Search results for:

2nd dibs on Dawes

Hi,
any idea what postage to Ireland (republic) would be on the big Koga? Also, any idea what the tubing is, or roughly what age it is? Having a hard time finding info on where this fits into the Koga-Miyata range.

thanks,
john.

It's a cheap road frame that I'm converting to singlespeed. There are no braze-ons, the brake cable was held on by little plastic holders on the top tube that looked crap.

Has anyone drilled holes in a steel frame so that the rear brake cable can be passed through the frame (for a singlespeed, obviously)? How did it go? I had a go but the holes aren't big (oval) enough (the cable is turning tight corners), and found it tricky to make them bigger. Maybe there's a "proper" way to do this?

Talking about curious Danish bikes, there was an exhibition at the Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen in August where a company got ten designers to design futuristic bikes that could be mass-produced for the Scandinavian market. Here's what they came up with: http://picasaweb.google.com/frenchE/DanishDesignMuseumCopenhagen

Ok, I'll give that a go. Thanks for the tips. I was stumped, now I've got something to try.

Yep, that's what I'm measuring alright (cheers for going to such trouble to illustrate the point!).

No documentation I'm afraid. The hub is a TX Quando (like the flipflop hubs on this page http://www.ktgroup.net/pro_bmx.htm#). Here's how I measured the chainline:
locknut-locknut = 120mm
locknut-center of sprocket = 23
chainline = ((120)/2) - 23 = 37
Assuming I'm doing this right (which is a big assumption), for the chainline to be 42mm, then the locknut-sprocket would have to be 18mm, and it definitely isn't.

I already have the chainring on the inside of the spider, and it's only a mm or 2 from hitting the chainstay as it is. Fitting a spacer behind the rear sprocket is a good idea, assuming there's enough thread there to play with I suppose?

Ok, I've made some measurements, and it's starting to look like my inexperience has caused me to acquire a selection of parts that don't go well together. Here's what I've got:

• back wheel built on a flip-flop hub with 120mm axle spacing
  
• frame with 127 mm dropout spacing
  
• BB spindle 117mm
  
  

the hub gives a rear chainline (using 120mm locknut spacing) of about 37mm. the shortest front chainline I can get (using the original cranks) is 39mm. seems close, but it looks noticeably off, and is noisy as hell. currently stumped, and grateful for any advice that may be forthcoming.
(chainline aside, I assume I'm also going to have to do something about that 7mm difference between the dropout spacing and the hub spacing. note to self: do homework before buying parts)

I had to crimp the drive side chainstay further than it was ......
I must confess that I don't know what this means. (The frame is cro-moly by the way).

yes, if you run a really narrow 102mm BB with something design for 111mm

I haven't measured it yet, but it does look very narrow. That probably explains it then.
Been reading what Sheldon Brown has to say about bottom brackets/cranks (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html). I'm planning to bust out the vernier calipers tonight (yes, he can work them, my years teaching university physics students how to use them will stand me in good stead here), and see what my required chainline is.
If I understand correctly, by measuring the current spindle length, and the front chainline I get with the different cranks I have, I should be able to work out what length BB will work with which crank to give the required chainline (assuming the bugger doesn't bang off the chainstay).
thanks for enlightening me on the esoteric world of bottom bracket/crank compatabilities.

The frame was a Raleigh Record Sprint road bike. I'm using the bottom bracket that came with it. I also have the original crank, but was planning to use a nicer looking singlespeed one I picked up cheap 2nd hand.
I've also been having chainline problems, so maybe I should try to sort out a combination of BB/crank that will give me the right chainline? Or maybe just go back to the original crank. (The ss crank won't allow for mounting the chainring on the outside).
So I guess I'm trying to use a crank that's designed for a longer BB. bugger.
I've done a couple of ss conversions without any chainline/bb problems, this is my first fixed gear, seems to be a much trickier proposition.

Hi,
just got a singlespeed crankset for the fixed-gear conversion I'm working on, and the chain ring is hitting off the frame. I didn't expect that, hasn't happened to me before. The other crankset i was using didn't have this problem. Can anyone enlighten me as to what's going on? Are certain cranks incompatible with certain bottom brackets or something?

thanks.

File the dropouts. Now there's a useful suggestion I hadn't thought of. Will definitely try that, nice one.
what a great forum, loads of useful replies within half an hour of my first post.

it should be fine. how long are the dropouts?
not that long unfortunately, not enough to get the chain tension right anyway, was planning on getting a half-link for the chain to sort it out.
was aiming for an entry-level frame really, something affordable that would be a step up from the old dawes steel frame that was rescued from a skip for my first single-speed build. certainly seems like an improvement, but i'm pretty new to this stuff.
cheers for the replies.

Hi,
I'd been looking for a semi-decent large frame for my first proper fixed gear build (on a tight, research student's budget). Came across an old Raleigh Record Sprint frame, cro-moly with Reynolds 501 tubing, in good condition. Anyone know anything about these, i.e. are they any good?

cheers,
john.