davei1980

My budget track to commuter project has begun as this Langster followed me home last weekend. I have come full circle from converting a MTB to a commuter and now a track bike. My friends wonder when I will just by a hybrid/adventure bike and use it for it's intended purpose? Never!! It's too fun to work on stuff.


I originally got this idea because I became disenchanted with derailleurs; you guys came through and told me what it would take to build an IGH bike so I got ahold of a track frame, actually a complete bike as you can see!


I originally intended for this to be a ground-up type of build but I think it's going to be the opposite. Once I order the hub I will buy the spokes/cog from my LBS and try my hand a lacing the wheel! Viola!


My brother even convinced me to at least try out the existing drop bars but we'll see. Those may be traded for my MTB flat bars soon. Oh yeah, and I found a set of Specialized Espoir Sport 30mm tires for it BRAND NEW FOR $10 on CL!


The only real problem with the bike I bought is one of the rear spokes "popped" out of the wheel. Not a huge deal in the sense that I will be removing and replacing but do you guys think the wheel is salvageable or throw it out?

acidfast7

I'm cheap and would keep it as a spare wheel. I would remove that spoke and use the wheel until other spoke started popping out. They I would recycle it.

acidfast7

also, which hub are you going with on that frame. when my rear wheel fails (after a spoke or two rip out) ... it's switch to a cheap nexus3/7/8 wheel as the bike is ready to accept it.

davei1980

After a lot of consultation with BF members and even more soul searching, I think I have settled on the Sturmey S2 freewheel (non coaster brake) two speed kick shift hub.

So there is a nice Campy 28h front wheel for sale on craigslist. I am thinking of getting it and building my existing front wheel as my new back wheel as they are both 32h and identical wheels (I am cheap too as you can see!)

noglider 

It looks like the spoke nipple just broke in half. I've seen that happen at least once. I would replace the nipple and get the wheel back on the road.

acidfast7

I don't think building a new wheel is cheap endeavour at all.

chas58

your wheel is find, as long as the nipple did not bend the wheel or cause a bulge in the wheel where it seats in the wheel.

You are going to make me want to do the same thing to my langster. That is an incredibly inexpensive, fast, light commuter bike.

I bought mine after my derailer self destructed on a commute on my mountain bike - meaning I could not bike commute or go mountain biking until it was fixed!

acidfast7

That's the reason I went with a cheap FGSS bike. The bikes take a huge beating in the UK, much more than on the continent. Mine isn't the best quality but it's proven it's durability.

davei1980

Yes! I weighed mine at 18.6lbs compared to my MTB bike I currently ride to work which is 30.0!!! I am HYPED!


I will keep you posted and see how I like it! I have been doing a ton of research, using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and I think I will run a 42/20 setup which should be terrific for my commute. If it's too tall geared, I will just slap on the 22t cog which ships with the hub.

davei1980

Other than buying the hub and spokes, what expenses to you forsee? I may have to pay a guy $25 to true it I guess.....

acidfast7

24-36 spokes, a rim and a decent hub ain't cheap.

£20 front £25 rear is cheap (tax out the tax and that's £16 and £20 respectively) ... I don't even know why people steal them

front

rear

davei1980

The hub is around $90-95 which IS expensive but I have budgeted because the genesis for my whole idea was to make a bike with an IGH.


For the wheel, I will reuse the existing 32h wheel pictured if I can determine the broken nipple didn't do any damage. I will have to buy the spokes but they're pretty cheap. If I have to buy a new one I will get that used Campy 28h on craigslist or similar and throw it on the front then use my existing 32h front wheel on the back.


Depending on if I can borrow a truing stand, I may just pay the guy $25 to true it up.

davei1980

I almost forgot to tell you, these don't come with 105 components but the brakes are Shimano 105 series so someone put them on and I get the benefits! I am excited

acidfast7

That's getting up to price of an entire Shimano 3-speed IGH equipped bike.

£279 (£232/$300 without tax)

I'd like to see how it goes though.

Bikes are bottomless pits but still cheap compared to houses, backpacking and recreational drugs.

chas58

Yep, a Specialized at that weight normally costs $2,000.

FYI, I use 42x16 (or 17 off season) when running Fixed Gear.

I just use the brakes on the bike to true my wheels.

chas58

I'm trying to distract myself from racing cars. ;-)

acidfast7

I did that already back in the day. First car was a Toyota Supra Turbo with a 7M-GTE and lived through the ZC in a CRX and H-series in an Accord phases. Moved to Europe and share a 1.2L turbo Golf (chipped) with my gf but never use it.

I'm putting all my money into the house actually, seems like a good investment in the UK.

edit: I guess I'm still living in the coloured fixed gear phase because the thing won't break.

rfmarotti

All you need is a couple zip ties.

rfmarotti

That's signature worthy.

davei1980

I will keep you posted keep an eye on this thread

davei1980

Tell me more! I have heard of the brakes trick but not this! I LOVE ZIP TIES

davei1980

This won't be a fixie, it will be a 2 sp freewheel. The 42/18 will be base 1x gear then 1.38x for my 2nd (overdrive gear) which why Sturmey didn't make this hub to be an UNDERDRIVE unit so that you're running 1:1 most of the time in top gear, I will never know.


I have heard of the brake trick, was thinking of doing this using some metal bits like nuts in the place of the pads so that I get that good scraping sound in the spots where it's out of round...


And that is AWESOME considering I paid $110 used.

rfmarotti

A zip tie secured to either side of the fork acts as the feelers do on a truing stand.

https://bmxunion.com/daily/how-to-tr...ith-a-zip-tie/

Gresp15C

I suspect it's a matter of design complexity.

noglider 

What does it matter whether it's underdrive or overdrive? Either way, with the right choice of cog and chainring, you get the ratios you want.