The Single Speed Shopper of Death™ and other shopping bike tales

what is that? are you shaving your tires?

old-skool brake init.

shopper with 24's

This forum has the power to make me want absolutely anything.
Fuck all of you with your cool granny bikes!

shopper with 24's

Obree!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T8pLRdCBXgU/TIkmQmgpXyI/AAAAAAAABB8/_5KlxjshPho/s1600/Graeme+Obree.jpg

This forum has the power to make me want absolutely anything.
Fuck all of you with your cool granny bikes!

Very true!

Bargainous!! you near Oxford then?

No, unfortunately. But luckily I knew that it was only a short journey from Marylebone :)

Still need to pick it up as the guy's been on holiday... and my gf's been away, so now I have to work out whether I try and suggest an impromptu weekend trip out to Bucks or just wait until next week and work it out in the evening some how.

I also need to get one of the bikes out of my place first. Really can't wait for it though :)

This is for sale now
sold my shopper, just too hard to do a good skid

Anyone offer any advice on a decent set of lightweightish 20" wheels suitable for running slicks?

Just won this:

... I don't really have any plans as yet. But current Thoughts are:

smaller lighter alu wheels
bigger tyres
new brakes
new bars, stem, grips
square taper cranks
general lightening where possible

So, Finally organised collect and has my first proper little ride around. First impressions are very good. I'm genuinely surprised how well it rides. The 3 speed SA is indexed, smooth and works well. TBH I don't think it's had much use at all.

The general opinion from family, GF, GF's friends and family was that it was very cute but they thought I would look funny riding round on a girls bike.

Regardless I still like it.

It is quite heavy through. It did have a massive ladys saddle (replace by a probably equally heavy Brooks). I'm not going to go all WW but I would like to loose some of the wieght.

First things to my mind would be:

Headset (it's adjustable with a steel QR right now)
Seatpost (steel)
Seat collar (also adjustable)

Long term, stem and bars would be good, but I don't know what quill will be lighter, but also light. Wheels would also be good? 20" BMX seems like the logical choice, but that means quite a cash injection because I'll probably need new brakes and then it stops being a cheap bike.

If anyone's got any other thoughts they'd be welcome.

Anyone used a raleigh twenty/ other 18/20" wheeled shopper bike for polo?

Anyone offer any advice on a decent set of lightweightish 20" wheels suitable for running slicks?

Go back in the thread a little, there are suggestions.
Only six pages, shouldn't take too long.

It is quite heavy through. It did have a massive ladys saddle (replace by a probably equally heavy Brooks). I'm not going to go all WW but I would like to loose some of the wieght.

First things to my mind would be:

Headset (it's adjustable with a steel QR right now)
Seatpost (steel)
Seat collar (also adjustable)

The best upgrade for any steel-wheeled bike is aluminium wheels/rims - IIRC Kingpins have 440mm (500a) rims, so BMX 406 rims might fit without changing the brakes, although you would need new tyres. You can go for long-reach brakes if the stock Weinmann units don't reach. New rims/wheels will save a large amount of weight, aid acceleration (reduction in rotating mass), as well as providing better braking especially in the wet.

I wouldn't worry about the seatpost collar or headset unless you're going weight-weenie - these are steel on a lot of bikes anyway. I'm not sure what happens in terms of folding ability when you replace the stem...

After the wheels, the heaviest things are the cranks (you can swap in a cotterless square-taper axle (or whole new BB, as the Kingpin has standard threading) and modern square-taper aluminium cranks), the seatpost, the saddle and the handlebars. You could also remove the mudguard and chainguard but they're not particularly heavy and rather useful.

Cheers. I'll have a rethink.

I had a bit of a look into bmx wheels and I think the brake drop should be manageable. I thought the front wheel might be quite an easy option as it won't effect the gears and worst case I'd just take the brake off.

My logic on things like the seat collar was that on a £/g ratio it's quite economical. I don't want it to turn too WW - I know it's not going to "light" but I'd rather it felt less like a baby elephant.

I haven't tried a full fold up - but I'm not sure how often I'll need to. The headset's the only part where I'd need a QR I guess.

It might be economical in terms of £/kg if you find a secondhand clamp for a quid, but in absolute terms you'd only be saving about 50 grams! If you pick up an old BMX from a car boot sale for a tenner, you could use the wheels, brakes and brake levers, and save a couple of kg. I don't think removing either brake is a good idea though.

I think a problem with normal expanding quill-stems is that the expanding action can cause the headtube (which is slotted) to split apart. I think you can simply run them without the quill, just using the original clamp to hold the fork onto the quill - but maybe you need a spacer or something. I'm not sure. If someone could clarify this would be great - I'm doing up my own Kingpin at the moment!

Good point(s).

Removing the front brake was more of an interim solution if a 20" bmx wheel was too big a drop (which I don't *think *it is).

I think I need to use it a bit more. Both my gf and mum asked me what it was for.... I didn't really have an answer, other than "it was cheap, and I've wanted one for a while". As much as I love my track framed beater, it seems a bit too nice now, and I wouldn't mind a more practical bike for the city ('gaurds, etc).

Basically I need to work out it's purpose before I drop a load of money on it. The other sticking point is that so much of it is in good nick. I hate cottered cranks, but the BB is smooth and the cranks are sitting in place. I think they'll be the last thing to go.

Spreadsheet time I think.

edit: also found this: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=37410

Yeah... well at least it's not taking up much space The reason for me buying my Twenty was also because it was cheap and I've wanted one for a while... the reason I bought a Kingpin yesterday was because it was also cheap and it's an upgrade over the Twenty.

It's useful transport, easy to store in a car boot/on the train, won't get nicked and is absolutely hilarious to ride - that's as much justification as anyone needs, isn't it?

I'm still unsure as to what to do with mine, though. I like the idea of adding drops and skinny tyres, but I also like the idea of going offroad on it, and I also like the idea of keeping the mudguards and dynamo lights and adding a wine box to the rack.

Just done a quick whip round with some calipiers and also did a basic bathroom scales less my weight and the kingpin came in at 15kg (my 531 beater with carbon forks and heavy wheels is 8.9kg). It's a tubby little fellow.

Although more riding makes me like it more. And the old school brakes managed to save me as I was crossing a cross roads. A driver wasn't lookin as he suddenly changed his mind deciding to turn right insted of straight on, accelerating fast into me.

.

^ after

Really like this!!!

Yup! As they say, there's no accounting for taste!!

Oh come on, it's not that bad. I would've done it all one colour, but it's nice to see someone modifying a Moulton.

I nearly bought a Moulton four-speed last summer... expensive for what they are.

I think yocto is showing humility, it's his/her bike.

Heh. Well that's awkward.

.

I liked this one:

Why have you removed the rear rack? they're a lots more useful than the saddlebag.