ll keep the 2.0 Bontrager one for the rear.

An order has been made from SJS Cycles to get some chainring bolts, some cable guides and the shim - should be here soon and hopefully I’ll have it all together shortly so I can resume with the Stumpjumper!

I also gave the P7 frame (the one with the hole in) to my old manager which is nice. The replacement I bought (the one that’s too small for me) is stowed away for a project in the distant future.

Current Projects

1. This 1988 Raleigh Maverick
   
2. The 1994 Specialized Stumpjumper M2
   
   

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I’m gonna live out my B Side Ronnie Romance fantasies with this thing

Every time I hop on my bike wearing my shorties.

Real

This is how I felt after servicing my hub today

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New bars are quite different to the old ones!

The shim arrived to bring the bars up to 25.4, I had to cut it down it’s length into two sections as it couldn’t slide it down the bars in one piece.

Also rear dropout spacing is 120mm. It also doesn’t have any rear brake bosses or cable guides. My friend thinks this is because it was originally designed for a coaster brake? Unsure …

It’s gonna be 1x5 as a 7sp freewheel needs a 126mm spacing and I’d need a new wheel/add spacers and re dish it. Also got a shifter. It’s a Suntour one with a built in cable stop which is handy.

Can confirm the top tube is definitely not the best place for a shifter, but the downtube is too thick and I can’t really modify the bracket to mount it on the bars and use it as a thumb shifter like I originally intended!

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New freewheel from SJS and a second hand mech from a friend means the drivetrain is good to go, minus chain the chain.

The chain stays did need some minor crimping with some vice grips and an 8mm socket to get the 2.0 tyre to fit (bolt on mech hanger means the wheel is slightly more forward in the dropouts). Blue paint is all I had to hand to protect it and I tried to um … artistically fade it into along the inside of the stays.

I’d like to say future plans may involve painting, but considering the goal is a functioning klunker inspired bike for a cheaply as possible that’s probably not going to happen.

I usually spend lots of time fussing over individual component choice when building a bike for myself - it’s been quite nice not not doing that this time.

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Right, it’s probably time I updated this then.

Both of these projects have taken a little longer than expected. Some of you may have seen me posting in the ‘Long Covid’ thread over the last year or so, which has taken an impact on how I interact with bikes. I can’t really ride at the moment. A super small spin to the local park is about all I can manage, which has been pretty rough to reckon with, but I’m hoping through pacing, rest and healing I can get back somewhere close to where I was.

Instead, I’ve been taking time to enjoy the process of building bikes instead of riding them. Specialized is also complete, pending some finishing touches, and some proper photos.

The Raleigh is done, and has been returned to my Dad for use as his pub bike. The horizontal dropouts and lack of mech hanger meant it was really suited to being Single Speed. I first tried a test with the 5spd freewheel and a friction shifter, but in the end a spare 38T chainring and a 16T Freewheel meant making it SS was much easier and simple. It rides very nicely with the wide moto bars.

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Stumpjumper Construction is complete.

Drivetrain is transferred over from the Orange P7 project, 12s Deore Mech with an 11sp SLX shifter - works great.

The BLB Big Smoke bars are amazing. Need a shorter stem though.

I’m chuffed with it!

Currently I have two functional bikes and that’s it. I’m sure I’ll need to scratch the itch of building something again at some point, but I’m resting and taking it steady at the moment.

❤️

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