(no subject)
Some of you may have noticed that I've been turning up to the pub with oil under my fingernails, or muttering about the non-availability of certain obscure bits, or just smelling faintly of industrial degreaser.
'Why?' I hear you ask...
Lately I've been spending more time than usual fiddling with bicycle parts in order to get my singlespeed bike back on the road.
This is basically a conversion from an old BSA ‘sports bike’ which I would guess dates back to the seventies originally.
I originally bought it from the small ads for £25, and added flat bars and a wider saddle, with the naive idea that rhubarbtriangle might like something to go chasing news stories on round Morley. Some time later I ran out of functioning bicycles of my own, borrowed it back from RT's cellar and realised what a cracking little round-town runabout it was. However I soon got both my commuting bikes back up and running so it ended up being somewhat redundant.
A couple of years ago I stuck an 18T freewheel on the back, re-jigged the front cogs somewhat and off I went. OK, that's a lie, I spent ages working out exactly the right gear combination - the one that would get me over Herries Rd OK but would still allow me to spin along at 20+ without my legs falling off. 48x18 was what I went for in the end.
After a bit I discovered I was going through (admittedly cheap) rear axles like nobody’s business, and realised the axle slots weren’t parallel and were therefore bending the axle when everything was tightened up. So I got my 12” adjustable wrench onto the case and bent them into line, or so I thought. A little while later I realised that not only were they still not parallel but that one of them was now cracked. Which was a bit of a bugger.
Rather than throw the whole thing in a skip, I figured that I may as well get some singlespeed-specific axle slots welded on (these are horizontal rather than near-vertical, to allow you to get the chain tension exactly right. On a normal bike the rear shifter does this job for you).
This was duly done by JF Wilson’s of City Road. While I was at it I sourced a somewhat prettier crank which had the added bonus of being a 175 length instead of 170, for a bit of extra leverage. Gearing is now 53:18, up from the original 48:18, so hill-climbing ability has been sacrificed for a little extra flat-road speed.
I’m quite pleased with how it's turned out, for a total outlay of about £160. There is really no excuse for the dog-ugly handlebar stem arrangement though - other than to say I am still experimenting with the riding position ;-)
Edited to reduce obscure jargon ;-)
'Why?' I hear you ask...
Lately I've been spending more time than usual fiddling with bicycle parts in order to get my singlespeed bike back on the road.
This is basically a conversion from an old BSA ‘sports bike’ which I would guess dates back to the seventies originally.
I originally bought it from the small ads for £25, and added flat bars and a wider saddle, with the naive idea that rhubarbtriangle might like something to go chasing news stories on round Morley. Some time later I ran out of functioning bicycles of my own, borrowed it back from RT's cellar and realised what a cracking little round-town runabout it was. However I soon got both my commuting bikes back up and running so it ended up being somewhat redundant.
A couple of years ago I stuck an 18T freewheel on the back, re-jigged the front cogs somewhat and off I went. OK, that's a lie, I spent ages working out exactly the right gear combination - the one that would get me over Herries Rd OK but would still allow me to spin along at 20+ without my legs falling off. 48x18 was what I went for in the end.
After a bit I discovered I was going through (admittedly cheap) rear axles like nobody’s business, and realised the axle slots weren’t parallel and were therefore bending the axle when everything was tightened up. So I got my 12” adjustable wrench onto the case and bent them into line, or so I thought. A little while later I realised that not only were they still not parallel but that one of them was now cracked. Which was a bit of a bugger.
Rather than throw the whole thing in a skip, I figured that I may as well get some singlespeed-specific axle slots welded on (these are horizontal rather than near-vertical, to allow you to get the chain tension exactly right. On a normal bike the rear shifter does this job for you).
This was duly done by JF Wilson’s of City Road. While I was at it I sourced a somewhat prettier crank which had the added bonus of being a 175 length instead of 170, for a bit of extra leverage. Gearing is now 53:18, up from the original 48:18, so hill-climbing ability has been sacrificed for a little extra flat-road speed.
I’m quite pleased with how it's turned out, for a total outlay of about £160. There is really no excuse for the dog-ugly handlebar stem arrangement though - other than to say I am still experimenting with the riding position ;-)
Edited to reduce obscure jargon ;-)