Current Projects chat and miscellany

Beckenham nearly done.

Just need to get the seat post and chainring polished as well as the replacement tubing stickers to arrive and then I will be happy.

Just for my rotrax, do i need 27" or 700c wheels??

I was assuming you meant the Rotrax. Dibsing all three is just greedy.

indeed, but if you look closely, you will see it was conditional

...Just need to get the seat post and chainring polished as well as the replacement tubing stickers to arrive and then I will be happy.

very nice as usual, which tubing is that?

If you have to ask, sell the Rotrax.

Going to build this into a single speed for buzzing about on bought off eBay no idea of the make lovely frame quite light for steel,richey dropouts and interesting seat tube if any body has a clue I would be interested to know what make it may be.serial no begins YM

Got a bit of a quandary - early 80s touring bike will hopefully be finished fairly soon. Originally I was going to go for a Stronglight touring triple, but I now have in my possession a TA cyclotourist crankset (needs new rings). I'm not sure which to go for:

Stronglight - £60 complete, lower bottom gear (24t), 175mm
TA - £60 for new rings, 26t bottom gear, apparently fickle when shifting between rings, 170mm

The other thing is that I'll need to buy a crank extractor for the TA cranks, and I'm not sure how much they cost. And if I go for the Stronglight I can sell the TA cranks and matching BB for an amount of money. But, on the other hand, the TA cranks look fantastic and match the other period french bits (MA2 rims, MAFAC cantis etc).

I suppose the sensible option is the Stronglight.

Or get new Velo Orange crank arm that have the same BCD and have standard threading.

either way, go for the most feasible option, Stronglight 50.4BCD is just as good, but if you wanted something that look perfect on an 80's tourer, it be hard to says no to the TA...

Hmm, I had forgotten about those - 175mm arms and front derailer clearance too, so that solves the two main issues of using TA cranks. £130ish + shipping - but I can make some of that cost back by selling the TA cranks/BB/105 triple that I've already got. I'll email and ask what the ETA on their upcoming 50.4 chainrings is. Thanks!

Oh, and the bike is running Campagnolo Record freewheel hubs - got any recommendations for a decent touring freewheel, or is standard £10 Shimano okay? IRD seem to make some decent ones.

the IRD jobbie I got were great,, but it's worth looking at those old Suntour freewheel (like the Six, the Winner etc.), as I find them to perform flawlessly despite needing a strange tool to take it apart (to service it).

A good touring gearing is 14-28 (5-6 speed)

http://hilarystone.com/freewheels.html

Just for my rotrax, do i need 27" or 700c wheels??

Good question.

Put a 700c in the front and see what the clearances are like.

Final finishing of my fillets on this (I've been slammed at work since then) http://vimeo.com/32380121
then off to Argos for painting next week...

A friend's camera work/edit btw [click HD to view]

the IRD jobbie I got were great,, but it's worth looking at those old Suntour freewheel (like the Six, the Winner etc.), as I find them to perform flawlessly despite needing a strange tool to take it apart (to service it).

A good touring gearing is 14-28 (5-6 speed)

http://hilarystone.com/freewheels.html

Yeah I was looking at the 6-speed 14-32 IRD ones to give a slightly lower granny. I need to figure out if my current derailer can take it though - it's currently an early 90s Deore XT that I have spare. I think it has 34t total capacity so with a 46/30 Velo Orange chainset and 14-32 freewheel I should just be okay. Otherwise I might have to go for a 14-28. Similarly I have to check if the front derailer can manage the jump from 30 to 46. If I have to go around replacing the derailers then it becomes expensive - unless I come across a Campagnolo Rally going cheap somewhere.

I emailed Velo Orange and they said they're unsure whether they're going to make other 50.4 chainrings - the lowest they do is 28t.

I managed 14/28 with 46/30t on a 33% hill with moderate weight on the bike, I reckon 32t with XT would be enough for you, I currently have a Tiagra 10spd long cage rear derailleur on the bike so that was just enough for the 46/30 chainring.

People ridden with 48/28t chainset before, so it shouldn't be a problem, sheldon ran the same set-up for light touring with a better range than a 46/30t;

edit: it's axctually 50/28t

Just picked this up.
Hope that I can do it justice.

you will see it was conditional

Many conditions might change before my inheritance arrives - if things go well, I could be taking my summer holidays in Crimea by then :-)

I managed 14/28 with 46/30t on a 33% hill with moderate weight on the bike, I reckon 32t with XT would be enough for you, I currently have a Tiagra 10spd long cage rear derailleur on the bike so that was just enough for the 46/30 chainring.

Yeah, if I have a tent with me I'll be walking up anything that steep, I think. I'll do a little research into my derailer models and then decide - I'd prefer 32t, but 28t is fine.

I've been gathering parts for a whole year now - pretty excited that I'll be able to ride it by late spring!

reckon it sound like a fantastic tourer, I have huge love for french/french-style tourer too;

What's the shifter on the seattube doing on that first one? Can't see a dynamo that it's controlling.

very nice as usual, which tubing is that?

Thanks! It is Columbus SL tubing. It was built locally (Christchurch, New Zealand) by Don Gibbs, same as my black columbus max frame.

What's the shifter on the seattube doing on that first one? Can't see a dynamo that it's controlling.

All I can think of is a lever to operated the kickstand.

the ugliest touring bike ever is completed;

Ed, you coming by LMNH later?

Even by Thorn standards, that is hideous.

^ truly sheldon brownesque - congratulations!