Current Projects chat and miscellany

I've got the restoration bug.

I'm going to build the lightest 50's British Lightweight possible.

Will have a 3 speed derailieur + cassette, mafac racer brakes and TA crankset soon.

Just picked up another Geoffrey Butler, this time with full 105 groupset, for just over 100 nuggets. Gonna retrofit some mudguards to it for winter commuting but otherwise leave it as is

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140474225810&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1156

That a ton well spent and I like blue bikes. 27" wheels suggests it's older than the 105 groupset, the last of which I saw on a 1987 Panasonic. Surely that GB is older than that?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/crud-roadracer-mk2-mudguard-set/

They wont fit 32mm tyres though I don't think, any other suggestions?

new 853 tourer, few questions:

who is mike kowal? really good buuild but only one hilarystone decrip. on the web.

whats the biggest tyre i can fit on cxp30/14s? these are the wheels i will be using.

can i fit a front rack? not much weight, just to chuck stuff in while i'm pootling about town.

thanks guys
Mick Kowal is the owner of autostrada and was the largest sub contractor of frames in the uk during the 80/90s.He started at Reynolds TI as an apprentice and made all their specials as well as many retailers branded frames.Ive known him all my life and worked there on and off there for many years.He is still in business but only importing chinese carbon and stop building steel.Good find,worth keeping

I've got the restoration bug.

I'm going to build the lightest 50's British Lightweight possible.

Will have a 3 speed derailieur + cassette, mafac racer brakes and TA crankset soon.

Ed i think that bug has been incubating in the forum for a while, caught it too. for the moment 2speed nuovo record groupset, mafac racers with mafac front rack.sheldons page on them is great btw. using the mercian i just picked up from Mario, from the 1975 though not 50s.

berthoud fenders, tubus cosmo rack. inspiration drawn from my two favourite forum bikes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superprecise/4163406923/in/set-72157622841252232/ and http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4304033926_d26d8910c5_b.jpg

I don't really get what San Marco has done to the new Concor saddles, but they look utterly shite to me.
Old ones though, perfection.

Ed i think that bug has been incubating in the forum for a while, caught it too. for the moment 2speed nuovo record groupset, mafac racers with mafac front rack.sheldons page on them is great btw. using the mercian i just picked up from Mario, from the 1975 though not 50s.

berthoud fenders, tubus cosmo rack. inspiration drawn from my two favourite forum bikes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superprecise/4163406923/in/set-72157622841252232/ and http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4304033926_d26d8910c5_b.jpg

Mine is this one;

It seemed to be build as a club racer, no rack mount, but mudguard eyelit, only one braze-on for a single downtube shifter, frame's surprisingly light too (double butted 531).

Got Nitto Noodle bar and soon to aquired a GB stem with a hole for the brake.

Going to use a Benelux as there's no derailieur hanger on the frame;

(normally design for a 3 speeds internal hubs with a 3 speed cassette).

i ve been on the lookout for stem with hole but havent found any. zbay?
this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-GB-FORGED-HIDUMINIUM-Alloy-Head-Stem-/110607932035?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item19c0bf1a83#ht_500wt_1156? drilled at home i think

My finished Freddie Grubb comet. Thanks to innumerable forum folk for money and merchandise, currency and componenetry.

is that primrose hill?

No it isnt

is that primrose hill?

It's Greenwich Park, wrong side of london m'fraid.

nice, i like the frame a lot. but surely you could take out a link or at least a half link and get it nice and tight in the rear ;)

Yeah, knocked two links out only the other night after glaring at the dropouts and willing them to do something, anything to sort themselves out.

ok this is ridiculously unclear. looking to add the Tubus Clampset for mounting a carrier on seat stays without eyelets and you need to specify the desired lenght:

Art.-No: 71614, for 14 mm (diameter of the seat stays)
Art.-No: 71616, 16 mm
Art.-No: 71618, 18-19 mm
Art.-No: 71621, 21-22 mm
Art.-No: 71624, 24-25 mm

i just measured the diameter of the stays, by cutting a piece of wrapped isolation tape exactly to length so that it goes perfectly around the stay and measured the tape with ruler. ruler says length of tape is 40mm so whats going on. surely the mercian (531) above doesnt have unusually wide seat stays. has anyone here used these and found this weird too or am i being really stupid.

ok just realised i measured circumference. and i have a phd in science. we're doomed

Going to use a Benelux as there's no derailieur hanger on the frame;

you could use any derailleur, those metal hangers are easy to come by...
or did you specifically want to use that one?
fair enough if you did.

Mick Kowal is the owner of autostrada and was the largest sub contractor of frames in the uk during the 80/90s.He started at Reynolds TI as an apprentice and made all their specials as well as many retailers branded frames.Ive known him all my life and worked there on and off there for many years.He is still in business but only importing chinese carbon and stop building steel.Good find,worth keeping

Thanks very much, you can see the quality of the workmanship in the frame, and its good to know that he was such a good builder. I intend to keep it as a permanent tourer

you could use any derailleur, those metal hangers are easy to come by...
or did you specifically want to use that one?
fair enough if you did.

specifically that one, 'restoration' being the key word, I don't know whether it originally have those dérailleur, but I like to try and see if it's possible to produced a lightweight 50's road bike.

This is for all the haters around who told me, that I need to put [strike]donk[/strike] gears on it...
It was in a lo-pro thread, but I don't think many straight riders venture there.

So here it is. Amazing NOS frame thanks to Michael MIG, aero Campy C-Record era brake levers from (...)Tester, rear replacement Zipp from Danikka (to replace the broken Shamal), brand new cassette and syncros courtesy of Retro_Di_Corsa.

It's a beautiful, fast and responsive ride. Not for the daily commute, though.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/5124020672_29d9329feb_o.jpg

I'm surprised you listen to those hater, either way it's a real beaut, would love to go on that and see how it ride.

It's very fast and a pleasant ride when there's no obstacles. Bit twitchy and too flexy in city traffic, to be honest. Simincini frames have very flexy bottom bracket shell area and the Moser bars also give a lot.

that'll be the quill stem, though about doing some race on it? you got the bike!

Well, I've joined Rollapaluza and my daughter starts the nursery from next week, so who knows.
Perhaps I will race after all.

I actually took MDMA (or something) Tester's advice and swap the stem for shorter, cut the bars and replace the ergos with downtube shifters. Still loads of flex on the bars. Must shed weight.

Oh by the way, LFGSS can't show picture that's at least 1024 pixels wide.

This is for all the haters around who told me, that I need to put [strike]donk[/strike] gears on it...
It was in a lo-pro thread, but I don't think many straight riders venture there.

So here it is. Amazing NOS frame thanks to Michael MIG, aero Campy C-Record era brake levers from (...)Tester, rear replacement Zipp from Danikka (to replace the broken Shamal), brand new cassette and syncros courtesy of Retro_Di_Corsa.

It's a beautiful, fast and responsive ride. Not for the daily commute, though.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/5124020672_29d9329feb_o.jpg

One of my favourite bikes here.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/5124020672_29d9329feb_o.jpg

You win at bikes.

Had this in this in the for sale section like this,and did not gt one person asking about it and it was cheap
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/kingcutter/002-3.jpg

So I decided to powdercoat it and build it like this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/kingcutter/BIKES/grey001.jpg

Was going to use a blackhead set but the tange one is realy nice also put a new 105 crank on.