Die Hard dad bike

1992 Dawes Die hard

Catalogue here thanks to easy_rider and creindesign from Retrobike and Sven Krahe .

My old Dawes CX beater never really worked well as a kid carrier. Since moving to a rear child seat what was an uphill battle now feels like a loosing one - lack of bosses, high standover, twitchy steering, etc.

An old mtb seemed like the right move.

I've always liked these early lugged Dawes...and this was cheap. I'd hoped for 531st or even something fancier, but retro MTBs nostalgia X gravel randos X covid bike tax = £££s for bikes I'm not that emotionally invested in.

Instead I've landed a solid Reynolds 500 frame with cheapo 100GS 7 speed shifters and Excege hubs. Only had a brief look on pick up but it's alright. Lighter than I expected and although the hubs look shit the overall wheel weight didn't feel that bad either.

Aspirations are for a rad-dad Rivendell without the Rivendell kitsch. But we'll see what we get as it's more likely the neon will be switched to black. Ultimately this is a functional bike to move a kid around on paths and a bit of road.

3 phase plan (roughly in order):

A(i) Sort gears. Get it rolling. See if I like it.

A(ii) Light refresh service; chain, cables, install parts bin Tektro 720 cantis.

B. Switch / upgrade:

• tyres (use is 80% bridal paths)
  
• V brakes + levers (fuck cantis)
  
• cockpit (a quill converter and On One OGs or maybe even my Nitto Albatross if they work)
  
• (maybe) gears to 9 speed Deore and swap rear hub
  
• mudguards
  
  

C. (if I really like it)

• replace fork with something threadless with rack mounts
  
• buy/build a better wheelset
  
  
  
  

TDL:

• Work out why the gears do not work
  
• make essential parts list
  
• replace front brake with my spare 720 (it's pair is still on the rear of my Dawes CX
  
• remove reflectors
  
• install rack
  
• investigate Quick Release Conversion Kits
  

Subbing to this

White vest obligatory riding gear

And no shoes or socks

And a Beretta and say 'yippee ki yay motherfucker' to everyone you cycle past.

And only cycle to Nakatomi Plaza.

@hugo7 I have some Specialized Fasttrack 26x2.0 tyres you can have for free for this if you want.

An old mtb seemed like the right move.

Totally the right move. I switched from a rad road frame to my 90s Rudy mtb (similar age as yours) and it cured all the twitchiness issues with the child seat on the back. It's a combination of longer rear stays and a frame which is much stiffer side-to-side than a road frame. We go everywhere on that bike! Looks like yours has plenty of gearing range with what's on there and it really helps if you can use the gears to pull away and don't stand up to mash the pedals.

"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."

Subbed.

Quick release conversion kits? whatty what?

^ Yeah, I'd leave them nutted tbh. Anything that makes the wheels less easy to steal...

Thanks. That would be great.

You switch the axel out for a hollow one that accepts QR.

It's not a priority, but for how this bike will be used QR seems better.

Drop me a PM to arrange

Ha, I'm doing the opposite on my bike.

QR is never better.

I've ordered some budget Shimano Altus SL-M310 3x7 shifters as the current shifters don't lock/hold tension.

Seemed like the cheapest way to get it rolling. If the mechs are fucked then I guess I'll order something similar. They look like pretty cheap half plastic affairs.

Turns out the forks are 1". Which initially I was annoyed about, but actually is better as it opens up more / easier stems and stops me from looking for threadless fork upgrades I don't need.

Will try and get some better pics up once I have time to do the brakes and the shifters arrive.

You prefer carrying a wrench than your hands?

Madness.

Sorry if you've tried this already but I had this issue with my deore lx shifters and I was about to bin them. I sprayed a load of GT-85 into the mechanisms and shifted over and over until they eventually started working again. I think the bike had sat idle for years and all the old grease was blocking the pawls. Now they work like a dream.

I should prob give that ago, but these are very much not Deore LX level. From a quick Google 100GS shifters are meant to be prone to breaking.

Fair enough, considering what it's going to be used for you want something reliable.

Low effort photo, but thought I should update this.

A while back when I was a bit low my OH gave me a free day to work on the bike.
Enough time to do:

• Swap brakes - mini V up front, canti in the back. This is mainly because it's the setup I have on my other beater so that's what was in the parts bin. Only managed 90% of the setup leaving very vague braking.
  
• new cheapo shifters
  
• indexed(ish) the gears - in the end I gave up as on the two smaller front sprockets were shifting fine and I'm never going to be using the "big ring" with the kids on it.
  
  

Now I'm less low, but equally short on time so it's sat there almost rideable.

Thanks to a mates birthday being cancelled I had some time to get my 4yo to help me finish the brakes and get the seat on.

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Initial thoughts:

• still a lot of wobby weight hanging off the back. But it's fine once you're going. But I'm nervous about the super steep field nearby that takes me to country tracks.
  
• actually a pretty nice little bike.
  
• bars are super narrow, and as much as I love the matching neon bar-fork combo they'll have to go.
  
• think a longer and much taller stem are called for.
  
• really want to get the little front baby seat on for my 2yo before they get too big. But need to change the bars first.
  
• knew I shudda held onto my nitto technomic stem
  
  

Still to do:

• change tyres
  
• stem or extra long quill adapter - which would allow me to just use the setup from the OG kids bike.
  
• put front weeride kids seat and trial having both on the bike
  
• buy a kona ute.
  
  

Here's the old bike with Nitto Albatross and WeeRide

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Stem finally arrived. Unfortunately the Nitto Albatross don't really work with trigger shifters. Which makes trigger shifters aren't very Rivendale are they?

Luckily I had an old 25.4mm riser in my parts bin. Here's a fuzzy night time shot.

A quick ride around the garden and I think it should work. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow evening to fit the weeride.

The only thing is it's reminding me that it is quite a small frame. I'm not sure this is going to be a long term solution but I'll give it a chance.

I may treat myself to something with a longer toptube and discs.

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