52telecaster

Trying to set up this trek 6xx for my gf. Getting close. She really likes upright and index. Has a light action 6 speed setup. 35 mm smooth gravel kings.

jamesdak 

Just minor silliness the past day or two. Had some friends in town the other day and they used the PDG Paramount and the Coppi to go ride with me. So I have to readjust the saddles to my height and reinstall my Look Pedals so the bikes would be ready for me. Then for the silliness part I bought some stupid expensive carbon fiber bottle cages for the old CAAD 8 for no reason other than to get it under 16 lbs. Yeah, silly!


Now 15 lbs 14 ozs as in this picture.

Also did some light polishing on the rims of the ol' Opus III to make sure they'll gleam in the sunlight when I take it out this weekend.

noobinsf 

A friend of ours with a daughter the same age as ours (but like two heads taller) asked if I could help him find a bike for her birthday. A quick look at Nextdoor turned up this bike listed for free, and I brought it home the next morning. It had light surface rust and needed new grips and tires, but now it’s good as new. Got the v brake working again with some spare housing and added a surplus pair of training wheels that are too big for my kids’ bikes. Very satisfying afternoon!

2cam16

Something different for a change. Working on this freebie 1998 Fatboy Expert. It's going into my Specialized "collection". lol
IMG_0943 by 2cam16, on Flickr
IMG_0950 by 2cam16, on Flickr

capnjonny 

Here is my latest, a small tri bike , maybe Novara? Aluminum frame, 26" wheels, 1.25 x 26" tires. It was red/black with flaking paint.

I stripped it to bare aluminum and repainted it in Rustoleum Burgundy with an Automotive Clear top coat. Complete weight 23.9 lbs.

delbiker1 

My Poprad needed a new headset, compromised seal. It had been like that for a while, but was operating smoothly until last week. I decided while I was doing the headset, I would also switch to a V-O Porteur bar and 10 speed brifters. I had been wanting to try this set up for a while. Got it all done and took it out for a 40 mile ride. I like it this way. I have spinal issues that have been causing a fair amount of neck pain, and shoulder to hand issues when riding in the drops for more than a short time. This has definitely helped. The wheels are Novatec 30's with GK 28mm tires and latex tubes. I wanted wider wheels for the bike, but did not want to spend a lot of money. For $158 shipped, pretty darn good, 19.8 internal width and they spin and roll really well. They are heavy, almost 2000 gr., but I do not care. Adding another gear gives me a bit more range. Pretty sure I am going to change the big chain ring from 52t to 48t, and will wind up with 48/36 and 13-30 on the rear wheel. That will also mean I do not need to lengthen the chain.

Mr. 66

A Trek 1400 rolled in and flew out almost as fast.

arex

1986 Miyata 310 that I just finished up. Still have to make some adjustments. Of the whole bike that I paid $25 for, I was really only able to re-use the frame and the crank. The thing had obviously been sitting outside behind a shed for a lot of years. The paint is shockingly good in spite of it.

Used ITM Europa bars, 105 aero brake levers, new Microshift 2x8 bar-end shifters, used Nitto stem, an old Univega fork (not sure from what model), Tange Levine headset, used Thomson seatpost, new Selle Italia Green Superflow saddle, used Shimano 600 front and rear derailleurs, a new Sunrace cassette, Gebhardt chainrings, Shim. BB300, MKS Sylvan pedals with MKS half-clips, new Tektro R539 brakes, Mavic CXP22 wheels that were a new take-off from some Cannondale about 18 years ago (so the seller says, no reason to doubt it), and Schwalbe Lugano 2 tires.

bikemig 

I fixed up this 1983 Fuji Royale II Mixte for a friend with an avocet woman's anatomical saddle and tektro woman specific (really small hand specific) brake levers. The bike came out great. The only parts that I reused that came on the bike were the bottom bracket, headset, calipers, and the frame fittings. The other parts all came out of my stash but I did have to buy the brake levers. The Michelin Protek 27 x 1 and 1/4 are nice tires that measure out to 1 and 3/8.

VintageSteelEU

Just received the bad boy below today. Suntour Skitter. Seems to be 1970's version and in a working condition. Design goes back to the early 60's. I got it mostly because I wanted to have a closer look at how SunTour managed to get it all working with one spring, couldn't quite picture that. Really smart and simple. It's a chunky bit of engineering, all steel. But I decided to give it good cleaning and try it at some point. It's low-normal kind of derailleur, so it might be an interesting experience. Now if they made it in titanium and high - normal...

Roger M

Because I am cheap.

I've wanted a set of those Velo Orange saddle bag loops for one of my bikes. I hemmed and hawed on it for awhile, and decided that wasn't ready to spend close to $25 shipped.

I spent about $3.50 on this project, and an hour and some minutes in time. I found these rope/wire clamps that looked like a good start. I didn't have any sheet aluminum or steel, so I cut up a piece of copper pipe.

I used a cutoff wheel to modify the cast parts in order for them to fit the saddle rails. The u bolts had to be cut also. In the end, it's not so elegant. However, the function is good, and they're not visible with a bag attached.

At some point I will probably invest in the VO things, but for now, this should get me through Cino. Btw, why dont all leather saddles have loops...



The one on the right is after i ground it down.


After

Before cutting the bolts

This bag is for test purposes. Should have a new one sometime soon. Threading the leather straps was a chore..

m.c. 

I wish her nostalgia was a little more powerful, now she's saying we bought the wrong bike.

thumpism 

...it wouldn't be a Skitter!

retrofit

Wrenched on my 1975 Raleigh Grand Prix Mixte this past Sunday to convert it from down tube shifters to thumb shifters.
Andy_K graciously sent me the necessary Huret cable stop gratis, transforming this...



to this...


After taking a bit of time to figure out which SunRace shifter was right / left (pushing lever == pulling cable),
cables were installed and ready for clamping and shifter adjustment. Looking good so far.




Started with FD; first adjustment not quite right. Started loosening the nut on the cable fixing bolt for second adjustment, and then SNAP!😭 The alloy bolt gives way.




Now I'll either need to find a fixing bolt and nut for a Huret Challenger FD or a generic nut/bolt that will work.😖 Oh well.

Finally, a word about the SunRace thumbies--I can't say that I care for them especially. The throw (if that's the correct term) of these levers leaves a lot to be desired as the levers move/rotate nearly 180°, if that makes any sense. So I'll likely also look for different thumb shifters before this little project is complete. In the meantime, I'm off to post in the ISO thread.

bikemig 

I liked those thumbies. They're not great, but I thought the shifting mechanism was good and the price was very decent. Agreed that it takes a lot of movement for the shifter to move the derailleur.

VintageSteelEU

Yes, it wouldn't. I like it, actually. It does feel cheap, that's for sure, the thick steel is not the most elegant material, but it will be interesting to test this thing afer cleaning up.

Rooney 

I've had this frameset for a little over a year now and it hasn't been ridden nearly enough. Originally, I built it up as a 650b conversion with Tektro long-reach calipers and 38mm tires (eventually a 42 in the front). Then, I sold the wheels and tires and calipers to a friend and stripped the rest of the components for who-remembers now. I liked how it rode.

After some recent wheeling and dealing, I ended up with a set of wheels and nearly enough components to build it up again. The plan is for this to become a sort of light touring/day-long-ride sort of rig with a front rando bag and saddle bag.

The wheels came from an early 90s Multitrack and aren't great, but are sufficient. I cut the rear axle down 5mm and dished it for the 130 OLD. I'd say 1/3 of the nipples are rounded off at this point and is really only good enough until I find a better set. A Cyclone MKII rd was hanging around, then a matching NOS fd appeared at a decent price. At that point, it only made sense to get the barcons w/ matching downtube clamp-on cable stop included. Saddle, seatpost, bars, stem, crank arms, and brake levers were all waiting around in a box to be used. The Nitto rear brake hanger needed to be filed some to fit between the seatpost clamp ears without interferance. I love these Dia-Compe quick-release hangers and use them any chance I get. And also buy them whenever I see them. Then, I found one of those TA front racks for the Mafac brakes and that was settled. Ran shift and brake cables/housing today. I'm still fine-tuning some new Eagle II Kool-Stops. MKS Sylvans for the time being. I'll probably go with 46/30 rings. The longer-term plan is a set of 700x35c tubeless wheels with a 10-speed cassette. We'll see how long it takes me to get there.

Beurt

Now a Motobecane again

Freebie Peugobecane
Here is a before and after of a 1950's 650b Motobecane randonneur found locally for free.
The bike was complete except for the lights but well used and had been poorly repainted as a golden Peugeot.
Fork was slightly bent back and a grease repack was urgent. I took it all apart, cleaned every bolt, realigned the fork, and got rid of all the paint except for the racks.
There's a little kink in the diagonal tube that I could do nothing about sadly.
Not knowing how it should have looked originally I decided against paint and went for something new to me with a cold blueing gun finish over stencils and a final coat of varnish. I quite like it, mostly the fact that the welds don't take the blueing and contrast with the tubes.
New spokes (rims may be next) cables and housings, original Motobecane leather seat, new tires and brake pads, dynamo and lights with LED in place of the bulbs.
It's a super sweet ride, my first 650 and lever actuated FD.
Quite the journey to get there, but I've learned a ton!

bamboobike4

VintageSteelEU

Looks fantastic! Great restoration.

rccardr 

Your life was too simple.
Too predictable.

So…you bought a Klein. Another one.

52telecaster

Excellent, I did by the VO ones in another combined order. They are nice but expensive.

52telecaster

Sorry to hear. The 620 I was prepping for my gf didn't go over either.

merziac

Good job, love a good hack like this.

I have buddy who makes Scottish accessories including sporran's, small leather pouch that I made some small saddle bags out of. I zip tied a piece of slit clear tubing to the seat rails to hold up the nylon strap cinched around the rails to hold the bag up. Worked ok for a small bag that won't hold much, maybe a patch kit, multi tool, phone a cc's/cash.

Couple of things, back in the day these were racing saddles like Brooks Pro's, we don't need or want no stinking bag loops and they're heavy.

Next thing and I'm sure you've thought of this, any sharp edges from grinding or hacking could make short work of those fun leather straps and or the bag given half a chance, especially bouncing around in Montana.

Some sanding and smoothing might be in order, maybe even some thicker sheet metal.

merziac

So just spitballin here but it seems to me that anybody that has not fully embraced C+V drop bar bikes and frames may not like just making an upright out of one.

Sweptback bars and a stem long enough to get them out and/or up far enough is weird, nevermind any twitchiness or trepidation, perceived or otherwise.

We can reconcile the change because we get the whole thing and we're a bit nutter anyway.