Current Projects chat and miscellany

No the current colours are not Molteni , I will have it resprayed in the orange

That's a bloody gorgeous frame. Where'd you find it and how much did you pay?

The greys quite nice. But the molteni colours will be betterer.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Merckx-Molteni-decal-set-choice-head-decals-/300485815630

I found some heavily reduced Ultremo's (not the recalled ones), and figured I'd give them a shot.

Ah, if they were cheap enough then there's no harm done.

Ah, if they were cheap enough then there's no harm done.

For a 180g race tyre. The construction looks a lot different then I'm used to, so it'll a least be an interesting experiment. I'm a polymer scientist by trade, and am often enticed by talk of new compounds/mixtures/additives.

It'll take a lot to convince the cyclist in me, that anything is better then a high end vittora/veloflex, together with a latex inner, though.

Vittoria Open Corsa CX (also tan/black) do EUR 30.- / piece here in NL.

Vittoria Open Corsa CX (also tan/black) do EUR 30.- / piece here in NL.

500 NOK a peice here usually. Just spotted some on offer though, typical*.

(*still a fair bit more than I got the Ultremos for though)

Currently trying to convert a Giant TCR 26" road bike into a track bike (not for riding on the street but on the velodrome, if they will let us).
I hope my son can ride it in approx. 2 years. He still has to grow into this bike.

http://static.lfgss.com/attachments/34483d1293480647-p1080409b.jpg

Giant TCR 26" alu 6061 frame, fork with carbon fork blades, alu steerer tube
Miche Young 155mm cranks, 44T
Miche BB set BC
Shimano Dura Ace 28H front hub HB-7400
Shimano Dura Ace 28H rear hub HA-300 (I think)
Mavic GL330 S.S.C. 94 28H tubular rims
Vittoria Competition Juniores 21-26" tubulars (and some expensive Vittoria and Conti Time Trial and track tubulars)
19T sprocket 1/8" (others available)
KMC Z something silver coloured chain 1/8"
Shimano Dura Ace PD-7401 pedals
Selle San Marco Concor Junior Light saddle
*Zoom seat post (I think). *
Truvativ Holzfeller 40mm stem. Have a Look Ergostem available, but hard to set up nicely and short extension. Maybe can use it later.
Zoom Buckup bars 37cm c-t-c, drop 145-ish mm
Cork bar tape white

To be done:
Cut internal thread into front axle and fix with bolts and flat washers
Cut steerer to length (will wait until bike will be ridden)
Add chain tugs
Find out correct gear ratio and adjust chain length. Now it's 1/2 link too short. Sprockets available, may have to buy extra chain ring.

My kids are spoiled when it comes to bikes.
Sorry for the fuzzy picture. Bad light.

1 Attachment

^^^ Like what you've done with that Giant, you have a lucky son!

@lae my local bike workshop/LBS.

It was £20 for the bike plus £10 for a stem.

Liking the Giant, but was wondering if the BB height might be an issue for track riding?

doubt it - 155mm crank.

Liking the Giant, but was wondering if the BB height might be an issue for track riding?

Pedals is still a bit higher (plm 5mm) than on my own 28" track bike with 165mm cranks. BB height is okay.
What worries me the most is, if his mother will let him ride on the track and if the "track officials" will let a road frame on the velodrome. There are quite some conservative people on the tracks.

Pedals is still a bit higher (plm 5mm) than on my own 28" track bike with 165mm cranks. BB height is okay.
What worries me the most is, if his mother will let him ride on the track and if the "track officials" will let a road frame on the velodrome. There are quite some conservative people on the tracks.

Considering the work you've gone to, and the quality of the result (tips hat). Could'nt you just have the drop-outs replaced by a local framebuilder. Doubt you'd have trouble selling it after the lucky boy has grown out of it.

It's a OTP road bike/frame I've done for Giant.
I wanted horizontal dropouts instead of more regular verticals. just to enable youngsters to ride fixed. Note that this was before the fixie/hipster era. Just because kids don't need gears during races. At least not in dutch crits.
Don't want to change to track dropouts, because I still want to be able to use it on the road with gears (although I have a 2nd one with vertical dropouts). From a practical point of view, I don't see a reason to replace the dropouts.
Besides that, I may find a local company that is able to do the welding, but not someone who can do the necessary heat treatment in a decent way. Welding w/o heat treatment makes the frame worthless.

I thought maybe the type of drop-out would be the sticking point with local track officials. Theres no good mechanical reason I can think of.

Will add chain tugs because of that.

It's a OTP road bike/frame I've done for Giant.

Is Giant a client of yours Dutch Cheese?

I ride a 2007 TCR A0 and noticed it's Netherlands built.

Worked there till 2005. Can't be blamed for your bike. Built in NL means assembled.
They have an assembly line for some european models as well as for other brands like Scott.

Worked there till 2005. Can't be blamed for your bike. Built in NL means assembled.
They have an assembly line for some european models as well as for other brands like Scott.

That figures.

Nice build for the kid BTW. I know a couple of dads locally who've built that frame up for offspring. One of which is fixed (for the road though).

That TCR looks to be from an era when vertical dropouts had been the norm for some time already, why was the same frame made with vertical and horizontal dropouts? Were the horizontal ones for the 26" exclusively?

It's a OTP road bike/frame I've done for Giant.
I wanted horizontal dropouts instead of more regular verticals. just to enable youngsters to ride fixed. Note that this was before the fixie/hipster era. Just because kids don't need gears during races. At least not in dutch crits.

.

That TCR looks to be from an era when vertical dropouts had been the norm for some time already, why was the same frame made with vertical and horizontal dropouts? Were the horizontal ones for the 26" exclusively?

No, it wasn't vert. and horizontal.
24" and 26" both with horizontal dropouts.
My other sample is a prototype with vert. dropouts by mistake. It was actually ridden once by Rik Zabel, Erik's son, for a TV commercial (I think).
Sample above is also a prototype but as it went into production, just in different colours.
This T-Mobile colour scheme was one of the 2 options for the 24" version.
26" came in 1 or 2 other colours, but not in these T-Mobile colours.

finally finished, just a shame I skidded out and dented the frame

....hopefully I'll be able to take a proper picture soon