Outer Chain Ring gone as well

After the aborted attempt earlier in the week to remove the outer chainring, I got hold of some M10 washers from my local hardware store. These fitted over the outside part of the chainring bolts, so I used 1 on each bolt, on the back of the chain ring, to let me tighten them down properly onto the crank.

I've decided to hang on to the outer chainring for the moment, rather than eBay-ing it, in case I need to use it to sort out a proper gear ratio when i finally go fixed.

I will get some picture of the latest changes up next week, when my missus gets back from her mothers with the camera!

Bits for Sale

I have listed the bits that have come off the bike for sale at eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330257229525

Few quick jobs

1) I've finished the handlebars with self-amalgamating tape, follwing a tip from someone on www.cycle-chat.co.uk. Much neater than the crappy finishing tape supplied with the handle bar tape - it was much to thick and inflexible, and too short to boot.

2) I've also remove the rear mech, and shortened the chain - so I am now at least single speed.

3) I tried to remove the outer chainring, but the washers I bought didn't allow me to do it. Although they fitted over the inner part of the chain-ring bolts, they also needed to fit the outer part as well, so I need to look for some slightly larger ones (M9 rather than M8)

Once I do get the chainring off, all of the items that have come off the bike (Front and read mechs, gear and brake levers, and outer chainring) will be going back on eBay in an effort to recoup some of the cost.

I'll try and get some pictures of these latest bits up later.

Cheers

Matt

Handlebars Mk 2

As you can see from the pics, I've had another go at the handle bars. I wasn't happy with the shape of the chopped road bars as I couldnt seem to get my hands on them properly - the curve was getting in the way.

This new set is made from a bog standard 540mm MTB bar that I picked up from eBay for a fiver (inc. postage!). I managed to close the clamps on the brakes back down far enough to make them a snug fit, unfortunatly I could only find one of the allen key headed bolts that they came with, so the other one has been bodged with an M6 bolt and a stack of washers. It's fairly well hidden though, so I'm not overly worried about it. There was enough thread left in the holes past the section that I mangled the other day to make the bolts hold properly.

I took about 7cm off each end of the bars. This is a happy compromise between being able to fit between cars, and still having enough leverage to pull properly up hills. I'm not a great fan of the 3" courier handle bar - I can't see that you have any real control of the bike. I know from experience that this length works well for me.

Don't worry about the string - it's just there to hold the bar tape down over the weekend as I left the finishing tape at work - not tempted to use ordinary black electrical tape as it slips and leaves a horrible sticky mess over everything.

Handlebars and thoughts thereon...

The handlebars as I have them set up at the moment are shown in the picture above. To be honest I’m not sure that I’m really getting on with them – there doesn’t seem to be enough of the straight bit left before the curve comes in for me to comfortably get my hands on. This means that I feel like I don’t have a proper hold of the bars as part of my hand is on the curve. With the nature of the ride in the rush hour traffic I don’t have long enough stretches to get my hands up on the “bull horn” section as it leaves me too far from the brakes.

The straight bar that I brought of eBay showed up yesterday so I may stick that on tonight – another advantage is that the brake lever clamps will fit properly around it – all I need to do is find the bolts where I dropped them in the shed the other night when they wouldn’t fit back in after opening the clamps up to get them around the road bars.

I still have one roll of the bar tape left as with the bars being so short I didn't need to use all of it, so this can go on the flat bars as well.

Gear Ratios

Well good job I did all that calculating… Having ridden for the last day or so I seem to have settled in 42*15 (73.9 Gear inches). I need to give it a couple more rides, particularly on the way back up to the station as that is a much more uphill route that the way down.

Turned out not so bad in the end

I’ve now had another look at the brake/handlebar situation in the daylight, and it’s not as bad as I thought. I’ve only stripped a small section of the threads on the brake clamps – there is plenty of thread left in the body of the brakes. All I have to do is find some longer bolts that will reach through to the remaining thread and they will be fine – the alignment doesn’t appear to be so far out that the bolts won’t line up with the holes.

All the new bits from this morning are on, the handle bars have been taped and brake cables replaced – so back on the road tonight.

Bit of a shit day

1) The Gaffa tape on the back tyre was covering a slightly larger hole than I thought. Left work yesterday evening, got 150 yards up the road and then the back tyre went flat. Pushed the bike back to work, had to get the tube to the station, and missed usual train home. Not a happy bunny…

2) Took handlebars home to chop and fit new brake levers (see below). Due to my lack of knowledge, I didn’t realise that 22.2mm diameter brake levers were not going to fit properly on a 23.8mm diameter road handle bar. I managed to open them out far enough to get them on, but this meant that the bolt holes were too far away and out of alignment, so I ended up stripping the threads on the holes.

Not forgetting of course that the existing road brake cables have teardrop ends rather than flat round ones, so don't fit the new levers.

Neverless the levers are in place and are actually jammed on tight enough that they don't move (much). This leaves me with 3 choices

A) Change the bars for a MTB flat bar - I have actually grabbed one of eBay for a fiver so this may still be an option
B) Change the brakes for some that fit properly on a road bar - seems a bit tricky to find though, and don't really want to spend the money.

C) Drill through the body of the brake and run a nut and bolt through the existing clamp holes to secure them properly - will probably try this first

Another trip to St.Pauls bike hut this morning for the following

Continental GatorSkin 700c*25 Tyre
Inner Tube
2 Brake Cables
Bar Tape

Leaving me £40 lighter - but at least I've got a decent tyre on the rear now.

I will be fitting the cables and taping the bar later today, so will try and put up some pictures when it is done - camera phone only though.

Thinking about gear ratios

Now that I have started riding this thing, I need to start thinking about the gear ratio that this is eventually going to end up in as a fixed gear. To help me I have been using the excellent fixed gear calculator at http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html.

My previous fixie was a converted mountain bike, running 42*16 on 26*1.25 tyres. This calculates as 67.3 gear inches. I found this ratio ideally suited to my fairly flat commute - possibly a little bit slow away from the lights, but a good speed on the flats and easy enough to get up the fairly small hills between the city and Euston.

This new bike currently has a 52/42 chainring on the front, and a 13-14-15-16-17-19-21 7 speed freewheel on the back, and is currently running 700c*25 tyres. According to the calculator the 2 nearest gear ratios to my previous set up are 42*16 (69.2 gear inches) and 52*20 (68.6) so these are the two I'm going to experiment with over the next few days. I may also have a go with 42*17 so see if a slightly smaller gear is easier on the legs away from the lights and up the hills.

Once I have settled on one of these the rear mech and lever and the unused front chain ring can come off, I'll shorten the chain, and will at least then be a genuine single speed.

Aesthetically I think I would prefer the smaller chainring to remain at the front, but this may bring chain line issues into play once I get round to putting a fixed gear wheel at the back.

Stripping off some unwanted crap

Over the weekend I had a chance to get some work done on the bike - between cutting the a week's worth of growth off the lawn, and trying to wash all of the laundry that came back of holiday with us. So far I have removed

Water bottler holder
2 light brackets
Computer, cable, bracket and magnety thing that goes on the wheel.
Front deraileur, cable and lever.

My overall aim is to get this bike as light as possible - with the Reynolds frame and Mavic rims it already feels light, but there is still a way to go - more on this subject to follow.

The rear deraileur, and both front rings are all still on for the moment while I determine a comfortable gear ratio - more on this to follow as well.

The front and rear mechs and levers, and the brake levers will be appearing on eBay fairly soon as a set - hopefully I should be able to recoup a bit of the purchase price of the bike and other bits.

Forgot about the pedals

Left off from the previous Urgent work update - this bike also came without pedals. I have put on a pair of Shimano M505SPD mountain bike pedals - £21 from a seller on ebay.

I have 2 reasons for using these. First, as moutain bike pedals they will allow me to use a shoe with the cleat recessed in to the sole - this is important as I have a walk at the railway stations at both ends of my commute. Second, they come with a clip on flat pedal base - I'm currently without proper bike shoes so need to be able to ride in trainers for the time being.

Brake Purchase

Just purchased the brakes above from ParkersOfBolton

I wanted something small and clean to go on the flats of the handlebars, as I'm planning on chop 'n' flipping the existing road bars, and I liked the clean lines of these. I haven't yet decided whether to run with a front brake only, or to keep the back one as well. I'm going to defer that decision until I see if the existing brakes on the bike have sufficient stopping power for me to feel confident in London's rush hour traffic.

Cost with shipping - £11.89

Urgent work

2 * Continental 700C*25 inner tubes at £4.99 each
Rear wheel skewer £5

Both from the nice chaps at www.bikehut.com
by St. Paul's cathedral

The bike is now at least ridable, althougth the brakes are a long way from the wheels so stopping is a bit of a lottery. The ride feels smooth though, I think the quality and condition of the wheel and BB bearings is top notch.

Fixie Conversion - Here we go

Here we go - I will be converting the bike in the pictures below into a fixed gear machine. This blog will track the bike's progress, assuming I can keep up with posting when things happen...


Why am I doing this ?

I currently live in Milton Keynes, and work in the city. I get the train from MK to Euston and back again, and need to get from Euston down to St Pauls. Having spent way too many hours standing in delayed, overcrowded and hot tube trains, I took the plunge last year and started cycling from Euston to the City. At first I was using an old mountain bike that I had lying around at home - but that got nicked from the bike racks at Euston when I left it there over a long weekend. My own fault for using a single cable lock I suppose, the new bike will have a big D-Lock and a f**koff big chain as well, so hopefully should be a bit more secure.

I've ridden fixed in the past, and was keen to get back into it again. Funds didn't currently allow the purchase of a new bike of any decent quality, so I am going the route of creating my own.

The Candidate

Shown in the picture on the left, this was bought on ebay for the princley sum of £28.
Good Points

1. Reynolds 531 frame
2. Good quality components - Mavic wheels on Shimano hubs, nice chain ring with seperate bolt on cranks, Shimano 105 group set
   
3. BB, headset and wheel bearing all in good condition
4. Nice leather? San Marco Rolls saddle
   

Bad Points

1. No inner tubes
2. No pedals
3. Tyres a bit tatty and, in one place, held together with Gaffa tape
4. Slight rust on frame
5. No rear wheel skewer

As i bought this sight unseen, overall I'm reasonably happy. This could easily have been a crappy mass market bike with cheap components on it, so all in all I feel I've come out rather well.