My Custom Build

[Jezston]

The bike I'm having built and have been hassling the forum over various threads in the last few months is FINALLY starting to come together!

Thought I should post some photos:

Frame - swedish 'Careba' road frame bought off ebay and supposedly 531 but there have been contrary allegations! Sandblasted and powdercoated british racing green (strip lights and camera flash make it look a little paler than it is). Also lacking any braze-ons which has been a constant source of facepalms. Probably will upgrade this frame to something really snazzy in a year or so. But it looks pretty anyway.

Campagnolo headset that came with the frame has been replaced by a lighter set the shopowner found

Front wheel - Halo Aero rage rim, 32 spoke radial pattern, Shimano 105 hub.

Rear wheel - Halo Aerowarrior rim, 36 spoke, Sturmey Archer 3 speed alloy coaster brake hub

 

[fossyant]

Looking good !

 

[palinurus]

I like the idea of a hub-geared road bike. I could use one of those.

 

[Woz!]

Cool!
I'm VERY SLOWLY doing the same thing - I have a Dawes Super Galaxy frame I got for 20 quid (with forks and bars) and this weekend I bought a £10 road bike with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub that I intend to get built into a wheel for it.

 

[just jim]

S'nice!

 

[Garz]

Good project Jez, keep it going!

 

[MacB]

I like the green Jez, this could look really special

 

[david1701]

Cool!
I'm VERY SLOWLY doing the same thing - I have a Dawes Super Galaxy frame I got for 20 quid (with forks and bars) and this weekend I bought a £10 road bike with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub that I intend to get built into a wheel for it.

where'd ya get the frame so cheap?

 

[Woz!]

Well, there's a story.
We were on holiday in Devon - in Rattery - and we went to a local town the name of which I don't remember. I say 'town', but this is Devon and what I really mean is a cluster of pretty houses around about 5 shops!
I was looking for a bike shop just to browse when it became obvious that the town was too small.
Then I spotted a little alleyway, down which there was a MASSIVE collection of bikes.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that there was at least 100 bikes crushed into an area that could barely contain them along with a little shed.

Turned out the guy that ran the place had been in the bike trade for most of his life and specialised in hub gears. But it looked to me like he was more of a hoarder than anything. I asked him if he had any Moultons and he said that he had several, but that they were in storage. I asked if it was possible to see one and he told me that I probably wouldn't want it and it was too much hassle! He said a few people had asked for them.

I asked him about large tourer frames and he grudgingly told me he had one 'round the back'. Which turned out to be another double garage (again I'm not exaggerating here) that was stacked to the roof with frames. It took us 20 minutes to dig the Galaxy out and he charged me 20 quid for it.

The place was an absolute goldmine. This was about 2 years ago and he said he was thinking of closing. I've no idea if he did, and I'm certain he has no web presence. I keep thinking I should go back but it's in the middle of no-where.


Edit: Found it - I can see the yard and garage on Station Road in South Brent on Google Earth! Sadly the resolution's low so I can't see if it's still full of bikes.
I'd love to know if he's still there - can't find any reference to him on the web.

 

[ianrauk]

The green colour looks great. Good choice.

 

[Jezston]

Thank you for the supportive words all, and thanks for the nice story Woz! We must arrange a forum outing to that shop and empty the place

Still waiting for stuff on backorder (main one being the Sturmey crankset which sadly I fear is on a boat in the ocean somewhere coming from china and could be a few weeks :sadface.

Couple of things I'm mulling over and wouldn't mind getting some thoughts on:

1. Handlebars - Full brown leather bar tape coverage, just on the drops, or just brown handgrips on the drops?

2. Gold chain?

 

[Rob3rt]

Thank you for the supportive words all, and thanks for the nice story Woz! We must arrange a forum outing to that shop and empty the place

Still waiting for stuff on backorder (main one being the Sturmey crankset which sadly I fear is on a boat in the ocean somewhere coming from china and could be a few weeks :sadface.

Couple of things I'm mulling over and wouldn't mind getting some thoughts on:

1. Handlebars - Full brown leather bar tape coverage, just on the drops, or just brown handgrips on the drops?

2. Gold chain?

Personal opinion,

1) Sounds nice, I'd cover the whole bar up to about an inch from the stem.
2) Sounds disgusting


The frame is looking good in green!

 

[MacB]

Agree on the bar tape, certainly give yourself something to grip on the top, but if it's going to be a brown/silver/green colour scheme then use a cheap chain, no oil and leave it in the rain for a couple of days.

Seriously though, gold chain is fine if you are a clean freak otherwise it'll just be gunk covered most of the time. If you're going for the bling then you've got to keep it clean enough to show it off.

 

[Jezston]

Actually I'm thinking when it's dirty it would look best. Think 'brass' more than 'gold'.

 

[Rob3rt]

Coloured chains make me feel as sick as coloured tyres Personal taste.

Knock yourself out, its a custom bike, build it up however you will love it most, stuff like bar tape and chains get changed regularly enough anyway so you can always do away with them later if you want