My first Fixed/SS mini bike project (and other infmz projects)

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  • Looks very smart!

  • Looks great!
    And I guess the shim was helpful for the new set-up too?

  • Cheers, yeah the shim was needed!

  • That came together really nicely! Lovely touch of pink with the headset. imo the tanwalls would be a bit much

  • Thank you, I thought that too. Tans may look better if everything is/was silver; like the rims, bars, cranks.

    I love the pink too - it's a small enough accent and also instantly solved the quandary of black vs silver clash for the headset, stem and forks. I would've gone silver but considered flipping the stem and seatpost to black.

    Forgot to shoutout to @Browndonneur who's pink CK is what inspired me lol.

  • Really good! Agreed that the pink headset makes it.

  • Cheers. Nice to see this getting nods.

    I appreciate the frame is 80s, fork is 90s, brakes and other bits are 00s and wheels 10s, so the mumbo-jumboing might not sit well with purists who prefer period-correctness or a consistent mgoof, but I like it and think most of the kit goes well for the simple build. Will keep my eye out for anything I think will make this look even better though.

  • Clean set-up. Enjoy it!

  • Looking forward to getting out. These heavy London rains haven't exactly helped lol.

  • Looks nicely balanced. Nice one.

  • Balanced is what I was going for, thanks. It's easy to get carried away and do silly things like add too much pink or mess up the black-to-silver ratio. I like that the contact points are black but stem off silver hardware (okay not the pedals). That happened almost by accident, but I'm sticking with it, unless for function/fit/availability. There are some subtle inconsistencies that I'd like to change too, but nothing urgent.

    Thanks again for the frame! Originally I had something more modern in mind, but love the colour and clean aesthetics. It's been a fun learning project too.

  • Spent yesterday doing my car-free commutes by the Dazzan. Felt really good to ride. I'm thinking a slightly longer stem might help, but then I need to consider the weight of a backpack and how that my effect comfort if the front end is too long. The handlebars are a bit too narrow too. Riding back from the gym, I felt cramped to the point I felt like I imagine Derek Brunson does doing daily chores (it didn't help I did back workouts), so that will need a change too. A nice plus point is how much this replacement Look fork has reduced toe overlap. In fact I don't think there's any

    Riding fixed again for the first time in ages and having never got used to it to begin with, was definitely something. The scariest moments were a) food delivery mopeds pulling out in front of me - breaking time was definitely slower and b) going downhill lol. Given it was a Sunday East London roads were relatively quiet.

  • Good on you for following through and putting the bike to good use. It's in those scary moments you learn how to ride better and improve skills

  • Yeah, that's one of my end goals; improved skills and awareness/planning, to see if I want to do track activities again, and to keep cycling interesting given the limited miles I'm getting in these days.

    It's also meant to serve as my longer-distance commuter during the Summer holidays as I get fed up of doing 10+ miles both ways on the Brompton. I've always used a full-sized roadish bike this time of the year - gravel, SS etc.

  • Its tough to beat the enjoyment of riding fixed as part of physical conditioning... It also helps to perpetuate my alcohol and weed consumption LoL

  • Lol two things I don't have to worry about, but glad it helps. Replace those with kebabs and cakes and then there's a problem for me. Can defo feel the physical conditioning more - up hill feels the same as SS, but that's about it.

    Have been commuting through the inner city just outside of peak hours, which has definitely been sketchier, but I'm defo getting used to it - e.g. remembering in a split second not to stop pedaling when I normally would. Who knows, maybe in a few months I'll be able to honour a DAS.

    Still thinking about a longer stem and slightly wider bars for comfort. My position is definitely shorter than my road and gravel bikes.

  • The new Bullhorns are in. They look and feel great, but on the bike they look pretty awful.

    Will need a clean and some touch-up paint on what looks like marks left from galvanised bar tape adhesive? I don't know. I think they'll look a lot better with the mashed up MASH logos removed, and probably the Cinelli one too. I like keeping flat tops exposed, so any bar tape will only cover the horns.

    Until any of this happens, I'll probably be refitting the BLB Eastward bars.


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  • BLB bars are already back on and order has returned to the universe my cave. It's a shame as I really liked the Cinelli x Mash bars, but they just look too aesthetically out-of-place.

    I should sell them before I do something silly, like build a whole bike around them.

  • Mash bars sold and I've been looking for an alternative. I remembered that the BLB bars are actually made by someone else - the S logo on the centre being the clear giveaway. Couldn't remember if it was Nitto (which doesn't start with S!), but then remembered where I've seen it before; Satori (are they made by Nitto too?). Satori happen to have cheap, light bars that are the same polished black, with mildly flat tops (more function than aero), and are wider than 35-36cm. Not too expensive either.

    These are the bars in question: https://biurban.net/en/handlebars/2731-bullhorn-handlebar-satori-aero.html

    And here's a Nitto version that have internal routing and cost way more: https://www.hubjub.co.uk/nitto-rb0-36-bullhorn-4606-p.asp

    The optional internal routing means I could switch back to TT levers, should I wish. Looks a bit more silly running just one brake with TT levers though, unless I fit the left-side for 'balance'...

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My first Fixed/SS mini bike project (and other infmz projects)

Posted by Avatar for infmz @infmz

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