You are reading a single comment by @zootsuit 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.
@zootsuit
Was hoping to have this mostly finished by now but encountered a number of issues:
**Fork: **: The Tange fork that came with the frame turned out to have a 22.0 mm internal steerer i.e for french stem . I wasn't expecting this as it has threading for an iso headset and the seller didn't mention this in the sale. . As a result had to sand down my stem which took a lot longer than the couple of minutes suggested by Sheldon Brown!
The brake reach is also greater on the fork than the frame ( i guess its for 27") and the Veloce monoplanars I had in mind wont reach by about 5mm . Luckily by swapping out the brake pad cartridge holders the front brake will work and doesn't look too out of place. I can use Salmon koolstop inserts as well .
Unfortunately the rear brake bridge is for nutted brakes and the fork for recessed, something else I was unaware of during the purchase. As it has the cube style bridge I'm going to try drilling it out at work tomorrow, though the existing hole looks slightly off centre so I'm not sure how comfortable I am doing this.
Perhaps I should ditch the fork and pick up something better suited? Would be a shame now I've sanded down my Cinelli XA stem.
A lesson learned - check all these things before buying!
Other issues- the Campag Strada crank I bought on ebay turned up with major stress riser cracks in the usual place where the arm meets the spider. they look past the point of rescue and unsafe so have contacted the seller for a refund.
In place I can use either the Sugino Mighty cranks or the Athena set, still not sure which one, l'll try both one the bikes more fully assembled. Not too bothered about keeping it period correct but I guess the Sugino is more appropriate . Still also need to test the chainline prooperly , the chorus 102 bb i had in mind is too short for wither crank but he 114mm bb that came with the frame does, so it'll do for now .
Vittoria Zaffiro Classics as recommended by Vince arrived from Ribble, they're great looking tyres for £8.99 but the sidewalls are very pale and I think will look grubby quickly after some winter abuse (image attached if anyone's interested in seeing them in the flesh). Will save them for summer , have now ordered a set of Raleigh Peloton tyres instead on the advice of mattyc
Last issue - having some problems with the Veloce rear hub, took it apart to check the bearings and it wont seem to go back together properly! see seperate thread : http://www.lfgss.com/thread117904.html#post3956464
So a rather frustrating week but hopefully will start coming together soon!
On the plus side the frame is looking good, have cleaned it , covered paint chips with clear nail varnish and and waxed it . Its a shame its been part rattlecanned as the original blue is lovely
2 Attachments