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@ChadTheInhaler
This project started with a bike bought from a friend, who had bought the frame from another friend of mine. So, eventually i became the third owner of a Reynolds 501 frame and forks. The friend i bought the bike from had done a pretty good job making it into a single speed. However, i wanted to make it my own so set about swapping out parts and buying new components.
Above is how the bike looked when i bought it, having a rest on Castle Mound in Cambridge. I wanted to run a bigger front chainring so put a 52T one on and replaced the chain.
I was not happy with the Weinmann brakes or the levers so had a trip to the local bike shop to see what was on offer. I found some nice 1990's era Shimano SLRs and some unnamed levers, as well as some new Gusset grips.
Unfortunately, the SLRs would not fit properly, despite my best efforts. The rear wasn't deep enough to reach the rim and the front one didn't have a long enough bolt to fix to the front fork. Curses. I will save them for a future project.
I decided to take the bar off my old Scott MTB and put it on the commuter along with the new grips and lovely levers.
So far, the bike was shaping up nicely and becoming more like my ideal vision. But i really didn't like the rear wheel, partly due to not being able to get a perfect straight chain line. But also because removing it was a pain as some of the thread was knackered, i noticed also that tightening it was forcing the frame to bend. I did some measurements and went looking for a wheel that would fit better and give the bike a sleeker, darker look.
Voila. A flip/flop hub. Came with fixed cog, bought a sturmey archer freewheel (19T) at the same time. Now just need to sort the chain out, maybe with a half link, as the dropouts wont allow me much adjustment.
Once that is sorted i will probably get a matching front wheel and then get brakes that (a) fit and (b) work!