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..hopefully! Hi all, first post so please be gentle! I recently got hold of a Carlton racer on ebay and am in the process of 'fixing' it up. I've mainly used info from this forum, so thanks already for help you didn't even know you've given me! The frame is 60s but I think quite a cheapy as it is really pretty heavy so I don't feel too guilty doing a quick and dirty (aka 'retaining 'many 'period features') first fix to see if I like it. At the moment it is at a bit of a half way house, I've got it going as a single speeder by shortening the chain and running it on the big chainwheel at the front and one of the sprockets in the old derailleur cassette at the back, a bit of spacer-y pokery has got the chainline looking OK, however...
The chainset is a dodgy looking Aero Coronado (or something like that). The chainring is really insert proper term here off round. First question I'd really appreciate some help with: how much off centre-ness can you safely get away with on a fixie? From the highest to the lowest point of the wobble is about a centimetre and probably a bit more. As the chainring and crank is a one piece pressed steel affair it is impossible to do Sheldon's trick of adjusting the stack bolts and rounding it up a bit. The chain binds slightly when it is stretched the most, and has quite a bit of slack when stretched the least, but it seems to run OK (nice and silent and free feeling most of the time). However every now and again, usually when I am pedalling hard and I go over a bump it comes out with a strange zipping kind of sound, which sounds sort of like the chain almost jumping off the teeth of the cog at the front. So first question: does this sound like a potential death trap or excusable behaviour from a slightly eccentric old timer?
I suspect it might be the latter, and if so I'm going to aim and convert an old multiple cog crankset (probably from ebay unless anyone's got a spare they want to get rid of cheap?) to keep in line with the no frills approach. So another question here: What multiple ring cranksets have you successfully converted to a single cog one for a fixie, which also looks nice (silver and minimal)? I'm not sure what bottom bracket I've got but might get a new'un anyway so this isn't too much of a problem.
Just a for info on wheels too, I went the way of the devil and ordered some el cheapo (£90 for a pair of new handbuilt mavic ma3/suzue track hub) track wheels from none other than Dave Hinde, before I had the presence of mind to check what you guys think of the lad. Gulp, I'm crossing my fingers! Will let you know how they turn out when they arrive in case anyone else is tempted... Hmm, to be fair they were shipped the day I ordered them but the courier (ANC) has been absolutely diabolical, I am hoping they will 'redeliver' them again tomorrow after three aborted attempts. I note from forums that people with these wheels have had experience of them spontaneously self distructing. Is there anything I can do in terms of checking spoke tension (I know nothing about this at all) before I ride them to try and stop them going bang on me?
Sorry for longness and bags of questions! And many thanks in advance for your help! I promise to post a pic of the beast when I've finished it!
Hey people, thanks so much for your help here, it is most appreciated!
MA3K and hippy - I'm now sure I need to do something about the dodgy chainset, thanks so much for probably saving my life! Any suggestions for a good conversion, or will most work?
On the pic hippy (and thanks for the jargon heads up, new to these forum thingys!) The bike is at a mate's at the moment, but will send photos when I get it back over the weekend, although I'm pretty sure it is just a really bad made bit of kit and was meant to be round - the crank and cog is all one piece of pressed steel by the looks of things.
Pip - think you might have saved my hubs with your advice, thanks v much! Must admit I was going for a cheapy lock ring but will invest in a good'un on your advice. Got a surly cog which seems to be well made. By installing well, I take it you mean greasing the threads and tightening with the proper tools? I think it will be a while (if ever!) before I get skidding and skipping, so hopefully get some life out of the wheels (if they ever turn up..!)