Current Projects chat and miscellany

This is my only fixie, and i ride it to school every day, but i still prefer aero bars to drops....

Get some foot retention on there lad and you'll get to school (or away from it) even quicker.

Finished this off today. Had fun on the rolling Essex country roads and walking paths.

Finished this off today. Had fun on the rolling Essex country roads and walking paths.

Like!

Could you talk me through the conversion of the MTB rear wheel to fixie please? I'd love to do that with my rat.

No conversion here. They're Goldtecs on Mavic A319.

I can see that now... should have looked closer! D'oh!

qwe

It's for commuting and general tom-foolery so they should be sufficient.

Depend by what you mean by the Tom you'll be fooling with.

Would you want to fool with this Tom?

It's for commuting and general tom-foolery so they should be sufficient.

If I had to guess, I'd expect the 319 to be stronger than the 719, simply by virtue of packing more metal into the same outline.

Even better.

qwe

You saying Mavic's own claims are bogus?

They are the people who claim that the R-SYS is a good idea, so I'd take their claims for what they are - pure marketing BS, in which they are obliged to claim that the more expensive product is better, even when it clearly isn't.

The latest acquisition. The frame is stamped BCM which research has shown to refer to Bocama lugs. The frame may well be a '70s 5 speed budget Gitane.

Whatever, I'm thinking rat fixie, very minimal and I'm going to need plenty of advice as to what may fit as I've been lucky enough to mess round with MTBs and a big box of miscellaneous bits over the last 15 years so I'm out of my depth here.

I started with mtbs myself

You got a decent steel frame there but you'll find the angles very slack and wheelbase long major clearances ahead even more if you fit 700c wheels, you might try fitting a fork with less of a rake as I did with this one . The hoops are probably 27" and look proportional to the frame I'll bet the block is a screw on, you will not get away with removing it and screwing on a fixed sprocket, there is no room for the lockring plus it screws on the same way as the sprocket major danger when braking!
I found out the hard way!
Good luck with your build but you'll find yourself drooling over the pics in Bike Porn and coveting some of the current projects.

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I started with mtbs myself

You got a decent steel frame there but you'll find the angles very slack and wheelbase long major clearances ahead even more if you fit 700c wheels, you might try fitting a fork with less of a rake as I did with this one . The hoops are probably 27" and look proportional to the frame I'll bet the block is a screw on, you will not get away with removing it and screwing on a fixed sprocket, there is no room for the lockring plus it screws on the same way as the sprocket major danger when braking!
I found out the hard way!
Good luck with your build but you'll find yourself drooling over the pics in Bike Porn and coveting some of the current projects.

Cheers, dude!

The wheels unfortunately have very little going for them and are just a means of wheeling the frame and fork out of the way. They will undoubtedly be ditched.

The angles were what attracted me to it and why I said I'd have it before it got taken to the tip.

I'm really starting from scratch here. It wiull probably inherit an MTB stem and flat bars from my spares but I'm stuck as to where to start with the bottom bracket. ie do I try to convert to sealed cartridge? Is that even possible? If not where do I start looking for parts?

So, any suggestions will be most welcome and undoubtedly followed up with enthusiasm.

Meanwhile I'm riding the hack single speed MTB I just built up for free.

Finished. Here 'tis in SS handbag CX mode. Can pop the Delgado wheelset back on for fixed town-bike mode.

http://i56.tinypic.com/2lmwgnq.jpg

So, any suggestions will be most welcome and undoubtedly followed up with enthusiasm.

First two things to do;

• Look at the mech and fixing section. There's a sticky with recommended websites/videos. I think this is a great introduction, but have a general look through them all.
  
• Read Sheldon Brown to fill in the gaps.
  
  

With that frame, I'd use swept back bars like the North Roads (which are cheap), and go for 700s with big tyres to fill up the clearances (prob 32c). If you want some 27" rims, I have some nice classic looking 36h NOS ones. That way you'll end up with a cool crusing style bike.

Also bear in mind that it isn't an amazing frame, so keep the cost of parts in perspective.

I just bought this, its a Peugeot PRN 10/E or something like that from 1977. I plan on doing more longer rides with lots of hills o which my fixed wouldn't be the best thing for, this won't be converted as its pretty original and so I plan on keeping it that way. Current plans for it are to add some toeclips and some Gumwalled tyres like the ones on its original press release thingy that I can't understand as its all in french. Can't wait to pick it up on wednesday :)

Here is the press release, don't know if anyone knows french and could tell me a bit more about it?

French you say....

hi wharry, do you mind me asking which entrance to the roundabout it was? i had a similar accident there in May: cab + pedal = over the handlebars. rear ended, then almost run over. not nearly as bad as yours, but shitted me up all the same.. i was going west on old st, just after that classic car place. i've noticed ever since that the "cycle lane" on that entrance gets massively ignored by everyone, and could do with serious re-planning. maybe it's worth a shot trying to get it changed? anyway, hope you're ok. and shame about that amazing bike!

The long and the short of it is.. Got hit by a blaxi on Friday night coming onto old st roundabout, he got too close and my pedal clipped his front wheel, sucked me underneath, trailed along for a bit under his front wheel, leg was trapped for about 20 min, freed by the fire brigade, spent the night in casualty and walked out of the hospital with only a graze to my knee. I cant believe how lucky I am (minus the bike obv.. but rather it than my leg). The case is with the popo at the minute but to be honest I don't think there will be any proof of blame in either direction.

ummmmm.....it's in german!

I just bought this, its a Peugeot PRN 10/E or something like that from 1977. I plan on doing more longer rides with lots of hills o which my fixed wouldn't be the best thing for, this won't be converted as its pretty original and so I plan on keeping it that way. Current plans for it are to add some toeclips and some Gumwalled tyres like the ones on its original press release thingy that I can't understand as its all in french. Can't wait to pick it up on wednesday :)

Here is the press release, don't know if anyone knows french and could tell me a bit more about it?

ummmmm.....it's in german!

HAHA, shows how much I travel! Anyone know German?

hi wharry, do you mind me asking which entrance to the roundabout it was?

I was travelling east along Old St from Clerkenwell. You can see the big scrape in the road just after the lights coming onto the roundabout. There is also a cycle lane there which ends just before the lights which again is generally ignored. There are so many accidents there and at the other side where you had yours. Thanks again, I'm fine but stiffer than Ron Jeremy today.

ye, but there is not much written about the bike(aside from the technical specifications). the textbox just talks about choosing the right gear for every situation is important and that 15 different gears will give you a lot to choose from.
your model is supposed to have 10 gears and is classified as a training bike.
about the specs:

felgen(rims): special mavic or rigida 700c rims, lm michelin elan tires with tubes.
gewicht(weight): 11kg
rahmenhöhe(framesize): 56, 58 or 60cm
farbe(colour): peugot silver

thats basicly it.

Thanks again, I'm fine but stiffer than Ron Jeremy today.