Most recent activity
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In a surprising turn of events the free bike challenge has made some significant progress with the acquisition of a frame. It's a bit rusty, but was going spare at the local bike project so I figured why not.
As acquired, was a bit of a wobbly journey home:
And looking a bit more bike shaped - amazingly the tyres kind of fit!
The rear needs to be all the way back in the dropouts to actually clear the chainstays, but I would also like to use my freebie cassette and rear derailleur. Solution, file down the lip on the hanger thingy to allow it to slide all the way back. Oh wait then it won't clamp onto the frame. Nvm just file a hole for the bolt to pass through at the back of the dropout, however it didn't really clamp securely, so I think I'll just use the power of the skewer and hope for the best.
Also to mock up the drivetrain I slapped on the cranks I have from when my dad's bike got new gearing, and a rather ancient chain - this could quite quickly become an actual bike!
The major issue however is going to be braking, I guess this frame was made for 27" wheels because the canti posts are way too high for 26", was thinking about sourcing a reeeeeaaally long drop bmx brake for the rear, but recently had an epiphany that I could mount the extenders that people usually use to raise canti posts upside down, and have a v brake or canti that way. Might have to buy (gasp!) those though hmmm... The front, being disc brake, is kind of impossible, might just have to have only one brake. I suppose I could learn to weld..?
Other issues include the seatpost being 27.0 when I only have a 27.2 to hand, and various other small parts missing, more scavenging required. Oh and the stem seems rather seized, but the headset is alright so that's fine I guess :)
ngl the stance isn't horrendous -
glad to see the pink bike got its other canti
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this is superb
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GT has gone full ssmtb, caved and got a tensioner, 18t cog, and new chain. They seem to go alright with the random praxis 36t little ring I had.
Flat bars have also made the bike wayy more fun, but the real upgrade would be new tyres these g one bites are kinda ass. -
Marshalling gravelfoyle was much better than racing it seemed to be. Drove up with a friend the day before, rode the whole course, spectacular, then got to stand around and eat haribos at my marshal point on the day of :)
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not sure why but that looks excellent
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This goes hard, love a Time straight leg fork. Stem looks good to me!
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Recently came across this (non-matching) pair of 26" wheels for free, and figured they might be useful for something. Rear is a quite nice STX on Mavic something, rim brake, with a semi-okay conti x-king. Front is a disc only WTB number with a thriving conti vertical 2.3.
They could just live as spare wheels (eg. for the muddy fox, or in a pinch for the GT, clearance and braking issues on both notwithstanding). However I figured it would be more exciting if I kept them in the parts bin as the beginning of a free/extremely cheap parts bike build, no considerations for practicality. Already looking good with the current collection of rear derailleur from the GT (soon to be superseded by a SS tensioner), broken 5800 lever, shimano plastic thumb shifter, and assorted unused bars/stems/seatposts.Might buy a frame if I find something ideal for £🤏, but would be more fun to wait for a skip find or something. See below for highly romanticised mood board, and don't expect any updates :)
