cudak888 

I wouldn't mind a tracking drone, but I can be pretty sure of the shot I'm getting this way.

Plus, if a drone tried to get a forward shot of the riders, I wind up in the shot. Easier to have a few GoPros mounted to the Twenty where my arm usually holds them.

-Kurt

cudak888 

It's build time, come 5pm.




-Kurt

cudak888 

Forget every nickname I've given this thing before. Say hello to Vader.



The threads have been chased and the right side of the BB faced (remember, it's 24TPI with a cartridge right now).

The one problem I've run head first into is the headtube. It's a skosh under 33.9mm (EC34), and there's no way I'm getting the headset cups in there. While I do have the VAR headset reamer/facer tool, I think I've come to the realization that the reamer I have is an EC37 - perfect for an obscure French 1-1/4" headset, not so ideal here.

If anyone is willing to loan me an EC34-spec reamer that'll fit the VAR tool (the shaft diameter is 16mm - no idea if that's the same as Park), I'm definitely listening.

-Kurt

SHBR

Drones?

cudak888 

A consideration, but not while I'm riding. It also means I'd have to find a place to get out of shot and it'd be another set of batteries to concern myself with.

I also have no intentions of investing in DJI products either - another story though.

-Kurt

SHBR

Drones are best operated by professionals.


I'm not a fan of any company that requires "online activation" for use of its products. (such as DJI)

cudak888 

That's simply a non-starter for me.

Ditto for their horrible interface when working with the product itself. I do own the Ronin 2 for lack of any other option (bought used) when I needed a gimbal, but adjusting it is like throwing darts blindfolded. Doesn't matter how much you know what the settings are supposed to do, it never seems to translate into what you want at the gimbal itself.

Absolutely in love with the Mōvi gimbal in the video. A piece of kit that'll actually do what's on the tin...

-Kurt

3speedslow

As long as the conversation is bikes, I know what’s being said. Drones... nada!

cudak888 

Taking a quick break from work-from-home to bring you this update: The fork is on. This is the part where I start laughing with the same stately demeanor as Professor Fate (for those of you who've seen The Great Race, you'll get this joke).

Headtube angle is at 71 degrees. We'll see how it handles like this - I can still shave off 5mm or so off the bottom of the headtube if I wish to bring it up to 72 degrees. Suspension fork may settle it down to 72 just from rider weight - not sure.







I bought an IceToolz cutter to get the headtube reaming done. The inner bore of the IceToolz cutter is 18mm and the VAR shaft is 12mm, so I cobbled a temporary sleeve out of an intake manifold coolant return connector. It worked perfectly, but I've ordered some Oillite bushings just to have a better fit in future.



I also tapped out the headtube eyelets while the opportunity still presented itself.



-Kurt

3speedslow

Amazing! Sheldon is whooping it up over this. Nice job on Vader!

cudak888 

I hope so! .

I'm also hoping John Allen has a chance to see this too, given how he and Sheldon have both promoted the Twenty's versatility.

I think it's about time I invest in the proper seatpost and a pair of North Roads for this thing to find out if I should leave the steerer uncut at its present height, or whether I can rely on the North Roads to provide the remaining rise.

-Kurt

cudak888 

Mild update and some frustrations. Wound up buying a modern Sturmey chain tensioner, which turned out to have the same issue as the Shimano Alfines. I wrote about it here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post21431537

But at least I've got another tensioner on order, and the headset spacers arrived. I also forgot that the Velo-Orange Cigne is made for 31.8 bars, so I ordered some spacers for it too.

Incidentally, the Eastwood Ceramic Chassis Black that this thing is painted with is living up to some of it's reviews - it chips like Doritos. There's a small mark in the main tube from one of the featherweight headset spacers falling out of my hands. Ridiculous. A joke of a 2K paint, and I'll probably have it stripped down once done and have it sprayed again with something more durable.





-Kurt

cudak888 

Thompson 410mm post arrived today.

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

Kurt, continues to look really nice. Black on black on black etc.. Any plans yet for which saddle to run? B-72 or a Brooks Flyer would suit my tastes and there you have my 2 cents.

cudak888 

The Thompson post puts double-rail saddles out of the question (I really don't want to fool with the adapter), but I was thinking along the same lines - a black Flyer or a B.67.

Funny thing, I have what is either a 1950's or 1960's sprung B.17 sitting around here - a predecessor to the current Flyer, I assume - but that monster has dual rails.

I'd rather pick one up that's been broken in just a bit - my preferred approach to a Brooks - but when I cruised eBay last night, I couldn't find any that were broken in properly. Most were either abused or barely broken in, though a number of the used women's B.17S saddles for sale were properly broken in. Quite a few sellers are asking 90% the price of a new one too, so it doesn't even make any sense to go this route.

-Kurt

noglider 

So why a Raleigh Twenty? What attributes does it have that are hard to find? I've had two and didn't like them. I tried because people praise them so much. I think I didn't use them right or something.

cudak888 

To each their own. I've felt the '70 Twenty that I've used up to now for shoots is a fairly versatile machine, and I've owned and ridden it long enough that I know where it excels and where it falls short. Plus, I can jump on or off one fairly quickly. Sure, they're heavy, but using a Twenty gave me the opportunity to stick those downtube attachment points through the main tube without worrying too much about frame integrity.

Right now, its whole purpose is to be a comfortable platform which I can mount various brackets to - whatever suits my fancy. That's why the build, for now, is more along the lines of making a hot rod Twenty (with gear attachment points) before I begin designing and hanging equipment on it.

As for handling, I expect the sealed headset to solve the whole nylon bushing issue of the original. The new fork also has higher trail than the original, so it should rectify the rake issues that some have cited the Twenty for.

I think most people would also question the choice of using a 3-speed IGH with a double crankset and nothing at the back. Fact is, I like the speed that I can shift with the old Sturmey triggers (decided against the S30 shifter), and don't see any reason to use a different hub with a less agreeable shifter. However, I also needed to consider that our trails stink. Some of them are peppered with switchback-type pedestrian overpasses made in the 1970's; hence the choice to run a 36t bailout gear in front.

I could have used a Brompton 3x2 hub with a cassette driver and a bailout rear cog pulled out of a Shimano cassette, but I had the Sturmey SRF-3 on hand.

-Kurt

noglider 

That makes sense. I was in the middle of changing the headset on my Twenty when it disappeared. That might have made a lot of difference.

cudak888 

Well, I just I ordered a pair of SKS 451mm-specific fenders after some major hemming and hawing.

I love the look of the fenders and I expect them to be an excellent fit - both mechanically and visually - but these things are only available from Tern, a company that's proved itself to have very little scruples. Their folding bikes crack in half and they spend their customer service time pointing fingers at consumers. In fact, I half expect some little Tern minion to come here and shame me for criticizing their company, as they've done in the Folding Bikes forum (and if they want to play it that way, I'm more than ready to don the brass knuckles for a digital fight of ethics).

At any rate, I really regret handing them $43 of my money for these fenders, but at least they're an SKS product. If they do their job and look good, I'll be happy.




-Kurt

cudak888 

Fenders and handlebars have arrived. The handlebar shims haven't, but I couldn't resist mocking it up.





It takes a North Road to look right. I'm hoping the shorter 3-speed lever still works well with my penchant for index-finger shifting. If it doesn't, I'll replace it with an early 1950's Sturmey shifter - the kind with the longer trigger arm.



Rear fender is roughed in - I don't have the bolt or spring necessary for the chainstay bridge yet. Also considering using a Velo-Orange external-wrap rear fender stay in the back, as the stays and fixing nut fit extremely close to the tire.



The rear fender was modified to use the now-defunct front fender bracket. The rivets don't look that great, but the brake should hide them fairly well.



They're not set up yet, but the Tektro centerpulls look pretty sharp. I realized that the cable stop on the headset stack won't work with the suspension fork, but the mount on the upper half of the fork has the same problem.

Given that the adapters aren't 100% immune from shifting a few MM's, the only doable solution looks to be a V-brake or cantilever stiffener/booster with a center bolt to mount a raised cable stop.



-Kurt

3speedslow

Most definetly not looking crazy anymore!

cudak888 

That remains to be seen, given what I plan on hanging off of it

-Kurt

cudak888 

FYI - the alternate tensioner arrived after an excessively long delay. It is ridiculous. The parallelogram (well, not really, since it doesn't pivot) sits far too vertical, which limits chainwrap. Equally of concern is that the B-tension spring (which appears to be a leftover from the single-pulley version of this thing) does nothing other than to cause the chain to slack up when freewheeling.

This one goes back too.



I rather like this Paul tensioner that's on eBay right now, but the seller is away with no return date set. Plus, I'm not sure if the Paul tensioners have enough L/R adjustment - and I don't even know what model this one is. It's certainly not the current Melvin.




-Kurt

cudak888 

More parts arrived today (including a friend gifting a well-used Dura-Ace 7800 7900 set, though that's a topic for another thread), namely, the brake booster for the front end.

This thing serves two purposes: 1. It prevents the cantilever 406-to-451 stud adapters from shifting ever so slightly (the centering pins aren't as tight as they could be), and 2. This will serve as the mounting point for the cable hanger that will actually work.

Given how everything is set up, the cable hanger will need to be mounted backwards. Heck, it's not as if anything on this bike is normal in the first place.








Incidentally, the part is a really nice Tektro unit. Can't find any evidence of what they were used on; found this one one eBay in Canada, and only saw one other of its kind on Google Images. It was silver originally; I spraybombed flat black within minutes of it arriving.

-Kurt

mountaindave 

This thing just keeps getting crazier and crazier! Can’t wait to see the camera gear mounted!