Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Storage for Meths' in the bottom tube of a tandem, pretty nifty.

^ Handy for when you forget your hip flask.

Lovely. More info?

Only on Tumblr sadly, but can tell you that it's 26" wheels with Fat Frank, Surly rack and the frame is definitely custom with that MTB fork crown that fit the mudguard line beautifully.

more here.

what's the point of that little canti noodle when you have a lots of spacer?

nice to see how colour matched fenders look with the black bits… I'm totally going to do this on my disc trucker now, thought about powder coating the racks too but think I'll not bother.

I would since it would cost the same if you powdercoat everything.

mudguard, rack and frame would cost roughly the same, I think.

Still thinking of a winter bike build. This isn't that far from me.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=330839706065

Does it have potential? Are they 26inch wheels?

why not, £55 is pretty good if the bike is in good nick.

Could I tidy it up nicely? Not knowing anything about SA gears or 26 inch wheels. Is it likely to be very heavy?

Wheels will be 26 x 1 3/8 i.e. 597mm ISO, not the same as MTB 26" which is 559mm ISO.

Not a problem though - tubes and tyres are plentiful in that size, and you can even get aluminium rims from Archie Wilkinson cycle speedway (as well as ebay). A good upgrade for these bikes is just to get a set of cheap singlespeed aluminium-rimmed wheels off of ebay or similar - better braking and they're a heck of a lot lighter. Just makes it a joy to ride really - comfortable and quick enough.

It's likely to be quite heavy with the steel rims and 3sp hub. IIRC my girlfriend's bike (essentially the same but with aluminium singlespeed wheels) is 13kg - that's with the steel rack and wire basket, but it does have plastic mudguards which are a bit lighter than the steel ones. You could lighten it further with aluminium bars and seatpost but I wouldn't bother.

You probably won't have any trouble with the SA hub - 99% of the problems are down to the cable not being set up correctly. Although if it has been ridden with a loose cable for ages then they pop out of gear, and each time they pop out it damages them slightly which makes them even more likely to pop!

£55 is a good price.

£55 mean you won't care one jolt and wreck it within a millimetres of it's life.

Just wonder if im better waiting for a £55 road bike to come along.

Then you'll start looking after it and caring about it.

The worse the bike, the less you care, the more you ride that and not your proper winter bike.

You can't wreck old 3-speeds, that's what so good about them.

I bought my girlfriend hers for christmas five years ago, it's been used every day and it's still running just fine. I have greased the BB and headset once, when I got it back from the powdercoater two years ago. The front wheel got replaced when a car pulled out on her, the rear got replaced when some bastard stomped on it (I salvaged the hub and I'm still using it). Frame and fork were undamaged both times. It's been sat in the rain (despite my protests), kept outside over winter, I've ridden it down stairs (!), loaded up the rack so heavy that the tyres rub on the chainstays, ridden it with people sitting on the handlebars... uh, it got locked up by the river in York and completely submerged when it flooded... I clean and lube the chain about two or three times a year, change the brake cables and pads, and that's it.

Mind you, hers is a Raleigh - I'm not sure if that counts for anything in terms of build quality since it's a late 80s model. The quality of the chrome is stunning though - barely a spot of rust on it.

Get the three speed, you won't regret it.

Straight drivetrain and 3 speed hub is so much more indestructable than anything you'll get on a road bike.

A £55 road bike is gonna be either done in or crap quality too. The bike you linked to was probably made before poor quality was invented.

I ride a 3speed Puch for my commute and it's ace. Don't care what the weather's like, or how many potholes I hit or how much salt is on the roads, it's a tank.

Stripped the paint (coz work is right next to Celtic FC ground) and linseed oiled the f+f, hammerite on the mudguard and chainguard. Frame is starting to rust but so what, it was so cheap (bike was free, just paid for new tyres and gear cable) it doesn't matter!

How it looks now (well, this + some rust!)

Looks lovely.

Must get my Dawes Kingpin sorted out... either fix it or sell it.

Seattube angle is a bit slack but that is my one and only complaint of it. Thinking of flipping the clamp on the post to put me a bit further forward over the bb.

I've added some battery lights now that it's getting soo dark but the dynohub and lamps are awesome, theft proof plus they are a training aid as you don't want to slow down too much coz the lights get dimmer!

Plus pedestrians always hear you coming if you've got a bottle dynamo (aka whine-amo).

Oh man. Must definitely fix my Dawes Kingpin...

I see some chat about drag from dyno hubs, just out of interest I wonder if anyone knows if a Sturmey Archer dynohub has drag like this?

Sturmey dynohubs have loads of friction. Pop the wheel out and spin the axle to have a feel.

It's not noticed while riding, and there is increased fitness compared to those wimpy dyno-less plebes.

lies

fuk off

The bike you linked to was probably made before poor quality was invented.

:)

Nicely put.