Williams lightweight project

[Tenacious Sloth]

That blue colour is much, much, much nicer than the yellow.

 

[RichardB]

Great choice of colour, even better than the yellow👍

Thanks, and I agree!

 

[RichardB]

That blue colour is much, much, much nicer than the yellow.

Thank you! To be honest, I love that bright yellow, but it needed to be a perfect finish to carry it off. Dark blue is more conservative and perhaps a bit dull, but classy and hides the mistakes so much better!

 

[midlife]

Quite liked the yellow as its "old fashioned" like me lol. Tight squeeze getting 27" wheels into a 700c frame?

 

[RichardB]

Quite liked the yellow as its "old fashioned" like me lol. Tight squeeze getting 27" wheels into a 700c frame?

Hmmm. I had assumed from the age that it wouild be a 27" frame, but you could be right. As long as they fit ...

I might take a shaving off the lower end of the dropouts - 2 mm should do it. That would allow easy installation and removal of the wheel without any detriment.

 

[biggs682]

I think it's meant for 700's as from memory the caliper mounts are for recessed Allen key type or am I mixing frames up ?

 

[RichardB]

I think it's meant for 700's as from memory the caliper mounts are for recessed Allen key type or am I mixing frames up ?

There's a small recess for the brake fitting. I haven't test-fitted the brakes yet. Every day's a schoolday!

 

[raleighnut]

I think it's meant for 700's as from memory the caliper mounts are for recessed Allen key type or am I mixing frames up ?

It's the forks with sloping shoulders say 700c to me.

 

[RichardB]

Yep, pretty sure you guys are right. The brake fittings are recessed and the 27" wheels are a tight fit, so after biggs682's comment I will take that it is a 700c frame. I feel a bit stupid, to be honest - I just assumed it would be a 27" frame and bought wheels accordingly. I think the age and the horizontal top tube made me assume it was an 'oldie'. It's not the end of the world, though. The wheels fit the forks, and I wasn't planning on fitting mudguards, so the lack of clearance isn't an issue. I have shortened the rear dropouts by about 2mm, and the rear wheel now slips in and out like it was made to go there. I've checked the brakes in position and the reach is fine. The wheels are obviously slightly larger than the frame was designed for, but if they aren't causing any problems, I see no reason why they can't stay - *unless anyone knows differently*.

After thinking hard about chainlines and the like, I have decided to act my age and admit that a singlespeed/fixed gear bike is not suitable transport for someone in their 60s in a hilly part of the country. I have decided to go for a 1x5 setup. I have a good 14-24 block and with the 44T chainring that will give me a gear range of 50-85". I'll struggle on some of the hills round here, but that is sort of the point - no pain, no gain, etc. That's the simplest solution and involves the least extra expense. Options to go up to 2x7 fairly easily if the 1x5 proves more than my knees and lungs can manage.

700c frame, who'd have thought it?

 

[ColinJ]

After thinking hard about chainlines and the like, I have decided to act my age and admit that a singlespeed/fixed gear bike is not suitable transport for someone in their 60s in a hilly part of the country.

It seems a shame with those nice horizontal dropouts...

When I built my singlespeed bike I didn't think that I would tackle any hills on it but I ended up liking it too much to just use it for flat shopping trips. It turns out that I am okay on short steepish ramps (8-10%), or longer stretches of 5-6%, but I wouldn't ride it anywhere that gradients significantly exceeded 10% for any great distance. Don't you have any flatter roads in your area?

I do a lot of thread-hopping so I can't remember whether this is going to be your only bike. If so, then yes, extra gears make sense! If you have another geared bike, why not keep this one with just one gear for flatter rides?

 

[RichardB]

It seems a shame with those nice horizontal dropouts...

When I built my singlespeed bike I didn't think that I would tackle any hills on it but I ended up liking it too much to just use it for flat shopping trips. It turns out that I am okay on short steepish ramps (8-10%), or longer stretches of 5-6%, but I wouldn't ride it anywhere that gradients significantly exceeded 10% for any great distance. Don't you have any flatter roads in your area?

I do a lot of thread-hopping so I can't remember whether this is going to be your only bike. If so, then yes, extra gears make sense! If you have another geared bike, why not keep this one with just one gear for flatter rides?

@ColinJ he talk big sense.

I have other bikes (an electric workhorse, a 1970s Carlton and a 1990s MTB, with 9, 10 and 27 [edit: idiot, 21] gears respectively. There are flat roads around, for sure, but far enough away that I would need to take the bike in the car to wherever, and that doesn't really appeal. Part of the idea of a singlespeed/fixie (I ran a fixie for a season when I was in my late 20s, so I know what it's all about) was the fitness thing, and the lightness and simplicity and all that. Climb the hill or walk it, no in-between. But I could see myself spending more and more cash and a lot of time on different hubs, shorter bottom brackets, and so on - only to find that 5 minutes into the first ride I realised I had made a big mistake. To do it properly, it's going to mean a track hub and 700c wheels, and then cold-setting the frame to 120mm. I'd be happy to do that, if I was sure I would ride fixed a lot - but I am not sure. (I can't find a wheel with a flip-flop hub and 130mm OLD that isn't black, and I am determined that this build will be polished alloy or nothing

There is a firm in Hackney, London, who will sell me a decent-looking fixie/singlespeed for under £200. It might be heavy and crude, but if I really can't stifle the fixie urge I will buy one of those and give it a try - if it's a 15-minute wonder I can always sell it on. For now, a geared bike, although more complicated than I wanted, is the sensible way forward. But I am keeping it simple - one at the front and five at the back, one lever and that's it. Same configuration as the Viking Conquest I had when I was a teenager

Thank you for your thoughts - you make a lot of sense.

 

[biggs682]

I was intending to build it with a free hub and 27" wheels running a 2 x claris 8 speed set up purely for the fun of it .

27" will work fine and a 1 x ? set up should be fine so no panic just enjoy

 

[rockyroller]

Bit of a pause due to work demands and weather, but I have been back on it and have made some progress.

wow, gorgeous work! I think I didn't understand the original task at hand

 

[Colin Grigson]

Any progress pics Richard ? ... I hope you didn’t spend Sunday with your feet up

 

[RichardB]

Any progress pics Richard ? ... I hope you didn’t spend Sunday with your feet up

Some progress last week, but then I have been called in for a few days' work. This is fine, as I am waiting on a derailleur and shifters (having decided on gears rather than singlespeed) and of course it helps to be able to pay for the bits you buy.

Currently, bike has wheels, pedals/crankset, brakes, stem and handlebars and is looking bicycle-shaped. Transmission, levers, cables, saddle yet to do. Then it's a bit of bar tape and we're good to go. Will update end of the week. Thanks for asking!