Ken Charlson Fixie Project

Yes I did, did not have enough time to walk back home and take another bike. From Camberwell to Putney, and in the evening, back from Putney to New Cross. Very slowly. Felt weird.
I had the frame repaired. Holiday bike at my parents in France now.

I want a holiday bike at my parents house in France.

I want my parents to have a house in France.

You could probably T-Cut that out.

I want my parents to have a house in France.

Just to clarify and de-glamour this, they are french, it's were they live... It's not a holiday house. Nice to go home and ride my first ever british racer there... Except I could not over christmas, the weather was terrible... Just went to the local supermarket once, that's it. And I reversed the bars to the grips are upwards (how these sakae bars are actually supposed to be) Not as rad, but way more comfy, I have to admit...

I want French parents.

I want a French maid.

I want to be Rene Herse's maid.

Is that the bloke off 'Ello 'ello?

Il just cut rear brake mount out so there is nothing to match up to
Can use it on my yacht as a posh pen holder

Up till this point, I thought you were a bit of a knob.

This changed my mind though. Have some rep!

bit of kudos !!! lol

i am looking forward to getting it back and building this up..

its like being a kid again .!!!! just hoping the powder coat comes out clean

The day anyone pays attention to something Scoble says about bike aesthetics... What he did to that Brooklyn was probably a worse idea than what's gone on here.

and we told him that at the time.

fitting rear rack and brake mounts?

Disc brakes I'm thinking of !!!!!

From a saxo lol

scoble getting scobled? 5 star thread

thought id share the track ends mod with you all

you can see the before and after pic the stainless plates came from a friend who did them at a good price they look a little large for the cut down version but i hope they are going to look in proportion once powdered.
the full size ends looks too large for the thin stays and needed to be smaller to look in proportion with them and the stainless plates look the business and obviously help protect the finish

hoping to get from back tomorrow all being well

Tomorrow is here, so where is the update?

Matt

From other threads it sounds like there's a half-link chain in the offing..

ye of little faith Edmundro

here it is pretty much finished

just come back from a 25 mile ride on it and it rides really nice
couple of issues iv found are the seat post i have is maybenot the exact size think i have a 26.2mm post and is seems to slip down despite the nut being fully tight hense the tape on the post to get me home,
and the bars are 25.4 and the quill is 26. so if anyone has a post or quill i need give us a shout..
been a pleasure to build certainly a journey but its been great.
im sure old ken would be happy with it being used, im sure its not to everyones taste.
and despite the track ends fitting i didnt have any issues with pedals clipping the
road on corners but that may be to the spd's
and now sorted the halflink chain but i am shocked at the stretch in sure a short ride.

In my (limited) experience, most 531 frames take a 27.2 seatpost - have you tried one of those? High flange hubs are fit.

yes i tried that. just doesnt go in and dont want to shove it.. and a 25.4 is too small
guessing i need the next size up from a 26.2

only a small issue.

I quite like the frame and I have admired your reserved replies so some of the comments on this thread.

But..........

What the hell are those red cranks doing on this bike? They look terrible and don't fit with the frame at all.

And that saddle - why?

And red brake cable?

Surely a frame like this needs older, classier bits? As it is now it looks like mutton dressed as lamb!!

Its your bike though so if you're happy that's all that matters.

Glad you enjoyed the process.

Cheers

Although the chainset saddle & bars are not to my tastes, you've done a pretty good job. The headtube lugs look OK with the powder coat too.
I take it those are 27" wheels you've got on, the clearances are by no means offensive!

Re: Seatpost size....
531 will always be 1 1/8 OD.
The inner diameter will depend on how fancy the 531 tubing is.
If it's plain gauge tubes, you're looking at 26.8mm. Butted tubes will be 27.2
Large frames are quite often 27.0, basically because they warp a bit during brazing.

Using the armchair vernier, sucking air across my teeth etc, I'd say you probably want a 26.8mm post.

seats a temp fix as it came with the post. hoping the new post has a better seat on lol
26.6 or 26.8 will get me there so need to get looking .

chainset was the only one i had to fit as the brick lane bikes one i have is the wrong chain line .
im sure il get round to putting black cable outer on when i get the right quill 26mm!!!

Awesome job, it looks great.

This forum has a surprising amount of complete arseholes and you've stood your ground when many would have folded, for this you get my respect.