mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
I'm thinking of buying the long frame. I'd be interested to hear people's thorts.
Show us your Spa Wayfarer
- Thread starter mickle
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
Please don't show me! I'm trying to resist!
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
I have the short top tube version.
I built mine from the bare frame up. Even the current head badge and decals were fitted by me so the bike @mickle possibly ends up with will no doubt differ, so I can't comment on its parts.
The frame however, I can. There are pro's and con's.
Pro's: It's very, very, very, very comfy indeed. Like riding along on a cushion of air...almost.
There's oodles of tyre clearance. 47c with mudguards iirc.
Plenty of braze ons for things. Except a spoke holder. No big loss.
Cons: It's very, very, very, very comfy indeed. As a result, it's slower than hell and can be very floppy when fully loaded. Mine didn't take well to front panniers at all. Lots of shimmy. In car terms, you put your foot down and feck all happens. It absolutely will not shoot off from the lights like a rocket sled.
The seat tube bottle cage mounts have been brazed/welded quite high up which can cause issues if it's a small frame. I had to fit a bottle cage height adjuster thingybob from topeak to get my small bottle to fit under the top tube.
A small issue in the way in which the front wheel is held in the fork dropouts. The dropouts are almost forward facing and so the bike needs to be upright with wheel on the ground in order to centre it properly.
The Tange Terious SRN headset fitted is absolute crap. It uses needle/roller bearings in the top race and getting it adjusted to have no play but not too tight is mission impossible. Plus they allow every little bit of water you can find into it. Plus a fair chunk of mud and grit. Ask Spa to change it for something better.
This is mine shortly before my round the world ride across the North of England.
I built mine from the bare frame up. Even the current head badge and decals were fitted by me so the bike @mickle possibly ends up with will no doubt differ, so I can't comment on its parts.
The frame however, I can. There are pro's and con's.
Pro's: It's very, very, very, very comfy indeed. Like riding along on a cushion of air...almost.
There's oodles of tyre clearance. 47c with mudguards iirc.
Plenty of braze ons for things. Except a spoke holder. No big loss.
Cons: It's very, very, very, very comfy indeed. As a result, it's slower than hell and can be very floppy when fully loaded. Mine didn't take well to front panniers at all. Lots of shimmy. In car terms, you put your foot down and feck all happens. It absolutely will not shoot off from the lights like a rocket sled.
The seat tube bottle cage mounts have been brazed/welded quite high up which can cause issues if it's a small frame. I had to fit a bottle cage height adjuster thingybob from topeak to get my small bottle to fit under the top tube.
A small issue in the way in which the front wheel is held in the fork dropouts. The dropouts are almost forward facing and so the bike needs to be upright with wheel on the ground in order to centre it properly.
The Tange Terious SRN headset fitted is absolute crap. It uses needle/roller bearings in the top race and getting it adjusted to have no play but not too tight is mission impossible. Plus they allow every little bit of water you can find into it. Plus a fair chunk of mud and grit. Ask Spa to change it for something better.
This is mine shortly before my round the world ride across the North of England.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
I nearly forgot, a couple more negatives which cause issues are the mudguard fittings.
The rear seatstay bridge is brazed/welded high up and drilled vertically. This means having to drill the mudguard, using a big long bolt and spacers to adjust the height...which can only be done once. In addition to making a stress point in the mudguard, if its height does need to be changed because of a different sized tyre or because of cock ups when doing the initial fitting (which is the path I took), the hole needs to widened or re-drilled. It's a royal pain in the back side and quite frankly, a bloody stupid way to fasten a mudguard. A horizontal hole in a lowered seatstay bridge using a sliding bracket on the mudguard would have been much easier and tidier.
Again, regarding the rear mudguard, the chainstay bridge has again been placed too far forward towards the BB shell. Again, this requires the use of a long bolt and spacers to get the mudguard close to the tyre to do its job. In addition to that headache, because of where the bridge is, a standard kickstand cannot be fitted.
Because of the way the rear disc caliper is fitted, those kickstand which clamp to the seatstay and chainstay also cannot be used. The caliper sticks out too far.
Lastly, there's the fork crown bolt hole. Again, too high up and requiring the use of either some DIY trickery or a Fender Flute. I went for the flute option. Again, this causes more problems if you want to fit certain things like dynamo lights.
I've managed it by first bolting the mudguard to the flute, then shoving said flute up the forks arse and then using a long bolt and spacers to pull the flute against the crown which tightens the light bracket.
I plan on refitting the mudguards tomorrow after I've given the bike a wash so I'll take pics of the setup and post them here.
I believe these issues were a result of giving the bike the chance to take bigger tyres, but jeez it really was a bloody pain in the arse to come up a tidy solution for each one.
The rear seatstay bridge is brazed/welded high up and drilled vertically. This means having to drill the mudguard, using a big long bolt and spacers to adjust the height...which can only be done once. In addition to making a stress point in the mudguard, if its height does need to be changed because of a different sized tyre or because of cock ups when doing the initial fitting (which is the path I took), the hole needs to widened or re-drilled. It's a royal pain in the back side and quite frankly, a bloody stupid way to fasten a mudguard. A horizontal hole in a lowered seatstay bridge using a sliding bracket on the mudguard would have been much easier and tidier.
Again, regarding the rear mudguard, the chainstay bridge has again been placed too far forward towards the BB shell. Again, this requires the use of a long bolt and spacers to get the mudguard close to the tyre to do its job. In addition to that headache, because of where the bridge is, a standard kickstand cannot be fitted.
Because of the way the rear disc caliper is fitted, those kickstand which clamp to the seatstay and chainstay also cannot be used. The caliper sticks out too far.
Lastly, there's the fork crown bolt hole. Again, too high up and requiring the use of either some DIY trickery or a Fender Flute. I went for the flute option. Again, this causes more problems if you want to fit certain things like dynamo lights.
I've managed it by first bolting the mudguard to the flute, then shoving said flute up the forks arse and then using a long bolt and spacers to pull the flute against the crown which tightens the light bracket.
I plan on refitting the mudguards tomorrow after I've given the bike a wash so I'll take pics of the setup and post them here.
I believe these issues were a result of giving the bike the chance to take bigger tyres, but jeez it really was a bloody pain in the arse to come up a tidy solution for each one.
Last edited:
- Location
- London
Am surprised at this - always associate Tange with quality stuff.
I may be wrong but I have the idea that the headsets in my old 90s Ridgebacks are Tange of some sort (@raleighnut may know) and tho kinda basic looking I have found them fine - they are toughish looking old fashioned engineering though - ball bearings, no cartridge nonsense.
I may be wrong but I have the idea that the headsets in my old 90s Ridgebacks are Tange of some sort (@raleighnut may know) and tho kinda basic looking I have found them fine - they are toughish looking old fashioned engineering though - ball bearings, no cartridge nonsense.
- Location
- London
Would a pair of these possibly help, even if you ended up putting a bit more on the back?
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BNPODFORK/pair-of-podsacs-tarpaulin-fork-dry-bags
Have been pondering getting some for a while for putting lightish stuff in.
Someone on here, can't remember who, rates them.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Nah the headset on mine doesn't seem to have any markings on it and is original AFAIK, it may be Tange as the frame tubing is.
OP
OP
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
I'm not ashamed to admit that I take a perverse pleasure in devising mudguard installation solutions for reluctant bicycles.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
I ended up using chairing bolts and sleeves for the rear mudguard. It required drilling the seatstay bridge hole bigger though.
The tape is covering the previous balls up.
The bolt started coming through the mudguard at the chainstay bridge so I've stuck a bent penny washer behind there now.
Le Fender Flute. Pricy for what it is.
The spacer assembly for the front light bracket. It's a bunch of steel sleeve spacers and on the ends are bushes from 2 of those travel adapters for V brakes.
I'm working on a less fiddly setup.
The tape is covering the previous balls up.
The bolt started coming through the mudguard at the chainstay bridge so I've stuck a bent penny washer behind there now.
Le Fender Flute. Pricy for what it is.
The spacer assembly for the front light bracket. It's a bunch of steel sleeve spacers and on the ends are bushes from 2 of those travel adapters for V brakes.
I'm working on a less fiddly setup.
Last edited:
OP
OP
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
I've put my name on one, a 58 'Long'. The new stock will clear customs next week. Exciting!
- Location
- London
look forward to your report back on getting it.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Been looking at these myself - theyve had some decent reviews as a good riding, sensibly thought out machines with a no nonsense spec. Just trying to think of an excuse to get bike no.11 past Mrs D.
- Location
- London
maybe you could take one of your bikes apart, just partly, temporarily at least.
Or slide a frame under the bed?
The floorboards in a spare room?
If you have a garage, could you discover a winter passion for some health-improving DIY - putting in a mezzanine of some sort - fronted by innocent household stuff/doll-making requisites?
