Team Banana Conversion

This will be my first expedition into the world of fixed gear bikes and also into the world of bike repair/maintenance as a whole.

About a month ago I bought a Raleigh Team Banana through eBay. The initial plan was to keep it as a bit of an all purpose ride to get me to work and maybe a bit of leisure riding over the weekends.

When I went to collect the bike it was in worse condition than I expected:
-Wheels not true
-rotten tyres and inner tubes.
-heavily worn bottom bracket
-rear derailer turned to scrap (chain had been running off the sprocket and had worn through most of the cage, rust had done the rest)
-General rust and wear on the frame
and on top of this I'd obviously overpaid.

The seller, taking pity on my predicament, offered me a used set of Alexrims AT-400's for free which, he told me, consisted of a rear flip flop hub (had absolutely no idea what this meant at the time) The wheels and bike came with the advice that "it'd make a great fixie!" I willingly accepted the gift/challenge and rolled the bike back to my house.

Back home I wasted no time dissembling the bike and prepping the frame and forks for paint.

Saw someone on the forum using paint remover. As an after thought that might have been easier than the hours I spent sanding.

While browsing various pictures online I came across a bike colour I quite liked:

I did later realise this was Bianchi blue/green just the photo angle made it look a bit different. I got a couple of spray cans filled with a custom colour to match and painted my frame and forks.

At this point I had to figure out a way to insert the headset cups back into the head tube (had a bicycle shop remove them and the bottom bracket earlier)

A few googles and a trip to B&Q had me threading washers and nuts on to a massive threaded rod. Using this improvised tool the cups slid smoothly in and I could finish assembling the headset!

Next came the freshly cleaned up and polished stem and drop bars. I decided to remove all the black paint from the stem, preferred the polished metal look.

The next challenge came rather surprisingly. Apparently the axil in my rear hub was suppose to spin freely. Instead it seemed to be completely seized up with rust.

Luckily this was quite easy to fix and purchasing a couple of new ceramic bearings was no problem. I resembled the hub with a healthy portion of grease and decided to put the wheels, brake and bar tape on to give me an idea of how the bike would look!

Took what I've completed so far down to the bike shop this morning for them to fit a bottom bracket (I wasn't sure I could work out the correct sizing from what knowledge I had and decided it wasn't worth the risk of loss)

My new seat arrived today at work too, a Charge Spoon in brown that should look nice with the bar tape.

Behind you can see what I have been using to commute while I work on this project.

In summary I'm really enjoying this experience. Spent a lot more money than I'd planned but not particularly regretting it and gained a lot of knowledge, enjoyment and really bizarrely specific bike tools.

Will be collecting it from the bike shop tomorrow morning in a ready to ride condition. My first time on a fixed gear bike...

Oh FFS!

*cries

lol^

You will learn from this experience.. Should have atleast kept the original paint.

Give over Pistanator, its only a fucken gas pipe banana FFS! Anyway, didn't you nitromors one of your bikes? Pot, kettle etc >>>>>>>>>>>

Ruddvar, looks like a fun project. Especially since you have brought an unrideable bike back into service, its your perogative to do what you like with it. You are learning all the way and the build looks like it will be quite smart. Did you face the headtube before installing the headset? Enjoy your first ever ride.

olly, you haven't got time to be commenting on this, an update on the brewing is required, pronto!!!

ahaaaa! its in the shed, got to keep my mitts off until at least the weekend. nggghhh

Argh, I can't believe you got rid of basically the only thing on the old frame worth keeping, the amazing paint job!

Think about what could have been...

Thanks Olly398!

Never been a big fan of yellow or the team banana paint job as a whole, if the bike had been in good condition to start with then I might have kept it but as I was completely stripping it down anyway...

First ride was great fun! Took a route around Cambridge city centre so as not to endanger too many pedestrians. The bike felt so smooth and responsive the seat was a bit of a ball ache but that's getting replaced as soon as the bracket I'm waiting on arrives. I'm using the original crank set with the chain on the smaller chainring (42T) and a 16T sprocket.

I used the same brake/break pads as were on the previous wheels and any time I applied some pressure they'd screech horrendously (air horn volume). Is this just the pads adjusting to the new rims? Will it quiet down as they wear in?

Didn't reface the headtube, is this likely to cause any problems?

For a first project you really went in at the deep end! Definitely gained some know-how on this project..

These ninjas would sort out that squeaking..

Well, the original paint does have some character but at least your revamp looks quite classy. Have a look at tweaking your bar angle up a bit - riding in the transitions does not look comfy, and the brake isn't exactly handy. I'd also slam that stem.

Facing the headtube helps make sure the bearing races are dead parallel. You might get away with it, or you might get premature wear. Probably not gonna be a big issue.

In summary I'm really enjoying this experience. Spent a lot more money than I'd planned but not particularly regretting it and gained a lot of knowledge, enjoyment and really bizarrely specific bike tools.

\thats what it is about - well done:)

Well done. DIY headset press and hub teardown on your first ever build!

You've kind of butchered it IMO but you'll have learnt a tonne and if it's a fun and decent ride then why not?

In summary I'm really enjoying this experience.

Thats all that matters, enjoy the bike.

I get what everyone's saying about the banana paint, but I think the new colour looks pretty snazzy. Liking the colour.
You should probably trim that brake cable down a bit though, there's masses of excess, and a shorter one's less likely to get caught or snagged on something.
Also, I'd take the outer chainring off if you can. Although I know on some of the cheaper old road cranks you can't really separate them, and it's only aesthetic anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
Nice job on doing it all yourself and doing a pretty good job on it by the looks of it, and the bike looks pretty good in my opinion.

Thanks joao24, I got a set of those break pads and they're completely silent!

I thought it seemed like there was a bit too much excess on that cable but I only had random pictures of similar setups from the internet as a guide when cutting it. I'll consider shortening it when I get some time. The chain rings can't be separated unfortunately, I'll keep an eye out for a cheap replacement though it doesn't bother me too much.

Here's a final picture with the charge saddle fitted and the bar angle tweaked a bit:

Thanks for all your advice, help and criticism. It's been great fun to build and even more so to ride!

Looks alright really, could be a lot more offensive.

And the 'fun' and 'ride' bits are definitely the most important!

Pretty much what I did on my first build except in stages, great fun to learn on and these old bikes don't seem to have too many things seized - 2009 bianchi - stuck post, steel post in a late 70's puch - not stuck at all!

Have my Raleigh in a very similar set up, fantastic ride and sooooooo comfy - more so than my 2010 GT :D

people used to grease shit back then, everythings throw away nowadays.
i was going to do an old raleigh before the plug turned up cheap, i had the same issue with the chainring n thought i could grind the outer teeth off n itd stop my kecks getting caught in the chain n tidy up the look
gutted i sold it before getting to do it tbh
banana looks good, need straps or clips tho

Just enjoy riding a bike!