pub bike beater sub £200

£5 Frame – Raleigh Sprint 501 c. 60cm
Parts: Shimano UN55 BB / One one crankset / chain /Wheels £65 (Malliard Hubs / 700c super champion 81’ / Dura ace NJS 16t and maillard track rear cogs / panaracer pacela PT tyres

Could do with some advice please
Front brake - no clearance for any of the calipers I have - any ideas?
No clearance for my mudguards is frustrating.
Originally would have had 120mm spaced wheels - these are 126mm. Is it fine to just tighten them and ride them? I was told that spacers would slip.

George

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struggling to add a photo

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Bucketloads of space for a caliper there! Classic Shimano 105 single pivot should have about the right drop, otherwiose I can tell you from first hand experience that the Campagnolo skeleton dual pivot calipers have a nice shallow drop.

I found if you have a question about anything - this thread is good -

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/157436/?offset=74275#comment12786901

Check it out.. answers are pretty quick as well..

Originally would have had 120mm spaced wheels - these are 126mm. Is it fine to just tighten them and ride them? I was told that spacers would slip.

From this

It looks as though there are quite a lot of spacers on the axle, can you remove some to get back to 120mm? If not then I wouldn't see there being much issue with running them at 126 and spreading the frame slightly to fit them in.

Hi George,
I suspect that the problem with caliper drop on the front is probably caused by
the frame being designed for 27 inch wheels. I encountered a problem like this on an old Dawes frame I restored. I solved the problem with a 57mm drop brake in the end. Modern 57mm drop brakes also tend to be designed to accommodate mudguards.
I've also used spacers on a 120mm rear wheel to accommodate 126mm spaced dropouts - no problems at all.

Nice frame for a fiver!

It's pretty easy to find out exactly what caliper you need by measuring the brake drop - which is the distance from the caliper mounting hole to the centre of the rim. Rather than measuring directly it's easier to bend a paperclip into a V, bend the points to the correct distance, then measure the paperclip. Then this will give you a number in millimitres with which you can search.

You also need to find out whether you need a non-recessed or recessed brake fitting. If the mounting holes either side of the fork crown are the same size, you need non-recessed*. If the rear one is bigger you need recessed.

• but you can drill out the rear one to effectively convert it into recessed.
  

cheers - I'll have a look on ebay!

Not sure what you mean: wouldn't removing the spacers not solve it, by creating more of a gap between the axle and the dropouts? It rides fine so I think I'll just leave it, cheers

cheers for the advice

cheers for the advice - think I'm sorted now :)

Originally would have had 120mm spaced wheels - these are 126mm...

So the frame is designed for 120mm spaced hub, you say you're running 126mm spaced, remove some spacers and get back to 120mm.

update: brake sorted and brooks saddle :)

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Looking good.

Just a couple of suggestions that might make it more comfortable to ride - lower the seatpost and level the saddle (sometimes a Brooks might even need a bit of nose up). Rotate the brake lever down so it's at a 45° angle (you usually want to follow the line of your fingers when relaxed).

@hugo7 cheers - good shouts