I'm going to get in trouble for this... but I think it's worth it :)

[Andrew1971]

@ChrisEyles What coloured handle bar tape are you going for.
Andrew

 

[ChrisEyles]

Black fake leather - it's arrived, just need some time to fit it now (and probably clean up the bars first).

The leather saddle I ordered is looking really good after a couple of coats of proofhide and a lot of polish. Looking forward to getting it on the bike!

 

[ChrisEyles]

Just finished putting on the bar tape and swapping the saddle over. Part of me wishes I'd gone for cotton bar tape, but I was worried it wouldn't provide much in the way of comfort. I've used this (cheap chinese!) fakey leather stuff on a couple of other bikes and it looks alright and does feel really nice when riding without gloves.

I wish I'd taken a "before" picture of the saddle, as it was looking pretty rough! Quite pleased with how it's come up now, and it suits the bike perfectly - it's a Wright's saddle, so made in Birmingham just like the frame. The shape is very similar to the Brooks B17 I've got on my ten speed, and if it's as comfortable as that I'll be very happy indeed.

I love wrapping bar tape, it's one of my favourite jobs and the bike always looks so much smarter afterwards I had to be quite careful getting the tape under the hoods, which are pretty badly perished, but just about got enough flex out of them to manage.

Didn't quite finish in time tonight to get out for a ride, so I'm itching to go for a quick spin later this week

 

[ChrisEyles]

As always, the total cost of the bike spiralled a little bit out of control... this always seems to happen and I guess it can't be just me. Final breakdown was

Bike £55
Chain £5
BB spindle £2
Tyres & tubes & cotter pins £25
Saddle £18
Bar tape £2

So total cost of £107, of which I guess I can re-coup a bit if I sold the saddle that came with the bike... Still, that's a lot better than my 90s full sus MTB, which cost £25 to buy (a real bargain) and now must have four times that hanging off it with chain/tyres/pedals/chain ring/brake pads etc

Totally worth it since it looks like it's going to be a firm keeper, but I'm in awe of anyone who can actually turn a profit doing up old bikes to sell on!

 

[ChrisEyles]

Managed a quick ten miler after work today and the saddle's not half bad. The skirt is a tiny bit wide with a bit more thigh rub than on my B17, and I think it needs a little bit of tensioning up as it's got a lot more give than the B17 (I guess this may pull the skirt in a bit at the same time). I've also seen DIY methods to turn a B17 style saddle into a more Swallow/Swift shaped saddle, which I'm also tempted by, but probably too scared of messing up to try!

The bar tape is very comfy and much nicer than the old stuff which was more like textured electrical tape.

It's certainly a head turner, I think I've had more comments about this bike while I've been riding it than any other road bike (my sit-up-and-beg 1950s Raleigh still wins hands down on that count though!). It's definitely the bike I can't wait to ride again at the moment

Thanks a lot to all who offered helpful advice along the way - as always, it's much appreciated!

 

[Threevok]

That's proper nice that is

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Managed a quick ten miler after work today and the saddle's not half bad. The skirt is a tiny bit wide with a bit more thigh rub than on my B17, and I think it needs a little bit of tensioning up as it's got a lot more give than the B17 (I guess this may pull the skirt in a bit at the same time). I've also seen DIY methods to turn a B17 style saddle into a more Swallow/Swift shaped saddle, which I'm also tempted by, but probably too scared of messing up to try!

The bar tape is very comfy and much nicer than the old stuff which was more like textured electrical tape.

It's certainly a head turner, I think I've had more comments about this bike while I've been riding it than any other road bike (my sit-up-and-beg 1950s Raleigh still wins hands down on that count though!). It's definitely the bike I can't wait to ride again at the moment

Thanks a lot to all who offered helpful advice along the way - as always, it's much appreciated!

View attachment 360426

Its lovely seeing an old bike being looked after and ridden

 

[ChrisEyles]

Went out for another nice ride today and ran into some issues on the way home!

Climbing up a short steep hill, putting down quite a bit of oomph, the chain came off with a bang. Looks like the rear wheel slipped a touch in the drop outs, drastically reducing the chain tension. I foolishly didn't have my spanners with me, so decided to press on with a loose chain... fine for several miles, then going around a slightly bumpy corner "BANG" snapped chain (and also foolishly no chain tool and spare links). No harm done and not a long walk home, but that's definitely more luck than judgement.

Is it common for the rear wheel to slip in the drop outs under full power? I did tighten up the rear wheel axle nuts pretty tight, and they've got "toothed" grippy washers on them too... maybe I need to sand the drop outs to roughen them up a bit and make sure the axle nuts are well greased before re-tightening.

Also when I got back I noticed that the cottered chain ring has a definite warp to it, with a visible side-to-side wobble when you spin the cranks (hard to measure, but I'd say 2mm - 3mm). I hope I didn't cause this today by throwing the chain!

My plan is to put a new couple of links in the chain, tighten the hell out of the rear axle nuts, and henceforth always take the spanners, chain tool and spare links with me. If I keep having problems I might have to think about getting a new cottered crankset, or maybe replacing the BB spindle with a square taper one and getting some new cranks, but it'd be nice to keep the originals running if possible.

Has anyone had any luck straightening out a cottered chain ring?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Pulling the wheel over under power can happen, but I've never broken a chain with that, make sure the wheel nuts are well tightened, just remember you may have to take the wheel off by the roadside. it might be an idea to look at chain tugs. I've never had to straighten a fixed chainring before, but I have staightened a geared one, I just put it on a flat surface and tapped it straight with a hammer, if the chainring is only a couple of mm out you may be able to live with that.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Can you get chain tugs for forward facing drop outs? I can't remember seeing these, but if so that would be probably be worth doing.

I'm not sure why the chain broke either. No broken plate this time, just one of the rivets missing. Guess there must have been some serious sideways bending forces where the chain tried to climb the teeth of the rear sprocket during chain derailment.

Thinking about it, the easiest way to straighten out the chain ring is probably to use a flat surface like you say, and to put the high spots over the edge of the work bench and bend them down with a big adjustable spanner. Not sure the hammer would do the job on a one piece crank/chainring.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Can you get chain tugs for forward facing drop outs? I can't remember seeing these, but if so that would be probably be worth doing.

I'm not sure why the chain broke either. No broken plate this time, just one of the rivets missing. Guess there must have been some serious sideways bending forces where the chain tried to climb the teeth of the rear sprocket during chain derailment.

Thinking about it, the easiest way to straighten out the chain ring is probably to use a flat surface like you say, and to put the high spots over the edge of the work bench and bend them down with a big adjustable spanner. Not sure the hammer would do the job on a one piece crank/chainring.

I think chain tugs for forward dropouts are rare, something simular to this might do the job http://www.wiggle.co.uk/surly-tuggnut-chain-tensioner/

 

[ChrisEyles]

Thanks for the link - never seen one of those before!