New SingleSpeed project - BrokenAnarchoDreams

[Andrew_Culture]

This weekend I'll be helping @dktd (Sam) build his first SingleSpeed. He lives in London and had his first Triban 3 nicked so decided he wanted something a lot less shiny and nice and simple for the every day commute. Crucial to this whole project is that this SingleSpeed needs to be a bit of a 'beater bike' due to the high ratio of nicked to non-nicked bikes where he lives in the big smoke.

The frame came from our local bike doctor and is a very old Reynolds 531 frame. The bars also came from the bike doctor's spares cavern, I'm not keen on the 80s hair-metal bar-tape but Sam appears to actually like it!

The build starts in earnest tomorrow around lunchtime and will be live on FettleCam!

 

[JoeyB]

I dont have a clue where to start when it comes to searching for a frame for a similar project!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I dont have a clue where to start when it comes to searching for a frame for a similar project!

I have a saved search running all the time on ebay using the following search string:

bike -mountain -jump -dirt -ladies -girls -bmx -folding -touring -wooden -daisy -hybrid -boys -electric -kids -trials -childs -womens -mtb -childrens -shopper -ladys -batmans -trails -trail -trial -toy -girl -hardtail -suspension -puky -cruiser -T120 -comuter -lady's -commuter -kit -exercise -town

Although this frame was £35 from our local self-contained LBS man, and the frame for my own SingleSpeed was found for me by @Scilly Suffolk on the http://www.lfgss.com/ forum for £25. The total build cost for this bike is going to be about £70 as we have an old Triban bike as a doner.

 

[JoeyB]

I have a saved search running all the time on ebay using the following search string:

bike -mountain -jump -dirt -ladies -girls -bmx -folding -touring -wooden -daisy -hybrid -boys -electric -kids -trials -childs -womens -mtb -childrens -shopper -ladys -batmans -trails -trail -trial -toy -girl -hardtail -suspension -puky -cruiser -T120 -comuter -lady's -commuter -kit -exercise -town

Although this frame was £35 from our local self-contained LBS man, and the frame for my own SingleSpeed was found for me by @Scilly Suffolk on the http://www.lfgss.com/ forum for £25. The total build cost for this bike is going to be about £70 as we have an old Triban bike as a doner.

Maybe I should get you to find me a frame lol

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Maybe I should get you to find me a frame lol

Gladly! I see them all the time. What size does sir take?

 

[JoeyB]

Gladly! I see them all the time. What size does sir take?

Legend. Well my Scott road bike is a 56cm so I guess the same?

Do you run that search string in Cycling or a more specific sub category? Basically my criteria is the right size and a Reynolds steel frame, ideally 531 but only because that seems to be the one people prefer?

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Legend. Well my Scott road bike is a 56cm so I guess the same?

Do you run that search string in Cycling or a more specific sub category? Basically my criteria is the right size and a Reynolds steel frame, ideally 531 but only because that seems to be the one people prefer?

Is this for a thing of beauty or a rough and tumble kinda bike? I wouldn't get too hung up on 531, but then I don't really know what I'm talking about.

 

[JoeyB]

Is this for a thing of beauty or a rough and tumble kinda bike? I wouldn't get too hung up on 531, but then I don't really know what I'm talking about.

Its a first project so rough and tumble. I might even get the spray gun out!!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Its a first project so rough and tumble. I might even get the spray gun out!!

Shall we continue this conversation in a DM?

 

[JoeyB]

Shall we continue this conversation in a DM?

Danger Mouse?

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Danger Mouse?

Yup, we'll continue our conversation in a postbox.

 

[colly]

I dont have a clue where to start when it comes to searching for a frame for a similar project!

@biggs682 might have a frame. I'm sure he will be along shortly.

I bought a nice frame off him a couple of years ago and it's my only ride at the moment.

 

[Smurfy]

I have a saved search running all the time on ebay using the following search string:

bike -mountain -jump -dirt -ladies -girls -bmx -folding -touring -wooden -daisy -hybrid -boys -electric -kids -trials -childs -womens -mtb -childrens -shopper -ladys -batmans -trails -trail -trial -toy -girl -hardtail -suspension -puky -cruiser -T120 -comuter -lady's -commuter -kit -exercise -town

Easy there! You could be discarding some diamonds in the rough!

Seriously, did you keep adding negative search terms each time ebay came up with a duff find?

 

[biggs682]

I dont have a clue where to start when it comes to searching for a frame for a similar project!

@JoeyB at the moment i have this steel Claud Butler frame as in this thread http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/my-next-project.146828/ it is currently next in line to be worked on , or i do have a Trex Alpha 1.1 frame set that had only done a couple hundred miles before it was stripped to a bare frame set , or i have 3 complete retro racers for sale see my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Racing-Bikes-Biggs682/655913424461297?ref=hl .

@colly thanks

 

[Andrew_Culture]

So we made a start at the weekend:

The donor bike for this build was a Triban that used to belong to @deptfordmarmoset and was the first proper road bike @dktd owned (since replaced by a Triban 3)

The old style BB came out easily enough, with a bit of help from a cold chisel and a lump hammer. Those old clamp-on cable guides also came off sweetly and have been donated to our local bike-doctor's spares box. The replacement BB (from @Scilly Suffolk ) went in reasonably well, but I couldn't get the plastic side to sit tight in the hole, which was a concern.

The 700c wheels needed a little convincing to fit in the frame, thank god steel has some flex to it! The handlebars also came from a spares box and were a total bargain, even if they do have 80s hair-metal tape on them.

So the last photo from this instalment shows tyres on the wheels (thanks to @4F for the Marathon Plus on the rear) and that's about as far as we got.

The BB wasn't perfect, the brakes on the donor bike didn't have enough reach for the metric wheels we fitted and between @dktd and I decided between us that we ought to get a professional to look at possibly bending the drops and forks out a bit so that punctures can be fixed on the road without tears. So now we wait for the verdict from the bike doctor.

We couldn't use the Sora crankset from the donor bike because it's build for a splined BB rather than a square taper so we had to In the meantime we've adapted a crankset of mysterious provenience using singlespeed space bolts: