You are reading a single comment by @pauly1978 and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@pauly1978
Ever since riding a fixed bike in San Diego years ago I've fancied having my own. More precisely, having a go at building my own.
Also nipping to the shops on my carbon road bike is more hassle than it's worth with clip in shoes just adding to the drama.
I'll be building this and learning along the way.
Anyway - pics are better than words:
It's a Raleigh something or other with a Reynolds 501 steel frame. I won it for £21 on eBay, collected it the next day and started taking it apart that afternoon.
It was advertised as ideal for a project or for riding away. Put it this way - I'm glad I drove to collect it and didn't get someone to drop me off to ride it home! It's shagged. No air in the tyres, front brake stuck on, gear cables frayed, whole thing filthy dirty.
Anyway - with the assistance of my mate in exchange for a beer or two I got it apart. Mostly. The alloy seat post is fixed in place - it wont budge. Two days marinating in WD40 didn't do a single thing. Nor did twatting it with a hammer. Also, I couldn't get part of the bottom bracket out. So off it's gone today to my local bike shop, where the owner assured me he could solve my first stumbling block.
In the mean time, I've been going through the parts I've taken off and sorting them into three distinct piles: 1. keep 2. don't need but don't throw away yet 3. bin.
Next it's the task of sourcing the parts that I can't salvage from the original, pricing it all up and deciding which order to do everything.
I've got a local body shop that has done loads of paint work on various car mishaps for me, so they'll be my first port of call for the respray. Pretty much the only salvageable parts are the frame, forks (maybe), seat post (if I can get it out in one piece), pedals, handle bars and brake lever(s) - everything else I will have to buy.
I've possibly already sourced somewhere to buy some wheels, flip flop hub, chainset, bottom bracket and chain.
Not sure if I should buy the above mentioned parts first or get the frame and forks sorted and then painted first.
A new saddle, tyres, bar tape, brake cable (I think I'll just be running a front) will all be along at the end once everything else is sorted.