crank_addict

Good going!

crank_addict

Neato bike and bonus points for a shake down ride with surprise.

CO_Hoya 

Progress. I managed to find spokes of the correct length, and laced up some wheels.

I donated the original rims (unhooked Araya 27”) back when I acquired the bike, since they weren’t rated for high pressure (>75 psi or so) and since I planned to switch to 700c.


Thinking back, I probably should have hung on to them, to keep the originality of the bike and so this build would have been easier.

Since I have to abide by what I have on hand, I only have two matched pairs of 36h rims, and one set is already allocated to another project.

I picked up some 27” CR-18 rims locally a few months ago (from another C&V BFer), so that’s what I’m using here. And I had a pair of new 27” Pasela Panaracers that have been hanging on a peg for several years. Perfect.



I also hung some more bits on the frame: stem, seat post, derailleurs, cable guides. I turned the original Cyclone RD into a long cage, since I had a couple of GT versions in a bin and the conversion is straight-forward (no pic of that yet). That will give me the option of switching to a triple later. Anyone know the largest rear cog for a first gen Cyclone?

That may be all I have time for this weekend, but closer to rideable.

Last ride 76 

Okay... I'm going with my Aegis build-up. As I am not sure how much I trust the (soon to be) bamboo/aluminum reinforced frame, I intend this to be my around-town bike. Not a beater by any stretch, but definitely an odd duck.

mechanicmatt

... everything seems to be working well. Going to have to come up with some sort of handlebar grip for the time being though. I have old intertubes so that may work.

Careful of rolling bicycle gangs on this dystopian landscape.

bikemig 

The pint sized zombies in the background are definitely something to worry about,

r0ckh0und 

Made a bunch of progress on the RB-T yesterday. Did a more thorough frame cleaning, repacked the hubs and headset. I replaced a few things, saddle, new chain, pedals. The stock crankset cleaned up nicely but it's a 175 so I replaced it with a 90ish mtb crank with some old guy chainrings. Still planning to wrap the bars and true the wheels a bit. I was going to do a little shakedown ride around our loop today but gonna wait til Tuesday due to some crappy weather we're getting today.

ExPatTyke

I'm at home for the duration, and have got plenty of time spare on my hands - work's closed for at least two months and as my wife works for the NHS she's out at work all day every day. I've spent the last week doing most of the jobs around the house and garden, so I'm allowed a project to keep me entertained

Anyhow, my entry for this one is a Sun Solo - it was bought as a frame a few months back during an alcohol fuelled Ebay session for the grand sum of £2.99, plus a tenner for postage, then put in the garage in the "at the planning stage" pile. The only reason for buying it was that I had one of these in my youth - the Solo was a bike built by Raleigh and sold with Sun branding. Looking at the frame it appears to be pretty much identical to the BSA I've got which was another Raleigh rebadge. Here's the photo from the listing: -



Incidentally, the Ebay seller I bought the frame from is based in Scotland, but the frame has a dealer's sticker from a shop in Wimbourne, Dorset which is still in business.

It's rusty - a lot of rust - but a quick look and a go over with a wire brush shows it to be surface rust, nothing structural. Frame number confirms it was built in Nottingham in 1981.

I've got pretty much everything needed to build the bike, except proper paint, so it'll be a brush applied Smoothrite finish. Components are going to be a bit of a mix, and not original in any way. However, I've got a spare pair of 27 inch wheels with 27 x 1-1/4 Conti tyres, so it should ride nicely. The only issue might be the seatpost, depending on size, but I might be able to shim an undersized one.

Just a few photos of it now I've got it out of the garage and had a chance to look it over: -

Stevensb 

TVT by BJ Stevens, on Flickr


This frame is too big at 58cm ctc (it is the only spare I have on hand), the cranks are too long at 175 and the stem is too long by 2 cm but I'm using what I have on hand to rebuild the TVT frame. Missing a 9 speed chain and a pedal that will thread onto the NDS arm. Have some time to source chain and pedals as it is -11C and snowing lightly today. Spring, and road riding, won't be here for a while.

I acquired the bike last fall and posted it here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post21284488

A few build details:

Open Pro / Shimano 105 hubs / 28mm RolyPoly tires
Zeus 175mm cranks - mismatched with 2000 drive side and Criterium NDS arms.
Zeus FD
Tektro levers with Centaur calipers
Ultegra long cage RD, 9 speed cassette - used a Wolf Link (??) hanger for the RD
Campy friction shift levers

Cheers.

Brad

mechanicmatt

This is truly in the spirit of this. Nice build so far.

ddeand 

OK - I’ll bite. This is the one I’ll be working on. I have everything I need to get it rolling, but I need to finish tge touch-up painting first. It will have a D-A groupset. This one will be one of my two main rides this season.

Classtime 

Looking forward to that one. I've got some 7700 sitting in a box and have a plan to put it on my 86 IM. Testor's yellow was a decent match for that yellow but I could never get a good match for the magenta. Please share.

mechanicmatt

...I wouldn't say it's the best wrap job in the world but it is a wrap job. I think I'm at 99.9% complete, just need bar plugs. Time to do the ride challenges.

grayEZrider

Mechanicmat- I am very envious of those tires after today's ride man...

A short trail ride (and back).
Followed by a gravel hill. Is it me or does every steep hill in Tennessee have a graveyard on top?

CO_Hoya 

Made some progress this week:



All of the cabling is done, freewheel and chain installed. I pulled an old B17N out of retirement to complete the look.




The freewheel is a 14-30 6-speed Shimano 600 twist-tooth, I think that makes it UG. It was the freewheel with the largest sprocket I had, hoping that will let me keep the original crankset but still be able to handle the climbs around here.

I am not happy with the shifting right now - the rear isn’t dropping to the smallest cog right away, which usually indicates too much cable friction. I’d prefer to run the shift cables under the bar tape but not sure that would be wise. I wonder if the cable guide position above the BB shell is the issue - I don’t have a lot of experience setting that up. That shifter is also quite stiff, but was like that before I installed - anyone know a trick to loosen that up? The other side feels good.

Hoping to get it dialed in today and then move on to the finish work like bar tape. Size seems perfect for me.

jeirvine 

Well, I built it up from parts on hand over the first weekend of the crisis. Today I had a chance to take it out for a shakedown ride, and ended u doing a half century. Because, why not? it felt good, and I felt good, and there was virtually no traffic. Next will be to ride it to donate blood. My job gives me 2 hours of paid leave to do that, so I'll donate next week.

All in all, it rode great. I just tweaked the seat angle a hair, and adjusted the bag straps. I ended up using mini velcro straps for the Velo Orange Mini Rando bag. Works great, and the bracket loop I made to mount it to the decaleur receiver also did the trick- no problem riding the tops.

velomateo

Beautiful Bridgestone tourer. What’s the model designation of that frame? Would love to find one like that in my size.

mechanicmatt

Great work guys! My ride part of the competition is delayed for a bit, I've come down with something fever and headache related. I don't think it is "the thing" going around but it certainly has wiped me out for a few days. Weird though, we have been in isolation for 3 weeks and I haven't gone out for much of anything.

Everyone's projects are terrific, if others want to join, please do so.

​​​​

mechanicmatt

This came out nicely! Like the front rack and bag, fenders are nice too.

mechanicmatt

Ha!

A lot of people died protecting hills around here.

jeirvine 

It's a '94 RB-T I got from #thumpism just before this all went down. I had been looking for a canti-braked, 700c, vertical drop, light tourer for a while, and this one fits the bill. A lot of the parts I had grabbed from Velo Orange garage sales over the past few years - fenders, decaleur hanger, chainrings, cables, cloth tape. The Mafacs I had been sitting on for years, waiting for the right frame. The wheels were borrowed from another bike, though I think it may now be a permanent loan. The bag I cheated on, since I ordered it from the Velo Orange virtual garage sale which went on during the lockdown.

Coincidentally, #r0ckh0und is also building a quarantine RB-T above. Looks like the same year even.

jeirvine 

Nice! It looks like mine which is a '94, (coincidentally also a quarantine build below). Sheldon posted the catalogs, which are quite an interesting read, into the Grant Peterson universe.

r0ckh0und 

Thanks jeirvine, I have acquired a 170 road triple to replace the stock 175 RX100. The RB-T is solid ride. I did get a bit of a surprise on the shakedown ride I did around the neighborhood the other day. I thought it was a 54cm frame. First time I stopped and put my feet down I realized it was a 56cm. This bike does have a few rust patches and a pretty good ding in the chainstay right at the BB lug. So kind of a beater up close.

r0ckh0und 

jeirvine; Yours looks amazing.....well done!

Ottomotion

It was a fun project....
Before




During...

After