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Finished rebuilding my Klein. Very pleased, it’s great fun to ride. Fat(ish) tyres are brilliant, as is 1x. Might switch to risers at some point. You will note that I’ve kept the skull and crossbones sticker on the seatpost as a nod to my teenage self. Also, the small touch of obligatory purple ano!
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Awesome! looks like fun :)
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Great selection!
Love the Klein re-spritz, and the funky Miyata.
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Finished the Kona, again neglected to take WIP pictures, sorry. The fork and groupset had previously been on my Klein. I paid the princely sum of £15 for the awesome frame on here. It was slightly damaged at one of the rear v-brake mounts, just a bit chewed up - not sure what had happened. I had to redrill the tiny holes for the brake springs and build the mount back up with JB weld. Otherwise it is straight, no dents just some scratches. Works perfectly now making this a huge bargain - I have always loved Konas.
I am definitely planning to upgrade the saddle and grips eventually. This bike will be going to live in Wales (when I am allowed across the border) where it will be ridden on actual mountains. Disc brakes are dead!
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I’m in Wales this week and have been taking the Kona out on some trails in the hills. So much fun! My previous mountain bike was rigid, so it’s a novelty to have a suspension fork again. The Marzocchi makes an awesome squishing noise when it’s working hard. My MTB skills are definitely rusty though.
I also have the tricolore Peugeot with me, will hopefully get a decent ride if it stays dry for more than a couple of hours…
Has been a busy few months for me on and off the bike. I returned to work during the second wave of covid - it was an eye opener to be back in the ICU having missed the first wave. I rode my Klein to work through last winter but since then I’ve got back into fixed gear riding in town and for my commute (who would have thought how great it is, especially after a few years only riding with gears!). I had a fairly anonymous black Aventon which I’ve just sold and now have something a bit more fun, and I’m building another fixed / track bike to hopefully join some LFGSS laps of Regent’s Park.
Also, I have commissioned an all-road / gravel bike for my dad from @Biggles567 which I’m looking forward to building. He has been riding the black 708 Peugeot which doesn’t quite fit him, so that will be up for sale in the next few of months. The new one is based on a bike fit and will have a fairly nice spec for the old man.
Working on a restored 531 Witcomb which will be converted to single speed for my father in law. Finally I have been gradually accumulating parts for my dream modern carbon road bike - almost ready to build.
Pictures of all the other projects coming soon!
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This beautiful frame is ready to be built into a bike just in time for Christmas. It was made by the forum’s very own Max Hill - @Biggles567 - and is for my dad. He’s a very fit 67 year old and wanted a properly fitted gravel / all road type thing with disc brakes and mudguard and rack mounts. He had a bike fit done at Soigneur in Holloway (which he was very pleased with) and we gave the measurements to Max who designed and built the frame over the last few months. Powder coat at Aurum - Max’s own bikes are very pink, but I thought something more subdued would suit my old man a bit better!
I got excited and put the BB cups in before I remembered to take pictures! Build will reasonably smart but not overly bling, which was also the thought process behind the colour. I think it’s going to look really good with black and raw carbon parts. Will post plenty more pictures when finished.
Another very strong recommendation for Max’s frame building skills - I am so impressed. If anyone is looking for a custom frame give him a shout!
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Thanks for the kind words Dave! I'm glad you're happy and looking forward to seeing it come together!
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Superb work there. Headbadge looks wicked on this Max @Biggles567
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Great builds all of them. Agree on the tyre quality and colour comments too, a bit of tan wall really lifts them. Still searching for the the new, wider version of the Hutchinson tan wall/blue stripe ones. Surprised about the Gios Compact not accepting wider than 23mm ones, just built one and could easily stick 27mm on. Could be the rear dropouts being in the forward most position?
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Yes, the Gios dropouts are as far forward as they will go, trying to keep the wheelbase nice and short! Could maybe get 25s in but I don’t think any bigger. I don’t mind though, 23 is fine for me, I’m not very heavy and I mostly ride it in town on decent roads.
Thanks for the comments, I do like a tan wall but I also think they are maybe slightly overdone at this point. In my head, tan walls work with either all black or all silver rims - I don’t really like them on black wheels with silver braking surface.
I am a bit behind on posting pictures of my recent builds - In the summer I did a Panasonic track bike with all silver wheels and other components which looks amazing with tan wall tyres. Will have a bit of time over Xmas so will update this thread!
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Great, looking forward to more pics. Should do same one day with all the builds I had done....one day
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This being the fixed gear forum it’s about time I posted pictures of these…
I have really got back in to riding fixed over the last year - previously I had a fixed gear bike for a bit about 15 years ago but then I left London for a while and needed gears…
Last spring I had a very boring aluminium Aventon but as I got back into it I wanted something more fun. First I found the Samson frameset on eBay. It’s very battered with lots of chips and a few light dents but it is still absolutely lovely, the paint is pearlescent and it has some amazing touches like the lugs and BB shell. This is the bike I ride to work so it has fairly cheap parts but I can’t quite bring myself to ever build a true rat / beater! Secure bike parking at work and I use 2 locks, but I’m sure it’s still worth less than all the boring Cannondales and Boardmans…
The Easton seatpost, unbranded stem, and Deda bars are all pretty anonymous but the wheels are Dia Compe and the chainset is actually an old, inexpensive Campagnolo one (Daytona or Chorus I think) with a single speed chainring, which I think looks cool. I really like the combination of all black parts with just the cranks and headset in silver.
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Then i decided I needed a smarter / less battered fixed gear bike for sunny summer days (my wife is incredibly patient and indulgent of my bike buying habit). I found this Panasonic frameset which is in incredibly good nick - it has a few marks but is almost pristine. I love the pearl white finish which the pictures don’t really show, and it’s cool that both bikes are the same colour - for some reason I particularly like bikes painted white.
It’s the right aesthetic with all silver parts, I really want to gradually upgrade it up to a complete NJS build but at the moment it’s a kind of pastiche - will be a long term project. The seatpost is quite ugly, I’m trying to find a better looking, inline silver one. Nice chainset upgrade is coming soon thanks to this wonderful forum!
I do realise how ridiculous it is to have 2 almost identical track bikes. One day I will probably have to decide between them. The Samson is my favourite but if it was in better condition I wouldn’t want to use it for commuting, so right now I couldn’t choose. Maybe I will sell the Panasonic eventually!
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The Max Hill build is coming together - the bike is assembled but I am having a bit of trouble with tuning the gears and brakes. Dad insisted he wanted discs which I have never worked with before and they are a bit of a headache. Also 12 speed Campagnolo is quite fiddly to set up! We will manage though, might need to involve a professional… The bike looks incredible and dad will be very pleased with it. Pictures coming soon hopefully!
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I do realise how ridiculous it is to have 2 almost identical track bikes
They're both excellent but the Samson pips it for me. I've done the whole nice day fixed gear bike thing and it never got used. Ratty S75's, super toughness chain and a naked ti railed Flite and it'd be perfect.
@Creek_Tebsin had/has some lovely NJS builds you might want to look at for inspiration
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Oh yes that white Samson he has is the same as mine (just a lot more stickers)! Awesome builds there.
I think you’re right - the Samson is great, fits perfectly and is amazing to ride. I have only been out on the Panasonic a handful of times, I will have to gather the mental strength required to sell it - eventually!
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Very kind of you! Down now to the trackshark, steamroller and rossin I’m afraid.. I didn’t realise how much I missed that white one until I built my steamroller and when I went to take a photo realised it looked pretty much identical.. if anyone sees that white frame around I miss it and would love it back!!
I must say though, I loved having a good one and an every day but it did lead to me barely ever riding the red bike which is a shame.. the first few scratches are the worst and then you end up having much more fun.
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Dr Dave's bike prescription
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@DrDave
Also, got my suspension fork back from service. Massive recommendation for Plush Suspension near Bedford - they said they enjoyed working on it despite it being horribly dirty inside, and fortunately nothing was broken! The new seals match the logos and top caps which was unplanned and is completely unimportant but looks cool. Will start on the Kona when I’ve finished the Klein...
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